Google Adsense

Google adsense is a great way to monetize your blog. They're a bit difficult to get into if you're just starting out but once you're in, all you need to do is design the add and google churns out the code for you.

Now all that's left is to copy paste the code from your adsense account to your blog.

From here onwards adsense goes on autopilot. You can set it and forget it, literally.

But is it really ok to do that?

Ad Positioning Matters

What most people fail to consider is the correct ad positioning for their ad units.

They think that just by slapping a leather board banner ad they're good. Or just by dropping a 360 x 250 ad on the sidebar it's enough.

Yes those will get you some clicks, but the question is, are you getting all that you can get? Are you maximizing your traffic?

Positioning matters a lot when it comes to adsense and just changing the position of one ad could increase your earnings by 50% or even double it. There are even cases where it went up as high as 300%.

The best position differs for every site

Like the subheading says, every site will have a different optimal position for maximizing CTR or click through ratio. It'll depend on how the site is designed, but the rule of thumb is that any place that grabs the attention of your viewers for one reason or another is a good one. So wherever their eyes go to the most on the screen is a good spot for an ad.

Lucky for you though there are some positions that have been tested over and over again by many bloggers and internet marketers already so you wont have to test all the positions on your page.  

Here are some positions that continously produce high CTR that you can experiment with:  

 Below the title - these can either be below the title and on top of the body of the post or you can try wrapping the text around the ads. 

Within the content - if people are already reading your content then placing the ads within your article will definitely grab their attention and get you clicks. Try to find breaks in the flow of your content where you can put the ads in.  

Top position of the sidebar (left and right) - this is a position people automatically look at because of the way we read so it's unavoidable. Generally the top portions of a page do the best regardless of whether it's on the sidebar or in the middle. If you're not placing a news letter opt-in here then an adsense ad will work out great.  

Leather board banner ads - this doesn't work for everyone anymore since it's become common knoweledge for most people online that there's always a banner ad at the top of the page. So a lot of people automatically tune this out. But it can still work really well for a lot of sites if you're getting very relevant ads to your content.

Experiment, Experiment, Experiment

Like I said earlier, each site has a different "best ad placement" scheme and you have to do a lot of testing to find out what works best for you.

But hopefully the positions I metioned above will give you an idea on where to start testing.

Also remember to play around with the color scheme of your ads. Either pick one that blends with your over all site theme or one that contrasts with it to stand out.

That should be enough to keep you busy for a while.

Good luck and happy testing.


Author bio: Malds Menzon is blogger who writes over at the Earn Money Online Philippines blog. He initially started writing about part time jobs online because of his experience as a freelance writer but now he also writes about Internet Marketing and blogging. Be sure to check him out if you're interested in those topics.