Article in Monetization

Beginner's Guide to Increasing
AdSense CTR

When starting out, it can be frustrating trying to
figure out why your visitors won't click your ads. There's plenty of things you
can look at that you're doing wrong. In this article, I will give you some quick
tips on how you can increase your CTR for Google's AdSense and hopefully make
you more money.

Note: Most of the techniques discussed in this article
can also be applied to Yahoo's Publisher Network
ads.

Blend Them
In

The most effective way of optimizing your ads is by
blending them in with your web site's content. Making your ads not look like ads
is the key here. The more they blend in with your web site's content, the more
likely your users are to click them.

Ad
Placements

In my experience, placing the ads right in there with
the web site's content generates the highest CTR. You should avoid placing them
where it's most likely to be avoided or scrolled passed. Put yourself in the
shoes of your users and pinpoint where you're certain they look at while
browsing your website.

Here are some ad placement ideas for
you:

- Right below or above the header

I found that
placing a 728x90 ad unit or a 728 link unit below or above the header can be
effective in increasing the CTR because users probably think it's some sort of
navigation or something important relating to the web
site.

- Inside the content

Place your ad code inside some
divs by your content and assign it a value of left or right and you'll have
something that blends in seamlessly.

- At the start of the content

I have one site where
there's a 336x280 block right before jumping into the content part. I've seen
great results with this so you might too.

- In between the content

If your web site has long
text, why not separate every few paragraphs with an ad block? I know you've seen
some of the bigger guys do this so it must work be working for
them!

- More ideas

Link units integrated with the web
site's navigation

Ad units placed near images and photos

Smaller ad or
link units placed above submit buttons

For further information on ad
placement, check out Google's very useful heat map.

Change the Default
Colors

You want your ads to blend in with your website,
right? Change the link colors to match with your anchor links; the text color to
match with your content's text color; and so on. You're not limited to a few
different colors so get creative and start picking out ones that gets you the
clicks by experimenting with different sets of colors.

Lose The
Borders

You don't need them! By removing the borders, the
ads are no longer separated from your content (to be easily ignored by users)
and are now a part of your
content.

Utilize The Link
Units

Even though your users will have to click on two
links before you get paid, it's still available for you to make even more money
from your web site. You're allowed three ad units and one link unit so why not
take advantage?

Keep Experimenting Until You Get It
Right

Always keep at it until you've gotten the formula for
what works best on your web site. Most of the time, you won't be making money
with AdSense overnight. It takes a lot of hard work and patience. That's the
reason why a lot of the earners at Earners Forum are making a ton of
money.

Do It Again

Once
you've gotten the formula down; you pretty much know what works and what
doesn't, it's time to do it again. What I mean by that is, if you have one web
site make $100/month off of AdSense, why not make another one just like it? You
now know what you have to do in order for it to start raking in money, so do it
again and keep on doing it.

Good luck with your
earnings!