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If you have
used AdSense for a while you must have begun to ask yourself if
there's anything you could do to improve your earnings. One of
the key influences on your earnings is the positioning of the
ads on your web page.
The first thing
you should know is that there is no universal position that is
guaranteed to improve your earnings; everyone you talk to will
have their own pet theory which has ‘proven to increase clicks
by 1000%’! That being said, experimenting and playing with
variations is something you should do. You have to try as many
setups as you can to find the solution with the greatest
benefit.
Accept as a
starting point that certain places usually work better then
others. Of course, Google recognizes this and they publish a
"heat map" which highlights areas on web pages which tend to
generate the most clicks (you can find this useful information
within the Google AdSense site at:
https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=17954
). Experimenting is often the best way you can find, what suits
the sub conscious mind of your audience.
Generally the
most profitable ads are placed within the main content,
generally right above it. But this is by no means a rule and
there are some exceptions to it. One known exception is having a
news site or something similar to a new site.
If this is your
case, you will often find that you generate more earnings by
placing your ads at the bottom of the content, right before
comments begin. This is because as users finish reading a story,
they have a short moment where they're looking for something
more to do. And your AdSense ads can offer them that something.
Also, placing
ads to the left side of your page seems to work better almost
all the time. Of course, this is logical because text is
generally written from left to right (unless you come from
certain countries where it's the other way around).
People will
finish a sentence and return their eyes to the left position,
which means they have a higher chance of spotting your ads.
Also, there's a
bit more to this then just having ads visually in the right
place. If you have more then one ad you have to worry about
where they're located in the code as well. And there's a very
good reason for this concern.
AdSense fills
the ads in the order it finds them in the source. That means
that if the first add you have in the code isn't the one
generating the highest revenue, you may soon start to lose
money, rather then earn more.
This is because
if AdSense doesn't have anymore ads it will supplement your
space with public service ads or just leave it blank altogether.
That means that, if you're unlucky, you could end up with your
most profitable locations not having any good ads at all.
There are other
issues with how many ads you should place in your site. The
problem is that if you have too many, rather then generate more
income, you'll have a lower click through rate, as visitors tend
not to follow ads from the places where these come in excess.
You have to
constantly keep track of how the users interact with your site.
Keep an eye out for where the visitors will be looking at your
site most. This is generally the place where you want to use
your first ads. Also try not to place ads in annoying positions
as that can guarantee a lower click through rate.
Of course, you
always need to have ads that blend in with your content and
generally don't make the visitor's presence on your site an
unpleasant one. The key is providing an enjoyable experience for
your visitor, whilst generating revenues from their exploration.
And again,
ultimately the best revenue will be earned through a lot of
experimentation. Be sure to use AdSense's channels feature and
be on the look out for how certain ads in your pages are doing
whilst altering the positions to better supplement your
earnings.
© Robert Warlow
Robert runs a
number of websites focusing on ideas and tips for small
businesses, and people running online businesses. Check out his
websites for free newsletters, e-books and articles:
http://www.smallbusinesssuccess.biz ,
http://www.smallbusinessloansecrets.com ,
http://www.marketingtipsandideas.com and
http://www.internetmarketingtipsandideas.com
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