I’m not sure if this is ironic, enlightening, or somewhere in between, but I definitely think that it is some food for thought. As an aspiring blogger looking to supplement my freelance writing income, I’m always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to monetize my blog. Beyond the Rhetoric has been around for over a year now and I can say with pride that it has experienced a substantial level of growth since its inception. My current RSS subscriber count is up to 47, I get over 8000 visitors a month, and both my Technorati and Alexa rankings are the highest best they have ever been. These numbers may pale in comparison to someone like John Chow, but they are quite the achievement for the “rookie blogger.”
To some people, Google Adsense is the be-all and end-all when it comes to making money blogging. Clearly, this is not really the case, because there are an abundance of other options out there like Text Link Ads and PayPerPost. But in the end, you still want to maximize your potential income from Adsense and there are several schools of thought on this.
Many have said that the inline 300 box — as I’ve used it above — is the most lucrative ad placement. I know that this has been true for this blog, particularly when compared to the 468×60 banner I used to place at the bottom of posts. It’s also important to integrate the ads so that they match the color scheme of your site and so on. But an issue that has come up is just how far should you go with placing your ads? The rookie blogger will just fill the page with ads, cramming as much money-making potential into that virtual real estate, but is this really the best strategy?
Jane May wrote some time back that less is more when it comes to Google Adsense. This is because advertisers bid on certain keywords and the top bidder gets the top spot in the ad placements, the second highest bidder gets the second spot, and so on. If you fill your website with ads, you’re allowing the cheaper bids to get in, and thus, you make less money with each click. Makes sense, right? Well, check out this “optimization report” that I got from Google:
June 2007 Optimization Report
Dear Publisher,
Here is your optimization report for the month of June. After an automatic review of your sites, we think you might be able to improve your monetization using the following tips:
Placing more than one ad unit on a page often generates more revenue.
Many of your sites only contain one ad unit.
How can I fix this? Dismiss this tip.We hope these tips are helpful, and encourage you to experiment using different layouts and formats–no two sites monetize the same way!
Sincerely,
Google Adsense
So, which is it? Should I be placing fewer Adsense ads or should I be placing more? Well, here’s my gut reaction to the “optimization report.”
The auto-bot that sifts through your site and provides this report probably doesn’t recognize the other ad networks you may have running on your blog. As such, it might not notice the AuctionAds I have on the sidebar and most definitely doesn’t know whether a post is sponsored by ReviewMe or not. As such, this bot probably “thinks” that I really only have one ad running on each page, and if this were true, it would be correct to say that I am not maximizing the income potential of each page.
I’m a firm believer that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. So, my response to this suggested change is… to simply keep the status quo. I’ll continue to run the single 300 inline box alongside the other ad networks. What about you? What suggestions for Google Adsense optimization have you received?
i did read the post jane made a while back and have since then been pondering on whether i should sign up for google ads. i somehow dont like how google ads look…and will probably hold off on them for a while. I am anxious to know any other ways to optimize the ads though !
This will be different for blogs, as spacing/format is different, but the 336 ad format makes a lot more money than the 300 formats when running them on my network/content sites. I have yet to do any ad testing on my blog page yet.
I feel the 336 is too big for my blog, because the content column is only 500 pixels wide. Would you agree?
Right, that’s what I figured for blogs. I also have problems on my blog layout with making sure the just images aren’t too big, that I make with postings. The 336 layouts would be ideal for content sites.
Why don’t you have a look at AdvertCube AdFeeds from my new advertising business AdvertCube Internet Advertising (http://www.advertcube.com)?
Our ads are only 200 pixels wide and contain only a maximum of 6 ads per feed, which they don’t take up too much space. Plus when we finish implementing the feeds, we will be offering up to $0.50 per click.
We are currently accepting sign ups for referral commissions worth $2.50 each in earnings.
As a reader I find repetition of google ads panels distracting, I’d rather have one big panel (as you have at the head of each article) than lots of small ones throughout a blog. I tend to find that I’m actually far more likely to click on eBay links or amazon links than generic google ads.
Weird, I am in the process of trying to figure out if google will fit on the fox and still look good and not be too distracting.
I would say that less AdSense is better, because you are going to show ads with different click prices, you really want to show only ads in top 3 spots, and if you want to have more ads, use alternatives like AuctionAds.
Besides, you dont want to annoy your readers too much with ads 🙂
The ads should be unobtrusively placed on a site, but shouldn’t be invisible. Image ads from google sometimes end up looking attractive but have a lower PPC.
Also, the only suggestion I’ve been receiving for the last three months is that I am filtering out sites that may earn me more. Actually the only sites I am filtering out are those from John Chow’s list sometime ago and those from adsblacklist.com. I guess they both are pretty reliable
I think there is no reason why you cannot try Google’s suggestion. The key to all this is experiment!