"Making the Most out of Google Adsense"
by Merle
Published on this site: September 21st, 2005 - See
more articles from this month
Google Adsense is a great way for any website owner to earn
a nice income simply by placing ads on his or her website.
The ads are taken from their Adwords Program, and what is
shown on the page relates to the content or the theme of that
particular page. For example, a page about dogs would rotate
ads for pet-related products and services.
Before you decide it must be pretty simple to just throw
some Google ads on your pages and go lay on a beach somewhere
while the money rolls in, think again. There really is an art and a "science" to
optimizing your website to work well with the advertisements.
Remember, you don't get paid unless people click, so before
you just plaster the ads in any old space here are some tips
to consider straight from Google and other online resources.
- Horizontal display of 4 image ads:
I found this tip on a forum. There's been some talk that
placing a horizontal row of images right above a leaderboard
ad format works very well for drawing attention and increasing
click thrus. For more on this read the thread yourself at
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum89/7961.htm
- Blend:
You don't want the ads to "intrude" on your content,
rather make them "blend" as if they are part of
your content.
- Placement:
Above the fold placement is better for maximum eye attention.
Visualize the monitor as a piece of paper and cut it in
half horizontally. Try to place your ads in the top section
and to the left.
- Wider:
Per Google, a wider footprint is better then taller; maybe
because it can hold more content and make it easier to read
without dropping down line after line. Google claims the
most effective sizes for click thrus are 326X280, 300X250
(inline rectangle),160X600 (wide skyscraper).
- More is Better:
To generate more revenue, put ads on every single page of
your site if it works for your set up. This will result
in more ad views and more chances for actual click thrus.
- Multiple Ad Units:
Try putting more than one ad unit on a page. Google allows
3 ad units maximum on any one page of your site.
- Colors:
When choosing colors for your ad layouts, try to pick ones
that complement and go with your web pages. If you'd like
to keep it fresh, you can select up to four rotating color
palettes when generating your ad code. This may help keep
your site's frequent visitors from "tuning out"
your ads.
- Google Search:
Google offers a "search box" function you can
add to your site, which will give you yet another opportunity
to generate income. For more on this, see
http://www.google.com/services/adsense_tour/page6.html
Users can search just Google or your entire website. If
they click on any of the ads on the "search results"
page you'll earn money.
- Link Units:
Another ad format you can add to your site is called "link
units." These are smaller text ads ranging in six sizes
from 120X90 pix to 728X15 pixels. You can add one link unit
to the already allowed 3 ad units per page, giving you a
maximum of four ad units on a page. Again, it gives you
another opportunity for click thrus. For more on link units,
see:
http://tinyurl.com/dcxlo
- Channels:
Use channels to track different ad formats and color schemes
to find out which ad units are working best, and utilize
that information to tweak and refine your site. For more,
see
http://tinyurl.com/8ghr2
- Image Ads:
With Adsense you can opt in to show only text based ads
or a combination of both text and image ads. Make sure you're
utilizing the image format as this additional option opens
up more advertising opportunities for your site. Google will show image ads when they have a higher value
to you then the normal text ad units would. For more info
see
http://tinyurl.com/aupod
- Public Service Ads:
When Google can't find ads for a page on your site they
show what's called "public service ads." By replacing these ads with
your own ads, perhaps for affiliate programs you may be
involved with, you'll have more chances of earning some
revenue instead of giving it away to Google. For more, see
http://tinyurl.com/7qqfs
Not all of these tips will work for every website owner.
You'll want to test different ad formats, colors and placements
to find out what works best
with your site. There is no one size fits all so use this
information as a general guideline for tweaking your pages.
- Section Targeting:
By adding special tags you're assisting Google in knowing
where the "real content" is on your pages which
results in more targeted ads and hopefully higher click
thru rates for you. See more on this at
http://tinyurl.com/djacg
or over at Dave Taylor's site at
http://tinyurl.com/ag69t
- Adsense for Feeds:
Another way to get more ad exposure is this beta program
where you can include ads in your RSS feeds. It's limited at this time;
see
http://tinyurl.com/9ypkf
Many ebooks have been written on this subject. If you'd
like to investigate further, see:
Growing Your Business with Google by Dave Taylor
http://tinyurl.com/dy2j3
"What Google Never Told You About Making Money with
AdSense"Ebook by Joel Comm
http://www.adsense-secrets.com/google.html
For great information on using Adsense, bookmark this blog:
http://jensense.com/
Remember, nothing takes the place of good content. Before
placing ads on your pages, make sure that you have a quality
site with information and resources people will want to see to insure continual traffic.
You won't make much money if you don't have traffic to click
on the ads in the first place.
Google makes it simple for any site owner to earn a nice
income with their Adsense program. It's up to you to get
the most out of it.
Merle- Want to Know the SECRETS of Article Promotion?
Discover everything you need to know in this brand New Ebook,
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