Ads optimization does matter
I have a soccer related website that I have been abandoned for a while, but the archive still managed to get a few hundred visits a day.
Last time I was still pretty naive about ads optimization, so the ads positioning was rather lame. Before the change, the website was monetized with Adsense with a 728×90 leaderboard on top and two 468×60 banner in between at the bottom.
What I did a few days ago was replacing the top leaderboard with a 336×280 large rectangle, and replacing the two banners with one large rectangle as well.
Guess what? The CTR and income is increased by 4 fold since then. It just shows the importance of ads optimization.
A few general tips for Adsense optimization that works for me…
1. Blend the ads unit with your context and design, use similar color.
2. Use large ads unit, 336×280 ads work the best for me. Avoid 468×60 banner.
3. Rotate your ads template if you have large group of repeat visitors, it will reduce the ad blindness effect. You can set up 4 different templates with a block unit to rotate with.
4. Remove on-site advertiser link especially if your site is not attracting too much visitors.
5. Use lesser links. My sites with the fewest links at sidebars gave the highest CTR for Adsense… this blog is actually not showing the best example with this tip.
6. Use link units, it looks like navigation links if you place it well.
7. This tip is recommended by lots of webmasters, but never worked for me… that is to place an image beside your Adsense ad.
Take note that there’s no one single formula that works for everyone, all webmasters will have to trial and error to find their best combo; but if you follow the above tips, you shouldn’t be doing too bad.