1. Patience 2. Constant Efforts 3. Fresh Content 4. Right Ad Placements 5. Write what people likes to read, rather than writing for bots. [Cause Bots never Clicks ]
Experimenting with different ad positions and getting more unique visitors through search engine traffic instead of the same old visitors who are used to the ads.
I would concentrate more on providing good quality contents to my visitors and find ways and means to drive targeted traffic to my site. Other than that, ad placement and its blending with the contents do matter for a better earning.
I guess a lot of patients and trying new things out. I've done a lot of things with Adsense over the years and have learned what works and what does not work.
It takes time, but it can be done. Here's what's been working for me. Blog 1. Quality content 2. Fresh, frequent posts Ads 1. Position 2. Ad Color
1. Get more traffic through SEO and SMO 2. Try on the ads placement and colour to find the best CTR 3. Study on the high pay keyword to improve the CPC
About a year ago, my CTR was well above 7% every single day. One day out of nowhere it dropped to bellow 4%. Why, I don't know. You have to work, change as the market changes. There is nothing you can do about it.