What I did was so simple, I’m almost ashamed to dedicate a post to this. 🙂
I hope you forgive the simplicity of what I’m about to reveal, but sometimes the simplest changes make the greatest impact.
In early November I added a 728×90 unit to the header of my Site Build It! site, Flat Stomach Exercises. That unit began earning around $40 per day for the first few days and then leveled off to $30-ish per day.
I’ve also had decent success with the same unit on my forum, WebsiteBabble.com. The banner doesn’t convert nearly as well there, but it still does OK and is worth the placement.
Note: I attribute the lower performance to the fact that WebsiteBabble.com is targeted to Webmasters and Bloggers who often have ad blindness. So it’s no surprise that unit doesn’t perform quite as well there.
I had been reading about how well the 728 unit performs on many sites and thought of adding a unit to 2 Create a Website, but was afraid it would distract from my overall sales goals. However, I am less concerned about that on Flat Stomach Exercises (FSE).
FSE is primarily an Adsense site for me. As many of you know, I created that site to do a test run with Site Build It! so I could use it as a case study/example on 2CreateAWebSite.com.
To be honest, I’m not as passionate about fitness to work on the site frequently (not to mention I don’t have the time), so I just let it sit and earn passive income. I never dreamed that test/case study site would perform so well with limited content updates.
So I’m OK with being a little heavy on AdSense ads with that site. Not sure I would use that same strategy on 2 Create a Website because I have other goals, and I have to be careful AdSense doesn’t become a major competitor for the main products I promote.
Understand When AdSense Makes Sense for You
It’s tempting to read this post, dart over to your AdSense account and create a 728 unit for your site. That’s fine if the primary goal is to earn money with AdSense, but that may not be your best move.
AdSense may be the primary monetization option for some sites, yet more of a supplement for others. You have to decide which one it is for you. Adding more units to your pages may actually distract and compete with other products you are promoting.
For example, say you are earning $500/month in commissions by referring a product on a specific page. After adding the 728×90 unit, your AdSense earnings increase by $100/month, but commissions for the main product you promote drops to only $200 per month.
In this example, the AdSense banner probably hurt your net earnings. I say “probably” because it may be hard to prove that was the exact cause, but if you see drastic results after making a change like that, AdSense may be the culprit. That’s why you should test everything.
This is the very reason some people choose to only put AdSense ads on pages that have high bounce rates and pages that don’t promote their “important” products.
So you should always look at the big picture for your site. If your AdSense earnings are increasing rapidly, are sales for something else declining? These are statistics you should pay attention to, and it’s the reason some people don’t use AdSense on certain pages if at all.
Always know your individual site goals and make sure your monetization decisions support them. Believe it or not, a boost in your AdSense earnings may not always be a good thing for your bottom line.
I have two year with adsense and never get a check, and my site doing 2 cents what I am doing wrong, please some help?
Love your articles, but I am so sorry to say this Lisa, I’m getting desperate with this PPC program, seems like everything is really not working like usual for me.
Hello ! I hope i will get at least as much as you from adsense ! 😀
Look at my blog, i get fom run ( abot one week ) 7€ and 600+ Visits.
Is it so bad ? or no so bad as it can be ? 😀
Through some tips I got on this site … my Adsense are doing much better on my WordPress blog
Actually, testing different ad placements every month or so increases your CTR, because if you keep them in the same place people will tend to skip them after a while.
What I am trying to say is that there is no real good placement (well, there is, those near the action zone, where people will first look on the website) but there is a good banner rotation placement.
Hi,
i have a question what wordpress theme you used in this website ?
The Genesis Lifestyle Theme http://www.2createawebsite.com/genesis
Hi, Lisa I find your article very usefull and thanks a lot for that.I sign up to use google adsense on my websites but they won’t accepted me.If you know other adsense alternative who has an good PPC ,thanks a lot.
Very inspiring story. Thank you very much for sharing.
The thing is, I really like when visitors only see relevant content rather than ads; plus as you rightly say, webmasters and similar visitors are blind to these types of ads so they are not quite as effective. So I’m coming to the conclusion that this may not work for my site.
Hi Lisa!!
Very Interesting. However, i’m still in doubt about the right adsense strategy to use for my website. The thing is, I really like when visitors only see relevant content rather than ads; plus as you rightly say, webmasters and similar visitors are blind to these types of ads so they are not quite as effective. So I’m coming to the conclusion that this may not work for my site.
If you have any suggestions, I would really appreciate it.
Great article Lisa! I’ve found that with some of my sites the adsense does terrible, but it really does depend on what your site is about and how much the cpc pays. I have one site that gets a lot of hits, but the cost per click is very low.
CAN ANY ONE TELL ME WHAT CHANGES SHOULD I MAKE TO MY WEBSITE BEFORE APPLYING TO ADSENSE PLS.
MY SITE – http://betterwebads.com
if my website only has about 50 visitors (unique visitor) per day, Can I put adsense and earn! I am worry about banning from Adsense team because my site is new.
I just found your site, I have a blog and was looking for ways to increase my adsense earnings, so far my max has only been around $56 for Oct of 2012 for the whole month!. It has taken more than a year to get to this level.
What advice can you give to a blogger that is increasing earnings about 15% onthy, but would like to take it to the next level faster? My primary blog with most traffic is http://www.displacedguy.com but my other niche sites make more money. How many sites do you run to get over $1000 daily? I would list my other site but don’t want my comment to get flagged for spam, it is like subotex
Thanks Rich
Hi Rich,
I never said I make $1,000 daily. This is an increase for the month and it’s from 5 sites. How much you make is all dependent on traffic. And $56 should be celebrated, most people never even see that much. So congrats and keep working on building more content, using social media, perhaps try guest posting on other sites. How fast you get to the next level is all about how well you market your site. What are you doing so far?
I will like to place that 729 by 90 ad on the top header of my website, but I am having trouble centering the ad. Can anyone tell me the HTML for centering that ad, I tried a few and they are not working.
I appreciate you being true about your business. Not many bloggers will reveal their secrets, and not many will revel their money niche. Thanks for sharing with us
I am pessimistic about the adsense program so far but this is a good point, hope more trials and errors can make me increase the adsense earnings.
Hello,
Excellent post Lisa, I have been using the Google Adsense since the last three months and I would like to suggest that the 300 X 250 ad units did exceptionally well for me…do infolinks really work??
Please suggest
Thanks
Aditya
Gr8 tips Lisa:-) I agree with your point of 728×90 ad unit but still wonder, there’s some drastic change this month after the privacy policy is implemented. What do you feel? Your site is wonderful and will visit again. Have Liked your fb page too. All the best wishes…
woah! really amazing.. Google rocks
i am sucessfully using Asense for my song website http://www.mp3mahal.in past 3 years and doing great good with it!!Can you please also do let me know how can i increase my income with any other ppc companies…Some one suggested with Infolinks… is it good to goo with it..coz i have very few text in my website
Great site Lisa! I’m using 2 300×250 text-only blocks side by side but I might test that header banner instead for a few weeks, since it would wouldn’t look visually out of place there.
Hi,
This is really an interesting and helpful read. Tho’ i had an adsense account but it never did much good to me…hope I will apply some tips now 🙂