by: Richard Keir
Copyright 2005 Richard Keir

Google is at least as interested as you are in having your ads
perform well on your site. And they've gone to some work to provide
the information you need to optimize your AdSense.

What's fascinating to me is that apparently not everyone bothers to
read their tips. And even some that do, fail to apply it.

That said, you need to be aware that simply using their tips doesn't
guarantee successful ads and decent CTR (Click Through Rate). How
many times have you heard this? You have to test. You have to try
alternatives and see what really works best for you, on your pages,
with your content and your visitors. Test, test, test some more.
Track your results, analyze them, try variations. Too many of us
don't test. We hear the mantra, but we don't do the work.

First, let's see if we can get an idea about location. (The graphic
is included in the article on my site or you can take a look at it
at the Google link included below) Generally, above the fold, at the
top center of your content, below top navigation is the hottest
location. Not immediately below which is good but not quite as hot.
In a left sidebar, to the immediate left of primary content or below
the primary content are also good. Most other locations are
generally cooler.

Again, you need to test and you need to consider your users behavior
- and their behavior may vary on different pages with different
kinds of content. Google suggests that in some cases, such as
articles, the best location can be at the end of the article. To
quote Google, "It's almost as if users finish reading and ask
themselves, What can I do next?" Well targeted relevant ads right
there can provide the answer.

Don't blindly assume that sticking a nice big rectangle in the
center above the fold will do it. It may, but depending on your
content, it may annoy or inconvenience your users.

Users tend to focus on content, navigation and to a lesser extent
graphics. Positioning your ads near these elements will often work
well -- if those ads are targeted to your visitors needs.

The top three performers among the Google ad formats are the 336X280
large rectangle, the 300X250 inline rectangle and the 160X600 wide
skyscraper. Google reports that the wider formats tend to do better
than the taller ones. One reason may be that these are, perhaps,
easier to read since they have fewer line breaks and require less
eye movement. But, you need to use formats that fit your pages well.
Once again, you need to test, but redoing your pages to suit a
particular ad format may not be a reasonable alternative and you may
discover that a different format actually gets better results.

Now we come to color. Conventional wisdom says that colors which
tend to blend into your content do better. Some go so far as to
suggest that colors which make the ads look like part of the content
are best. Personally, I think anybody really believes those ads are
anything but ads, but who knows. Google suggests that you may find
that colors that standout from your content do better - or maybe the
opposite. This is absolutely an area where you need to test
alternative color schemes. Going with the conventional wisdom
usually works fairly well, but without testing you could be leaving
a lot of money on the table.

Google allows you to have up to three ad units and one link unit on
your pages. If you have long pages with lots of text, can only use
small ad units or are in a niche with a large ad inventory, multiple
units can pay off. Keep in mind that the way ad serving works is
that the higher value ads are delivered to the first ad unit block
encountered in your code. Always make sure that this first ad unit
is displayed in the best location (yeah - test). You want the higher
paying ads to be in the prime hot location on your page. Weaker
locations can get the lower priced ads. And if none are available,
then nothing will display unless you've included an alternate ad URL
in your Google code. To maximize monetization you should be
including alternate ad URLs, especially if you are putting multiple
units on a page. The use of an alternate ad URL also eliminates the
possibility of being served PSAs (Public Service Announcements).
It's your real estate, maximize your returns.

Nothing here is secret. Except for using the alternate ad URL, all
of this information is available from Google's Optimization Tips
page -
http://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/static.py?page=tips.html .
You can buy books and courses, visit a dozen forums and, in the end
it comes down to what your visitors do on your site. The best you
can get is general guidance. This means averaged outcomes over many
sites, many types of content. If you are serious about doing
whatever you can to really optimize your AdSense returns, there is
only one thing to do - test. Whether it's AdSense, opt-ins, copy,
headlines - anything with a measurable outcome that you can track -
then the way to improve is to test and keep on testing.


About the author:
Richard writes, teaches, trains and consults on business and
professional presentations and eCommerce related matters. For more
information on eCommerce sites and eCommerce site building visit
http://www.building-ecommerce-websites.com- and you can find more
articles at http://www.building-ecommerce-websites.com/articles.