Five factors contribute significantly to the profitability of your AdSense ads. Most of these factors are ones you can influence, and should be considered a primary focus as you create and format new content.

1) Website Traffic 2) Increasing Content 3) Increasing Click Through Rate (CTR) 4) Average Click Value (CV) 5) Adsense Units per Page

 

1) Website Traffic
A significant amount of your website traffic will come from search engines. The traffic is free, and the visitors are members of your target market. Additional website traffic can be gained through off-site marketing efforts.

2) Increasing ContentWebsites owner with 10 pages of content will be able to place 30 AdSense ad units and 30 AdSense link units throughout their site. Doubling the number of pages will double the number of ad units you can place on your website, and likely double your profits. The increase in website size will also dramatically boost your visibility.

3) Increasing Click Through Rate (CTR)
Every website is different, though the following tips will help you make the most of each AdSense unit.

Visibility - The visibility of your AdSense units will effect your CTR (click-through-rate) more than any other factor. Make sure your AdSense units/links are highly visible. Visitor won't click on something they don't see. The following heat map can provide you with some general help as to what works, and what doesn't. Then it's up to you to figure out what works best.

Heat Map This heat map illustrates ideal AdSense ad locations on a sample page layout. The colors in this illustration fade from darkest (strongest performance) to lightest (weakest performance). Ads positioned above the fold typically perform better than ads below the fold. Ads placed near content and site navigation also perform well, because users are focused on those areas of the page.

Best Ad Units - While Google offers a variety of AdSense ad units, some perform better than the others. As a rule, wider ad formats outperform their more narrow counterparts, because of their reader-friendly format. Readers absorb information in phrases or ideas. The wider ad format allows them to easily read more words at a glance before having to skip to the next line, as they would have to do with a more narrower ad. If positioned well, the ad units that perform the best include the Medium Rectangle, the Large Rectangle, and the Wide Skyscraper. Limited space should be the only reason to choose any other ad unit.

Ad Unit Colors - AdSense ad units which more closely match the overall look and feel of your website tend to do better on average. Not only is this a better choice for CTR, but it will give a boost to the overall look and feel of your website. Ask your web designer for the HEX codes for the primary colors of your website. You will use them when you are selecting the sizes and colors of your AdSense ad units. Eliminating the border around the AdSense unit is also a recommended practice. Blending your ads with your content is your goal. Borders set your ads apart.

4) Average Click Value (CV)
The average value per click will vary from website to website, because each site differs in content, and therefore attracts different ads. As a rule, however, advertisers interested in selling big ticket items pay more to place ads because they stand to profit more from the sale of these items. If advertisers pay more to advertise, it is likely that their AdSense ads will reward you with a higher CV's.

5) AdSense Ads/Links per Page
Google allows website owners to place up to 3 AdSense ad units and 3 AdSense link units per page. AdSense link units are delivered in a smaller format than AdSense Ad Units, to provide opportunities for website owners to profit when space is limited.

What would you say if I told you that it was possible to make a few simple changes to your website, and drive AdSense revenue from $10,000 a year to $30,000 a year or more? When I launched my first ad-supported website, MakingMusicFun.net, I had little little understanding about how to optimize my ads. I copied what someone else did, and hoped for the best. After several months I decided to dig in, and figure out how to increasing the performance of my ads. With a few changes I tripled my ad revenue!

by Andrew Fling

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