Adsense ad placement?

by BlakeM
18 replies
  • SEO
  • |
Edit: Changing site right now... doesn't look right.

One of my blogs gets good traffic, but very low click through rates -

Facts About Dreams - All The Cool Facts About Dreams You Want To Know

Please give me suggestions on where to place my ads! Thanks you very much
#adsense #placement
  • Profile picture of the author RedWaterDub
    Move the first colum you have on the right to the left side and have that skyscraper ad there. Also I would place a large rectangle ad right at the top, just under your main heading and other google link text.. so it sits at the top and in the middle between your two sidebars.
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    • Profile picture of the author dburk
      Hi BlakeM,

      Your low CTR is likely due to something other than your ad placement. My guess would be the topic doesn't generate traffic with commercial intent. When I checked your primary keyword in AdWords Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool it shows no ads targeting that keyword.

      Since there are virtually no advertisers targeting the topic of your website, AdSense cannot serve highly relevant ads. You should feel lucky if you get any clicks at all.
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      • Profile picture of the author BlakeM
        Originally Posted by dburk View Post

        Hi BlakeM,

        Your low CTR is likely due to something other than your ad placement. My guess would be the topic doesn't generate traffic with commercial intent. When I checked your primary keyword in AdWords Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool it shows no ads targeting that keyword.

        Since there are virtually no advertisers targeting the topic of your website, AdSense cannot serve highly relevant ads. You should feel lucky if you get any clicks at all.
        Ya I know what you mean. I made this site out of passion rather than just to make money off of it. Some topics in this niche have relevant adds... but, as you mentioned, some don't.

        I did just change the placement of a ll my ads so hopefully that helps a little. Even though there aren't a ton of relevant ads, G is still smart enough to place targeted ads, although the CPC is going to be really low.

        Thanks for the advice.
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  • Profile picture of the author RedWaterDub
    You still need to move that whole first sidebar colum that is on the right to the left hand side of your page. That will balance everything out better.
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    • Profile picture of the author BlakeM
      Originally Posted by RedWaterDub View Post

      You still need to move that whole first sidebar colum that is on the right to the left hand side of your page. That will balance everything out better.
      That ad section is part of the theme. I'm not sure how to edit the code to make it go to the left side.
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      • Profile picture of the author KentChow
        I know this theme could be pretty successful.

        I'd suggest that you put Big rectangle block on the left right below your title.

        Install Whydowork Adsense plugin and you could adjust the location of this ad block. The CTR could be pretty good.
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        • Profile picture of the author BlakeM
          Originally Posted by KentChow View Post

          I know this theme could be pretty successful.

          I'd suggest that you put Big rectangle block on the left right below your title.

          Install Whydowork Adsense plugin and you could adjust the location of this ad block. The CTR could be pretty good.
          Yep, I really like the theme. I just changed my site to it today. My clicks have already gone up, but that could be due to Warriors clicking ads.

          I considered a large rectangle there, but don't want to overwhelm my visitors. I'm just going to see how my new setup works for now.

          Thanks
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          Fact About Dreams
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          Control Your Dreams! (Lucid Dreaming)
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  • Profile picture of the author refjaf55
    its all about testing really...just keep testinf till u see what works
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  • Profile picture of the author Jenny4u1
    Check with google adsense best practices policies. That is very useful to get best CTR.
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  • Profile picture of the author bdkamol
    Put add in the readers eye visible are.
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  • Profile picture of the author tonyalves
    First, I think that a 2 column theme, with the main content on the left and the sidebar on the right, works better for AdSense than a 3 column theme.

    But whether you change the theme or not, I would replace the banner with a large rectangle (336x280) at the top.

    As for text vs image ads, text worked better for me than image. But it might be different for you, so you should test both (one at a time).

    However, when I changed from text only to both (text and image) after receiving a letter from Google advising me to change, my earnings increased.

    I hope that this helps

    Tony Alves
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    • Profile picture of the author BlakeM
      Originally Posted by tonyalves View Post

      First, I think that a 2 column theme, with the main content on the left and the sidebar on the right, works better for AdSense than a 3 column theme.

      But whether you change the theme or not, I would replace the banner with a large rectangle (336x280) at the top.

      As for text vs image ads, text worked better for me than image. But it might be different for you, so you should test both (one at a time).

      However, when I changed from text only to both (text and image) after receiving a letter from Google advising me to change, my earnings increased.

      I hope that this helps

      Tony Alves
      Ya, for this niche I need image ads to, because there are not that many advertisers. I considered making it 336x280, but didn't want to overwhelm my visitors, I will probably change that.

      I have completely changed the theme since the OP, so I think I'm going to keep it for now (so I can test its effectiveness).

      I also wanted to try the skyscraper on the left side of the site but the theme doesn't permit it (unless you're good at coding stuff).

      Thanks for your help!


      -Blake
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  • Profile picture of the author tonyalves
    I understand your point about not wanting to overwhelm your visitors.

    This is why a wider content column works better (a 2 column theme would give you that) because you can align the ad block either left or right (you would have to test it) and wrap your content around it.

    I would still test it with this theme though. You have nothing to loose.

    As for moving the column to the left, I wish I could help but I am not a coder either... Sorry

    Tony Alves
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    • Profile picture of the author BlakeM
      Originally Posted by tonyalves View Post

      I understand your point about not wanting to overwhelm your visitors.

      This is why a wider content column works better (a 2 column theme would give you that) because you can align the ad block either left or right (you would have to test it) and wrap your content around it.

      I would still test it with this theme though. You have nothing to loose.

      As for moving the column to the left, I wish I could help but I am not a coder either... Sorry

      Tony Alves
      Ya I will probably test it. My adsense income was higher than usual today, so that is a good sign, but I'm sure WF traffic helped a little bit

      Thanks!

      -Blake
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      • Profile picture of the author lovboa
        Banned
        For the sidebar on the right, it looks much better when it is showing the text ads, and I'm sure you'll have a much higher ctr if it changed to only text ads. I'm guessing you have it on text/image.
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        • Profile picture of the author Barney Woodland
          I shot you a message on the site but I don't see a privacy policy anywhere. I use this same theme. It looks good but you don't want to get your Adsense banned for something so small.
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  • Profile picture of the author gtk29
    I think a large square ad is what you need just below the heading of articles.
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