7 Tips for Increasing AdSense Earnings

Here are 7 simple tips that will certainly help increase your adsense revenues, and hopefully get you to that sunny beach sooner.

1. Location, Location, Location…

Just as with most marketing efforts, the same is true for Google AdSense.

As an example, if your site is displaying the typical “F” pattern ad layout (a 728×90 leaderboard as header, and a 160×60 tower block on the left- and maybe even an extra ad or link unit) then you’re not just showing the top-paying ads, you’re also showing a lot of the ads with lower values too. If your site triggers ads in the $1+ range, you’re hurting your own pocketbook. While the abovementioned “F” pattern layout (based on findings of viewing ‘hotspots’ - from Google too) has often been regarded as the best placement for Adsense, it is being proven by many to not be that effective. Why? Because these multiple ad panels trigger lower paying keywords that are “outside” of your content, not within it. When Adsense ads are placed within the content, it generally performs better on average. We have experienced this while testing different Adsense placement models. One site we manage had a 20% increase in CTR when replaced the ‘fully packed’ ad layout with a more spartan and simple 468×60 text ad block within the body of the content.

2. Keywords - Density, Placement and Semantics

While Google doesn’t reveal specifics on algorithmic methods behind the delivery of Adsense, we have learned through experimentation that keyword density, placement and semantics plays a significant role. Adsense relies on your textual content and context (sometimes) to determine which ads to show, and other factors such as price bidding and ‘ad popularity’ to determine what order they show up on your pages. It also appears that content toward the top of your page has a large influence on ad selection. Putting selected keywords in your H1 tags, in bold, and in links as well seems to drastically affect the AdSense ads that get shown. Finally, because no two people think alike, using a large amount of semantics or synonyms on your page for your major keywords not only enhances the context of your focus, but provides potential keywords for other ads and searchers who may not have used your primary keywords.

3. Less is More - or is More, More?

A common theory is that having fewer links on your page gives visitors fewer “exit” options, thus improving chances of them clicking on your Adsense ads. If you have 20 (total) links on your page and 4 of them are within a 728×90 ad block, then visitors still have 16 other links to choose from to exit your page. With only 9 (total) links on the page, visitors now have only 5 links to choose from other than Adsense ads. Add more Adsense ads, such as a block containing 5 more links carefully weaved into your content (such as a 336×280), and they now have a better chance of getting clicked on with a ratio of 9:14. Other factors to consider for predicting effective ad placement are: percentage of page scanned before clicking away, percentage of page scanned before scrolling, number of average scrolls per page , etc. The odds can definitely be in your favour with these tactics. This might also explain the 20-40% CTR some are reporting on pages where all internal links are at the bottom of the page.

4. Place Images Near Ads

While it has been reported that Google doesn’t like images placed next to ads (such that they appear to be served by Google), this has been proven by many to boost CTR dramatically. Because these are just suggestive images (perhaps) and are not like banner ads, people are more likely to notice them. It seems that the images initially attract the eye, which then track to the nearest text. We have used this ‘impact enhancement’ method and have had very poistive results.

5. Font Type and Size

Announced recently on the official Adsense Blog; adjusting your page’s font and size to match Adsense ads can greatly boost CTR. This could be difficult if your site has a lot of static pages, but a simple batch search & replace tool can help you speed things up. Typically, the font used mainly in Adsense ads is Arial, size: 11px. A number of people have reported that they’ve witnessed Adsense ads conforming to their page’s CSS font styles. If this is happening, it may be that Adsense might be able to adapt to a very limited number of fonts used commonly on web pages.

6. Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3…

Adsense can only be as effective as the unique way in which you integrate it into your website. What works for one website may not work for another. While there are some basic principles that are great starting points for any website, your design and content is unique and therefore visitor behaviour will be unique. Your best results will come through experimentation and patience.

7. Do Research, Continually…

There are plenty of resources out there on AdSense, some of them good, some of them are shady. Our best advise is to use common sense, find what works best for you in your unique situation, and keep on top of new tricks, tips, resources and trends. It will help your bottom dollar.

Official AdSense Blog

From the Horses Mouth

Google Search on ‘AdSense Tips’