We have all heard the old saying that the three most important factors in real estate are location, location and location, and this old axiom carries over into the world of Google AdSense as well. Where you place your ads can have a profound impact on the success of your AdSense program, so it makes sense to pay careful attention to where those ads are located.
In the case of Google AdSense, location refers to where on the page the ads are placed. The goal, of course, should be for the ads to blend in with the rest of the site, rather than sticking out as an obvious ad. The less like an ad it looks the more effective it is likely to be. Of course it is important that the location of the Google AdSense ads does not interfere with the usability of the web site itself. It is important to make sure that the site remains usable and intuitive, and that it does not appear crowded or busy. If the web site does look too cluttered, you may want to break the site down into more sections, or add additional pages to provide for easier reading. A side benefit of having more pages on the site is that those additional pages can host additional ads, and generate addition revenue from the AdSense program.
Even though text ads are generally better and more effective, a site that is extremely heavy on text, with few images, may actually benefit from image ads. Adding a few image ads can help provide much needed graphics while naturally directing the attention of the visitor to the ads. This strategy can be highly effective, and it is one to consider if your web site is long on text and short on pictures.Whether you are placing image ads or text ads, however, the biggest question remains where to put those ads. In order to be most effective, the ads should generally be placed as close to the top of the page as possible. The ads at or near the top of the page are generally more likely to be noticed than those closer to the bottom. If you use “skyscraper” ads, similar to column ads in newspapers on the sidebars of the web site it is a good idea to place them to the right of the web site content. This is because visitors to your web site will most likely be reading from left to right. The visitor’s eyes will naturally go to the right, where the ad will be displayed.In addition, the ads should be placed in such a way that they blend in naturally with the surrounding content. For instance, if you already have a list of links on your web site, it is a good idea to place the AdSense links in that section of the web site. Google allows this type of placement and it is perfectly proper to use this strategy.For those web sites with a main page that is updated daily, the best place for Google AdSense ads is on that frequently updated page. Putting the ads where people will be most likely to see them is a good way to get them noticed. If the site is updated often and bookmarked by many users, that will increase the chances of a visitor clicking the ads and generating revenue for the site.It is important to remember, however, that the home page of the web site is not always the most visited. It is important for each web site owner to look at his or her own web site statistics when determining the best page to place the majority of AdSense ads. For many web sites, the most visited page will not be the home page, but another page that is updated frequently, like a “what’s new” page, or a “current events” page. If you do not currently receive website tracking reports, most web hosting companies will be able to provide these important usage statistics.
Google AdSense and the Importance of Developing Good Content It has been said many times but it certainly bears repeating – content is king when it comes to the internet. Those web sites that are able to incorporate high quality useful content into their web sites are those who are most likely to benefit from the power of a Google AdSense program, so it pays to spend some time working on getting that content right, and keeping it up to date going forward.One common mistake made by all too many webmasters is to simply bulk up the site with lots and lots of keywords in an attempt to lure visitors and boost search engine rankings. This is an important trap to avoid, and it is important not to clutter the web site with so many keywords that visitors end up turning away. After all, the goal is not simply to get visitors to come to your site. The goal is to keep them there long enough to read your content and click on your advertising links.It is vital for the web site to provide visitors with a good experience and to put them in a frame of mind where they are willing to explore the products and services your advertisers have to offer. One of the best ways to produce that inquisitive state of mind on the part of your web site visitors is to provide them with content they find useful and compelling. Providing compelling and useful content can not only boost search engine rankings honestly through the inclusion of relevant keywords, but it can also provide visitors with lasting value, helping to ensure that they will return to your site in the future.In addition, this high quality and highly useful content will help to gain the trust and confidence of visitors to your web site. If visitors know that they can trust the source, they will be more likely to look at the ad links and respond to them in a positive manner.In the case of a web site that contains several different types of content, or content on a variety of subjects, it is important for the combination to make sense. It would make sense, for instance, for a web site focused on sports to also include content on things like sports medicine, vitamins and nutrition.It may not make so much sense for that web site to add content of an economic or political nature, however. The related content sites, in this case sports medicine, vitamins and nutrition, could each have their own targeted ads, perhaps for a company selling herbal supplements, or a site selling braces for sports injuries.It is important for the successful AdSense web site to contain high quality text content. While pictures are certainly attractive, and graphical content is important, the words are what Google uses to search the site. It is important that the textual content of the site be sufficient for Google to accurately categorize the site and effectively target the ads being served.It is also important for each page of the web site to have a separate and distinct title. It is important to replace default titles like “untitled document”, “page 1”, “default page” etc, with titles that truly describe the content found on the page. When naming those pages, however, keep it brief. Long page names may be banned by some search engines. The goal is to provide a brief explanation of what the page is all about.It would be hard to overstate the importance of good content to an effective and money generating web site. Gathering high quality content and placing it appropriately on the web site is a proven strategy for generating the best and most profitable AdSense ads, so it definitely pays to keep an eye on this important feature of your web site. Whether you produce your own content or hire a professional web copywriter, it is important to keep the content useful, relevant and of the highest quality.
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