I know we get a lot of new Adsense users here everyday asking the same questions, usually having to do with where to place their Adsense ads in their blogs for maximum earnings. Here are some placement suggestions that I have found works, but they are by no means the definitive anything. Whenever someone asks for advice on ad placement in blogs, I recommend these two, because I have used them myself, and they have worked quite well, better than any other experiments I've tried. So here goes: Adlinks at the Top It's been tested again and again, and it always works: Adlink units at the top of your blog, just below your blog's logo or banner, but before the start of the first entry, works wonders. In fact, some have found this to work even better than anything they have going. So the first thing you should do is place either an leaderboard Adlink unit or a 468 Adlink unit at the top underneath your logo, depending on which size fits your blog's template. Example below: Think of the leaderboard banner ad as your site's logo; your adlinks unit should be positioned just like this: 336 Large Rectangles in the Article The other prime spot for Google ads is the 336x280 Large Rectangle, which like the Adlinks unit under the header, is a proven method to attract high CTR. As well, Google continues to push the 336 as their primary money earner, and there's a reason -- it works. But where to put the 336? You have two options, and I've found them to work equally well, so you should definitely experiment with placements. The first position is at the beginning of your article, with the 336 embedded within the article and aligned either to the left or right. (You'll want to make this decision based on your site's template; choose the side that won't make your site look cluttered.) People have found that this placement works very well, because you've made the ads a part of your article. CTR is quite high in this position. Example below: This site uses a smaller banner, but your 336 will be in the same position, and embedded just like this in your article. The other location is at the end of your article. Place the 336 box immediately after the end of your article, and before the comment section. Why here? Because once your visitor finishes reading your article, they will be looking for more reading material, and voila -- there's your Adsense ads for them to click on. Again, you have the choice of either centering the 336 here, or aligning it to the left or right. (Once more, it all depends on the template of your blog.) Example below: This site has elected to center their 336. Is it better than left aligning it? It depends. You should experiment. A third option would be to place the Adlinks at the top under the banner/logo, a 336 embedded at the beginning of the article, and then a second 336 at the end of the article, for a total of three Adsense ads on one page. I personally don't recommend this, as I'm a stickler for the "less is more" rule of marketing, but I know others who swears by them. As with everything, you should test, test, and then test some more. Even when you think you've figured out the perfect spot for your ads (and they are different for everyone), it doesn't mean a little tweaking here or there won't improve your earnings. There are other favored methods by experienced bloggers using Adsense, so I welcome their own suggestions. If possible, it would be great to insert pictures as an example, as I've always found that when you can see how something is supposed to be done, it's easier to grasp. Good luck, Adsense newbies, and remember -- experiment, experiment, experiment.
Very nice post, most helpful, and the 728x90 adsense + the 728x15 adlink is a winner, I tried that, if you use color border, make sure they match. Oh yes, also be sure to include a BR between the two otherwise on wide screen they might end up aligned horizontally. About the 336, please could you specify why not using the 300x250 which is slighty smaller but can also display images when the 336 doesn't (AFAIK and unless it changes in the future) ? Is the 300 really not performing similarly as the 336 ?
Statistically, the 336 just performs better according to everything I've read, including from Google itself. The 336 is the one ad banner that they have maintain, over and over again, to be the top money earner. But you're right, if your blog template doesn't allow for something as big as a 336, you should definitely consider the 250 or 300 to save space or make the ads more appealing in your blog template.
I dont understand why 'adlinks' work. Doesn't the user need to click twice for you to earn any money?
yes he needs to click twice, but when he clicked once, you have a page with only paying links, so chances that he clicks again compared to hitting the back button are high. Also when a 728x15 adlink is put just below a 728x90 adsense with matching border color (while keeping the bgcolor of the adlink of the same color as the page background and the bgcolor of the 728x90 adsense of a lighter tint than the border color), it really looks like a nice menu.
You have convinced me to give the adlinks a try. I replaced the 'half banner' in my header with 468sized ad links.. lets see how it goes. EDIT: Never mind; went back to half banner. Was not getting relevant ads with link unit. All blog ads; much better with half banner.
Shergill, half a day is not nearly enough time to give Adsense Adlinks the chance to work its magic. I would recommend testing the placement out for a week at least. And remember: what you see is not necessarily the same as what your visitors see.
Plus I don't understand why one has to choose between and adsense and an adlink since they work fine together : put your 468x60 banner and just below it you put your 468x15 adlink, with matching bordercolor : sweet.
I'm quoting myself simply to say that after last saturday adsense update, the 336x280 ad block can now display images, so now there's no reason left not to use it over the 300x250, size is not an issue for 36 pixels wide and 30 pixels tall, why not go SuperSize