Ad Placement

Where you put your Adsense advertisements on your blog or website has a lot to do with how well you will doing making money from them. I am not a website designer, nor for that matter do I have any qualifications other than a degree from the blog school of hard knocks so my ideas about advertisement placement are ones I have learned threw trial and error.

Typically, advertisements do best when placed above the fold. (I mentioned this in an earlier post, above the fold means where they are visible when your web page opens)

Placing advertisements on the top of the page get the reader's attention immediately, often before they see your content. This is a struggle for some bloggers who are more concerned with people reading their words than in making money from ads. It's an individual decision that all bloggers have to make on their own.

When you are thinking about where to place your ads, look at your website, and see where you eyes go first. Try to do this without thinking about it. That's the spot where you may want to place a block of ads. If your eyes go there first, chances are others will as well. Or, you could ask your kids or spouse or friends to do the same and watch what they look at as your site opens.

As I have mentioned before, not all websites are the same, and what works for one may not work for another.

If you can place your ads above your content, but inside of it, you are really in the hotspot. Not all blog formats will allow you to do this, but try to come as close as possible.

I like the left hand sidebar for a row of ads, because I feel that readers scan from left to right and an advertisement there will catch their eye and perhaps prompt them to check it out.

Once you have your Google Adsense account check out their helpful heat map that shows you the best spots for ad placements, then consider your blog and what you are trying to accomplish. Remember, just because a heat map shows a good spot, for your individual blog or website their maybe a better spot.

Finally, a little about color selection. I personally don't like ad blocks where the background doesn't match the background of the blog. So I always do my best to have the same background for my ads as the rest of the blog or area where they are located. I think this makes the ads look integrated into the site, or part of the site and encourages people to look at them. As for the text itself, I prefer a color that stands out from the rest of the blog like a fairly bright blue or green depending on the rest of the blog colors. But, I freely admit, I change these colors around periodically. I think it freshen's up the blog, corrects ad blindness that happens over time, and also gives me a chance to see what colors work best.

So, ads should be placed fairly high on the page, hopefully above the fold, and in a bright contrasting color that screams for a reader's attention. It's also not a bad idea to stick a block of ads at the bottom of the post or blog, as readers who have read the post then may start looking for what to do next. If you blog is about a topic that interests them, they will see the contextual ads about the same thing and perhaps have a closer look, making you some money.

Oh yes, one more parting idea. Think about how television shows schedule their advertisements, usually they have quite a few at the beginning, middle and end, it works for them so perhaps it will work for you. Your ads above the fold will be the beginning, your sidebar ads are the middle and the bottom ad block is the end.

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