Tips for testing Adsense on a Blog

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Ive been reading this forum for a while and rely on it as a resource, so let me first thank everyone for providing such great info here before I ask my questions. I have not been able to find definitive answers through searches and browsing here, so apologies if Ive missed answers to these questions elsewhere.

I have a blog that gets fairly good traffic for my niche. Im looking at between 16k to 19k unique visitors per month, with the majority of them coming from google searches. My problem is that I feel my CTR is abnormally low, so I've tried testing placement of my ad units to see if I could increase it. Current CTR is between .70 and .85%. From everything I read, I should be able to get to at least 2-3%, and if very lucky 5-7%. To the best of my abilities, I believe I have blended the ads nicely so they look like a part of my site, and I am doing fairly well with targeting my key words. I've also been doing well with frequently updating the site, I average a new post every other day, and the blog is about 9 months old right now with a PR of 4. So on to the questions....

I've tried testing my ad units on different parts of the main page, and in different places within individual posts with no noticeable increase. I have a few questions that I am hoping someone can help me with:

1. How long do you leave the ad unit in a new place before deciding if the placement results either worked or didnt? A few days? One week? One month? Longer?

2. I have a 120 x 600 banner on the far left side of my 3 column blog which is above the fold, and the only thing above it is my main site banner and navigation. I am considering moving the two skinny columns that include this banner to the right side of the blog, but am concerned about testing a major move like that in terms of disrupting my return visitors from their normal experience. Does anyone have experience with a 3 column blog where they found the ads performed better on the right?

3. Is there truly a dip in the earnings from each click each time you move the ads, or change the formatting?

I would be grateful for any help with these topics, as I feel that I am leaving a lot of potential revenue on the table as my site continues to get more and more visitors each month. Thanks again for all of the help in the past.
#search engine optimization #adsense #blog #tips
  • If you blog is wordpress, I will suggest you use an Adsense Optimized Template such as Prosense or Bluesense, you can download both from doshdosh, but remember to change the default Adsense ID on this Template to you own Adsense ID. These template are repute to get high CTR. Hope this helps
    • [2] replies
    • olamilekan2 - Thanks so much for the quick response. The funny thing is that I used to use that exact theme. It did SLIGHTLY better in terms of CTR, meaning like .05% better, with a VERY occasional 3%# or 4% day but those were very few and far between. I think that the plugins that I am using probably accomplish the same things with my new theme in terms of SEO though, like the Platinum SEO Pack.
      • [1] reply
    • Interesting to have known that there is such an adsense plugin for wordpress. Although I've been long-time wordpress user, I think i"ll try the Bluesense plugin...
      • [1] reply
  • To make money with Adsense like any Affiliate Product you need to understand the intentions of your users. Why are they visiting your site and what are they looking for? Blending and placement will only take you so far.

    If you understand what your users want, they you can work on tweaking your pages until the type of ads that they want are displayed.

    All the other hype is misguided and sending you in the wrong direction. Making money with Adsense is not luck. Click rates are not luck.

    I've yet to see and "Adsense Theme" that didn't make your site look like junk. I make a lot of money with Adsense and I can tell you that it's not about getting a magic Adsense Theme.

    It's all about visitor intentions and meeting those intentions with properly placed targeted ads that match.
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    Tips for testing Adsense on a Blog

    Ive been reading this forum for a while and rely on it as a resource, so let me first thank everyone for providing such great info here before I ask my questions. I have not been able to find definitive answers through searches and browsing here, so apologies if Ive missed answers to these questions elsewhere. I have a blog that gets fairly good traffic for my niche. Im looking at between 16k to 19k unique visitors per month, with the majority of them coming from google searches. My problem is that I feel my CTR is abnormally low, so I've tried testing placement of my ad units to see if I could increase it. Current CTR is between .70 and .85%. From everything I read, I should be able to get to at least 2-3%, and if very lucky 5-7%. To the best of my abilities, I believe I have blended the ads nicely so they look like a part of my site, and I am doing fairly well with targeting my key words. I've also been doing well with frequently updating the site, I average a new post every other day, and the blog is about 9 months old right now with a PR of 4. So on to the questions....