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Internet Marketing Coach
10 Ways to Increase your Adsense Income
February 19th, 2008 | 33 comments
Although there are many Adsense haters out there, many of us enjoy the income we make through Adsense. I’d venture to say many of those “haters” went down that path because they either weren’t getting enough traffic to make any money or they weren’t optimizing their ads properly.
When it comes down to it you obviously need the traffic and that only comes through your own marketing efforts. But some publishers have the traffic and still don’t see the kind of money they expect with the Adsense advertising program.
I’ve been running Google adverts for nearly 3 years now. A person tends to learn a thing or two about increasing conversions when running the same advertising program for that amount of time, so I’m going to share a few tips with you:
1. Use section targeting to increase the relevancy of your adverts! This is something I don’t see talked about nearly enough because it really does work out for alot of sites. Its effectiveness really is determined on the site in particular, but no matter what it’s worth a shot!
2. Target competitive niches! I don’t care what anyone says about MFA sites, they work! I’m not talking about spam sites, I’m talking about high-quality, informative sites that are in a high paying market! Some of these niche sites can bring in $5-$10/day after only a couple days. When you’re making over a $1 per click you don’t need much traffic to make money.
3. If a site has a CTR of 1% or less, remove it from your site. Although there is some contraversy as to whether or not CTR causes “smart pricing” to kick in, it’s just not worth risking. At least remove Adsense for a few weeks and see if your overall adsense income rises. If so, you were probably hit with Google’s Smart Pricing. If that site in particular was causing smart-pricing to kick in, consider a different monetization model.
4. Use large rectangles wherever possible. Obviously this will be determined by your own perception of ads, as some people think it’s somewhat “spammy” to have a big ad at in their face, but large rectangles appearing at the top center of a page does work! I use this format on my niche sites above the content and I get very nice CTR’s on most of these sites.
5. Remove the “on-site Advertiser” link from your ads. This is something I noticed a few years back and noticed an immediate increase in earnings. That may have been a coincidence, but it makes sense. It’s just one less thing that makes it look like an ad.
6. Most pages convert better without a border and by using the same link and background color as your page. This is of course dependent on each page in particular, so testing is always important, but more times than not blending in converts!
7. In many instances one individual advert will show over and over again. If you see an ad that continues to appear on your page(s) but isn’t laser targeted to your content remove it with the competitive ads filter inside your account.
8. Do not go by Google’s heat map. It’s a good visual aid for some layouts, but there are just too many variables. The effectiveness of any layout will be determined by color, style, niche etc. so testing is always your best bet!
9. Don’t get too crazy with ads. I’ve seen loads of sites that have there maximum allowance of Google ads stuffed into their pages, a few (or alot) affiliate banners etc. etc. Placing too many adverts on any page does NOT mean you’re going to earn more!! That’s a classic “newbie” mistake that most of us made in the beginning. More times than not, just have a couple well optimized ads on each page will convert MUCH better than 5 or more.
10. Play by the rules. Don’t ever click your own ads and don’t ever have others commit click fraud. You can’t crack their code and trying will only get your account banned for life! If you do click your own ad on accident don’t worry, one or two accidental clicks probably won’t get you banned, but several from the same IP and/or geographical location will definitely get your account banned. It’s not worth it, don’t do it!
photo credits: Mint Software
Popularity: 26% [?]
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19th February, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Not sure about #5, dude. I went to check this out and found no such section in my account. Searching the Help section revealed this statement:
“We’re sorry to inform you that the Onsite Advertiser Sign-up feature is no longer available. The ‘Advertise on this site’ link no longer appears on any of our ad units.”
19th February, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Ah, good deal. Nice find, Chuck. I opted-out of it a while back, so I just assumed it was still available. It’s good that they don’t even offer it anymore, no action needed.
19th February, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Hey Josh,
I’m one of those people who did way to much self ad clicking back in their youth and still can’t get an adsense account. I’ve tried with different emails, different addresses… nothing works… do you ahve any advice that might help me get back into the network? Currently I’m piggybacking on a buddies account but that’s a pain.
Thanks,
Justin
19th February, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Hey Justin,
Your site is also in Akismet hell
Mine was a while back although I didn’t spam anyone. A simple email to them got mine out.
I’ve never had my Adsense account banned (knock on wood,) so I don’t have any first-hand advice, but I know of a good report on the subject that I reviewed a while back.
I don’t know the direct link, but it was written by “timtim2500″ over at the Warrior Forum. Just send him a PM and I’m sure he’ll direct to toward the product.
Good luck !
20th February, 2008 at 12:11 am
All good tips. The best thing to do is test test test. Try different positions, ad formats, colors until you get your CTR as high as possible. I have one site that I’ve taken from 1.5% CTR to over 5% CTR through testing like this. Granted it took me several months to get to this point, but its worth it for triple the income.
20th February, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Great tips and advice! I have been playing with Adsense and I can tell you that it does work. You will need to keep your CTR up above 1% to avoid smart pricing (.01 - .05 clicks).
There are many ways to get things done with adsense, but I agree that experimentation and checking your reports will lead you to what is working and what isn’t working.
#9 is really true. I noticed a higher CTR and payout when I reduced the number of ad units on a couple of my sites.
20th February, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I will agree with the others here that testing is important, but the CTR’s mentioned here seem awfully low! Remember, sometimes less is better. The best performance I’ve had is with a single large rectangle between the title and the article. A little tip I learned right here from the interview with Tim Gorman.
-Allen
20th February, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Hi Free, thanks for stopping by. That’s an odd name. Can you take a look at my comment policy please?
Hi Elliott,
Yep, testing, tracking and tweaking will do wonders. There’s some controversy as to whether or not CTR directly effects smart pricing, but I still believe it does.
Josh
20th February, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Hi Allen,
You’re right. A high CTR in my eyes is around 30%-40%. My best performing sites have CTR’s on average of about 35% but my best paying site has a CTR of about 15%.
20th February, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Josh,
I do firmly believe that CTR affects your price per click. When I was new and running adsense on everything, I was getting clicks for $.01 to $.05 each.
I have since wised up and removed them all. I dropped adsense on all sites for about 2 weeks and tried a few with YPN. One site did really well, but the YPN ad selection was limited in this niche.
When I put adsense back on it, I was getting around 15% or better CTR on this site, and am getting clicks as high as $2.00 each now.
I also agree that the higher the CTR, the better your payout is generally speaking. Ad placement also plays a role in your payout amount, with the higher payouts usually at the top or main page.
Just my $.02 worth…
20th February, 2008 at 3:53 pm
While I never did any self ad-clicking, I still ended up to not like Adsense that much. However those are some great tips and would definitely put them to use if I was Adsense Publisher
20th February, 2008 at 4:18 pm
I agree about the value of testing. When someone decides to click out to leave the site, the ads should be easily accessible to them…displayed in a friendly manner. But that will vary drastically from site to site.
I think there’s a balance to be struck here, and we can learn a lot from the folks in TV. They know how to tease…but a tease only works when you can deliver something people want. They have a nice balance between content and commercials. But I question whether most of the people creating article sites are delivering content that’s truly of value.
When we talk about 30% CTR or higher, it seems to me that someone who promotes this is dangerously close to promoting the concept of something Made For AdSense. I’m not suggesting that you’ll get banned. I’m suggesting that the whole point of this stuff is to provide a service/product of value to the site visitor. If you’re getting a very high CTR, what does that say about what you’re really offering of value. It sounds to me like people can’t wait to get the hell off your site.
The only other explanation is that the ads on your site are so compelling that EVERYONE feels the need to click on them. I think that’s highly unlikely. Tackling these things in an ethical/principled manner, it seems to me, requires an honest look at these issues.
Just my two cents’ worth.
21st February, 2008 at 1:27 am
Wonderful tips, Josh. And I know they come from real experience in the “field” so that makes them even better. I’ve put off building MFA sites for no good reason, but have just started dabbling and I know these tips will come in handy.
But what would you say to the common blogger lament that you’re giving away your traffic for pennies?
21st February, 2008 at 6:14 pm
@ Elliot - A pretty much agree. It’s not soemthing I’m tested extensively, but from what I’ve seen CTR plays a major roll in smart-pricing.
@ Ruck - Well, it’s not for everyone, nothing wrong with that. Thanks for the compliment.
@ Chuck - I believe your statement below is exactly why these sites (of mine anyway) get such a high CTR:
“The only other explanation is that the ads on your site are so compelling that EVERYONE feels the need to click on them. I think that’s highly unlikely.”
My sites do provide good value. I only use writers who are either very knowledgeable in the first place in the niche or who can do very good research to provide value. If someone says my white-hat MFA sites are unethical, I’d ask that person to explain to me his definition of “ethical” because provide good, relevant, FREE information isn’t unethical in the least bit. If anyone wants to argue that fact that can go ahead, I’ll simply ignore it
@ Terry - I’m glad you enjoyed the tips. The frequent argument that Adsense equals pennies compaired to affiliate marketing etc. is a valid one. I’d just say it all depends on your business model, skills and sites in particular.
21st February, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Josh,
These things are issues of personal conscience, no doubt. I just get very concerned when people are focused on the topic of “low CTR”. If the ads are visible and accessible, there’s only so much one can do. As you know, I’ve never done a site like this before. I am in the process of putting up my first one (I hired a writer 10 days ago…and got an email this morning at 3am saying that she was cancelling her Elance profile…jeez, maybe I’m a tougher boss than I thought!), and I’ll be in a better position to evaluate such comments once I’m doing something similar. We’ll see.
WHAT HAPPENED to your subscriber count? You lost 130 overnight! Did you piss off someone again, or did you finally cancel all those hotmail/yahoo/gmail addresses you used to subscribe to inflate your numbers in the first place?
c-
21st February, 2008 at 6:57 pm
There are things, like I mentioned in this article, that can and will rise your CTR. The smallest thing can make a very large impact on a CTR.
Good luck on the site. I think you’ll understand what I mean once you get a quality MFA site of your own.
Good writers are hard to find, so once you find one or two who do a good job hang on to them!!!
It looks like the drop in subscribers in all over the blogosphere, so I’m guessing they screwed the pooch again and didn’t count a reader or two. I’m subscribed to my feed with my gmail email and no others, so that’s not the case. lol
21st February, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Josh,
Reading your article has opened my eyes to how low my 2% ctr is! i need to work on the large rectangle and experiment as you say!
Thanks! will keep coming back to read your blog!
Abhishek
21st February, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Glad I could be of service, Abhishek
Don’t feel too bad though. Some sites, blogs for example, produce low CTR’s by nature. Your normal niche, static site though should have a much higher CTR.
22nd February, 2008 at 4:33 pm
That was my static site CTR, Josh !
I am thinking of changing it from the present flash based site to wordpress and experimenting with different layouts!
Hope that works!
Abhishek.
22nd February, 2008 at 4:40 pm
ah ok, well testing should do the trick. Try different positions, colors, formats etc.
Good luck with it!!
23rd February, 2008 at 2:43 am
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23rd February, 2008 at 4:21 pm
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24th February, 2008 at 7:28 am
nice article and really useful. thanks. I’ll try it!
29th February, 2008 at 10:00 am
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10th March, 2008 at 9:47 am
In addition to point 9:
I have a max of four ads on a page (depends on the niche though), because the ads that are placed on my page are much cheaper than the number 1 ad.
If you have a site full of ads, say 3 large rectangles, the last ad is probably worth some dollars less than the first one. When you have a good layout (a sidebar that and links in the sidebar that are inconspicuous [from a translator, don't know if it's the correct word]), your CTR can be as high as 30%/40% (and yes, with highly informative content).
I always find it nice to buy highly informative MFA sites with high rankings and low CTR. Change the layout and earn your site back in 3 months
Thanks for the list anyway. I found some nice articles here (section targetting, didn’t know that). I subscribed to your feed!
10th March, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Thats interesting. (the positioning of higher CPC ads) Is that something you’ve read somewhere or something you’ve noticed from your own testing? I’d be very interested in learning more about that, Geld!
10th March, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I noticed it from my own testing on MFA sites. Januari last year I tested my hypothesis and I found my ECPM lying a lot higher than before.
I tested this with 2 channels on one page (split-tested, thus having a script showing different Adsense channels), so there was minimal interference and the exposure was divided equally on both channels.
You better test it on your sites!
10th March, 2008 at 3:33 pm
I’ll do that, thanks for the heads up
10th March, 2008 at 3:39 pm
No problem. It always comes in handy when subscribing to comments
12th June, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Got a white background with black google, yellow text . Placed it here and there in the tekst, hughe %!
20th July, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I agree with these points - but would also add:-
TEST (and test some more) which size and type of Adsense adverts work best for your page layout.
22nd July, 2008 at 5:55 am
thnks for the info..but cud u plz help me n tel me how to insert posts within the test not at the starting of page but within the post
22nd July, 2008 at 12:20 pm
@ meh - Just do a Google search for “WordPress Adsense Plugin” if you’re running WordPress. If it’s another CMS you’ll have to ask them. If it’s a basic html site you’ll need to either use Dreamweaver, Frontpage or another html editor or learn html.