2 Create a Website Blog

And The Best-Performing AdSense Unit Is…

Filed Under: AdSense/CPC 18 Comments

Thanks to everyone who submitted a reply to my last post where I asked about your best performing AdSense unit.

The clear winners are the larger units. The 300×250 and 336×280 were the most popular answers.

Monitors are getting wider and so are websites.  So the larger units tend to work well on sites with wider content areas.  Also, the 300 pixel units fit very nicely within many blog sidebars.

I noticed many of you like to float the 300 pixel square units in the middle of your content pages.  Perhaps you’ve discovered this yields a higher click-thru ratio, but I think the square units look best in sidebars or when they flow alongside a block of content or video.

(See an example on 2CreateAWebSite.com.)

A few mentioned that blending the background works best.  I totally agree.  When you make the background a different color, it does make the ad stand out, but it also screams, “Hey, this is an ad!”

I like to match the unit background with my site and use a different color for the URL at the bottom of the ad to make the unit pop just a bit.

There were no votes for the link units.  I don’t care for them.  Even though they fit nicely in narrow spaces, the visitor has to click twice for you to earn a commission.

Plus, the idea that your visitor has to click a category of ads just to view more ads just seems odd to me.  I’ll pass.

Obviously my little survey was very unscientific and not meant to represent the entire AdSense population.  I just wanted to open up a discussion about your experimentation with the AdSense units.

So thanks.  I appreciate the feedback.  Keep testing!  That’s really the only way to know what works best for YOUR site.

Comments

  1. Hi Lisa/Forum Readers,
    I continue to visit blog.2createawebsite.com on a daily basis for a wide range of advice on running commercial websites, more specifically for information about web traffic and web promotion.
    Just to comment on the YouTube video “Is Google AdSense a Scam?” – it isn’t a scam. Since visiting this website for the first time, our traffic has sky-rocketed, to the point that we are now around 50% of the way to achieving the income target we set in January. This income has come almost exclusively from Google AdSense. The more traffic we attract (in a VERY competitive niche) the more AdSense revenue we generate. We post Google ads, people click on those ads, Google pays us. So yes, it works!

    Lisa, I have a question for you about your videos and site content which is a question we’ve been asking ourselves here. When you record the videos, do you actively consider language and cultural variations for English-speaking countries such as Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, etc, as well as the United States? Or is the traffic from the US compared to non-US countries so much higher that it’s not really worth it?

    Thanks again for all your EXCELLENT ADVICE on running commercial websites.

    Daniel
    Web Project Manager
    LondonEvents2010.com

    Reply

  2. Not sure what to do with those little link units – I didn’t realise it’s two clicks to get revenue from them – not sure I want to totally get rid of them, as I often find they seem to be a tad more content relevant than the bigger image ad units – and also like to offer my viewers choices (big flashy image ad, or neat little text link unit ad) – still learning though, so it’s a process of just trying different units in different positions and seeing what happens.

    @ShellZaldivar – I think Lisa is using the Comment Luv plugin to pull the last blog of a visitor when they leave a comment.
    .-= Teresa Schultz´s last blog … 10 Notes to Inspire you to Exercise =-.

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  4. Thanks Lisa for all your great information. I just started my SBI website about six months ago, but still come back to your site for helpful information.

    Sandra

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  5. This is a good question; I will like to know too. Please Lisa your quick response is required here. I wish you the best and hope you will continue doing what you do best. Thanks

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    • It is my understanding that if you and the other person is a YouTube Partner then the two of you and Google share a piece of that ad revenue if the ad gets clicked. That’s what the additional column for “AdSense for Content” comes from in your AdSense reports.

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  7. In addition to matching the background of your Adsense unit to your web page, allowing it to float inside of an image (e.g. a shape or other figure) has proven to increase my CTR.

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  11. Hi Lisa … I used to see your site whenever I google about website creation, but for some reason never visited. Up until now. Your content is top notch! Now I know why you’re on google’s first page! You’ve just earned a subscriber here. Thanks for all the info. They’ll keep me busy for the next couple of days.
    .-= ShellZaldivar´s last blog … Build Your Own Website Competition & More! =-.

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    • Yep! That page is one of my highest earning pages according to Analytics. I get a lot of questions about video so I will probably do a vid on that soon. 🙂

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  13. Nice post Lisa!

    Thanks for the information. I recently stripped adsense from my blog as I figured I did not have a big enough traffic base to get any income, I also thought it might be destroying the little traffic I had. I was only getting one or two ad impressions a day. I now only have one 468×60 at the bottom of each of my blog posts so that it’s out of the way and will not annoy visitors ect but may still generate a few clicks while building up the traffic.

    Once I start to get healthy traffic I may consider adding more units like the 300×250 but for now I will stick to my 468×60 at the bottom 😀

    Thanks again.

    All the best,
    Glen
    .-= Glen´s last blog … 5 Activity Tips For Your Forum =-.

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