This is a guest post by Case Stevens Who Shares His Internet Marketing Strategies, Techniques, Tips and Tricks Every Website Owner, New or Experienced Should Know, to Become Successful Too!
Case is a great Internet Marketer and over the last year or so we have become great Internet Blogging buddies.
Here’s the post…
Google Adsense is one of the first options that comes in mind when thinking about monetizing your blog. That’s because it’s so easy.
You just sign up for an Adsense account, select the ad types you want to display and copy and paste the code into your blog theme or use some plugins to achieve that.
But then the most important question arises: What kind of ads should you display and where? And how should the lay-out look like?
Or, put in other words:
Which ads perform best on my site and generate me the most money?
If you’re not familiar with Adsense or want to refresh your memory, then watch this video from the Google Adsense Optimization Team in Australia first, because below I will build on what’s discussed in there:
As shown in the video above, visitors to various blogs, or niches, react different on various kind of ads. Some even don’t react at all and just click away.
Therefore there’s only one way to find out if your Adsense works well and if you get the most out of it: TEST! (Ah, you’ve heard that before, haven’t you?)
So, how do you quickly test the effectiveness of the ads to improve your Adsense income?
Well, first off, the best place to start publishing your ads is above the fold. That is the part of your website that is visible without scrolling, in general the top part. That’s where your enticing headline is and you’ll start your post with the main keywords of your content.
Second, as an example, I’ll explain to you what I did on my blog to test the various ad types to find the one that performs best.
The ads that I tested were limited due to the sizes of my blog. I choose the 300×250 Medium Rectangle, the 336×280 Large Rectangle and the 468×60 Banner. They all fitted well into my blog, but you may select other formats. The testing principles stay the same.
Here’s how you set up your Adsense ads.
1. Create Ad Channels
Before or while creating your ads, you can specify an Ad Channel. Create one for every ad you’re going to use and name them appropriately after the ad you’re creating and the place you publish it on your site.
We’re going to use them in the reports later on, where we can decide which ad channel makes most money.
Example: I created 3 Ad Channels named aim-top-300×250, aim-top-336×280 and aim-top-468×60.
2 Set Up The Ads
How to best set up your Adsense ads is out of the scope of this article, but if you Google the subject you’ll find lots of info out there. You can also watch the video again for some basic information.
Example: I created the 3 ads mentioned above and included the appropriate channel in each of them.
3. Create Text Files And Upload
After setting up the ads, you place the code in text files and appropriately named them after the ad type. Then uploaded them to your server.
Example: I ended up with 3 text files, containing the code for the ads that I’ve created in step 2, appropriately named aimtop300x250.txt, aimtop336x280.txt and aimtop468x60.txt
Now you’re ready to test your ads.
All you have to do is …
4. Publish Your Ads
To do that, you just go inside your theme file called single.php (for individual posts) and find the line that starts with
<?php the_content
(If you also want ads to show up at the home page and pages (as opposite to posts), you should also do the same for index.php and page.php.)
If you’re theme doesn’t have a single.php file, just search for that line in your theme directory. Should be somewhere in there.
Now, just above that line, add this one:
<?php include ‘http://www.yourdomain.com/path-to-ads/adfile.txt’;?>
Example: I included <?php include ‘http://www.affordable-internet-marketing.com/ads/aimtop336x280.txt’;?>
But…
that displays only 1 ad, and we have more ads to test and we want to show them all evenly.
Right!
So we’re going to toss a dice to decide which ad to display. We therefore use PHP.
Don’t worry, nothing complicated. Just replace the ‘include’ line you’ve just added by the lines below using copy and paste:
<?
$dice = rand(0,2);
if ($dice == 0) {
include ‘http://www.yourdomain.com/path-to-ads/adfile1.txt’;
}
elseif ($dice == 1) {
include ‘http://www.http://www.yourdomain.com/path-to-ads/adfile2.txt’;
}
else {
include ‘http://www.yourdomain.com/path-to-ads/adfile3.txt’;
}
?>
Basically we toss a dice… choose a number between 0 and 2 and store it into the variable $dice.
If the $dice was a 0, show AdSense ad 1. If the $dice was a 1, show Adsense ad2, otherwise, show the third ad.
Example: this was the code I added just above the <?php the_content line:
<?
$dice = rand(0,2);
if ($dice == 0) {
include ‘http://www.affordable-internet-marketing.com/ads/aimtop336x280.txt’;
}
elseif ($dice == 1) {
include ‘http://www.affordable-internet-marketing.com/ads/aimtop300x250.txt’;
}
else {
include ‘http://www.affordable-internet-marketing.com/ads/aimtop468x60.txt’;
}
?>
5. Watch your Adsense Reports
Now, all you have to do is let them run for some time.
Closely watch the results in your Adsense account. Display your reports per channel, so you can see which ad earns you most. You need a significant number of clicks first before you decide which ad performs best, so be patient.
After you’ve found the best ad, you can rinse and repeat the whole process using different lay-out variables for that ad or/and test other Adsense ads on other places.
There you have it: a quick way to find the best Google Adsense ads.
Let me know what you think. Share you thoughts in the comments below.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Killer post.
Case knows marketing that’s for sure.
Adsense has never been my primary income but it is comforting to receive their meager check every month. I will try some of these.
Thanks.
Rich Hill
Hey Rich,
Thanks for dropping by!
Adsense is not mine either but I agree, the check pays my hosting bills!
Andrew
Thanks Rich.
Let us know how you’re doing, ok?
.-= Case´s last blog ..Slow Website Penalized By Google? =-.
I just fixed up my blog while perusing this posts. I have been meaning to optimize my site for Adsense for a while now. All that is left is to create a channel for my post ads, then I will be good. 🙂
It even feels better looking at my post ads now. Awesome info!
Great going Gerlaine.
Please let us know how it worked out for you.
.-= Case´s last blog ..Slow Website Penalized By Google? =-.
Great post, im having real problems with adsense at the moment not showing the correct ads on certian posts.
.-= Press Release´s last blog ..Innovative Website Launches Employment Screening =-.
One of the things you can do to make it easier for google is re-mix the title:
Employment Screening (main keyword here?) Launched By Innovative Website
And then ask yourself if ‘By Innovative Website’ really ads value for the reader or if it could be deleted.
And then use your primary keyword again in the text, starting at the top.
If you use Firefox, there’s a stunning add-on called SEOQuake. Once installed you can check your keyword density on the page you’re about to publish.
.-= Case´s last blog ..Slow Website Penalized By Google? =-.
Wow,great post. Many people just tell to randomize the ads to find out what type of ads work the best. They unfortunately do not tell how to do it. Great job in provinding the php code on how to do it.
Just as a note for some people. For all the sites I have, the big rectangle type ads have always worked the best. They are extremely attractive and probably will work on all kind of sites.
.-= Blog Guide´s last blog ..Staying Motivated with Blogging =-.
Randomizing ads isn’t wise. You’ll need a concept first.
See, on my blog theme, there’s a special space reserved at the top of the sidebar for a 336×280 Large Rectangle.
I did NOT use it.
Instead I placed my sign up form there.
Shows that you should always have a plan/concept first, then implement it and test it. 🙂
.-= Case´s last blog ..Slow Website Penalized By Google? =-.
Really very informative post, I also try lots for increase my adsense earning, for my blog 250*250 square button is working good. I am changing my adsense placement for see the difference of earning.
.-= chandan´s last blog ..New from google work at home affiliate network =-.
The use of images depends on the niche you’re in. For one of my recipes niche sites, I use an image of the meal presented in the recipe.
It serves 2 purposes: to make the recipe more attractive and to softly point visitors to my ads. As long as you don’t use blatant images, it works well.
I don’t have an Google Adsense account at the moment.But I will apply for it in the future.This article will be very helpful when I’m going to insert Google Ads into my site.But to my experience,I usually ignored the ads on other sites,especially Google Ads.
.-= Darni´s last blog ..Think Outside the Box =-.
Ads are ignored by
1. those not looking for what’s offered,
2. Internet marketeers, because they know how things work!
But if a contextual ad fits in the content that someone is looking for, they have the right offers at hand.
Simple as that.
Hi,
Great tips for finding quickly Google Adsense Ads. According to my concern to find quick advance, we should organize our site’s content logically and make our site easy to navigate. If users can easily find what they’re searching for, they’ll come back to our site. And also it is very necessary to choose an ad color palette which would be easy for user to read.
We should keep in our mind that our ads looking like ads, selecting ad colors that complement our site is great, but avoid aligning images with our ads or making nearby content mimic their formatting.
A keeper for sure if I ever restart using Adsense again. 😉
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..UPDATE! 4 Plugin Package – 75% Off! PLUS Something Extra From Me! 🙂 =-.
I have been making trial and error with Adsense, not encouraging as of now. But I guess I need to have patience in my strategy. 🙂
My adsense earning is really low so i will try some way to tweak it.
Btw, why do you not use plugin for adsense placement?
.-= Dana @ Online Knowledge´s last blog ..Five Software that Must be Installed for New Laptop =-.
I prefer a quick PHP code in my template to be more flexible.
It enables me to show an ad first and then text, or to show the ad at the left and the text at the right using a CSS float:left.
It comes down to personal preference.
What plugins would you recommend for Adsense?
adsense is a mystery when it comes to predicting anything.
you can make money but making a full time income is another story.
.-= Magniwork´s last blog ..Magnetic Power Generator – Can I Learn How to Build One? =-.
When it comes to finding the right location to put your ads on, it takes time to figure it out. One must try a few different locations and see which ones make you money. Only after trial and error, will one find out what works for them.
.-= George Serradinho´s last blog ..Serious Monday Roundup #21 =-.
Thank you very much for such nice information, it is certainly very hard to earn a lot from adsense, but tips like these are a like treasures which help in getting a good amount
You’re welcome.
Let us know how you’re doing, ok?
Does this work well with cache plug-ins like Wp Super Cache?
.-= Udegbunam Chukwudi@Work Online Nigeria´s last blog ..Eight Small Steps To Being A Great Nigerian Web Host =-.
Thanks Andrew.. I’ve had great success with the 336×280 format as long as it matches the theme of the blog. Colors have a lot to do with CTR and overall professional impression to visitors.
There are also some good wordpress plugins for handling google analytics with php one-liners inside the theme files.
.-= James´s last blog ..RIP Gordon Lightfoot – 1938 – 2010 =-.
James
It’s all about testing, isn’t it. I’m using 336×280 as well – just changed to it – to see if it makes any difference.
Andrew
This is some brilliant advice. Thanks. If I ever decide to use adsense, I will definately follow your advice here, Case.
Awesome! I’ve been re-designing my theme and this article helped me a lot. I’m having a hard time deciding where to put my ads.
Thanks!
Great! This post really explains how adsense works. I’ve heard about this technique a lot but i never actually tried it because in the first place, i can’t find any detailed information about it – not until now anyways. Thank you and i’ll give this a try!
I use a WordPress plugin called WhyDoWork. It lets you select a few spots in every post, or the ones you select, for AdSense ads. I’ve been experimenting and getting more clicks with different positions.
thank you very very much sir for such a wonderful article as a newbe in AdSense i needed it…..thanks
😀
http://www.chobirdokan.com
Hi,
Just have a question, should I make the channel for one Ad as I need the google ever place the ads related to that keyword or topic regardless the context of a specific blog?
Plz suggest the remedy.