New to Adsense, looking for constructive feedback please

As it says in the thread title, I'm new to Adsense. Frankly, I find it quite fascinating, as there seem to be opportunities for exploring creative ways to integrate Adsense into sites to create revenue.

I have added Adsense ads to a couple of my sites. The first one is www.waterwater.ca . Very basic, one 468x60 at the top of every page. I didn't expect much from it since the site only gets about 30-40 page views a day. But it seems I'm averaging about 9% CTR, so I'm actually earning a couple of bucks a day.

The other site is the one where I need some feedback from you. It's not live yet (will be officially launched within a week or so) - www.onlinesupport.org . Basically, I'm looking for some constructive feedback on Adsense placement, blending, etc. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Vito

 

The ads look quite nice to me as is on www.onlinesupport.org. Good luck

 

Welcome Vito Nice to see you around here. I am sure you will be a great asset to DP should you stay.

For onlinesupport.org I would recommend making the link text the regular Blue you are used to seeing. This tends to get more clicks as people associate the Blue with a clickable link. You might want to put a square above the attention webhosts part too.

Take a look at blending also. Openair seems to do well and should work well on your site.

 

onlinesupport.org is a great domain name.

Other then saying that I have nothing to contribute to your question though.

 

Thanks for the comments, folks. Much appreciated.

Matthew, somehow I feel I know you. Have we done business in the past?
Thanks for the suggestions. I have implemented them.

Sorry, don't know what you mean by your last comment about blending and Openair.

Vito

 

I purchased a bunch of Helm demo's from you I guess back in 2002 or 2003... I used to visit WHT quite a bit but havent been on too much recently. Also I have a few posts on forumuniversity.

Open air is a palette (colour scheme) for the ads. From my experience it's best to match the colours with the background of your site. I find open air very good with a slightly higher CTR. Some find that having no border around the ads increases CTR. I have found this to be the case.

Blending the ads in would be classed as changing that new block you just created in the middle in to the open air palette which would make the ads blend more in to the content. A good example can be found at http://www.coolest-gadgets.com You will see the ads are put just below the content and there isnt a border around them. I would still recommend making the actual title of the ad in the Blue colour... #0000FF I believe.

 

Ah, OK. So we have crossed paths in the past. (I'm following you... )

I have changed the colors as you suggested. Better now?

Vito

 

Thats it! You could try the same with the adsense on the right also, although it's a good idea to experiment maybe a day or a week at a time. It takes a bit of work but you will finally get it optimised

 

Cool. Thanks for all the sage advice, Matthew.

(You can count on me picking your brain and all the other gurus' brains here for a while - when I embark on a learning curve, I go all out)

Vito

 

No problem. DP has been an excellent source of advice for me and many others. You will learn a lot

 

I love this site!!! They have alot of valuable information on how to make money. Your domain name is very catchy.

 

dont you want to add more ads?

 

Sorry, not sure what you mean. I was under the impression I could add a max of 3 units to a page (which I already have).

Vito

 

You can have 3 of the type you have. Also you can have the links menu also as well as a search box and referral. I dont remember the exact amounts of the others. Maybe adding one of the 5 item link menu's above the pingzine might be good. Thats an advertising hot spot

 

Ah, gotcha. Thanks, Matthew.

(Do you ever sleep??)

Vito

 

I got loads of sleep last night Was in bed at 11 and up at 7. I am in the UK.

 

Hah, forgot you were 5 hours ahead.

Vito

 

Good ad placement.. You have lot of sites , so you must be having great earnings... How much you earn from adsense?

 

Yes, I do have a few sites, but on most of them I sell product. I am not a big fan of adding Adsense ads to retail sites. I am very new to Adsense and have only just started dabbling in it in the last week or two.

Vito

 

Just adding some more ads to the waterwater.ca site. I now have a 468 at top and one at bottom of the page. I would like to add a vertical unit as well. The only spot I can figure to do this is in the left column. However, I have a background image in that column. What would you suggest that I do to make the ads blend in? A box with a white bg will stick out like a sore thumb. Any suggestions?

Vito