Extra Tip: Image and Video Sites

If the website or pages that you’re analyzing for color choice focus on images or video, your visitors most likely disregard the accompanying text. Such pages usually yield lower volume of clicks and revenues with in-text ads. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the extra income. For such web pages, try eye-catching colors that call for attention. While your visitors watch a video or an image, in-between the interesting parts, they’re usually looking for their next click. In such cases, the ad links should be easily identified and you shouldn’t worry too much about interrupting smooth reading (in most cases, your visitors don’t really read the entire text anyway). Make them shine.

Website Monetization Tip #2: Choosing the Text Ad’s Color

The Color of Money

The color of the ad links on your website’s pages has a significant impact on your potential revenues. When addressing the issue of the link’s format, I suggested that website publishers should make a clear distinction between the in-text ad links and other hyperlinks, preferably by using double underline format. This distinction may reduce clicks on the short term, but on the long term will improve your user experience and your bottom line revenues (read Tip #1). Choosing the right color for your ad links contributes to this distinction, but it has much more to it.

Attention without Interruption

The in text links appear within your content. They need to get a little attention from the reader, hinting that there’s an ad relevant to the highlighted term, subtly asking for permission from the reader. If she’s interested, she may hover with the mouse over the link, get some additional information, and then decide if she wants to click on the ad or continue reading. This permission process is essential to the success of the advertisement and of your website. But it’s not alone. Giving your website’s visitors the option to read smoothly through your content without interruption is crucial to your website’s user experience, which of course directly influences the usage and eventually earning patterns.

The color of the in text links should stand out from the text just enough to clearly present the link as an advertisement, but not too much, avoiding interruption to smooth reading.

Tasteful Design

The chosen color also needs to be part of the overall color pallet of the website. In other words, protect your tasteful design. In-text ads become part of the website’s general appearance and the color should match the surrounding environment. Now, there’s no magic matching formula. Some people like pink and brown together, others think it’s hideous. It is up to you – or your designer – to consider the general design of the website when choosing the ads’ color, not only money making considerations. Good design will contribute to the user experience and in the long term help building up your users’ satisfaction, which is crucial to your website and business.

Choosing your Color

And here’s the practical tip: choose quickly, and then choose again. And again. Yup, that’s the way. When you first integrate in-text, take a look at your website, and choose a color that you think would work. Don’t think too much, your guts can do this work for you. If you don’t like making such quick choices, simply stick with the default color that you get with the service. Then, give it a few days.

During this initial time, get some feedback. Ask your team, friends, visitors. Ask them specifically about the color, not a general question. And then, based on the feedback and your own taste, change the color. This should be very easy to do through your account with the in-text ads provider.

After you change the color, give it again a few days. Then, compare the statistics. In most cases, your in-text stats will provide you with a clear picture. Look for changes in the percentage of clicks out of your page impressions (click through rate, or CTR). Check the eCPM and bottom line revenues as well.

If there’s a change in the statistics, it would usually give you an answer about the right color for you. More money equals right color choice, in most cases. Attention: do give it a few days; testing for just one day may simply indicate visitors’ interest in the new color, not much more. If there’s no change in the statistics, then it’s up to your taste again. And if you’re still not sure, change the color again – it’s a click of a button and free of charge. And again. Until you find the right match, a color that gets you the clicks and revenues, matches your website’s overall appearance, but doesn’t interrupt smooth reading.