| If you're running a website and trying to earn | | | | and vertical placement. When you look at detailed |
| money on Google AdSense, or you are already | | | | AdSense reports you can view the performance |
| earning a decent amount from AdSense but want | | | | (impressions, clicks, CTR, eCPM, earnings) of each |
| to do better, you should consider optimizing your | | | | channel separately. |
| Google ads. | | | | Target high bid keywords that relate to your |
| Google already provides some optimization tips on | | | | page content. You need to use Google AdWords |
| its AdSense pages. The following ideas are an | | | | to figure out what keywords people are bidding |
| expansion on those tips, based on my experience | | | | highly on. For instance, if you have a page on |
| optimizing AdSense ads for my own website. I | | | | tradeshow booths, you may find that the |
| started with some of Google's own ideas, | | | | maximum current bid for 'tradeshow booth' is |
| validated them with experimentation on my site, | | | | $0.05. So you won't make much money on that. |
| and added to them, in order to get clickthrough | | | | But if you find another keyword, say 'tradeshow |
| rates and earnings per thousand impressions that | | | | kiosk', that has a minimum bid of $1.50, then |
| were significantly better than they had been when | | | | make sure that text occurs in your page (and |
| I started. | | | | belongs there - no keyword stuffing allowed!). |
| Here are some of the things I have learned about | | | | You'll get more ads targetted for 'tradeshow |
| maximizing Google AdSense revenue: | | | | kiosk' that return $1.50 per click, and fewer ads |
| Write for traffic: There is no point putting a page | | | | targeted for 'tradeshow booth' that get you |
| up with Google ads, or any other monetization | | | | $0.05. (These dollar amounts are fictitious and |
| option, if you are doomed to low traffic. This is | | | | used only for illustration.) For a single page, you |
| one of the most common mistakes website | | | | might change your payouts from as little as 2 |
| writers make: they write pages on keywords that | | | | cents per click to as much as 2 dollars per click |
| no one is searching for, or that many other sites | | | | just by making sure your page contains enough |
| already cover. You want to find keywords that | | | | instances of the high-bid keywords. Targetting |
| are relevant to your site concept, that are in | | | | your pages to contain the keywords with the |
| demand, and that have low supply. | | | | highest bids will help maximize income. Of course, |
| You can use a keyword brainstorming tool to find | | | | don't target keywords that are not relevant to |
| hundreds of keyword combinations that are in | | | | your page. 'Tradeshow kiosk' might be worth $2 |
| demand (many people searching) and with low | | | | per click, but no one reading an article on tropical |
| supply (few pages showing up in search results). | | | | fishes is going to click on that ad, and you may |
| By finding high-demand, low-supply keywords, | | | | be in violation of your agreement with Google if |
| you'll climb quickly to the top of the search results | | | | you try this (more on that below). |
| for the keyword you're writing on. A couple of | | | | Consider using banner ads, but don't expect to |
| days of brainstorming keywords should be enough | | | | make money on them directly. I suggest using |
| to keep you busy for months of writing. And | | | | graphic banner ads (for example, from |
| you'll be amazed at the results - the pages with | | | | advertisers using LinkShare or ShareASale) as |
| the highest ratio of demand to supply are almost | | | | part of your site masthead. You will probably get |
| always the biggest traffic winners. | | | | very few clicks on them, and may not make any |
| Write for 'Buy' mode: The ads need to be on | | | | money on them, but I have found that they |
| pages that cover topics where people are | | | | make a big difference to the clickthrough rate of |
| preparing to buy something. You should try to | | | | the other ads on the page. I had banner ads for |
| write pages where people are looking for a | | | | several months, then found they didn't get clicked |
| product or service. Pages that cover particular | | | | on, so I removed them and just had an illustration |
| types of products tend to generate lots of | | | | in my site banner. I later noticed that the |
| AdSense clicks. Other pages that cover | | | | clickthrough rate on all my other ads went down |
| information-only topics may still get lots of traffic | | | | by about 30%. I put the banner ads back, and lo |
| but far fewer clicks, because the people who | | | | and behold, people started clicking on the in-body |
| came to those pages weren't looking to buy | | | | ads again. |
| anything. | | | | Don't overwhelm the user with ads. Stick to at |
| Writing for 'Buy' mode helps in three ways. First | | | | most two Google ad units per page, and don't |
| off, people in 'Buy' mode (either ready to buy, or | | | | have any on your home page. You want your |
| researching before a purchase) are more likely to | | | | home page to lead people to pages on your site |
| respond to an ad that contains the type of | | | | where you can earn a high PPC or sell a product. |
| product they are looking for. Second, advertisers | | | | A home page full of ads is a turnoff; most people |
| are more likely to bid for ads on pages whose | | | | leave in a hurry without clicking any ads. An |
| content targets their products, so you'll get better | | | | ad-free home page that leads you to other helpful |
| targeted ads, and fewer non-paying public service | | | | pages on particular topics means the visitor is |
| announcements. And third, since advertisers are | | | | likely to click one of those links, and then may |
| more likely to bid on these pages, the bids tend | | | | click the AdSense ad on the target page. Ads |
| to be higher. Informational pages may get very | | | | that are front and center on your home page are |
| low PPC payouts (typically in the range of 1-10 | | | | also likely to turn off potential link partners or |
| cents per click) while 'Buy' mode pages can get | | | | others who might be inclined to send future traffic |
| PPC rates of a dollar or more. | | | | your way. |
| Use the right ad format in the right location: The | | | | Rethink the Most Wanted Response (MWR) for |
| ads that perform the best, according to the | | | | low-paying pages. If you have a high traffic page |
| optimization tips Google provides, are the | | | | that results in very low clickthroughs or very low |
| 336x280 text-and-graphics ads where the | | | | pay per click (PPC), such as the informational |
| background matches the site background color. I | | | | pages that don't address visitors in 'Buy' mode, |
| have experimented with 250x250, 300x250, | | | | you may be better off to use that page to drive |
| 338x280, skyscraper, banner, and link ads, and | | | | people to a Most Wanted Response that is also a |
| the 336x280 consistently outperform all the | | | | More Likely Response than an ad click. A 0.5% |
| others. | | | | clickthrough rate that pays 8 cents a click isn't |
| Where you place the ads is as important as which | | | | worth your while; if that's what you're getting on |
| format you choose. Google provides a heat map | | | | a particular page, and you haven't been able to |
| that shows that large, centered ads above the | | | | improve on it, scrap the ads and use the copy to |
| fold perform best, and my experiments confirm | | | | direct people to other actions that will help you |
| this. I have found that ads placed after the first | | | | monetize, either immediately or later. For example: |
| one or two paragraphs of text perform best. If | | | | lead them to a page where they will learn of the |
| the paragraphs are long (more than 8 lines | | | | benefits of a product, that may lead them to |
| between the two of them) place the link after | | | | either buy from your online store or your |
| the first paragraph. If they are short (e.g. 2 + 2) | | | | affiliates, or to click on an AdSense ad. Get them |
| place them after the second. The ads should be | | | | to sign up for your monthly e-zine, so that you |
| centered as well. | | | | can draw them back to your site another time, |
| Never break up grammatically related content | | | | when they may be in buy mode. |
| with an ad. You want to offer your visitor the | | | | Don't use AdSense on pages with a different |
| opportunity to see the ad, as they take a | | | | MWR. If your pages generate higher revenue in |
| breather in a logical place from the text copy. | | | | some other way, don't have AdSense on them. If |
| Putting your ad in the middle of a grammatically | | | | your MWR is that users sign up for a course, or |
| connected sequence (for example, between the | | | | buy a trade show booth, or subscribe to a |
| clause introducing a bulleted list, and the list itself) | | | | newsletter, because in the long run a user who |
| means the reader jumps straight past the ad to | | | | does this will earn you $2 or $5 or $20 or $100, |
| continue the grammatical sequence. No one likes | | | | then don't have any ads, which might only pay a |
| to stop halfway through an idea, or in the middle | | | | few cents, because the ads will take them away |
| of an incomplete grammatical structure, to read | | | | from your MWR. |
| an ad. | | | | Experiment! The above ideas are based on what |
| These factors (ad size, background, centering, and | | | | has worked on my website. They may not be |
| vertical placement) have a huge impact on | | | | what works on a blog, a community forum, or |
| clickthrough rates. In one experiment, I tried 36 | | | | some other type of website. Try different |
| different combinations of factors: three horizontal | | | | formats, placements, and so on, and see which |
| placements (text flowing left around ad, text | | | | works best for you. And remember to gather |
| flowing right, or ad centered with no text around | | | | enough data to validate that you have a correct |
| it); three vertical placements (after heading, after | | | | conclusion. For example, 100 impressions of two |
| first paragraph, after second paragraph); two ad | | | | different ad formats, with one generating 3 clicks |
| sizes (336x280, 300x250) and two palettes | | | | and the other 6, is not statistically significant. On |
| (background matching page background, or | | | | the other hand, 300 impressions, with one |
| background not matching). The best performers | | | | generating 3 clicks and the other generating 20, |
| by far were the 336x280 ads with blended | | | | probably is! |
| background, centered below the first or second | | | | Finally, don't violate your agreement with Google. |
| paragraph. The worst ads were left or right | | | | Make sure you never violate the AdSense terms |
| justified (allowing the user to just read around the | | | | and conditions, for example: |
| ad without pausing to see what the ad had to | | | | * Never click on your own ads, or ask friends or |
| offer); above the first paragraph (before you've | | | | family to do so, or otherwise artificially inflate |
| caught the reader's attention with your page | | | | your clickthrough rate |
| introduction); and with a non-matching ad | | | | * Never include incentives on your pages for |
| background. | | | | visitors to click ads |
| Finally, as far as ad placement goes, put another | | | | * Never disclose your clickthrough rate or other |
| similar formatted ad near the bottom of each | | | | AdSense statistics to others (except for your |
| page (if the page is more than a screen or two | | | | gross payments from AdSense). |
| of text) so that anyone who reads down to the | | | | * Never place excessive, repetitive, or irrelevant |
| end has an opportunity to click on an ad when | | | | keywords on pages containing AdSense ads |
| they get down there. If they reach the bottom | | | | * Never show more AdSense units per page than |
| and all you offer them is a link to the home page | | | | allowed. The current limit is three ad units and |
| or a site map, that's where they'll click (if they | | | | three link units. |
| don't leave your site altogether). If there's an ad | | | | Also, set up your AdSense account so that only |
| there, they might just click that! | | | | websites you authorize can host your ads. This |
| A side note to all of this: Make sure to apply | | | | can prevent some forms of abuse where a |
| appropriate custom channels to all of your ads | | | | competitor, for example, throws your publisher ID |
| when you create them, and create URL channels | | | | on a page elsewhere, and then clicks on that ad |
| for all pages on your site that have AdSense ads. | | | | repeatedly, which makes Google consider you to |
| If you want to actually measure performance and | | | | be in violation of your agreement, even if you |
| adjust your AdSense strategy to focus on | | | | didn't do it yourself. |
| high-performing ad formats and pages, make sure | | | | If you follow the above guidelines, you should see |
| to use both URL channels and custom channels in | | | | much better clickthrough rates and higher earnings |
| your AdSense setup. URL channels let you track | | | | per click for a little extra work. Just don't lose |
| the performance of each page separately, so you | | | | sight of the importance of providing quality |
| can discover which pages are already highly | | | | content to your users. If you focus only on ad |
| profitable, and which ones are worth optimizing. | | | | revenue, your content will suffer, and people will |
| Custom channels let you set different attributes | | | | stop coming to your site. There's no point having |
| to ads in different formats or positions; I used | | | | a high clickthrough rate if your traffic is plunging |
| custom channels to track ad size, color, horizontal | | | | towards zero! |