Google Adsense Tips And Tricks

Controlling Your Ads

2008-09-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

Keyword: Finding Keywords, Keyword Density, Keyword Placement, Keyword Frames, Section Targeting, Meta tag, Google Ads Preview, Public Service Ads, Blocking Ads, Advertise On This Site, CPM Ads

Attracting Relevant Ads

Getting the color and placement right will help improve your click-through rate. But neither of those will affect which ads your site serves.

In theory, Google controls the ads that appear on your site. You don't get to choose them at all. In practice, there are a few th in gs that you can do to stop irrelevant ads from appearing and ensure that you get the ads that give you cash.

The more relevant the ads, the greater the chan ce that a user will click and you'll earn money.

The most important factor is obviously going to be your content. Google's crawlers will check your site and serve up ads based on the keywords and the content on your page.

Bear in mind that Google's crawlers can't read graphics or Flash or pretty much anything that isn't text, but for now, remember that if you want to keep your ads relevant, you've got to have the sort of page that Google can understand and use to give you the ads you want.

Keep The Title, Directory And Headlines Relevant

How exactly the crawlers read pages is a secret guarded about as closely as Coca Cola s special syrup formula. One thing that does seem to have an effect though is the title of your URLs and files.

When you create your pages and view them on your computer before uploading them to the server, you should find that AdSense serves up ads related to the name of the directory that holds the page. That gives a pretty big clue as to at least one of the things that Google is looking at: the name of the directory.

Actually, it s not just the name of the directory that s important. The name of the file plays a big part too.

If you have a website about wedding trains and the title of one of your pages is trains.php for example, there's a good chance that you'll get ads about Amtrak and Caltrain. That wouldn't give you many clicks. Change the name of the file to weddingtrains.php and there's a much better chance that you'll see ads related to weddings.

If you find that the ads that are appearing on your site have nothing to do with your content, the first places to look are your directory and your title.

Make them more relevant to your content and you should find that you get better ads.

Another place to look is your headlines. Instead of using a “font” tag for your heading, try using the “h1” tag with headings that contain your keywords. That should help them to stand out to the crawlers.

And if you don t have any headlines at all, try adding some.

Finding Keywords

We know that Google's crawlers search websites for keywords, then reports back and tells the company what kind of ads to send to the site. If your site is about pension plans for example, then your keywords would be things like retirement , 401k and pension .

Getting the right keywords on your site won't just make your ads relevant; it will also help you to make sure that the ads you get are the ones that pay th e most.

There are all sorts of tools available on the Web which tell you how much people are prepared to pay for keywords. www.overture.com lets you see how much people are prepared to pay.

Again, you don't want to build a site just to cash in on a high paying keyword but if you know that 401k pays more than retirement for example, then it makes sense to use the higher paying keywords more than the lower paying ones.

Keyword Density

You ll need the right keywords to get the right ads. Bu t you ll also need the right amount of keywords.

There's no golden rule for putting the right number of keywords on a page to get the ads you want. You'll just have to experiment. It also seems to be the case that keyword density is counted across pages, especially for high-paying keywords. If you have a site that's generally about cars and you write a page for car rental, a higher-paying keyword, you might find that you need to produce several pages about car rental before you get the ads.

In general though, if you find that your ads are missing the point of your page an d that your titles are all correct, then the next step would be to try men tion ing your keywords more often and make sure that they're all finely focused. For example, talking about fire extinguishers is likely to get you better results than talking generally about safety equipment.

Keyword Placement

It shouldn't really matter where you put your keywords, should it? As long as the right words are on the right page in the right amount of numbers, that should be en ough to get you relevant ads, right?

Wrong!!

One of the strangest results that people have had using AdSense is that putting keywords in particular places on the page can have an effect on the ads the site gets.

The most important place on your webpage is directly beneath the AdSense box. The keywords you place there could influence your ads.

For example, mentioning clowns in the space directly beneath the AdSense box could give you ads about circuses and red noses!

Keeping that in mind, you could play with your ads in all sorts of ways. If you had a site about camping for example, you might find that you're getting lots of ads about tents and sleeping bags, which would be fine. But if you also wanted to make sure that one or two of your ads were about Yosemite or mobile homes, then mentioning those keywords once or twice on the page directly below the AdSense box could give you ads for sites with that sort of content too.

Bear in mind though that you'll often find that you get ads that try to combine the main thrust of your site with the words in that keyword space below the ad box. So if you had a site about gardening and you mentioned cabbages beneath the ad box, you're more likely to get ads about growing cabbages than ads about cabbage recipes.

Experimenting with the placement of the keywords could allow you to control at least one or two of the ads you receive and help keep them varied. That's definitely something to try.

Keyword Frames

One of the reasons that websites don' t always receive relevant ads may be that all the navigation and other non-content words affect the way Google reads the page. If your links and other words take up lots of space, it could well skew your results.

One way to avoid your navigation affecting your ads is simply to create frames. You put all of your content in your main frame and the navigation material in a separate frame. Only the content frame has the Google code (google page u rl = document.location ), so your keywords won't be diluted by non-relevant words.

Section Targeting

Probably the most effective way to ensure the crawlers read the keywords you want to emphasize though is to use Section Targeting. This is a fantastic technique. By simply inserting a couple of lines of HTML code in to your Web page, you can tell the crawler which parts of your site are the most important and ensure that you get ads relevant to that content. The lin es you want to use to emphasize particular sections of your Web page are:

Section text.

The rest of the page won't be ignored, but those particular lines will receive a heavier weighting. If you want to tell the crawlers to ign ore particular sections, you can use these lines:

Section text.

You can high light (and de-emphasize) as many or as few sections as you wish, but what you can't do is use these instructions solely to highlight keywords. So you can't put them around particular single words or phrases on your page and hope to see ads that relate only to those terms.

In fact, Google recommends that you highlight a sizeable portion of text as much as 20 percent for the targeting to be most effective. The result of targeting small amounts of text could be irrelevant ads, public service ads... or even a banning if you deliberately tried to bring up ads that have nothing to do with your site.

Section Targeting is probably most useful if you have a Web page that covers lots of different topics. So if you had a blog about MP3 players but had written an article about rap music for example, you could use Section Targeting to ensure that you didn't lose ads about the music players to ads about rap music. Or you could tell the crawlers to ignore your readers comments and focus on your own entries.

And presumably, there's nothing wrong with stuffing a paragraph with keywords related to your subject and telling the crawlers to focus on that section to ensure that your ads stay targeted.

It's definitely something that you want to play with.

If there s one problem with Section Targeting though, it s that it can take up to two weeks before you see the results the time it can take for the crawler to re-visit your page. So it s not a fast process and that can make it a bit of a blunt tool. But it's not blunt enough to be ignored.

No 'Baiting'!

Often I've clicked through a 'promising' website, only to find reams of keyword spam, interspersed with AdSense. Websites like these make AdSense look bad.

Keyword spam may trick search spiders, but your human visitors will leave disappointed.

People hate being 'baited' by a web marketer. Offer content that makes their visit worthwhile. Address the needs and concerns of your visitors with original content.

Quality content builds trust and loyalty and that, in turn , makes people want to click. Search rankings may change, but loyal visitors keep coming back for more!

Changing Metatags

Metatags certainly aren't what they used to be, and in AdSense they're barely anything at all. There s a good chance that when it comes to deciding ad relevance, your metatags have no effect whatsoever.

I've already mentioned that the title of your page will have an effect. It's also very likely that the description does too.

But that doesn't mean that your metatags are completely irrelevant when it comes to AdSense. They aren't. They only seem to be irrelevant when it comes to serving ads; they still play a role in search engine optimization and getting your site indexed faster.

Inviting The Robot

So far in this chapter, I ve explained some of the ways that you can tweak your page to keep your ads relevant. But the changes you make won't have any effect until Google s robot stops by and re-indexes your page. What will generally happen is that once you upload your new page, you'll still get the old ads and you might have to wait some time before the robot visits it again and you can find out whether your changes have the right result.

To get the robot to stop by earlier, reload the page in your browser, and then again a few minutes later. Do not click on any of the ads just reload and wait a few minutes before attempts.

This doesn't always work but with a bit of luck, you sh ould find that you receive new ads within a few minutes.

Google Ads Preview

Don't want to wait for the robot? No problem. The Google Ads Preview tool at http://googleadspreview.blogspot.com/ lets you see the ads you r site is likely to receive right away.

Google has its own tool for this, but this program by Digital Inspiration is much better. That's not just because it also works with Firefox (Google's preview tool only works in Internet Explorer) but mostly because it lets you compare different programs side by side.

When you're just starting out, that's not really important but when you re combining AdSense with Chitika eMiniMalls, it s useful to see what effect a single change can have across the different ads you re displaying.

You can also compare the AdSense ads with those served by Yahoo! Publishers Network.

And here s the real kicker: the Google Ads Prev iew Tool also lets you toss in key words and see which ads turn up.

Try it! Surf over to the site, toss in a keyword relevant to your site and see what ads you re likely to receive.

Note that I said which ads you re likely to receive, not which ads you will receive.

That's an important difference. Google uses all sorts of criteria to decide which ads you're going to get. I'm not sure which criterion this preview tool uses to choose ads for keywords but I can't see it emulating Google completely.

Use the tool to preview the ads on your site and you're on pretty firm ground. You' ll get a great impression of the ads you're likely to get and you can either match your content to it or change your content to bring up some different ads. Use it to preview the ads you re likely to get with a certain keyword and you've got a guide to where those keywords can take you.

Either way, you ve got a very useful tool.

Public Service Ads

The penalty for not getting your keyword placement and density right isn't just irrelevant ads. It could also be no ads at all. If Google can't find any relevant ads to give you, it could use your space to present public service ads, which are very nice but they don't pay you a penny. You might prefer to earn money and give it to a charity of your choice rather than give space on your site to a cause that Google chooses.

The most obvious way to beat this problem is to specify an alternate URL in the event that Google has no ads for you. You can do this from your AdSense account. Instead of linking to the Red Cross or whoever it may be, you'll receive a link to a site that you've pre-chosen .

You can also use this space to deliver image-based ads that come from your server. For offers that pay per action (clicks or signups), I like to use WebSponsors.com. You can signup for a free account and find new ways to monetize your unused ad space.

Or can try Google Backfill, a very neat service that allows you to select keywords relevant to your site and display targeted ads instead of the public service ads or your alternative URL. They'll match your colors and styles and split the revenue 50/50. It s all in line with Google s TOS and makes good alternative to no revenue at all while you get your keywords fixed. The service is available at www.allfeeds.com

Probably the easiest way to turn that wasted space into revenue though is to use GoogleAdSensePlus (www.GoogleAdSensePlus.com). This is another very neat tool that lets you swap public service ads for ads to a URL of your choice or your product. They have video online that you can watch to see how it works.

It s really very simple and very effective.

Blocking Ads

Another useful way to control the ads you see on your site is to block ads you don t want.

Google gives you a limit of 200 URL s to block, which isn't much. You might well find yourself burning through them pretty fast, especially if you try to block lower paying ads in favor of the higher-paying ones.

Playing with keywords, content and placement will give you much better results.

Advertise On This Site

Finally, there is one more way to in flu ence the ads that you sh ow on your site through AdSen se: by keeping active the Advertise on this site feature.

(You begin an AdSense campaign opted in; you have to choose to opt out.)

The feature displays a small notice beneath th e ads that poten tial advertisers can click to sign up for AdWords. You don t get paid when th e advertiser clicks bu t if they do sign up, th eir ads will appear on you r page on a pay-per-impression basis provided th e price they enter beats other bids.

While you can't choose which advertisers will sign up or even see which advertisers are signing up you can be reasonably confident that any advertiser looking at your site and choosing to advertise on it is likely to be in a relevant field. You can also use the filters to block advertisers that you don t wan t to promote.

There are two things to consider when inviting people to advertise on your site.

First, if there's one message I've been trying to push throughout this, it s that you don't want to make your ads look like ads. Keep your Advertise on this site feature switched on and you're going to get the word Advertise right next to an ad that you've just spent hours trying to blend into your site.

That's not the sort of thing that's going to make an ad look like content.

Sure, you've also got Ads by Google right next to it but you want to de-emphasize your ads as much as possible, not push the fact that they came from a third party.

What effect will that little notice have on your click-through rate? That's something you'll need to check. Once you've optimized your ads, opt out of the Advertise on this site feature for a week and check your CTR. Then opt back in and compare the results.

That should let you know h ow much you re paying for the chance of receiving a targeted CPM campaign.

When you do get targeted in that way, you can then see how much the campaign brings in and decide whether or not the lower CTR is worth the expense.

I think that for sites with plenty of traffic and who can earn large sums from a CPM campaign, it s usually worthwhile staying in; other sites will need to do some careful calculations but most will also find that the lost clicks are minimal and that opting in pays.

It can pay even more when you consider the second issue related to Advertise on this site : you can edit the landing page.

When an advertiser clicks on that advertising lin k, they re goin g to pull up a page on Google with information about AdSense an d about your site.

Google sees this page as a co-bran d: th ey host and supply it, you can do what you like with it. Advertisers that don t yet have an AdWord account will be shown how to sign up and place their ads on your pages, and advertisers th at do have an accoun t will be shown how to advertise on your site.

Google lets you make three kin ds of chan ges to this page:

You can add a logo

You can set th e color scheme

And you can write your own welcome message

Do you see why these options are so important?

This is the only place in AdSense where publishers get to talk directly to advertisers.

That s crucial!

AdSense is structured so that Google stands between the network of advertisers and the network of publishers. Ads go in one end, Google sorts them and sends them out the other end.

Advertisers have no way of telling publishers to put their ads at the top of the page or next to relevant pictures or only on pages that contain positive reviews of their products, or anything else. Once they've submitted their ads, they just have to trust the publisher to promote their sites in the best way possible

Similarly, as publishers, we have no control over what the advertisers write in their ads. We can't tell them to u se particular keywords, to write certain things in their headlines or to produce their copy in a particular style.

If we get an ad with bad copy, we just have to put up with the lower CTR until we either block it or see it replaced by a more profitable ad.

Edit the landing page, and you can tell the advertisers what they should write to get the most clicks with an ad on your site

You can even include your email address and contact information and invite them to contact you directly.

You want that page to look like part of your site. If an advertiser has clicked on the Advertise link on your site, it's because they liked what they saw.

You've impressed them, not Google, not Google's robot and not Google's method of matching ads to publishers.

Google understands that means they ve got more chance of signing up an advertiser if they let you do the selling.

You should certainly add your logo to this page. It appears in the top left-hand corner and makes the landing page look like you ve endorsed it which, of course, you have. If you don t have a logo, this is a good time to create one. You could just use any graphic that appears on your site; the effect will still be to draw a link between the landing page an d your site.

And that s the effect you want.

At the moment, you only get one landing page per account, although that might change soon If you have multiple sites, Google will make sure that the ads only appear on the site the advertiser was visiting when he clicked, but you might not want to mention a site name on the landing page in case you confuse the advertiser.

The color scheme, of course, should match the colors used on you r site.

It s in the welcome text that things can really get interesting.

You don't really want to give advertisers a list of keywords that they should use. It's unlikely that they're going to be impressed by a bunch of demands from someone who h as yet to earn them a dime.

But they will appreciate information about the sorts of words that are likely to attract the most clicks. They'll still feel that they've got the freedom to decide on their own ad copy but they'll be more likely to write the sort of copy you want.

For example, if you have a site about cars and you know your users are particularly interested in models that suit families, you could let the advertisers know. If your blog mostly attracts Republicans you could suggest issues th at are likely to get your users clicking an ad. If you've got a site about pets, you could point out that your users are more interested in accessories for dogs than for cats.

No one knows your users better than you. This is the place to share that information so that you can share some higher revenues.

And finally, you could also encourage advertisers to sign up for a targeted-site campaign.

While it s likely that most of the advertisers who click on the link will want to advertise exclusively on your site and Google has set up the system to encourage that result it's also possible that some advertisers who are new to AdSense will decide to spread their ads over a number of different sites in your field.

That means you're only getting a fraction of their advertising budget. A targeted-site campaign will give you all of it.

Just tell them th at a targeted campaign on your site is likely to give them the best results.

Does all that sound hard? Don't worry, I'll make it easy for you. You can just take the text below and adjust it for your site, swapping the underlined sections for details relevant to your site:

Thank you for advertising on FamilyFirst.com, the web's leading site for family-friendly web site reviews. Our users are typically traditional families, stay-at-home moms and parents of children a ged between 3 and 16

We've found that users respond most favorably to articles and links about filter software, children's DVDs and computer games, to ys and family entertainment.

Highlighting these aspects of your business in your ad is likely to earn the highest number of clicks and the best conversions.

We'd also recommend that you focus your advertising with a targeted-site campaign. We look forward to helping your business grow! If you would like more information about advertising on FamilyFirst.com, please write to sales@FamilyFirst.com.

See how easy that is?

The page should be available within 24 hours, and once you've created it, you can put links to it anywhere you like; you're not restricted to the little line under the ads. So you could put them in your emails and on your Web pages in places of your choice.

Why would you send potential advertisers to Google's advertising sign-up page instead of your own? Well, you might not want to. You might prefer to just vet each advertiser yourself and set your own price. But bear in mind that any advertiser who follows that link has to outbid other advertisers on Google who want that same space. You don't know what exactly the current highest bid is; the most you can know is how many clicks your ads received and how much money you earned in the previous days and weeks.

You certainly can t tell how much you re going to receive in the weeks to come.

Sending potential advertisers to your Google sign-in page will ensure that you're always getting the highest-paying ads for those spaces.

Does Location Matter For CPM Ads?

In a word, yes! This is what Google has to say about CPM ads, the type of ads you re likely to get from a site-targeted campaign (my emphasis):

You'll earn revenue each time a CPM (cost per 1000 impressions, also known as pay-per-impression) ad is displayed on your site. You won't earn additional revenue for clicks on these ads.

Please note that the placement of CPM ads on your pages can affect the amount an advertiser pays for that impression. Placing your CPM ad units below the fold, or in an otherwise low-impact location, may result in lower earnings than if the ad unit was placed in a conspicuous location.

So if you were thinking, Great! I'll encourage click-throughs above the fold and get paid per impression with an expanded text ad at the bottom of the page... think again.

Google claims that CPM campaigns have to bid for space on publishers websites in the same marketplace as CPC ads, and that therefore you would only receive a CPM ad if it s the highest paying option. If advertisers are paying less for a CPM ad at the bottom of a page, it's less likely then that you're going to get one down there.

Now, how Google is figuring out where on the page you're putting your ads beats me. Their love of Smart Pricing though , suggests that they could be comparing advertisers sales results with the number of impressions an d assuming that sites with high impressions and low sales have put the ads in out-of-the-way places.

Whichever method they're using, the end result is that you're still going to see higher revenues from ads in the best locations and less from the worst spots.

How To Maximize Visibility And Response

2008-08-31T04:54:00.001-07:00

Ad Placement: Where To Put Your Ads?

Location is everything. The world's best ad won't deliver if it isn't visible in the first place. But after much experimentation with Google AdSense, I know that the most visible ads aren't always the most effective. In fact, they're likely to get ignored as 'blatant advertising'.

What does work is wise placement. Put them where your content is most likely to interest and engage your visitors.

You can create several 'points of interest' with the wise use of graphics, tables and other layout techniques.

Once you have your visitor's attention with engaging and meaningful content, they are most likely to read and click on relevant ads. And that is precisely what Google wants "educated" clicks from real prospects, not random visits from bored people.

Here are a few simple tips to make your ads 'click'!

Go With The 'Flow'

Identify the reading patterns of your visitors. What draws their attention first? What makes them 'click'?

Like I said, you want to put your ads in areas that draw your visitors in with interesting content. There's no point in putting your ads in some out of the way place where no one ever looks.

Your users will follow your content, so you need to make sure that your ads follow th at content too.

Look at the design and layout of your webpage, identify the places that you think most of your users look and mark each of them as a likely spot to put your ads.

Google actually offers a pretty neat tool to help you identify where your users are most likely to look. Their heat map at https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/static.py?page= tips.html sums up the options pretty well:

Google says that certain areas are more effective than others. Researchers have also found that when people look at a website, their eyes start in the top left hand corner and then travel down the page from left to right.

All of this is true but the hottest areas can vary from site to site. You will need to experiment to find the very best places for you.

Above The Fold

One general rule on the Internet is that people spend most of their time on a site above the fold.

The first thing people do when they reach a website is to absorb as much information as possible before they start scrolling. The part of the page that they can see without scrolling is called above the fold.

That's where you want your ads.

The number of links that appear above the fold affect how likely people are to click on your AdSense ads. That's why more ads doesn't always mean more money!

Google always puts the top-paying ads on the top and the lowest-paying ones at the bottom. If you have a stack with three or more ads, the cheaper ads might steal attention away from high-paying ads and clutter up your website.

You don't want ads and links competing against each other. If you want to increase your earnings per click, remember: Less is More! An d that s particularly true above the fold.

Using Tables

I've already mentioned that one of the principles of a high click-through rate is to make your sites blend into the page. The more you position your sites to blend into the page, the better your clickthrough rate will be.

One very neat way to help your ads blend in to the site is to place them in tables.

In the example below, Chris Pirillo again skillfully drops his AdSense into a table for a clean and attractive look that turns AdSense into a new focal point. See how he does it at www.lockergnome.com.

Want to get the same results with your web page?

Dave Taylor (www.intuitive.com) shares this simple code to create a left-aligned table containing AdSense. Just paste this code where you want AdSense to appear.

Easy!

Complementing Your Ads

Everything I've discussed so far has been about placing your ads where your users will be looking. That's pretty easy. Bu t there s an alternative strategy, which can be very powerful: bringing your users to your ads.

Now, you have to be careful here. Google forbids you from saying to users. Look over here and click on the ads... I want the money. And that's reasonable. But with some clever design work, you can still guide your users to look in that direction.

The rule to remember here is that images attract eyes. When a user loads a Web page, he's always going to look at the pictures. It doesn't matter how interesting the text, how many pictures you've used or how few you can be confident that by the time the u ser clicks away, he ll have looked at all the pictures.

He might not have read all the text. But he will have seen all the pictures.

If you're thinking, Great, then I'll load up on image ads, think again. There's a difference between seeing the ads and clicking them. Google isn't going to pay you every time a user sees your ad, not even for CPM ads (Google will pay you when the page is loaded, whether the user sees the ad or not.)

Users will see image ads. But they won't click on them.

What you can do though is to place images near your ads.

People are always going to look at the icon. When they look at the icon, they'll see the ads.

There are all sorts of ways you can do this, but probably the best method is to first place you r ads and then think about which images you can place near them.

Of course, you don't just have to use images. You could also use a Submit button , a next link or anything else that users will have to look at on your page.

A search box for example is an excellent spot. You know your users are about to look for something and click away. Why not offer them some of your own options.

There's a good chance that pulling your users eyes in this way will in crease your click-through rates.

AdSense Unleashed: AdSense A-Z Plus 175 Killer Tips and Tricks

2008-08-19T22:11:00.001-07:00

Format:Trade Paperback
Published:June 30, 2006
Dimensions:240 Pages, 7.44 x 9.69 x 0.51 in
Publisher:Bottletree Books
The following ISBNs are associated with this title:

ISBN - 10:193374703X
ISBN - 13:9781933747033

From the Publisher

"AdSense Unleashed" is an extensive guide about generating money quickly and easily as an AdSense publisher. The book provides 175 killer tips and tricks for attracting clicks on ads shown on your Website. Learn which ad units get the most clicks and where to put them on your Website or Blog. Also included is a huge list of the highest paying keywords in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Ireland. Here are a few of the topics covered: Here are a few of the topics covered: How to Get Free Content on the Web - Best Ad Sizes and Where to Place Them in Articles, Blogs and on Regular Websites - The AdWords-AdSense Revenue Loop - How to Block Site-Targeted Ads - Review of the Google AdSense Patents and Pending Patent Application - AdSense for Search Box Placement Strategies - How to Blend All the Various Ad Colors with Your Website - AdSense Referral Strategies - Alternate Ads and How to Use Them - How Expanded Text Ads Get You More Revenue - Site-Flavored AdSense for Search - How to Use Filters to Keep Competitor Ads Off Your Site - Ad Units and Framed Websites - Link Unit Strategies - How themed Ad Units Get More Clicks - Animated Ads and How to Block Them. If you want to unlock the revenue potential of your Website today, AdSense Unleashed is a must.

Review:

lots o' fluff, not much stuff, June 17, 2007, By christa white
- 11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
- At over 200 pages you'll be surprised how little is really in this book. I'm fairly new to the adsense topic yet found nothing new; It felt like a rehash of other people's writings and posts. Lots of stream of conscious writing and general lack of organization. There were quite a few typos, several repeated sections, and the book seemed printed in a "one-off" style (print as purchased). Although it did cover the standard fare, unless this is the only access you have to adsense information, save your time and save your money. I might give it 2 stars but there needs to be some truthful balance to the previous 5-star ratings.
Incredible AdSense Insight!!, September 6, 2006, By Google Guru
- 4 of 15 people found the following review helpful
- What would you like to know about AdSense? You name it, "AdSense Unleashed" has it! The depth of AdSense knowledge this book offers is unmatched on the market. No matter what your level of experience is with AdSense, this book is sure to meet your expectations. Looking to generate more cash, maximize more clicks, or learn more tips & tricks? Time is money, and with "AdSense Unleashed" you will not be wasting either!
Another great piece to the puzzle in the Google ad sense world, July 24, 2006, By Jaci Rae
- 4 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
- Another great piece to the puzzle in the Google ad sense world. For those of you who have ever used Google adsense, you've probably been frustrated and annoyed and possibly confused about inner workings of their world. One of the few pieces of information that actually cuts through and tells you exactly what to do, this is a great book to teach you how to make money using Google adsense. While many pieces of advice give you more questions and never answer the original one this book gives you the real deal.

Internet Reference:

Google Adsense Unleashed: A Newbies guide
Google Adsense Unleashed. A Newbies guide to unlocking the power Google Adsense
www.googleadsenseunleashed.com/
AdSense Unleashed: AdSense A-Z Plus 175 Killer Tips and TricksAdSense Unleashed:
AdSense AZ Plus 175 Killer Tips and Tricks eBook - Editors of BottleTree Books LLC - 210000 eBooks - Visit eBookMall Today!
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Adsense Unleashed, Bottletree Books, Book - Barnes & Noble
BARNES & NOBLE - Find Adsense Unleashed by Bottletree Books. Enjoy book clubs, author videos and customer reviews.
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Adsense Unleashed - Account Setup & Settings - Google Groups
what is adsense unleashed ? If it's an e-book, Isn't this thread is out of topic ? Perhaps you should post this in misc thread ... :). Have a nice day ! ...
groups.google.com/.../browse_thread/thread/1f072f35e141ac69/3d5961719a2d4e2a?lnk=gst&q=

Top Paying Adsense Keywords

2008-08-17T20:44:00.001-07:00

Top Paying Keywords - Each Keyword Over $13
Below is a list of the Top Paying Keywords on the net today. Each keyword is valued at $13 or more and may be just the keyword combination you’re looking for.

Top Paying Keyword List 4 Adsense - vizdom
Here is a detailed list of top paying google adsense keywords from various fields. Select one of the one of the best paying niche for your site. The data is obtained directly from google's tools itself.

Adsense Top Paying Keyword Lists!
Boost Your Adsense Revenue by Using the Highest Paying Keywords! Improve your online business in just minutes from now. Potential keywords for your next ad campaign.

Top Paying Keywords
Simply find your keyword or phrase you'd like to research below or click on a letter category to see all of the keywords associated with that letter.

Top Paying Keywords - John Ugoshowa
In people's search for higher incomes from Google AdSense a lot of AdSense publishers are looking to find those keywords that really bring the best income possible. The higher an advertiser pays for a keyword, they more the advertiser receives when they click on a link.

top paying keyword adsense
The Biggest and Best Paying List,Optimize your Google Adsense To Maximize Profits,Free!Therefore, I did my research on how to find profitable keywords (or adsense) to help you to make money quick with AdSense.

Google Adsense Keywords

2008-08-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

Keyword Elite & Adsense - Find Out If You Can Really Use Keyword Elite For Adsense
You may have heard of Keyword Elite being used for Adsense. If you are thinking of buying Keyword Elite for adsense then you need to keep reading this Keyword Elite review as I reveal the truth about Keyword Elite and adsense. I went to the trouble and expense of downloading Keyword Elite and seeing how it works with adsense so that you don't have to. This article will give a trustworthy Keyword Elite review about whether you can use Keyword Elite with adsense.

How will a Yell.com pay-per-click keyword advert work for my business?
When you buy a pay-per-click keyword advert we will return your advert on searches for keywords that you have chosen. This is a highly targeted form of advertising which ensures you are only displayed on relevant search queries that you have specified. Furthermore, you only pay once your advert is clicked upon.

Adwords, Adsense, SEO - Common Denominator, Keywords
Nirmal Kumar If you have just put up a website, you probably all ready have heard words like: keywords, Google Adwords, Google Adsense, and SEO. Adwords, Adsense, SEO have one thing in common - Keywords. How important are keywords?

Finding Great AdSense Keywords
When someone asks "What are good AdSense keywords?" they are really asking about the best keywords to optimize their pages with which have AdSense ads on them. Success with AdSense is all about driving traffic to niche websites.

Google Answer - Top Pay Per Click Search Engines - robertskelton-ga
It would be very hard to get official volume figures from the lesser players, for they all want to give the impression that their advertisers will get a lot of traffic. They therefore tend to only mention how many search results they appear in.

Create Huge keyword lists in seconds.
Yogendra Basnet Get Rich Quick Scams RevealedRead this article before you consider paying for a "get rich quick" program. From: Keyword EliteEverybody would love to make lots of money quickly, working from home, and only doing a few hours of work per week.

Top Pay Per Click Search Engine - clickearns.com
The question "Which is the top pay per click search engine?" is not very difficult to answer. There are just two top pay per click search engines - Google and Yahoo. These two cover 98% of the Internet PPC business. Experts quote statistics and say that Google is the top PPC (pay per click) engine for IT hardware and software, while Yahoo is best for consumer products and services.

The Adsense Advantage-The Latest Release From Matt Callen-Is It Worth A Look? - Jennifer Carter
Wondering whether to bother with the latest offering from Matt Callen, promising to show you how to make more money with Adsense?
I've been a subscriber to Matt's emails for about a year now. From past experience, I know that when I receive an email from Matt Callen offering me a free information product that hes put together its going to be good.

AdSense Keywords Secrets - Are There Any?
Are you searching high and low for secrets to choosing great AdSense keywords? You could be wasting your time.

Auto-Pilot Link Building Strategy for Content-Sites
Iszuddin Ismail OK, this is what I consider a very effective method to get people to link to you without you having to ask them to do so. The best part is that, people will link to you for your most targeted keyword.

Best Adsense Affiliate Earners: Do They Really Buy Valuable Adsense Keyword Lists?
Everybody knows that there are some clicks that can earn as much as $100 for one single click. And many people assume that the best Adsense affiliate earner has to be a person who really concentrates on these most valuable keywords that attract those really valuable keywords.

How you can make money with google adsense - Bob Jacobsen
How you can make money with google adsense. its not as easy as you may think.
Google adsense is an advertising program that can help you earn lots of money from advertising, if used the right way. Google adsense is a powerfull, intelligent and effectiv tool, it can even analyze your website content and from that create targeted advertising themes.

10 Great Search Engine Optimization Tools for Your Online Success
Milena Sotirova The Internet promotion of every company is related to the search engine positioning of the site. The positioning is important for your books, products and services to be easily found online.

Keyword Elite Master Your Adsense Campaigns
Bryxen Software the creators of Seo Elite have out done themselves. Their newest software addition is Keyword Elite and it is changing the way we research keywords.

Top Pay Per Click Search Engines
Helping you get the most bang for your buck Free Keyword Tools Find all the keywords you can use in all languages.

Seven Ways to Generate Income From Your Website
jpurdy25 If you own your own website, there are a variety of things you can do to generate extra income for yourself.

5 Steps To Create Rich Content to Drive Targeted Traffic to Your Site - James Bradley
There are so many different ways to promote any business both online and offline. The real difference between these two areas of marketing is how each one gets targeted visitors to your online business.

Top PPC Search Engines in the United Kingdom
Below is a listing of the top PPC search engines (Pay-Per-Click) in the UK. These listings are displayed in ranking order along with links to their Add/Submit URI pages.

The Non-Obvious Keyword Research Tools That Explode Profits
Keyword research, as you might already know, is a critical activity for uncovering niches and uncovering low-competition keywords, either for SEO purposes or pay per click advertising.

Evolution: Google AdSense - himanshu sharma
The web has evolved into a complex "organism" which, to some, appears to have a life of its own. As the Internet has evolved, so too have online marketers and publishers.

Google AdSense for Dummies

2008-08-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Details:

ISBN: 047029289X
ISBN-13: 9780470292891
Number Of Pages: 384
Publisher: 10392390
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Audience: General
Author: Jerri Ledford

Jerri Ledford is a self described "Google geek" who has written more than a dozen books on Google applications and search engine optimization. She maintains a blog about Google products at www.googlegeek.com. She is the coauthor of Google Analytics 2.0, also from Wiley

You can get paid for online ad placement with Google AdSense! If you've ever considered using AdSense to improve revenue for your Web site, Google AdSense For Dummies will get you started. It's loaded with tips to help you implement a successful AdSense program.

Google AdSense advertising is extremely common on any site with changing content -- especially blogs. Google's service is free to use, easy to implement, and provides advertising based on the keywords Google finds on your pages: Write a post about fried chicken, and you might get Google AdSense ads for cooking supplies and restaurants. And these ads are contextual on a page-by-page basis, so every permalink page on your blog has its own set of topic-appropriate ads.

Each time a reader clicks a link in one of these ads, you earn money. You choose where the ads are on your pages, what they look like, and even what kinds of advertisers to display. You can see Google AdSense ads on the Apartment Therapy blog.

AdSense lets you generate income with ad placement on blogs and Web sites. Google AdSense For Dummies shows you how AdSense works, how to analyze cost per click and track AdSense results, and how to earn money from your blog or Web site without selling a product. Discover how to:

Register and set up an AdSense program
Track results with server logs, AdSense reports, and Google Analytics
Boost AdSense income with search engine optimization techniques
Apply Google guidelines by including relevant links and content, making your site easy to navigate, using a sitemap, and keeping links in good repair
Fine tune your Web site with beefed up content to please Google and boost effectiveness
Earn more with AdSense for RSS, streaming video, and referral units
Design appealing ads and search boxes, and deal with ads from competitors
Add video units to your site, design mobile ad units, and understand referral units

In Google AdSense For Dummies, author Jerri Ledford, a self described Google geek, helps you make money with AdSense.

As a website owner, you can apply to Google with your website or blog to become a publisher for their ad network. It is a simple process where you provide honest information to Google about your self and your site. They then evaluate your site to see if it qualifies to be included. Most sites will be included as long as they have some quality to them and the you offer some original content on your site.

Once you are approved, you are approved for all your websites and you do not to reapply for each one. You must carefully read the Terms of Service for Adsense so you make sure that you are following the rules and that your sites comply with the rules.

You first step is to log in to your Adsense account with your chosen email and password. There you will find many things that may overwhelm you at first. It is not as overwhelming as it looks. There are four main tabs; Reports, Adsense set up, My Account, and Resources.

The first tab is the reports, you will not see nothing much here yet but you will as you earn. This tells you how many views the ads on your sites have had, how many clicks, and how much you earned. You can check for various times. If you have channels set for each site, you will see what sites earned what. I will explain channels further down in the article. You can also get advanced reports for extended periods of time breaking down in several ways. You can play around and see the reports that best fits what you are looking for.

The Adsense setup tab is all about setting up your ads. Here you can get the code, which is a java code, for all the ads , search box, and referral products that Google offers. You can change the size, design, and filter out things you do not want on you site like an ad from your competitor. At this tab you also can add channels.

Channels are simply a way to track an individual ad or a website URL, By setting these up, you will know which of your sites are making money and which ones you need to work on. They are easy to add and delete and I highly recommend you do one for all the sites you use Adsense on.

The third is My Account, which is a place to edit your main information like name address, email, etc… The final tab is a resource tab of other tools and services that Google offers.

Once you find what ads you want and where to place them, all you need to do is place the code in your website template or in the code of your website. Depending on what kind of coded site you are using will depend on how you do this.

If you are using a self-hosted word-press, it is best to install an Adsense plug- in to place the code on the sidebar as long as your template is widget ready. For the header and footer, you will have to place it in those files. I am not a coder so I will not give too much advice on that.

If you are using a free blogger.com blog, it is even easier to install the code. All you do is go to your dash board and find the layout and you can just add your AdSense with a few clicks by clicking add page element and dragging it where you want it.

For all other pages, you need to add the code in the appropriate files where you want the ads to be.

Once you have the code installed, Google will find you, there is nothing else you need to do. The ads will be based of main keywords from your content. If you chose to include both links and image ads, you may see a picture ad once in a while.

You get paid a small percentage every time someone visits one of your ads, purchasing or sign up for a product or does a search through the search box. If it is an image ad that is placed on your site, you will get paid a small amount for every 1000 people who view the ad.

Many people have made some huge amounts of money using Adsense. The key is to have a large amount of traffic and to follow the rules. The more popular your site, the better the chance people will click on the ads and you will earn money.

You can also include a Google search box on your blog. Users who use the search box from your blog get targeted Google ads in their search results -- and you receive money from any ads they click.

You can sign up for Google AdSense by opening a Web browser and following the steps at Google's AdSense sign up page.

After you finish the application, Google reviews your blog, and if it approves your application, you have to provide some additional information: Social Security number, Employer Identification Number, and so on. The review Google conducts ensures that the Web site the ads are placed on meets Google's editorial guidelines (for example, no obscenity).

After Google completes its review, you receive instructions on how to customize and place the ads into your blog templates. You may need a little help from your technical staff or some HTML skills of your own.

The ads appear automatically on your pages based on the content of your blog after you add the code to your templates. Visit the Google AdSense site to customize the look of your ads, check your earnings, and remove certain advertisers (such as your competitors!) from the ads that appear on your site.

Not at all an online money making scam, Google Adsense strategy is the key to making money with Google Adsense.

You cannot however simply place Google Adsense ads on your site and then forget them.

To begin with, there is an art to where and how you place ads on the site you own.

First of all, the Google Adsense program does not permit you to place more than a certain number of ads on any given page (it is normally 3, but check with the Google Adsense program).

Second, you will have to decide whether you want the maximum of 3 ads on each page (recommended by most Google adsense gurus, but not by everyone), and to decide this you will have to experiment. Testing is primary within Google Adsense strategy.

In addition to this, a solid Google Adsense strategy involves two elements:

the look of the Google Adsense ads
the positioning of the Google Adsense ads

Google adsense strategists normally recommend that you place three ads on every page of your website.

Google adsense ads should be placed, as a general statement, to the left of the site, so they are the first thing a reader's eyes hit, and/or smack bang in the middle, so that the Google Adsense ad is right in the middle of the website visitor's field of vision. These are essential Google Adsense strategies.

Another commonly suggested Google Adsense strategy is to put a rectangular ad just below the title of your page, with a wide width and not so wide a depth(up-and-down). A Google Adsense search bar might also be experimented-with in this position.

Another idea is to put a Google Adsense ad of the same dimensions immediately below where the reader stops reading (the end of a blog post or block of text on a page). The theory is that the visitor thinks "OK I've finished reading that, so now what?" This way you given him or her the option of clicking onto your Google Adsense ad.

Google Adsense ads can also be tweaked. You need to familiarize yourself with all the pages on the homepage of the Google Adsense program...

Once you earn $50, you will be sent a PIN number through the postal mail to the address on file. You will need to confirm this number before you can ever receive a payment. You can not get paid until you have reached $100. It takes up to a month depending on your payment method and where you live to receive payment following the end of the month you reached at least $100.

I recommend direct deposit but they will mail a check or in some parts of the world they will send Western Union but this involves a fee.

A few things that are not allowed by Adsense are:

No Adult sites
You can not click or ask others to click your ads
You can not alter the code
You can not display an image with the code
No Pop-ups
You can not try to hide the fact that it is a Google ad
You can not list them as a sponsor of you site
You can have only three of any one kind of ad on your site

There are many other rules that you should take the time to read carefully. If you break the rules, there are no second chances, you will be banned and that means banned for life.

If you try to open another fake account or even with your same information, you may get approved. However, they will catch you prior to paying you any money. Just do the right thing and follow the rules from the beginning you should be fine and hopefully make some good money.

If you apply once and you are turned down, don't get upset, say That Blozzz and fix your site and reapply.

Editorial Reviews

Synopsis

You can get paid for online ad placement with Google AdSense! If you've ever considered using AdSense to improve revenue for your Web site, "Google AdSense For Dummies" will get you started. It's loaded with tips to help you implement a successful AdSense program. AdSense lets you generate income with ad placement on blogs and Web sites. "Google AdSense For Dummies" shows you how AdSense works, how to analyze cost per click and track AdSense results, and how to earn money from your blog or Web site without selling a product.Discover how to: register and set up an AdSense program; track results with server logs, AdSense reports, and Google Analytics; boost AdSense income with search engine optimization techniques; apply Google guidelines by including relevant links and content, making your site easy to navigate, using a sitemap, and keeping links in good repair; fine-tune your Web site with beefed-up content to please Google and boost effectiveness; earn more with AdSense for RSS, streaming video, and referral units; design appealing ads and search boxes, and deal with ads from competitors; and, add video units to your site, design mobile ad units, and understand referral units.

In "Google AdSense For Dummies", author Jerri Ledford, a self-described 'Google geek', helps you make money with AdSense.

From the Back Cover

Here's how to earn money from your Web site without selling a thing!

If you want to make your Web site or blog earn its keep, using Google AdSense makes a lot of sense. It also makes sense to find out how AdSense works and how to make it work for you. This friendly guide cuts through the geek speak and shows you what AdSense is, how to make your site Google friendly, how to use AdSense for Search or Content, and more.

Fine tune your Web site beef up your content for Google approval as well as to boost effectiveness
Apply Google guidelines include relevant links and content, make your site easy to navigate, use a sitemap, design for the user, and keep links in good repair
Discover other types of AdSense use AdSense with video, mobile, and RSS
Learn to love units add video units to your site, design mobile ad units, and understand referral units
Get creative use AdSense as a page element on your blog and design knockout ads and cool search boxes
Make them pay increase your income from AdSense for RSS, referral units, and streaming videos
Use some sense track your results using AdSense reports and Google Analytics

Open the book and find:

Answers to FAQs about AdSense
Tips for building a content rich Web site
How search engine optimization can boost AdSense income
What to do about competitors ads
Secrets for designing ads with appeal
How to set up AdSense for mobile and RSS feeds
How the AdSense referral program works
What server logs and channels can tell you

How To "Tweak" Your Ads To Make Them "Click"!

2008-08-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

Ad Formats : Dress your ads for success!

How would you like your ads served? Banners? Skyscrapers? Rectangles? Squares? What about borders and background colors?

The choices can be overwhelming. Many people let Google decide for them- preferring to stick with the default settings. Big mistake! From my own experience I can tell you that it s like swapping a hundred-dollar bill for a ten-dollar on e.

For almost one year I settled for just a tenth of what I could have been making just because I didn't bother to control the looks and placement of my AdSense ads.

The various ad formats, colors an d their placement on the web page can be done in thousands of combinations. You can literally spend hours every day experimenting with every possible combination. But you don't want to, do you?

Let me give you a few ground rules that have sky-rocketed the CTR s on my top-grossing pages:

Don't "Look" Like An Ad

People don't visit your website for ads. They want good content.

If you make the ads stick out with eye-popping colors, images or borders, that makes them easy to recognize as ads and people work extra hard to avoid them.

The same goes for ads that are tucked away in the top, bottom or some other far corner of the page. So easy to ignore!

If you want people to click, make the ads look like an integral part of your content.

Today's visitors are blind to banners, mad at pop-ups, weary of ads and skeptical of contests and giveaways. So how do you win their confidence? Simple Don't make your ads look like ads!

Let s begin by reviewing each of the different types of ad available from AdSense and explaining their uses... then I'll introduce you to a few simple choices that rocketed my CTRs to incredible heights.

Meet the AdSense Family

Google serves its ads in three flavors, with each of those flavors coming in a range of different shapes and sizes. It is very important to understand the differences between each of these ads. Some are ideal for particular locations. Some should never be used in certain locations. And some should never be used at all.

The sample page at http://www.google.com/adsense/adformats lets you see all of the different kinds of ads at once. It even has links to sample placements that demonstrate how the ads can be used.

For the most part, I'd recommend that you ignore those sample placements.

I'll talk about location in more detail later in the book, but for now just bear in mind that many of the ads in the samples are just too out of the way to be noticed.

You can use them as a starting point if you want but you'll save yourself a lot of time and money by taking advantage of the experience of myself and others, and following the recommendations here.

Text Ads Google's Finest

Text ads are probably the types of ad that you're most familiar with. You get a box containing one or a number of ads with a linked headline, a brief description and a URL. You also get the Ads by Google notice that appears on all AdSense ads.

There are eight different types of text ad. The most popular is probably the leaderboard. At 728 x 90, it stretches pretty much across the screen and while it can be placed anywhere, it s mostly used at the top of the page, above the main text.

That's a great location. It s the first thing the reader sees and it offers a good selection of ads to choose from. When you're just starting out and still experimenting with the types of ads that work best with your users, it's a pretty good default to begin with.

Of course, you can put it in other places too. Putting a leaderboard ad between forum entries for example can be a pretty good strategy sometimes and is definitely worth trying. Overall, I think you'll probably find that one of the smaller ads such as a banner or half-banner might blend in more there and bring better results.

And I think you can often forget about putting a leaderboard at the bottom of the page, despite what Google's samples show you . It would certainly fit there but you have to be certain that people are going to reach the bottom of the page, especially a long page. You might find that only a small minority of readers would get that far, so you re already reducing the percentage of readers who would click through.

Overall, I'd say that leaderboards are most effective blended into the top of the page beneath the navigation bar and sometimes placed between forum entries.

Banners (468 x 60) and half-banners (234 x 60 ) are much more flexible.

Like leaderboards you can certainly put these sorts of ads at the top of the page, and lots of sites do it. Again, that's something worth trying. You can put up a leaderboard for a week or so, swap it for a banner for another week or so, and compare the results.

A banner or a half-banner would leave too much space on one side and make the ad stand out. It would look like you've set aside an area of t he page for advertising instead of for content. That would alert the reader that that section of the page is one that they can just ignore.

When you re looking for an ad to put in the middle of the page though, a half-banner can be just the ticket.

While a leaderboard will stretch over the sidebars of your site, just like the navigation bar, a 234 x 60 half-banner will fit neatly into the text space on most sites.

This sort of ad should be your default option for the end of articles and th e bottom of blog entries.

But for the most part, stay away from the 468 x 60 banner ad block!

One of the first things people do wh en they sign up for AdSense is to grab a 468 x 60 ad block.

Big mistake.

I have a theory about why they do this. It's the same theory that explains why the 468 x 60 block does not entice clicks.

Most site owners have the mindset th at when they put Google ads on their site, they must place the code that conforms most to traditional web advertising. And that would be...? Yup, the 468 x 60, the ubiquitous banner format that we h ave all come to kn ow an d love and... IGNORE.

Everyone is familiar with the 468 x 60. And that s exactly why the click-through rate on this size is very low, even among advertisers who use images on their banners.

The 468 x 60 blocks screams, " Hey! I am an advertisement! Whatever you do, DON'T click me. In fact, you should run from me as fast as you can !"

In all but a few special cases, I have found the 468 x 60 ad block to be completely ineffective, and recommend ignoring it the same way your visitors do.

Now, that doesn't mean you can never use it. You just have to know what you're doing and do it smartly. You have to do everything you can to make sure that that ad block looks absolutely nothing like a traditional banner ad.

At my site, I ve done that by surrounding the ad with text. Because there's no border around the unit, the ads blend into the text and look almost as they're a part of the article.

If I had left that unit in the middle of some empty space at the top of the page for example it would have looked exactly like the sort of banner that users have trained themselves to avoid. It wouldn't have picked up any clicks at all.

(Note, I could probably have used a half-banner here too but in general, I like to give my users as wide a choice of ads to click as possible.)

While this use of a 468 x 60 works for me and it can work for you too if you blend it into the page properly I'd stick to other formats, like the, half-banner if you're not 100 percent sure that you can pull it off.

When this ad unit fails, it can fail big.

Google also offers five different kinds of rectangular ads: buttons (125 x 125), small rectangles (180 x 1 50), medium rectangles (300 x 250), large rectangles (336 x 280), and squares 250 x 250.

In fact, all of the rectangles can be slotted into the same spots on the page... with the exception of the button.

Probably the most common use of rectangles is at the beginning of articles. You can wrap the text around the ad, forcing the reader to look at it if he wants to read the article. That s very effective.

But you can really put these sorts of ads anywhere on the page. On my site, I ve put two rectangular ads right at the top of the page so th at they take up the bulk of the space the user sees before he starts to scroll. That's a very aggressive approach that might not work on every site. It's worth trying though because if it works for you, you can find that it brings in great revenues.

If you're wondering which size of ad would be best for the position you've got in mind, my advice is to start with the large rectangle, the 336 x 280.

Why should you choose the 336 x 280 ad block? Simple .It gets the most clicks! My studies have shown that this format looks most like real content added to a page. I've dabbled with every size Google offers and this is the size th at consistently has the best results. Other people have told me the exact same thing. That's all I need to know!

Second best is the 300 x 250 rectangle.

This ad block size is really useful when you want to have two sets of ads side by side. They fit on most web pages just perfectly.

Buttons should generally be used in a different way to other rectangles. Like th half-banners, they're distinctive for their small size. While that means you could slot them in anywhere, I think they work best when slipped into the sidebars.

For example, you might have a list of links to frequently-read articles or other sites on one side of your page. Putting a button ad at the end of a list like th at could help it to blend in well.

The final types of text ads are those that run vertically. These come in three sizes: skyscraper (120 x 600), wide skyscraper (160 x 600 ) and vertical banner (120 x 240).

Clearly, these are useful options for filling u p the sides of the page.

I would also recommend using the 'wide skyscraper', text-only ads on the right hand edge of the screen in conjunction with the 3-Way Matching I discuss later in the book.

If you think about it, nearly all PC users are right handed (even left-handed people like me control their mouse with their right hand because it's how we were 'brought up' to use a mouse.) By placing the ads on the right hand edge it's psychologically 'less distance' between your right hand and the screen.

This 'closeness' in my opinion makes the user feel more comfortable and therefore more likely to click through to a link. They feel more in control of th eir visit experience.

Typically you can often divide sites into those that have plenty of content at the sides (especially on some blogs), and those that have nothing on the sides.

I think putting vertical ads in space so that they form the border of the main text makes the page look a lot cleaner. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to get more clicks. If you're putting a vertical banner in an area where you have other content then just make sure, as always, that you blend them in well so that they look like the rest of your content.

Image Ads Built To Be Ignored

Text ads should always be your first pick when you start to load up your site. Image ads should always be your last choice.

A text ad offers many advantages over image ads:

A. With the right formatting, a text ad 'blends in' with your site content. An image ad will not give you the same freedom with its appearance, as the only thing you can play with is the size and positioning.

B. You can squeeze more text ads into the space that a conventional banner takes. People love to have more choices!

C. Properly formatted text ads don't look like clutter. Banners do!

D. People hate banners and avoid them at sight. Many tests confirm that people are much more receptive to text ads related with your content.

I just can't think of a reason why anyone would want to take an image ad from Google. Text ads perform so much better, in my opinion, you're better off sticking with those and ignoring image ads altogether.

That doesn t mean you can't use images to subtly draw people click on ads. But images that are ads just scare people away.

Link Units Great Little Stocking Fillers

If you've ever bought Christmas presents for children, you've probably bought stocking fillers. You dole out hundreds of bucks on some state-of-the-art electronic gizmo, toss in a couple of toy cars that cost a dollar each just to fill up space and give the kid more to unwrap... then watch him spend 90 percent of his time playing with the car that cost 10 percent of your total gift budget.

AdLink units have the potential to be equally profitable.

They're very small, almost unnoticeable... but when used well, they can be extremely effective.

AdLink units let you place a box on your site that contains four or five links. They come in sizes ranging from 20 x 90 to 200 x 90, and are really meant to be placed on a sidebar.

Because you can place both AdLink units as well as other ad units on the page, you might find that the choice helps: if a user doesn't spot something interesting in one type of ad block, he might spot it on another.

Where AdLinks differ from other types of ads is that they on ly display a list of topics that Google believes are relevant to the content of your pages. They don't display the ads themselves. When a visitor clicks on a topic, Google pops up a new window with targeted ads.

It can be argued that the AdLinks are ineffective because people have to go through two clicks in order for you to get paid. That's right, you only get paid for the second click (but that does mean you can check to see which ads your users are being served.)

But it can also be argued that if someone is taking the time to click on a topic, then they are probably very interested in the link, and are likely to click an actual advertisement on the resulting page. Some people have found that just about everyone who clicks on an AdLink will click on the ads that appear on the next page.

I have tested AdLinks on multiple sites and have seen vast differences in results. That makes it more difficult to say whether or not they are for you.

In the first case, I placed the AdLinks on an in formation-based site with a very general audience. The results were nothing to write home about. Let's just say that you could just about buy a large candy bar with the CPM I saw.

In the second case, I placed the AdLinks on a product specific site with a narrow audience. The results were fantastic! We're talking about a CPM that is greater than what someone might make flipping burgers in one day.

The conclusions should be obvious. If you're going to use an AdLinks unit campaign. You need to put them:

On a site with a specific field of interest. A general site will give you general ads and few clicks.
Above the fold with few other links. For AdLinks, this is crucial: If your users are going to click a link, it should be a link th at gives you money.

It s also a good idea to keep your AdLink units for sites with high-paying keywords. If someone comes to your site seeking out information or a product on a top-notch keyword, they tend to be more likely to click as a result.

Let s take a look at an example:

Chris Pirillo's site at Lockergnome.com is an excellent template for how to do AdSense properly. While I don't have access to his AdSense statistics, I have watched his sites long enough to speculate as to his success.

The center column of his page is classic AdSense placement. He is using a medium or large rectangle with blue links, black text and subtle URL. The ads are placed inline and right justified. People start on the left and drift to the right. My testing has also shown that ads on the right perform best.

He is using a 120 x 600 skyscraper ad in sidebars, as many people do. Chris has also thought outside the box and used the white space next to his bullet points for this page. Right justifying the skyscraper block and placing it inline is a slick move.

But look where his AdLinks are: in the top left column of the page, above the fold. That means you can see Ads by Google as the first item. As long as those AdLinks are very targeted to the content on the page, they could generate 1 percent to 2 percen t in clicks. If you have the space and they fit in your sidebar, I would test them on your site as well.

There are two kinds of link units: vertical units and horizontal units. Chris Pirillo's site is a great example of the right way to use vertical link units.

But horizontal link units can be at least as effective. Since they were introduced, they really have become an extremely useful tool.

Some users have reported increases in CTR as high as 200 percent using these units!

Instead of piling the links one on top of the other which is great for putting above lists of links but stand out too clearly when placed in text the horizontal ads blend in perfectly when placed on pages with articles.

You can still only use one AdLink unit per page and users still have to click twice before you get paid but they're definitely worth slipping into a long article. You probably shouldn' t put them at the bottom of a page where they'll be very easy to miss, but there are plenty of other places where these sorts of ads can work very, very well.

For example, a horizontal ad unit can be a great alternative to a leaderboard. Its much more subtle and takes up less space on the page definitely something to experiment with to see which of the two brings you the highest revenues.

Or you could use them to separate forum or blog entries. As a horizontal unit, they can be very effective as frames that give people somewhere easy to go when they reach the end of a text unit.

One great use for horizontal link units though is on directory pages. If you have a Web page that contains tables of links, slipping a horizontal link unit above or below them or both can make the ads look like a part of the directory.

It almost makes you wan't to build a directory just to try it out!

To sum up the different types of ad format then, Leaderboards are best at the top of the page; Squares and rectangles can be embedded into text itself; Vertical ads and buttons should slip down the side of the page; Vertical link units should be placed next to link lists; Horizontal link units can go at th e top of th e page, between blog entries or above and below directories; And image ads shouldn t be used at all.

Those are the general rules governing ad formats. They're worth knowing because they're a good place to start.

They're also worth knowing because you can't break the rules until you know what they are... and that's when the fun really begins!

Expanded Text Ads Shrinking Control Or Expanded Income?

Take a look at the ad format samples on the AdSense site and you'll see a bunch of squares and rectangles filled with ads. Most of those ad units will contain more than one ad. On those units that do contain just the one ad, like th e button or the half-banner, the ad will fill the space neatly an d look pretty subtle.

You might be surprised then to put a skyscraper or a leaderboard on your site and find just one giant ad, written in super-sized text.

All the effort you've put into picking the right ad for your site, testing to see which formats work best and calculating which will give you the most clicks will have gone right out of the window.

You've prepared your site to serve multiple ads that look like content, and instead you're handing out a single ad that just screams Don't click me!

This can happen sometimes, but it s not a reason to panic. It might even be a reason to celebrate.

There are two possible reasons that Google is sending you these expanded text ads.

The first possible reason is that you've been keyword-targeted. Google keeps track of your results (just like you should be doing) and tries to serve up the number of ads for your page that will bring in the highest amount of income. That might be four ads in a unit .or just the one.

Frankly, I'm a touch skeptical that showing one ad is going to bring me more revenue than showing several, but I m prepared to give AdSense the benefit of the doubt.

If I see that Google is giving me one ad, I'll compare the results for that one ad to the previous results that I've had serving multiple ads in the same unit. If I find that my revenues have dropped I can either block that ad using my filters or just ask AdSense not to give me any more single ads.

But if I find that the expanded text ad is giving me more money, I might still be worried. I know that users are more likely to click ads th at look like content. I also know th at they prefer to have a choice of ads rather than just one option.

If I'm getting more clicks then with just one ad then , it could well be that I have been doing something wrong with that ad unit in the past. I would want to look at how well it's been optimized and whether its in the right place to bring in the best income.

It could well be that this single ad is a high-payer and works better with little competition. But it could also be that getting that one ad is a warning that something was wrong with the way you've laid out that ad u nit on your site.

You might want to try some different strategies to see if they'll increase your revenues when the multiple ads come back.

There is another possibility though. You might have been site-targeted.

This is a whole different ball game. It means that an advertiser has spotted your site and asked Google to run their ads on it on a pay-per-impression basis.

You're no longer dealing with tempting people to click, so you don't care how much your ad looks like an ad. In fact you might even want it to look like an ad, if that's what will keep the advertiser happy.

The most important point to bear in mind here is that you want to make sure that you're not losing money. It might be very nice for the advertiser to have exclusive control over a particular spot on your page but if you can make more money serving CPC ads in that space, you need to make sure that your site is working for you and not for the advertiser.

Again, watch your stats for a week and see if the revenues you receive for your impressions are h igher than those you receive for your clicks.

Most publishers find ads which pay by eCPM pay better, especially sites with high traffic rates. After all, you're getting paid for every visitor who comes to your site rather than just those that click, so all you have to do to increase your revenue is increase your traffic. As long as each impression pays more than you're paying for the traffic, you're going to be making a profit. That should be easy to calculate.

If you find the revenues are lower though , then you'll want to boot that ad off and go back to serving conventional ads. You can do that by opting out of showing site-targeted ads (you're automatically opted in).

In general, the biggest problem with these sorts of campaigns is not lower revenues, its that you've got no idea how long they're going to last, which makes it difficult for you to take advantage of them. If you knew , for example, that you were going to get paid per impression for the next two weeks, you'd want to buy in as much traffic as possible for that period, provided that you were paying less than what you are bringing in.

And because you don't care about CTR, You could also lay off the optimization and focus on making your site more attractive to users.

But you can't tell when your site is going to be used for a CPM campaign and you can't tell how long its going to last either. That means there's little point in making major changes to your optimization ; you might have to rebuild it the next day.

The best strategy to use when you spot a site-targeted ad on your site is to keep a close eye on the cash flows. Buy in more traffic if you can do it profitably, but for the most part, just enjoy the extra income!

Making Your Website Attractive, Interesting, Engaging and Interactive

2008-08-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

To succeed at your online business (whether you are selling your own product/service or are selling for other merchants as an affiliate), you need a website created just for that - a simple, focused site. Your website should be easy to build, maintenance-free, low cost, credible, and a powerful traffic-builder and customer-converter.

Having the right tool and the right product alone won’t ensure the success of your website. There are many factors to be considered while designing a site. Unfortunately, most of these are often ignored by Internet business owners.

Build It for Speed - It's a fact of modern life - people are in a hurry. This means that you have between 10 and 30 seconds to capture your potential customer's attention. To minimize your load time, keep graphics small. Compress them where possible. Use flashy technology (JavaScript, Flash, Streaming Audio/Video, animation) sparingly and only if it is important to your presentation.

Target your Market - Know who your market is and make certain that your site caters to their needs. It is critical that your site reflect the values of your potential customers. Is your market mostly business professionals? If so, the site must be clean and professional. Is your product aimed mostly a teenagers and young adults? Then your site could be more informal and relaxed. The key here is to know your market and build the site to their preferences.

Focus the Site - Make certain your website is focused on a primary goal: selling your product or service. A site offering many unrelated products is not necessarily unfocused, but this is often the case. If your business does offer many products, dedicate a unique page for each instead of trying to sell them all from one page.

Credibility Is Crucial - The most professionally designed website won't sell if your customers don't believe in you. A clear privacy statement is one way to build your credibility. Provide a prominent link to your privacy statement from every page on the site as well as from any location that you are asking your visitors for personal information. Provide legitimate contact information online.

Navigation should be simple - Make site navigation easy and intuitive. Simple and smooth navigation adds to the convenience of the visitors. Add powerful search and catalog features. Visitors usually don’t have the patience to navigate through the whole website to find what they are looking for.

Consistency is the key - Make sure the site is consistent in look, feel and design. Nothing is more jarring and disturbing to a customer than feeling as if they have just gone to another site. Keep colors and themes constant throughout your website.

Make your website interactive and personalized – Add feedback forms as well as email forms that allow your prospective customers to ask you any questions they might have pertaining to a product. Personalization of your website is another key element that can build your visitor’s trust and increase your sales. Personalization technology provides you the analytic tools to facilitate cross-selling and up-selling when the customer is buying online. It would give you an idea of what products to cross-sell and up-sell. For example, when a person buys a CD player, a disc cleaner can also be offered.

Content is King - Good content sells a product. Ask yourself the following questions. Does your copy convey the message you wish to get across to your visitors? Is it compelling? Does it lead your visitor through the sales process? Have others review, critique and edit your copy to insure it is delivering the intended message. Always double check your spelling and grammar.