Adsense is used by Publishers across the world - and Google has reported that it shares 68% of the revenue with it's Publishers.
Google does an amazing job at optimizing, but that certainly doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.
Here are Ten Excellent Adsense Optimization Tips.
1) Integrate Adsense In Google Analytics
It is simple to integrate your Google Adsense reports into Google Analytics. This displays your Adsense performance by page. This data is like gold because it allows you to see how specific areas and pages within your site perform in terms of the Adsense CPM. So you can directly see what works and what
doesn’t - and make optimizations based upon that..
2) Drive Traffic To Your Highest CPM Areas
Once you know the Adsense CPM of specific areas of your site - you can then direct more traffic to those higher CPM areas. For instance, if you feature a category of your site on your homepage - you should consider featuring the specific category which produces the highest CPM.
3) Be Aggressive
Google has published this heat map to show where adsense ads work best (the darker the area, the higher the click rate).
As you can see, the center middle is by far and away the best performing area. The top of a site, above the nav bar, and the right side, don't perform well. So, remember, as a publisher, you are offering free content. You need to make money to be able to continue to produce high quality content. Have confidence and be aggressive with Adsense.
I would argue that instead of not being aggressive on your landing page - but displaying pop-ups - it is better to be more aggressive with the adsense ads and remove the pop-ups. Adsense does a great job at targeting, so these ads are relevant, so when you are aggressive, you aren't impacting user experience as much as when you are aggressive with other ad networks.
4) Correct Background Color
You always want to have your Adsense ads flow well with your site. The first thing you must do is ensure that the background color of the Adsense matches the background color of the area it is in. If your left menu is dark blue, and you place a 160 x 600 in the left menu - you should make the background of the Adsense ad dark blue so that it fits within your site.
When your Adsense background doesn't match the area it is in - the ad stands out more and it is more likely that the user will ignore your ad and focus on a different area of your site.
5) Horizontal Link Units
Adsense publishers are only allowed 3 Ad units. They are also allowed 3 links units. And while these link units require two clicks to earn income - they can produce. Adsense offers square link units and Horizontal link units. The horizontal units perform well as they can be implemented into your site in a way whereby the ads flow well within your site navigation. If you use the 728 x 15 - for instance, the Ads by Google text is all the way on the left - so these link units can fit well within your site and add value for the user.
6) Keep Link Unit Results Page in White
When you create a link unit ad - you want the ad to match the background area of the page it is on. However, for the results page - of the link unit - you will want it to be plain white. Remember, this second page, is basically sponsored ads search results - so you'll want it to be clean and simple for the user. So, if your link unit has a black background - you don't want your results page to have a black background - so when creating the link unit - you should uncheck the box that says "Use the same colors on your ad pages."
That way, your results page will be clean and similar to how most search results look across the web.
7) Wrap Your Ads
When you implement ads onto a content site - you'll want to wrap the ads around the content. If you place the ad in a different area than the content, the user can easily skip over the ad and go right to the content. If the ad is wrapped within the content - the user will continue to see the ad as they read your content.
And Google Ads are relevant - so the longer they look at your ad - the more likely they are to click on it.
8) Don't Waist Ads on Small Units
Remember, you only get 3 ad units per page. So you shouldn't waist one of your 3 ad units on one of Google's smaller units. These small units can't optimize as well as there is less space in the unit, and users are much less likely to click on one of these smaller ad units.
So, don't waist one of your 3 ads on something that isn't going to make an impact on your revenue.
9) Use Adsense for Search
Adsense for search is an awesome solution. It gives you an easy way for you to implement a search box on your site which lets users search for pages within site. Plus, you can implement Adsense ads above or to the right of the search results so you can make money off of these searches as well.
This is a clear way to boost the user experience of your site while also generating added income. Plus, using Adsense for search doesn't count as one of your 3 Adsense units or Link units.
10) Consider Applying For Adsense For Search Ads Only
If you have search results on your site which aren't Google search results, Adsense for Search Ads Only is an amazing solution.
So, if you have your own search technology or site structure, which displays results directly on your site, you can publish Adsense for Search Ads Only directly above your internal search results. This is a custom solution that requires approval, so if you feel you are a fit for this solution, you can apply for it. Google has published a lot of helpful information regarding these Custom Search Ads.
Google does an amazing job at optimizing, but that certainly doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.
Here are Ten Excellent Adsense Optimization Tips.
1) Integrate Adsense In Google Analytics
It is simple to integrate your Google Adsense reports into Google Analytics. This displays your Adsense performance by page. This data is like gold because it allows you to see how specific areas and pages within your site perform in terms of the Adsense CPM. So you can directly see what works and what
doesn’t - and make optimizations based upon that..
2) Drive Traffic To Your Highest CPM Areas
Once you know the Adsense CPM of specific areas of your site - you can then direct more traffic to those higher CPM areas. For instance, if you feature a category of your site on your homepage - you should consider featuring the specific category which produces the highest CPM.
3) Be Aggressive
Google has published this heat map to show where adsense ads work best (the darker the area, the higher the click rate).As you can see, the center middle is by far and away the best performing area. The top of a site, above the nav bar, and the right side, don't perform well. So, remember, as a publisher, you are offering free content. You need to make money to be able to continue to produce high quality content. Have confidence and be aggressive with Adsense.
I would argue that instead of not being aggressive on your landing page - but displaying pop-ups - it is better to be more aggressive with the adsense ads and remove the pop-ups. Adsense does a great job at targeting, so these ads are relevant, so when you are aggressive, you aren't impacting user experience as much as when you are aggressive with other ad networks.
4) Correct Background Color
You always want to have your Adsense ads flow well with your site. The first thing you must do is ensure that the background color of the Adsense matches the background color of the area it is in. If your left menu is dark blue, and you place a 160 x 600 in the left menu - you should make the background of the Adsense ad dark blue so that it fits within your site.
When your Adsense background doesn't match the area it is in - the ad stands out more and it is more likely that the user will ignore your ad and focus on a different area of your site.
5) Horizontal Link Units
Adsense publishers are only allowed 3 Ad units. They are also allowed 3 links units. And while these link units require two clicks to earn income - they can produce. Adsense offers square link units and Horizontal link units. The horizontal units perform well as they can be implemented into your site in a way whereby the ads flow well within your site navigation. If you use the 728 x 15 - for instance, the Ads by Google text is all the way on the left - so these link units can fit well within your site and add value for the user.
6) Keep Link Unit Results Page in White
When you create a link unit ad - you want the ad to match the background area of the page it is on. However, for the results page - of the link unit - you will want it to be plain white. Remember, this second page, is basically sponsored ads search results - so you'll want it to be clean and simple for the user. So, if your link unit has a black background - you don't want your results page to have a black background - so when creating the link unit - you should uncheck the box that says "Use the same colors on your ad pages."
That way, your results page will be clean and similar to how most search results look across the web.
7) Wrap Your Ads
When you implement ads onto a content site - you'll want to wrap the ads around the content. If you place the ad in a different area than the content, the user can easily skip over the ad and go right to the content. If the ad is wrapped within the content - the user will continue to see the ad as they read your content.
And Google Ads are relevant - so the longer they look at your ad - the more likely they are to click on it.
8) Don't Waist Ads on Small Units
Remember, you only get 3 ad units per page. So you shouldn't waist one of your 3 ad units on one of Google's smaller units. These small units can't optimize as well as there is less space in the unit, and users are much less likely to click on one of these smaller ad units.
So, don't waist one of your 3 ads on something that isn't going to make an impact on your revenue.
9) Use Adsense for Search
Adsense for search is an awesome solution. It gives you an easy way for you to implement a search box on your site which lets users search for pages within site. Plus, you can implement Adsense ads above or to the right of the search results so you can make money off of these searches as well.
This is a clear way to boost the user experience of your site while also generating added income. Plus, using Adsense for search doesn't count as one of your 3 Adsense units or Link units.
10) Consider Applying For Adsense For Search Ads Only
If you have search results on your site which aren't Google search results, Adsense for Search Ads Only is an amazing solution.
So, if you have your own search technology or site structure, which displays results directly on your site, you can publish Adsense for Search Ads Only directly above your internal search results. This is a custom solution that requires approval, so if you feel you are a fit for this solution, you can apply for it. Google has published a lot of helpful information regarding these Custom Search Ads.
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