Hi SAHM4ever,

Yes, it is different for each site. The only way to know what will work best is to test things for your own site.

You can use this heatmap to get some ideals of likely good spots for your ads. Don't be afraid to experiment a little with your placements, sometimes the most unlikely things work quite well.

1) There are some general rules like placing the ads above the fold where the visitor can see them easily. Don't hide the ads in corners or the bottom. Same link color like the other links on your side. No borders. Make sure the ads are targeted.

2) Use channels to track the performance of your site or individual ads. it's important to know your CTR, earnings per click etc.

Gunter

Agreed, Also ads on top of content should be simple and plain, like banner or a half banner, dont use sqaures or leaderboards in that position

For that you have to do some experiments and every site is different what works in one site may not work in another site.

It's all experimental really. There are theories that may work and may not. I was once advised to move an ad box to a certain position and it cost me most of the revenue I was getting from the site.

I just moved it around and checked my stats to find out what was sticking. Hope that helps :-)

In short, be ready to have an ugly blog. This means that your ads should clutter around around your blog. They should appear first before your post. If a visitor is contented with your post, there's no way they'll click the ads.

Some readers may be annoyed with them, so focus on the real ad clickers and not just followers/commentators. To make money from Adsense, first time visitors is always better than the returning ones.

Remember that people click on ads only because they need them.

Hope that helps.

I used to sell PPC advertising for Superpages.com. Hopefully someone will correct me if I am wrong on this, but certain categories are going to make you more money than other categories. I'm not talking about the number of clicks. I am talking about the cost per click.

Advertisers in more competitive headings pay more for their clicks they receive, which I THINK means you make more money per click. I am planning to setup new blogs in niches where I know the advertisers are paying a lot more money for clicks to see if I can make more money in adsense. I make a little money in adsense, but it is only a few dollars a month right now. You won't even get a check from Google until you make $100 in adsense money. Unfortunately, I don't think the Google advertisers on my blogs really pay much per click, so I don't get much commission for a click.

If I were you, I would focus more on selling products or promoting other products, and less time on revenues from Adsense. Your Adsense revenue should be like the icing on the cake, and not a main source of income. As a newbie myself, someone said this to me not long ago, and I focus more on trying to sell products now, and I let Adsense revenues take care of themselves. I still add new blogs with Adsense, but I am really focusing on getting more hits to my clickbank products.

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this site rocks, i'm also newbie and great stuff here. thanks

It is different for each site but generally the left side works better than the right side
and the key is to have your ads above the fold. This means people shouldnt have to scroll down to see your ads.
Good luck