My Best Adsense Layout Ever!
April 16, 2007 by
Adam
Filed under
Adsense and Affiliates, Websites
Who wants more money from their adsense sites?
My name is Mark Wielgus, from 45n5.com, and I’d like to thank Adnan for the opportunity to make a guest post at Blogtrepreneur.
Last month my adsense earnings were over $700 dollars, which means I’ve got a long way to go to catch the higher earners, but also that I know a thing or two about adsense.
I thought I’d share what I think is “My Best Adsense Layout Ever!” for three reasons.
- Show off “My Best Adsense Layout Ever!” (thanks Mr. Obvious, lol)
- Help anybody struggling to earn with adsense see a proven money making layout.
- Listen to any constructive criticism to help all of our adsense incomes improve
So Let’s See That Hot Adsense Layout Please
There she is. Perty ain’t she?
The rundown on the adsense.
1. Google search box above the banner
2. Large rectangle after the title and before the content
3. Link unit above the vertical menu (people usually click the first link first)
4. Small adsense block at the end of the menu
5. Footer is covered by a leaderboard
The Rundown On the Layout
1. Width no wider than 760px
2. Make menu text look similar to ad unit, but leave space between them
3. 2 column layout
Simple, yet elegant, and maximizing your adsense units.
Only Listen To Advice From Your Visitors
I presented a good starter template, however each site is unique and has unique visitors. Therefore it is up to you to test what works best for your site.
Never settle with any default layout or adsense colors, rather, let your visitor tell you what they like to click on by constantly using adsense split testing.
Seriously, even the hard fast “blend your ads” rule isn’t always true, and I’ve found I sometimes get a higher click through rate by using a contrasting color. Test, test, test!
In Conclusion
That is “My Best Adsense Layout Ever!”. Hopefully if you’re struggling to make an adsense dollar you have something to start with now, and if you disagree that is the best adsense layout ever, let me know in the comments why!
I look forward to hearing from you.
Hey Mark, thanks for the tips. Good to see you on Blogtrepreneur!
Yeah, I can see that should work pretty well. And for many sites it’s great.
I just don’t think it will work on my blogs. Even on commercial ones that I run, I would not throw ads in their face that much.
I find a compromise solution that works great for me - small rectangle or 125×125 button on top right or left text area corner, with blog text around it.
Do you have any hard results of that layout (ie: sites that you got better results with that layout)?
christine, thanks for the welcome
staska, the layout is for people with the goal of making the most adsense money on a site. If that isn’t your #1 goal then I’d agree that the layout might not be for you
Jim, yes I have hard results but I’m not sharing the urls, for personal reasons, and not sharing the ctr because it breaks the google terms of service.
Even if you aren’t sold on the layout there are many good principles to learn from it like
-make sure your site search is monetized
-make sure your footers are monetized
-make sure you first link in a vertical menu is a money link
etc..
Hi Mark,
I think these last 3 advices are better than the layout you have presented.
as it really is quite “moneytizeble”… but i think it’s also too obtrusive for the readers.
don’t you think so?
thanks,
www[.]webee[.]ro is a design blog
“it’s also too obtrusive for the readers. don’t you think so?”
Once again the main purpose of this layout is to get adsense clicks. I think it does this quite well.
Yes it is obtrusive to the readers, if it wasn’t they would probably click the ads less.
I’m not looking to impress anybody with my design skills, rather I’m interested in making money with a site
You didn’t answer the most important question! What’s your CTR?
it’s against the adsense terms of service to disclose click through rates.
Yup, watch out cause they will get you for that. I’ve read about people that had their accounts disabled because of it.
ok -here goes…I’m gonna try this layout! Thanks
let us know how it works out for you Sue!
How did it work?
I know you cannot disclose CTR, but how does the footer CTR compare to the other ad blocks?
Thanks very much for some awesome information Mark. I’ve been experimenting with my layout recently and you’ve really given me something to thing about.
Is there a reason why you put the menu on the right?
careful with ads under the title, Google is banning sites and accounts that use this layout. One way to keep them happy is to put ADVERTISEMENT under the title and above the ads.
@Grant Moneymaker - I can say from my experience that putting the menu on the right is because the top left triangle of your content area is the hottest zone in the Google Adsense click heatmap. If you had your menu there, people would be looking and clicking on the menu and not on the ads. If you’re in it for making the most out of your CTR, the save the top left triangle of your content area for ads.
My ctr went down sharply in the last couple of months so I’m goung to try this and after some time I’ll will let you know if my ctr improved at all.
Nice Post thank you Mark Wielgus.
Hi Adam, Liked your post on adsense layout. But isin’t is too clumsy for the reader? The first priority should be the reader who can comfortably read the articles. Not to trick him/her to click on the ad links.
Did Google change its policies ?
I was contacted by Google stating, “You cannot place ads directly underneath the page title” and that this is a violation of policy.
Big thanks for tips
Its good man, 700 is not bad and I am sure that you can increase that gradually, so far in ur blog I am trying to find something that can help me to start earning something and this is what I want to do in future for my earnings.
great idea..i shall try to use in my sites,…hope it may be optimized
Thanks for the tips!