In the fast-paced world of digital publishing, staying ahead means making informed decisions backed by solid data. With the release of MGID’s new Advanced Reporting interface on the Publishers’ Dashboard, media owners now have a powerful tool at their fingertips. Whether you’re troubleshooting a sudden drop in metrics or strategizing for the month ahead, here’s how you can make the most of the reporting capabilities to boost your revenue.
1. Daily Health Checks: Monitor Key Metrics to Stay on Track
Start each day by reviewing your account's overall performance, such as RPM/eRPM (Revenue per Mille). In case of RPM/eRPM fluctuations, particularly related to essential widget metrics like CPM (Cost Per Mille) and CTR (Click-Through Rate), navigate to the Widget level reporting and use the Date dimension to view daily performance. If you notice any significant drops:
- Filter by device type and country: Identify if the issue is isolated to a specific audience segment. If the GEO proportion has changed and you started delivering more traffic from countries with a lower CPC, the average CPC will decrease.
- Check traffic sources: Use the Traffic Source filter to see if certain channels are underperforming. Determine if direct, referral or organic traffic is contributing to the fluctuation.
- Check device/OS/traffic type breakdown: Advertisers pay different prices for various devices, OS and traffic types, so any shift in these proportions can lead to CPC changes.
- Adjust accordingly: Consider tweaking your content or ad placements for the affected segments.
2. Troubleshooting Traffic Fluctuations: Pinpoint and Resolve Issues
Sudden changes in traffic can impact your revenue. To diagnose the problem:
- Use the website level filters: Apply filters like OS, Traffic Type and Website to narrow down potential causes.
- Analyze page views and visibility rate: Any changes in visibility rate can affect the CTR of MGID ads. Common reasons for visibility rate fluctuations include changes in traffic composition, technical issues or sending traffic to longer articles with more elements on the page.
- Analyze country/device/OS/traffic type breakdowns: Similar to CPC analysis, breakdowns can reveal if traffic composition changes are affecting CTR.
- Take action: Fix any technical issues or adjust your SEO strategies to recover lost traffic. Making use of MGID’s SEO Audit tool could be an important leverage.
3. Experimentation: Optimize Widget Placements, Formats, Designs and/or Compositions for Better Engagement
Testing different widget placements, formats, designs and/or compositions can lead to higher engagement and revenue. Here’s how to experiment effectively:
- Leverage the SubID dimension: At the Widget level, use the SubID parameter to tag different design experiments. Experiment with page layout, placements and traffic sources.
- Compare performance metrics: Look at Ad CTR, Visibility Rate and vCTR across different SubIDs.
- Filter by widget placement type: Understand which placements yield the best results.
- Implement winning variations: Roll out the most successful designs site-wide.
4. Audience Analysis: Tailor Content for Your Visitors
Understanding your audience is key to delivering relevant content and ads. Dive deep into audience insights by:
- Filtering by country and device type: At both Website and Widget levels, see how different segments interact with your content.
- Assessing organic clicks and CTR: High organic engagement indicates resonating content.
- Grouping by OS and traffic source: Fine-tune your site’s compatibility and marketing efforts for predominant user groups.
- Customize content: Adjust your editorial strategy to cater to your most valuable audiences.
5. Strategic Reviews: Monthly Performance and Future Planning
At the end of each month, it’s crucial to review performance and plan ahead:
- Compile monthly reports: Use the Date dimension to aggregate data over the month.
- Evaluate ad revenue metrics: Focus on Ad RPM, Ad Revenue and Ad CPC to assess monetization efficiency.
- Identify trends: Look for patterns in Traffic Type and Traffic Source to inform future strategies.
- Analyze widget-level performance: If there are multiple websites in your account, identify the website(s) that had the greatest impact on performance. Once identified, check the widget level, with the most relevant indicators being CPM/eCPM. The widget-level analysis flow is similar to RPM/eRPM.
- Set goals: Based on insights, establish targets for the coming month and outline action plans.
Harness the Full Potential of Advanced Reporting
The Advanced Reporting interface is more than just a data tool. It is your gateway to smarter decision-making and enhanced revenue. By regularly engaging with these reports and utilizing the robust filters, metrics and dimensions available, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of your site’s performance and audience behavior.
Don’t hesitate to seek help if needed. If no clear issues can be identified, reach out to your personal manager for a detailed analysis.
Remember, the key to success in advertising lies in continuous monitoring, experimentation and adaptation. So dive into the data, uncover insights and watch your publishing business thrive.
