Can this Adsense layout still be improved?

[GeorgR.]

I spent the last few days with thesis theme for wordpress and made what i think is "the best" adsense layout.



Link Unit under Navbar

Big 336 box to the left within content

Skyscraper between Content and Sidebar
(this is a nifty one - because having this forces visitors to move their mouse over the ads when they navigate the site and categories!)

Linkunit at bottom of each post.

Furthermore i used all tips/rules eg. in regards to fonts/colors to get highest possible CTR. (Eg. Ad Links same color as links on site)

The site is still not live, but i am excited how this design will do in terms of CTR.

[inter123]

I am finding the more adsense ads there is the better.

I think you can only have 3 ads maximim per page, you have 4?

The menu option on the right. You could change the colour to black to match the text so only the adsense stands out.

[Trent Brownrigg]

I think it looks really good. However, they have been cracking down a lot more on people who are aggressive with Adsense and I would say this layout is very aggressive.

[Fraggler]

George, I would make the content column the same width as the Ad Unit to start with.

I have measured my 336 Unit positioned above the content with a Sidebar skyscraper like yours and found that the 336 had a CTR of 7%+ compared to the sidebar of 2%.

I have also just recently started putting a 336 after the content, but not in the footer. This increased my CTR by another 4%.

Next I am going to try moving the top 336 to be after 1 or 2 paragraphs of content so that it is truely embedded in the content.

I have found some useful data at this site here, inparticular this article - Scrolling and Attention (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox) No idea how respected this blokes info is.

[JaySchmidt]

You can try making the body text gray instead of black to really make the adsense "pop". Also, you can reduce the number of 'recent posts' so your visitors have less options to click something other than adsense.

[GeorgR.]

Originally Posted by inter123

I am finding the more adsense ads there is the better.

I think you can only have 3 ads maximim per page, you have 4?

The menu option on the right. You could change the colour to black to match the text so only the adsense stands out.

>>
Currently, AdSense publishers may place up to three AdSense for content units on one webpage. You may also place a maximum of three link units and two search boxes on each webpage.
>>

By the way REALLY good tips here! I might tweak this even more.

[GeorgR.]

Originally Posted by Fraggler

George, I would make the content column the same width as the Ad Unit to start with.

I have measured my 336 Unit positioned above the content with a Sidebar skyscraper like yours and found that the 336 had a CTR of 7%+ compared to the sidebar of 2%.

I have also just recently started putting a 336 after the content, but not in the footer. This increased my CTR by another 4%.

Next I am going to try moving the top 336 to be after 1 or 2 paragraphs of content so that it is truely embedded in the content.

I have found some useful data at this site here, inparticular this article - Scrolling and Attention (Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox) No idea how respected this blokes info is.

are you saying to ditch the 1st sidebar altogether?

[Fraggler]

Just make sure that the main column ad units appear before the sidebar column in your source code. It depends on how the site is programmed but sometimes the sidebar divs appear before the main column div. The highest earning ads are displayed first (in source code) so you want these in the highest clicked positions. You might get more improvement by having a unit after the content.

2% is 2% but if your CTR on the main ad unit improved by 2% by removing the sidebar then drop it. The increase in eCPM will be larger.

I think you will get most improvement by reducing the width of the content column. If you had a look at that article I posted and others on his site, you will see that some people are blind to things that look like ads, even wrapped in content. If the ads are inline they look more like part of the content.

Other than that the structure is good an will allow you to move the units around a bit to tweak the result. Don't be afraid to experiment after making the site live. Colours, width, moving units will not affect your site in the serps. It is the moving around of div tags that makes it look like a total restructure.

[webtrix]

Originally Posted by Fraggler

The highest earning ads are displayed first (in source code)

Fraggler, any reference to this statement?

GeorgR, I always had a better CTR when adsense links stand out, so you might try to make your adsense links a little bit more darker than your site links..
Also, my CTR improved (most of the time) when there is only one adsense block (336), because it shows only the most relevant ads in that block...
To-Do:
- Delete "Posted by" info or put it after the post content
- Narrow the post content area
- Make your sidebars wider
- Make your adsense links a bit darker
- Leave only 1 ad block "above" the content
- Move "pages" to your left sidebar
- Put small "advertisement" graphic above the ad block - it shouldn't decrease CTR and you're clearly stating that those links are ads
- You'll be happy now

[bfas]

Originally Posted by webtrix

Fraggler, any reference to this statement?

This is widely known. Ad position corresponds to Adwords ad position, and adblocks are populated in the order they're encountered in the source.

You can find it both in Google's Adsense Help, and in the Adsense blog, though you'll have to comb through on your own.

bfas

[Albie Mathews]

It looks like old fashioned adsense. Now a days, much improved adsense's views are created so that it can attract the users.

[solton]

Hi,

This is my opinion only and will probably get a lot of flak, however-

Take out the skyscraper and the link unit on the bottom.

Leave the large box in the post.

This is my experience:

Higher CTR

Higher EPC

As a rule (not always), I like to have one action for my visitors to take and
I like it front and center above the fold.

The blog posts are just for traffic, I don't want to distract my visitors.

I have seen both types of blogs work; i.e., simple and bloated.

Personally, I think simple can sometimes work to your advantage.

Best,

Scott

[webtrix]

Originally Posted by bfas

This is widely known. Ad position corresponds to Adwords ad position, and adblocks are populated in the order they're encountered in the source.

You can find it both in Google's Adsense Help, and in the Adsense blog, though you'll have to comb through on your own.

bfas

Honestly, I'm not sure what I was asking here.. It was probably too late, same as now Maybe I missed "(in source code)" ...

Anyway, for people that have sidebars on the left and use both in-content/post ad blocks, and also ad blocks in the left sidebar, and you want better CPC for the in-content ad block make sure your theme code loads post content first and then the sidebars
Good:
<div id="post"></div>
<div id="left-sidebar"></div>
<div id="right-sidebar"></div>
Bad:
<div id="left-sidebar"></div>
<div id="post"></div>
<div id="right-sidebar"></div>

I'm sleepy... Hope I'm right now

[GeorgR.]

Well thanks for so much tips, good thread!

I discovered another crazy "trick", unbelievable what some can still learn.

People use the vertical link units and put them in their sidebar, makes them look like a part of the menu structure! Of course it might be wise to have it titled "Sponsored Links" to avoid any problems.

Yes, i am debating about that second (vertical) adsense block, on my newer sites i actually removed it and just leave the big one.

Webtrix...interesting..i might look at my templates how they do this.
(At least for Thesis theme it looks like that Thesis loads the sidebar all the way at the end of the code)

[Davioli]

Originally Posted by solton

Hi,

This is my opinion only and will probably get a lot of flak, however-

Take out the skyscraper and the link unit on the bottom.

Leave the large box in the post.

This is my experience:

Higher CTR

Higher EPC

As a rule (not always), I like to have one action for my visitors to take and
I like it front and center above the fold.

The blog posts are just for traffic, I don't want to distract my visitors.

I have seen both types of blogs work; i.e., simple and bloated.

Personally, I think simple can sometimes work to your advantage.

Best,

Scott

I echo this! I use a single ad unit as well and it gives me the best results. More units and I risk my website looking like an MFA.

I recieved an email from Adsense recently informing me about "above the fold placements". Apparently ads that are above the fold will get a higher CPC.

[GeorgR.]

This is not my site, but look at that:



The integrated LU in the sidebar - and also how he placed that other add within that section on the right.

I am aware there are way more extreme examples of "blending ads", but in my case i really want to keep it mild. Its not my intention to trick site visitors. But the (clearly labeled) LU is a nice idea.

Getting a lot of input from simply looking at other sites.

[inter123]

I don't think the front page of 'Workers Compensation Insurance' will get at a high click through rate at all. There is too many distractions. At best CTR will be 5% best but more like 3%.

The internal pages are better:

Iowa Workers Compensation

Big block on the right together with other affliates at the bottom seem an improvement. I think the main focus is to provide info, not make $.

[GeorgR.]

coloring of that big block on the right is off, he could probably increase CTR many fold with better blending. Box at the bottom is "quite ok". All in all i think he gets "ok" CTR but there is still HUGE potential.

[SuccessPoint]

Originally Posted by Davioli

I echo this! I use a single ad unit as well and it gives me the best results. More units and I risk my website looking like an MFA.

I recieved an email from Adsense recently informing me about "above the fold placements". Apparently ads that are above the fold will get a higher CPC.

Originally Posted by solton

Hi,

This is my opinion only and will probably get a lot of flak, however-

Take out the skyscraper and the link unit on the bottom.

Leave the large box in the post.

This is my experience:

Higher CTR

Higher EPC

As a rule (not always), I like to have one action for my visitors to take and
I like it front and center above the fold.

The blog posts are just for traffic, I don't want to distract my visitors.

I have seen both types of blogs work; i.e., simple and bloated.

Personally, I think simple can sometimes work to your advantage.

Best,

Scott

I agree with these posts.

Less is more.