The biggest mistake I see with people who use Adsense as their monetization strategy is that they forget that Adsense is a CPC-based network. You get paid per click, not per print.
Yet, again and again, I see people do not have their ads on their sites to maximize their income potential.
Forget the traffic for now. I will show you how you can close to double your revenue from your existing traffic with some optimization tips that I have picked up over the years.
Use all your ad units. In addition to increasing your chances of a click, this increases the ad space on your site advertisers can bid on and gives you a better overall RPM. You are allowed to use 3 ad units and 3 link units for each page of your site. Although I do not normally use link units at all, I use 3 ad units regardless of the content of my content.
Forget all the other size options that Adsense gives you. Bigger is better. Forget trying to mix it in your content, just make them visible so that people can not miss it. I made thorough test colors and came to a conclusion: the mix is not always the answer. As long as people can see them, they will click on them if that is something they are interested in.
What works best for me is to put the first ad just below the first paragraph, and the second just after the content.
But I noticed that the use of red links throughout my site instead of blue worked so much better. Maybe it has something to do with people's natural blindness to blue link ads, but red far surpasses blue.
Try to make all the links on your site red, then use the same red color for your Adsense ads. Do not use a bright red, but more of a brown color so your site does not look like it was built in 1999.
Ever visit a website and see the ad track you on the page you have scrolled down? The implementation in my websites has greatly improved my CTR and my overall RPM.
Even if you get permission to use it, it's only against strategy if you place it on your content. For example, if you had an ad unit above your job title and covered your content as you scrolled, that would be against the rules.
If you have it in the sidebar, away from any content on the site, you are allowed to use the feature.
For this, I like to use the Q2W3 plugin, which is free for WordPress users. Just activate the plugin, and you'll see an option in your widgets to make them sticky.
Ads on the sidebar are really interesting for Adsense. But with this scrolling plugin, I have improved my CTR sidebar by more than 150%.
The best ad block for this? The giant 300 x 600 large skyscraper ads.
Using text and image options allows more advertisers to bid (text ad offerings and image ad bids) and increases your overall cost per click.
Do not expect to see an instant CPC jump. In my experience, it's not a huge increase, but over time it pays more per click than a single text ad or a single image.
Conclusion
There are many things you can do to increase Adsense income off of your existing traffic.
While many things with Adsense are out of your control, you can use these optimization tips to experiment with your own site.
Yet, again and again, I see people do not have their ads on their sites to maximize their income potential.
Forget the traffic for now. I will show you how you can close to double your revenue from your existing traffic with some optimization tips that I have picked up over the years.
1. Use all your ad units and make them big
Simple startup.Use all your ad units. In addition to increasing your chances of a click, this increases the ad space on your site advertisers can bid on and gives you a better overall RPM. You are allowed to use 3 ad units and 3 link units for each page of your site. Although I do not normally use link units at all, I use 3 ad units regardless of the content of my content.
Forget all the other size options that Adsense gives you. Bigger is better. Forget trying to mix it in your content, just make them visible so that people can not miss it. I made thorough test colors and came to a conclusion: the mix is not always the answer. As long as people can see them, they will click on them if that is something they are interested in.
2. Place at least 2 ads in the article content
I know, it's ugly to have mixed ads in your content, but that's where your ads can get the most exposure. I like to place at least 2 ad units in the content itself: 1 at the top and 1 at the bottom.What works best for me is to put the first ad just below the first paragraph, and the second just after the content.
3. Use red instead of blue.
For the longest period, I had the same color scheme to my site: black text and blue links. It worked.But I noticed that the use of red links throughout my site instead of blue worked so much better. Maybe it has something to do with people's natural blindness to blue link ads, but red far surpasses blue.
Try to make all the links on your site red, then use the same red color for your Adsense ads. Do not use a bright red, but more of a brown color so your site does not look like it was built in 1999.
4. Use a scrollable ad unit
Google does list this as unauthorized in their policies. However, I have been using it for years and I even had a manual review on my site. Use this at your own risk. This may be case by case. If they see that you are using it to manipulate clicks, you are putting your account at risk.Ever visit a website and see the ad track you on the page you have scrolled down? The implementation in my websites has greatly improved my CTR and my overall RPM.
Even if you get permission to use it, it's only against strategy if you place it on your content. For example, if you had an ad unit above your job title and covered your content as you scrolled, that would be against the rules.
If you have it in the sidebar, away from any content on the site, you are allowed to use the feature.
For this, I like to use the Q2W3 plugin, which is free for WordPress users. Just activate the plugin, and you'll see an option in your widgets to make them sticky.
Ads on the sidebar are really interesting for Adsense. But with this scrolling plugin, I have improved my CTR sidebar by more than 150%.
The best ad block for this? The giant 300 x 600 large skyscraper ads.
5. Use an ad based on text and image
With Adsense, you are allowed to choose whether your ad unit is based on an image or text. If you're not really in love with an ad type, try using Text & Image.Using text and image options allows more advertisers to bid (text ad offerings and image ad bids) and increases your overall cost per click.
Do not expect to see an instant CPC jump. In my experience, it's not a huge increase, but over time it pays more per click than a single text ad or a single image.
Conclusion
There are many things you can do to increase Adsense income off of your existing traffic.While many things with Adsense are out of your control, you can use these optimization tips to experiment with your own site.
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