A frequent topic of discussion on webmaster forums is low Google Adsense click-through rate (CTR).

“Why aren’t my visitors clicking on my Adsense ads?”

“Why is my CTR so low?”

“How can I improve my revenue?”

All too frequently, I see forum posts from folks who have simply placed Adsense ads on their sites and expect Google cash to magically start rolling in.

With the right kind of site, a sufficient amount of traffic, the right content, the right ad relevancy and placement, it can happen.

But sites with low click-throughs have one or more deficiencies that prevent this from happening.

Let’s look at some of the factors that need to be considered when attempting to resolve a low click-through problem.

Does your site contain content that makes it difficult for Google to determine what the site or pages are about?

If your pages contain only graphics or links — or multiple forum topics, or blogs about a variety of subjects, Google will have a very difficult time determining what your site is about. This leads to ads that are not relevant to the interests of your visitors — which leads to a low CTR.

Is your site about a topic for which Google has a low inventory of ads

Let’s face it, there are some topics for which Google has no ads to display. For example, if your site is about Alaskan harbor seals, there are many good, informative web sites for that topic, but not even one paid ad (the last time I checked). Your CTR would be dismal even though you might have a great site with lots of traffic.

Are your site visitors ad blind?

If your site is a forum or blog that receives many loyal return visitors day after day, those visitors may become blind to any ads you have displayed. Even though the ads may be relevant, your visitors have come for your content and not for the ads, which they have likely seen over and over again. Maybe they clicked on their first visit or two, but they won’t click every day.

Can your visitors see your ads?

Even with a perfect site for Adsense ads, if your visitors can’t easily see your ads they won’t click. We could write an entire article on proper ad placement, but for now let’s just say that your ads should blend with and be near the content you expect your visitors to read. Ads at the extreme top, bottom, or sides of pages are less likely to be seen as compared to ads that are blocked and blended into content areas. Don’t turn your visitors away with ugly colored ads trying to get their attention.

Will your visitors click on ads?

Google ads are generally placed by individuals or companies who have something to sell. Most visitors to your site know this. If they aren’t in a buying frame-of-mind, they may not click. This is the reason many sites targeted to technical visitors have a hard time with ad click-through rate. For example, if your site contains programming scripts and snippets and your visitors generally find exactly the script they came looking for, they may have no reason to click on other ads, even if the ads are about scripts and snippets.

Are you getting the wrong visitors?

Poor SEO can easily be bringing the wrong kind of visitors to your site. If your site is about a rock band called “Poultry in Motion” you can easily get traffic from folks looking for information about chickens. Look at your server referrer logs and find out where your visitors are coming from and what search terms they used to get to you. You may need to make adjustments to your SEO keywords, page titles, content, and image tags.

Is your site too good?

This is a strange problem that can affect your ad CTR. We mentioned it briefly in a topic above. You can have a top-ranked first-quality site that receives thousands of visitors a day, and displays perfectly relevant Google ads — and yet the site receives a low CTR. Why? Because your site is totally satisfying to your visitors. It gives them everything they came for. The site is so good that it leaves visitors with no curiosity or desire to click on related ads. Believe me, it happens.

Al Hearn is founder, owner, and operator of StackPoint.com, which provides free information and advice to those who want to learn how to make money on the web.