Tag Archives: Best Practice

The Need for Mobile Speed

Cross-posted from the DoubleClick for Publishers Blog
Today, we’re excited to share insights from a new study on how mobile speed can impact user engagement and publisher revenue. As people’s expectations for mobile experiences have grown, simply loading on a mobile device is no longer enough. Mobile sites must be fast and relevant.
Unfortunately, based on our analysis of 10,000+ mobile web domains, we found that most mobile sites don’t meet this bar: the average load time for mobile sites is 19 seconds over 3G connections.1 That’s about as long as it takes to sing the entire alphabet song!2
Slow loading sites frustrate users and negatively impact publishers. While there are several factors that impact revenue, our model projects that publishers whose mobile sites load in 5 seconds earn up to 2x more mobile ad revenue than those whose sites load in 19 seconds.3 The study also observed 25% higher ad viewability4 and 70% longer average sessions5 for sites that load in 5 seconds vs 19 seconds.
That’s why we’ve been so focused on mobile-first solutions to help publishers succeed — from our participation in the nearly year old AMP project, to our launch of a scalable native advertising solution, to our investment in products that help publishers increase revenue while minimizing latency.
Never before has mobile speed been more important.


3...2...1… gone

Slow page load times are a big blocker:
  • 53% of visits are likely to be abandoned if pages take longer than 3 seconds to load6
  • One out of two people expect a page to load in less than 2 seconds7
  • 46% of people say that waiting for pages to load is what they dislike the most when browsing the web on mobile devices8

We all know this first hand — if you’re looking for something on your phone, how long will you wait if the page takes more than a few seconds to load?
The three major factors that slow down mobile sites are file size, the number of server requests, and the order in which the different elements of the page are loaded. We found:
  • The average size of the content on mobile sites is 1.49 MB, which takes 7 seconds to load over 3G connections9
  • Mobile pages make an average of 214 server requests, and nearly half of all server requests are ad-related10

Getting up to speed

There are many tools out there to help diagnose the problem and fix it. We recommend a 3-step process to speed up mobile sites:
  • Assess the current performance of the site using tools like PageSpeed Insights, Mobile-Friendly Test, and Web Page Test.
  • Execute changes that eliminate bulky content, reduce the number of server requests, and consolidate data and analytics tags. Switch up the element order and select the minimum number of pieces to show above the fold first — styling, javascript logic, and images accessed after the tap, scroll or swipe can be loaded later.
  • Monitor performance after making changes and run A/B tests to regularly audit the setup of your site, flagging and removing anything that adds latency.

You should also investigate open source solutions like Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and Progressive Web Apps.
To learn more about our study and the steps you can take to improve the experience on your mobile site, check out our guide, “The Need for Mobile Speed” [g.co/MobileSpeed]
Posted by Alex Shellhammer & Juliette Neel
Publisher Marketing

1 Webpagetest.org, Sampled 11.8K global mWeb homepage domains loaded using a fast 3G connection timing first view only (no cached resources), February 2016
2 NPR, “Keep Flu At Bay With A Song”, April 2009
3 Google Data, Aggregated, anonymized Google Analytics and DoubleClick AdExchange data from a sample of mWeb sites opted into sharing benchmark data, n=4.5K, Global, June 2015 - May 2016
4 DoubleClick for Publishers, Google Active View ad viewability for 10.7K mWeb homepage domains with >70% measurable ad viewability, Global, February 2016
5 Google Data, Aggregated, anonymized Google Analytics data from a sample of mWeb sites opted into sharing benchmark data, n=3.5K, Global, March 2016
6 Google Data, Aggregated, anonymized Google Analytics data from a sample of mWeb sites opted into sharing benchmark data, n=3.7K, Global, March 2016
7 Akamai Technologies - 2014 Consumer Web Performance Expectations Survey
8 Google Webmaster Central Blog, "#MobileMadness: a campaign to help you go mobile-friendly", April, 2015
9 Webpagetest.org, Sampled 11.8K global mWeb homepage domains loaded using a fast 3G connection timing first view only (no cached resources), February 2016
10 Webpagetest.org, Sampled 11.8K global mWeb homepage domains loaded using a fast 3G connection timing first view only (no cached resources), February 2016

Source: Inside AdSense


3 easy tips to build a relationship with your audience

Drawing new visitors to your site is only half of the battle. Having a plan for them to follow once they get there is the key to encouraging repeat visits and building a meaningful relationship with your readers.

To engage user-focused design for your site, it’s important to consider the following:


1. Keep It Simple

Gating desirable content can be a great way to learn more about visitors by prompting them to fill out a form or sign up for your newsletter to access it. However, roughly 67% of users will abandon an effort to obtain information or purchase something online if there are too many steps to take. Make sure your users get what they need in as few steps as possible. Matched content is another way to keep visitors from checking out too soon by increasing your odds of presenting them with content they are directly interested in.

2. Identify User Moments

People often look for inspiration and ideas while they complete a task online. Anticipating your visitors’ needs can help you set up your site to better serve them so you can capture and capitalize on these important moments. Whether they are purchasing something or just browsing, presenting this information in the right format can greatly increase the amount of time they spend on your site. 



For example, if you’re an eCommerce site selling chocolates, having recommendations alongside each product such as gift boxes, complementing candy, and drink pairings can get your site visitor thinking about the holidays or gifts for their loved ones.

3. Create engaging Calls to Action 

Bold “sign up” buttons and friendly prompts or reminders move visitors to take action. From bold colors and text to exaggerated size and other visual clues, there are a number of ways to make these important actions stand out on your site and even fun for users to engage with. In fact, our own AdSense team tested different campaign graphics on our marketing campaigns and saw higher implementation and engagement rates.
 

To learn more about familiarizing your audience with your brand, check out the AdSense Guide to Audience Engagement.


Posted by Jay Castro
From the AdSense Team

Source: Inside AdSense


How to make the most of Matched content

Matched content is a recommendation tool that allows you to promote relevant content from your site and sponsored content to your visitors. Matched content can help capture visitor attention and loyalty by showing relevant content which could increase pageviews on your site. Here’s a few tips to help you get started with Matched content.

Strategically place your ads to improve viewability.

According to a Think With Google study, “56.1% of all impressions are not seen.” So when determining the placement of your Matched content units, think about which spot(s) would improve viewability and engagement. To increase these metrics we recommend placing this unit directly below your article and either above or below your ad unit. This way readers can easily click on the next piece of content that is interesting to them. Placing it directly below the article often drives higher click-through rates (CTR) than other placements.



Since Matched content units help your users learn more about similar content, you should think about placing it at points in your website where your user will engage more with the content.

Track performance.
To determine if your placement is effective for your site, be sure to track the performance of your Matched content units. Understanding performance is key to maximizing your ad revenue and satisfying your readers. On your Performance reports tab, you’ll see an updated way to view two metric families -- the Overview metric family and the Matched content metric family:
Overview metric family

Selecting this metric family will allow you to understand how much you’re earning from your Matched content units and how these units compare to other ad units on your site. You can also review metrics such as impressions, clicks, and estimated earnings.

Matched content metric family

To get a more detailed performance of your ads and recommendations, use this metric family to view metrics like total impressions, ad impressions, ad clicks, ad revenue per thousand impressions (RPM), and recommendation clicks. Since this metric family is more specific, you should be able to use this data to optimize the ad unit itself.

To see all metric offerings and how they work, take a look at the AdSense Help Center.

By optimizing your Matched content units, you will allow your readers to learn more about topics they are interested in and potentially increase your site’s engagement rate and revenue. If you do not currently have Matched content but are looking to add the feature, determine if you’re eligible by viewing our Help Center article.


Posted by Bserat Ghebremicael
From the AdSense team




Source: Inside AdSense


Measure what kind of content is a hit or miss with the fans



With the summer kicking off, it’s a great time to freshen up your content and try new things to #drawthecrowds. Google Analytics can help you measure what kind of content is a hit or miss with the fans. Here are a few simple and effective places to get started.


1. Find out where to focus
Content Groups let you bundle your offerings to analyze them more clearly. Instead of analyzing all sneakers at once, for instance, a shoe company might divide content into soccer boots, golf shoes, tennis shoes and so on. You can view and compare aggregated metrics by group, or drill down to any individual URL or page title.




Know what topics have the best AdSense CTRs (Click-through-rate)
  • Group content by topic (such as food, politics and sport). 
  • Use the AdSense Pages report to view metrics.
Once you discover which topics have the best click-through rates, you could then focus on creating more content for those topics.

Know which content groups have slow-loading pages
  • Use Site Speed reports to look at page load performance. 
  • Group products by type (such as shirts and shoes).
Are some pages very slow to load? You might focus on fixing uncompressed images to improve the user experience (and potentially your AdSense revenue). Check out Google’s PageSpeed tool to test the speed of your mobile site.

Content Groups are easy to set up. Learn how to create them and then follow these best practices from Google Analytics evangelist, Justin Cutroni.



2. Understand where your users enter and leave on your site The Landing Pages report can show you how engaged visitors are with your content. You can analyze individual pages or Content Groups.

Know what pages cause visitors to leave
  • Look for pages with high bounce rates. This usually surfaces content that isn't appealing to visitors or is irrelevant to their needs.
  • Try changing the headline of your article or finding different images to see how that affect bounce rates.
  • Look at Google Trends to see what the world is interested in, then think about how you can incorporate it into your content. Sport is sure to be high on the agenda this summer.
  • You may also want to analyze the page speed for pages with high bounce rates; visitors may be giving up on a very slow-loading page. Studies have shown that 74% of mobile web users are only willing to wait 5 seconds or less for a single web page to load before leaving the site.
Both Content Groups and Landing Page reports can help you find underperforming pages on your site and take action to fix them.



3. Get to know your users 

Demographics and Interests data helps you understand the age and gender of your users, as well as their interests based on their online browsing and buying.


Know who your visitors are:
  • Click on Demographics Report; Select a demographic category.  
  • Check the bounce rate. If it’s high, consider changing the headline or the visuals to make your pages more relevant and engaging for your target audience.
Know what your users are interested in:
  • Generate and analyze an Interests report.
  • Then shape your content based on the user interests you see. If viewers of your bakery blog are interested in a big sports event, see how you can incorporate that theme into your baking content.
To get started with the Demographics and Interests reports, you will need to enable them in your Analytics account.

The key to making your site better this summer is to jump into the data, have fun, and experiment. If you can find out what works and do more of it, you’re sure to draw the crowds. Have any ideas to share about using these reports? Add them in the comments below!



Posted by Jay Castro, from the AdSense team




Source: Inside AdSense


Create relevant content to #drawthecrowds


If you’re looking to #drawthecrowd to your site this summer, be sure that you’re familiar with the top-searched keywords and have a plan in place to create relevant content for it. For example, leverage Google Trends to identify the trending searches around Halloween. Using this insight, content can transition from ideas to evergreen articles that resonate with your users year after year.

If you’re looking for content ideas, think about this summer and cultural events the world will be searching to stay connected and informed about. Several big sporting events are happening this summer that will likely have a good amount of search interest considering past trends. For example, football related searches grew 180% during the soccer World Cup in 2014.[1]



When building your content strategy and timelines, think about important dates, specific games and popular keywords. Think with Google released an infographic showcasing that 70% of game-related searches happen in the month surrounding game day vs. the day itself. Their research shows that these events are more like a month-long series of digital moments–each one an opportunity to connect with fans through search, mobile, and video. 

Here are a few search related resources to help you optimize your site and your content: 
Regardless of what type of site you have, ask yourself if you’re providing your users with the content they need and want. 




Posted by Barbara Sarti,  from the AdSense Team

[1] https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/es-419/articles/marketing-copa-america-latam.html

Source: Inside AdSense


Earn more from mobile: 3 rules and 6 best practices

However important mobile is to your business today, it will become even more critical tomorrow.

That's true whether you’re blogging about your favorite sports team, building the site for your community theater, or selling products to potential customers. Your visitors simply must have a great experience when they visit your site on their mobile devices.

Research has found that 61% of users will leave a mobile site if they don’t see what they are looking for right away. 

Sites that are not mobile-friendly expect users to pinch, slide, and zoom in order to consume content. It’s a frustrating experience when users expect to find the information they’re looking for right away, but are presented with obstacles to obtain that information. This is what causes users to abandon sites. 

To create a mobile-friendly site, follow these three rules:

  1. Make it fast. Research shows that 74% of people will abandon a mobile site that takes more than 5 seconds to load.
  2. Make it easy. Research shows that 61% of users will leave a mobile site if they don’t find what they're looking for straight away.
  3. Be consistent across screens. Make it easy for users to find what they need no matter what device they're using.

It's also important to think about your ads when you're designing or fine-tuning your mobile-friendly site. Focus on creating a flow between your content and your ads for the ultimate user experience and maximum viewability. Consult your analytics data and set events to track and understand where your users are most receptive to ads.

Here are some mobile-friendly ad best practice tips:

  1. Swap out the 320x50 ad units for 320x100 for a potential RPM increase.
  2. Place a 320x100 ad unit just above the fold or peek the 300x250 -- that is, place a portion of the ad unit just above the fold (ATF).
  3. Use the 300x250 ad unit below the fold (BTF) mixed in with your content.
  4. Prevent accidental clicks on enhanced features in text ads by moving ad units 150 pixels away from your content.
  5. Consider using responsive ad units, which optimize ad sizes to screen sizes and work seamlessly with your responsive site.  
  6. Test your site. Pick the metrics that matter most to you – then experiment with them.

The ad experience on your site should be designed with your mobile users in mind, just like the site itself. 

There are many ways to improve your users’ mobile experience on your site. Download the AdSense Guide to Mobile Web Success today, and find out more on how to make mobile a major asset to your business.



Posted by: 
Chiara Ferraris 
Publisher Monetization Specialist
@chiara_ferraris

Source: Inside AdSense


Optimize your mobile page speed to keep users coming back

Using the Internet on mobile phones is now the standard. 60% of Internet users access the Internet through their phones, 94% of American smartphone users search for local information on their phones, and 77% of mobile searches occur at places where desktop computers are available (according to the eMarketer Global Mobile Landscape 2015 report).

For publishers, this new reality means that your sites have to be mobile-friendly. It's the only way to offer your existing users a good mobile experience and to hold onto new users who are visiting your site for the first time. That said, a mobile-optimized site alone isn't enough to compete in the new multi-screen world. Optimizing performance for faster page loads and easier navigation will keep users coming back and drive your business forward in a competitive marketplace.


Slow-loading sites, broken video players and redirects were among the top frustrations reported by 570 respondents in a recent Google poll when asked about their experience browsing the Web on mobile devices. 

Given the instant nature of mobile, the competition to capture the attention of users has intensified. On average, 74% of people will abandon a mobile site if it takes longer than five seconds to load, yet the average mobile page on the web still takes 6 to 10 seconds to load, according to Kinsta. Every one-second delay in page load decreases customer satisfaction by 16% and page views by 11%, according to Aberdeen Group Research. 

If you want to improve your mobile site's performance, consider the following recommendations:

  1. Render blocking resources - There’s too much external JS/CSS that needs to be loaded before the user can see anything. Load only what's absolutely needed to serve the user's query. Async everything where possible.
  2. Browser caching - Keep resources that your page depends on on your device for as long as possible.
  3. Optimize images - Don't send large images meant for desktop to your phone. Also use image compression tech in your CMS, which can mean up to 90% data savings.
  4. Minify JavaScript - Trim the fat. You should consider keeping your more complex page logic secret or simplify the logic if you only need simple functions like to power a drop-down, an image gallery and/or some share buttons. 

The ideal load time for a mobile site is one second. To avoid frustrating users with slow pages, optimize your critical rendering path to unblock rendering, and enable progressive rendering to do its work in the background. 

A fast site leads to easier discovery, better user retention and more and longer site visits. We hope that these recommendations will move you closer to your page speed goal and give all of your users a smooth and enjoyable experience. 

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Google+ to engage in our conversation around the #MobileWeb and help our users #SeetheFullPicture on mobile phones.  




Posted by: Jason Le
Google AdSense Team, South East Asia Lead


Source: Inside AdSense


[VIDEO] You’re In Control

A question we often hear from our AdSense publishers is: "How do I block ads that I don't want on my site?" So that's the topic of the latest video in our #AdSense101 series.

In this video, we’ll show you how to block individual ads from showing on your site and even whole topic categories like ads about sports and fitness or politics. It’s important to remember that when you block an advertiser, it could reduce the competition on your ad auctions and impact your earnings. So be sure to use this feature wisely.

Stay tuned for other #AdSense101 videos throughout the year.

Is there something else you’d like to learn more about? Let us know in the comments below.  

Check out our previous videos to learn more:


Posted by Barbara Sarti, from the Google AdSense team

Source: Inside AdSense


Live Hangout on Air: Learn how to get started with AdSense

Join us for an upcoming live stream titled: “Grow your business with ads on your site”. In this 30 minute live Hangout on Air, you’ll learn how to earn money from your online content. Register now and join us, live on May 30th, at 11:00 a.m. GMT.


When you register, you’ll also receive updates and training materials designed to help you get started with AdSense and earn money from your online content. 

If you can’t attend the live event and you’re interested, be sure to register and we’ll share the link to the recording after.

If you have any questions you’d like to ask please submit them on the HOA event page or during the event and we’ll try to answer them live. 

See you online.

For more information about AdSense, follow us on Twitter and G+ or hear from our publishers.

Posted by: 
Oisin O'Connor
From the Google AdSense team

Source: Inside AdSense


[eBook] Learn how to increase audience engagement

Did you know that roughly 61% of users abandon a site if they don't find what they’re looking for right away?1 As hard as you work to get visitors to your site, you have to work even harder to keep them there.


Unfortunately, there isn’t a clever hack to keeping your users engaged. However, if you understand the intent of your users and provide unique content that’s relevant to their interests, you’ll be on your way to increasing engagement on your site.


Download our guide to audience engagement to learn more about best practices and tips to drive better results for both your users and business. Get your free copy today.



We’d love to hear your feedback on how this guide, connect with us on  Google+ and Twitter using #AdSenseGuide.




Posted by Jay Castro
from the AdSense team




1) Think with Google, What users want from mobile sites

Source: Inside AdSense