Optimize AdSense Units to make more money. AdSense placement tips

Adsense is one of the most
common revenue
generators for blogs and websites. Usually you can drastically improve
your
click-through rate and overall earnings by positioning the ads wisely,
by
improving the content targeting or by optimizing the ad units directly.
Below I
will cover the last point, how to optimize the Adsense units with 8
simple
tips:

The
three top performing ad units are: 336×280 large rectangle,
300×250 inline
rectangle and 160×600 wide skyscraper. Consider using those
units if possible, but
bear in mind that other formats might be more suitable for your website
design.

The
most successful link color is blue. This fact is connected with the
roots of
the Internet where all major websites used to feature blue links.

Apart
from blue links you can also use a link color that matches the pattern
of your
website (i.e. If you use green links make the Adsense links of the same
color).

As
a general rule of thumb, blend (no border, same background) your
Adsense units
if your website has a light color scheme and contrast (border,
contrasting
background) the units if you are using a dark color scheme

If
the ads are placed within the content you should avoid using borders
while ad
units outside of the content can use borders to call attention.

If
your website has mainly repeat visitors (like Forums) you can rotate
the
background color of the units to reduce ad blindness

Consider
removing the “Advertise on this site”
message from your units. This can be done on the control panel under
the “My Account”
section, disabling the “Onsite Advertiser Sign-Up”
feature.

Test,
test and test. Every website is unique so make sure you test with
different
colors and formats and track the results to fine tune your Adsense
units.

The
first thing to consider is to what extent the Adsense units will
complement
your content with relevant links without annoying your readers. Placing
some ad
units right on the top of your website will certainly generate many
clicks, but
over the long term it could hurt your traffic if readers stop visiting
your
site due to the advertising intrusiveness.

The smooth way

In
order to decide what is the optimal Adsense positioning for your blog
you need
to define your priorities. If Adsense is not your main source of income
or if
you are concerned that intrusive ads might disturb your readers you
probably
should place the units separated from the main content.

A
good place to insert Adsense units without affecting the user
experience is at the
end of single posts. You can use either the large rectangle
(336×280) or the
banner (468×60). Alternatively you can also try adding a
Skyscraper to your
sidebar or a Leaderboard to the footer

Maximum click-through

People
looking to maximize their Adsense earning will find that ad units close
to the
header or blended with the content usually perform better. On single
post pages
you can add a large rectangle right below the post title, either above
the
content or floating next to it.

On
the Homepage you can add the Adsense units between posts and leverage
link
units. Link units look very similar to menus or navigation bars,
therefore if
you place those units on the right spot you could generate a very high
click-through rate.

Every blog is unique

Understanding
that your blog is unique is quite vital for placing ads successfully.
You
should always analyze what kind of responses you get from your visitors
by
placing the ads on different spots.

Finally,
remember that readers are the most important asset for a blog (i.e.
think twice
before getting a couple of Adsense clicks in exchange for an upset
reader).

Avoid tricks when placing ads

When
placing ads on your site do not try to trick the reader. By trick I
mean any
technique that will deceive the reader into thinking that a link or
image is
not an advertising when it actually is.

Examples
of such tactics include making Adsense unit links look like a
navigation bar or
text link ads that are placed under a “Recommended
Links” header. While those
techniques might increase your profits on the short run over the long
term they
will damage your readership base since a deceived visitor will probably
be
reluctant to return to your site.

If
you are providing quality content with non-intrusive and relevant ads
there is
no need to trick people. Readers will click on advertisings if they
find it
interesting or useful, and they will do it consciously which is a good
thing
both for you and for the advertiser.