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Orble News - by jonFormat ExperimentApril 3rd 2008 11:26
Over the next 48 hours I'll be experimenting with changes to the blog formats and the ads so you may notice a few differences. Any feedback appreciated and I'll let you know the results.
Jon.
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Moderated by jon
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Comment by Hazel Castillo
Working Title
Cirrus Cloud
Movie Dime
Parent Adventures
Just a thought!
I was about to ask you how we can add Google Referral codes?
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I don't mind having extra adds on my site, but the ones that appear at the moment look like there for "Mail order brides"...would prefer something a little closer to the topic of film and entertainment instead.
Certainly if it increases my site revenue I'm all for experimenting with advertising.
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
Health Focus
Poetry Lighthouse
MS Paint Art
Re formatting, the ad to the right doesn't fit properly on the page, it would be better right next to the block of the post, catches the eye more readily, too, without its having to travel too far.
And hopefully with a corresponding click, and I do think there is a limit and a very small one of the number of times the 'same ad' no matter how relevant can be effective.
Another problem is when ads are apparently there but few click, they really do need some inducement.
The reader gets a lot for nothing if you ask me, and Google almost encourages it by not allowing some encouragement for clicking.
It seems Google is changing (not necessarily for the better) and I think this change is sending earnings DOWN.
Floaters of ads are not always available at the time one's blog is being read, that is how it strikes me.
Some feedback before too long would be appreciated.
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
Health Focus
Poetry Lighthouse
MS Paint Art
Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Comment by jon
Orble News
Blog Adviser
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Most screens are big enough now to accommodate the wider format.
Comment by Hazel Castillo
Working Title
Cirrus Cloud
Movie Dime
Parent Adventures
Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
Health Focus
Poetry Lighthouse
MS Paint Art
Comment by jon
Orble News
Blog Adviser
Jon's Bookmarks
Debate Battle
Orblepedia
Orble Notes
Thanks for your comments everyone. I realise the ads on the side do make the page quite wide but that seems to be about the new standard these days -- just over 1000 pixels.
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
Health Focus
Poetry Lighthouse
MS Paint Art
e.g. photography tips and mspaintart and even yours and others, not just mine, hope that is helpful, it is intended to be.
Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
What did you change?
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
Health Focus
Poetry Lighthouse
MS Paint Art
Comment by peeker
Film Peek
Gizmo Peek
Film Peek Forum
Well, my page looks pretty sick. The right sidebar is not in place (starts at the bottom of all content).
Also, I feel there is no need for two "ads" underneath the title-head. I mean, the link-ads don't generate much I would guess and it just makes the site look worse. Of course this has been like that before the changes, but I'm just saying again...
The links under the post (Email this post to a friend, blabla) are just waay too big-sized and too many as well. Makes the road from the post to the comments-section a bit long. As you know the simpler and clean things are kept, the better. We don't just hunt for revenue, but for great environment too.
Take a look at a smarter way to edit the title than the current, as you know it's not very ergonomic right now.
Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Things are off today. The ad at the right is neither at the top or bottom of my page but somewhere in the top1/3 of the page. I'm a cyber-dunce but I know what looks bad,
Comment by peeker
Film Peek
Gizmo Peek
Film Peek Forum
well I noticed that when I am in a post, the ads and everything looks alright, but when I'm in the startpage everything is off.
Also, it seems to me like the middle-post-part is a bit wider, which I like.
Thanks,
peeker
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
I can't believe you decided to do a format experiment just a few days before my blog is judged in the blog tournament at Writer's Resource Center! The Google ad tower on the right side of our blogs makes the blog look very lopsided and is about as asymmetrical as a blog can be.
Besides that, John Hewitt, who will judge my blog's design (among other things)--probably tomorrow--hasn't always had positive things to say about even a three-column design (preferring two) because of clutter. I can only imagine what he would have to say about this four-column monstrosity (no offense intended)--and I certainly don't intend to find out.
As I mentioned in my PM, I've changed over to the format with no Google ads--not because I wanted to, but because it's the only halfway decent configuration that has no Google ads on the right and no banner ads at the top. But, it, too, is somewhat asymmetrical , with two sidebars on the left. I prefer one on each side, which looks far better. That's practically become my blog's trademark; yet I won't use it with that ad configuration. Couldn't you give us the option of having the default template without banner ads and without the ad tower on the right? Even if you did so without any ads at all, it would be preferable to me to what I'm using now.
If you'll step back and really look critically at what the blogs actually look like with this ad setup, you'll see that the result is very esthetically unpleasing. It's great to make money with Google ads--but not at the expense of an attractive blog that makes people enjoy their visit and want to return.
I've been told my blog is very easy on the eyes. I'd sure like it to stay that way! And I certainly wouldn't mind having half a chance in the blog tournament, either! John Hewitt is a tough judge, who pulls no punches in his assessment of a blog; and blog design is one area that's very important to him. Only one blog in each pair judged goes on to the next round--and I'd certainly like it to be mine!
Thanks for hearing me out,
Jeanne
P.S. I really found it strange that you happened to change the ad configuration just as I was moving things around in my sidebar, which made me think I'd caused some type of configuration problem while doing that. Then, I began to notice that other blogs, including the Writer's Forum, were that way too, and I realized something must be up. I seriously doubted I could have done that to everyone's blog. (I have to confess, though, that I had a lot of trouble believing that you would have created such an unattractive design intentionally.)
P.P.S. Hope you'll bring things back to normal before tomorrow, because I've just noticed that the assessment for the two blogs being judged before mine and my first-round competitor's have just gone live--which means my blog is up next!
Comment by jon
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I'll probably make the change optional for those who don't mind the ads and would like the extra revenue. I'll be looking at the stats to see what kind of a difference it made.
Obviously the changes did not work properly for some blogs, I'll be having a look at that as well.
Comment by jon
Orble News
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Having the banner ad up the top all the time made a big difference however so we will be keeping that one.
The links underneath the banner continued to make a good contribution -- an average of $1.5 CPM out of an average total of around $5 CPM so we also need to keep them.
Sorry for the disruption everyone, we need to do these experiments from time to time to make sure things are optimised.
Again thanks for all the feedback - it's always very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Jon.
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
The banner ads are so tall that they dwarf my title banner, because they're actually larger than it is. This ruins the look of my blog. (I don't mind the links under the banner at all. I've always had those.)
I'd really like to go back to the default template, but the banner ads look very bad on my blog. Couldn't we choose between banner/link ads and only link ads along the top of the default template? I don't mind having the ads in the sidebar or in the blog itself.
After all, using only link ads at the top and keeping all the other ads in the blog, while it might not bring in as much revenue as banner ads would, is still better for both Orble and me than using the adless option. That way, I'd be able to go back to my symmetrical template and still have an attractive blog.
Would that be possible?
Jeanne
Comment by peeker
Film Peek
Gizmo Peek
Film Peek Forum
Please check it out,
thanks,
peeker
Comment by Jacqui Rogers
Gigs n Reviews
thinking out loud
I don't know whether my blogs are setup properly? Can we determine where ads are placed apart from within posts?
Thank you for your time,
Jacqui Rogers