Small Business Trends

Ezoic increases revenue six times over and EPMV four times over

2019

Background

Anita Campbell launched her newsletter, Small Business Trends, in 2003, following the internet boom. Since its humble beginnings, the newsletter has grown into an award-winning website with more than 1.5 million unique visitors per month. The site provides informative tips, news, and resources relevant to operating a small business.

In 2004, Campbell sought a way to monetize her growing site and decided on Google AdSense. Leland McFarland, CTO and Director of Ad Operations for Small Business Trends, kept a tedious log to track the ad combinations, revenue, and results of A/B testing in an attempt to optimize for user experience and revenue. Facing changing ad policies and a rising level of reporting, the site began experiencing a decline in revenue. Despite their best efforts, Campbell was ready to remove advertising from her site after revenue reached a 60% decrease.

Small Business Trends had attempted ad partners in the past and was left soured by the results. After hearing about Ezoic’s unique technology platform, they decided to give ads one more chance.

The website cautiously began a pilot with Ezoic’s Ad Tester in November 2017 on 10% of traffic.

Results

Small Business Trends saw positive but marginal results with Ezoic at 10%. The site initially resisted elements of Ezoic’s structure, as it was concerned an increase in ads would lead to a negative impact on the site’s integrity. After attending Ezoic’s digital publishing event, Pubtelligence, their viewpoint changed.

Small Business Trends’ Ezoic account manager instilled confidence in Campbell and McFarland by providing direct guidance and education about the platform. With a new perspective on the opportunities Ezoic provided, Small Business Trends sent 100% of their traffic through the platform. Results were immediate and the site saw its ad session revenue increase almost threefold overnight.

“Ezoic increased revenue to the point that we were making six times as much money. It really revitalized us in the sense that this passive ad revenue can make money,” said McFarland.

Beyond revenue, the website also receives invaluable insights about its analytics. Campbell uses data from Ezoic’s reporting platform, Big Data Analytics, to track which articles were most popular and lucrative. She is then able to build on past successes and deliver improved content she knows her readers will enjoy.

How Ezoic helped Small Business Trends

– Small Business Trends increased their Ezoic-tested traffic from 10% to 100% in October 2017. By the end of February, its daily revenue had increased by 637% and continues to grow.

– EPMV (earnings per thousand visitors) for Small Business Trends increased by 413% from integration day through the end of September 2018, indicating a positive relationship between revenue and user experience.

– In three months, Small Business Trends saw a 61% increase in page views, a 26% increase in engaged page views, and a 36% increase in average visit duration.