"He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skills. Our antagonist is our helper." -Edmund Burke
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Improve Your Online Small Business Profits
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AdSense allows website publishers to display contextually
relevant advertisements on their website. If a web visitor
"clicks" on an advertisement, the web publisher will earn a
percentage of the advertising revenue generated as a result
of the click. Many webmasters have built content websites
around the Google AdSense model. In many cases the specific intent of the webmaster is to profit from Google AdSense. Other webmasters use Google AdSense to supplement their revenue. Regardless of the webmaster's intent, the following tips will help webmasters looking to profit from AdSense.
Top AdSense Tips:
1. Niche Sites.
Targeted niche sites that have a clear theme, tend to
generate more advertising revenue simply because it is
easier to achieve decent search engine placement. Be warned though, you want to chose a niche where there is a
sufficient number of advertisements available.
2. Target Keywords.
When determining the sites focus, consider how much the
advertisers pay for the advertisements. If the site is
focused on ringtones, like Ringtone Central the payout per click is going to be very small, as ringtones are not high ticket items, advertisers will not spend a lot on pay per click advertisements.
With less obvious markets use Overture to determine how much advertisers pay per keyword, it is usually similar on Google. Search Overture for a keyword then click "View Advertisers' Max Bids" in the top right corner. This will show the Overture inventory and how much is paid per keyword. Because the market has become very competitive, it will be difficult to rank well in search engines with a new website that is optimized for the terms that have the highest payout. Consider targeting terms that are moderately priced.
3. Aged Sites / Time.
Over time as a website is spidered by Google, advertisements
will generally increase in relevance. In general, older
websites will rank better in search engines. The closer the
advertisements relate to the webpage's content; the higher
the "click-through" the publishers will see.
4. Coding.
In order to minimize a websites maintenance place the Google
generated AdSense code in the website template or an include file. This will allow you to easily experiment with different advertisement sizes and ad placement, and keep the web maintenance to a minimum.
5. Tracking Channels.
In order to know how effective a specific website or ad
placement is use distinct channels and subchannels within
Google. This will allow you to discern what performs best on
a specific website.
Using channels will tell you what sites are making money,
what advertisements are making money and what ad position
is the most profitable on a specific website. Keep in mind
that you should run an advertisement for a full week, in order to properly test its effectiveness, different days of the week will vary the web traffic so comparing one week to another will give the most accurate reflection of how effective a campaign performs.
When testing different advertisement sizes, placement or
color schemes be sure to leave campaigns in place for one
week, different days will often result in web traffic
fluctuations. Comparing web traffic, week to week will give
a clear indication of what ad formats perform the best.
6. Integrated Ad Placement.
Many webmasters have been successful at integrating
advertisements into a website. The easiest way to integrate
an advertisement into a website is to remove the
advertisement border. This will allow the ads to better
blend with the webpage. Google recommends contrasting the
link colors with the website colors to increase
click-throughs. It is also suggested that webmasters
randomize the color of the advertisements, so that frequent
users will not naturally "filter" the ads.
example of integrated ad placement:
http://www.golf-clubhouse.net or
http://www.security-protection.net
7. Number vs Value of Advertisements.
Up to three advertisements can be listed on each page. This
decreases the value of the advertisements served, so
publishers should cautiously add advertisement units, as it
dilutes ad inventory. In other words you want to serve the
most expensive ads at all times.
8. Hot Spots.
Like web copy above the fold holds true with AdSense as
well. This means that advertisements that appear without
having to scroll will be read more frequently. Hot Spots are
areas on a web page that result in a higher percentage of
click-throughs. According to Google the highest paying
advertisements are located on the hot spots.
hot spots map -
http://www.small-business-software.net/heat-map.htm
Google does not indicate if image advertisements or text ads
perform better, so webmasters are encouraged to experiment
with both.
9. Highest performing Ad Sizes.
According to Google the 336 x 280 rectangle, the 300 x250
rectangle and the 160 x 600 sky scraper result in the
highest number of click-throughs. Depending on the website's
design and layout, publishers may experience different
results with different ad sizes, placements and color
schemes. Expirement and track the results for each website
to maximize the AdSense payout.
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Sharon Housley manages marketing for
FeedForAll software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage a wireless text messaging software company.
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