|pros • per • ly|

One of the ways I monetize LawnCareDirectory.com is by adding Google Adsense on a few of the pages. Well in order to maximize the amount I make on these pages I have tested different kinds of ad sizes. Well recently I did a Crazyegg report that showed me which of the two ads were getting clicked more.

The two different ads I used were the lartge rectangle and the horizontal banner. The major thing I was testing with the banner was to include related images above the banner trying to make them line up as closely as possible with the 4 Google ads. As shown below:

I was very surprised by the results. Here is a snapshot of the Crazyegg report. The little dots are actual visitor clicks.

As you can see the horizontal banner with the images above it got 68 of the 115 clicks that were done on this page. The large rectangle which 4 years ago was said to be the most effective Adsense size, got 1 click. This could be attributed to the fact that the medium rectangle is partly below the fold but the difference between the two is significant. You can also see that many people clicked on the images of the houses themselves even though these do not link to anything.

Recently Clearvieweducation.com has made some good improvements in it’s search engine rankings (#4 for online college degrees). Within a 24 hour span I received two emails from different companies asking if I would consider selling the site. Of course I said I would if the price was right. Well after sharing the site info and revenue I got a legitimate offer for the site at $32,160. Here is a snapshot of the email:

Now you need to understand that Clearvieweducation.com falls under the “Prosperly” category for websites. If you have read the Prosperly Way you know exactly what I am talking about. It cost $6 a month to run, takes almost no time, sells no product (provides leads to online schools), has a 100% profit margin and has no customer service. In other words, it makes money on auto pilot. This particular site right now is only making about $1200 a month on average. Based on that a $32160 offer does seem pretty high, but because the site is a Prosperly website the value is much higher to potential investors.

That is why I turned it down. Because I know the potential of the site and it is much more than that figure. Yes, having an extra $30k in my pocket is tempting until you consider that $8000 goes to the government, I gladly give $3216 to my church as tithing and I would be left with $20,944. That is definitely selling myself short with a Prosperly site.