teamrocketman
23rd October 2005, 08:47 PM
The Placement of ads on web sites is probably the most critical factor to producing a good advertising income. Using the tips, techniques, and statistics in this tutorial, you should get a basic idea on how to improve your web sites revenue by placing ads.
"Always place ads above the fold near your main content", a phrase you probably have heard over and over again by many webmasters and articles. In truth, this is incredibly important for good ad revenue, but this piece of information barely skims the water when it comes to strategic placement of ads for improving a web sites advertising income.
There are endless strategies for improving a web sites total income through ads, and this article will outline some of the techniques I have found useful for improving Ad CTR (Click Through Rate), and total earnings. This article will cover a few basic ad placements and go over the ups and downs of each type with statistical analysis on why each one works fails to work. Along the way, consider some of the basic rules scattered throughout this article, and take them as basic guidelines to producing better revenue on your web site.
- Rule 1: Ads should be placed above the fold (above the fold means visible when your site loads, without scrolling down your page), and near your main content where the viewers eyes will be scanning.
This rule is a must for all web sites looking to improve their CTR, and overall earnings through ads. Typically, when a user views a web page, their eyes will immediately start scanning the page for the "Content" they are looking for. Because most web users are used to looking on the left or center of a web page when finding content, it is a safe assumption that these will be the first two places their eyes scan before looking elsewhere.
Consider the following Ad Placement Setup:
In this setup, there is a basic web site, with a header, a left navigation menu, center content area, and a right navigation area. Let's analyze why this ad placement is very effective in producing good revenue.
- Viewers typically read from left to right. Notice how the ad is placed on the left side of the content, but at the very top. Chances are, the viewer will see the ad before anything else in this setup.
- The Ad does not take up to much room, which can be annoying to many viewers.
- The Box Unit Ad in many affiliate programs has been proven to be one of the most successful ad types in both CTR and CPM for a banner ad.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/kyletech/tuts/adtopcenter.jpg
In short, this ad placement is an excellent way to produce good revenue off of a content based web site. When placing an ad into a content area however, such as the one shown in the example above, observe the following:
Rule 2: Ads that blend with your web sites theme and content will produce a better income typically (though there are a few exceptions).
Try blending your ads to match the content of your web site. When a viewer visits multiple pages on your site, a common trait is for that viewer to go "ad-blind". Ad-blind is a common effect that occurs when a viewer sees something that repeats on each page, or multiple pages. Once ad-blind, a user may start ignoring ads altogether on your site. By blending your ads with your content, it is more likely that a viewer will keep seeing the ads before the content on your site.
There is more than one way to get a viewer to notice an ad. Here is a popular technique used by webmasters to improve ad CTR even when the ad in not right in the content:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/kyletech/tuts/imagebyad.jpg
The grey box in the diagram above is the ad unit, while the green one is an image.
This technique of creating good advertising income could be considered as the ad-near-pictures technique. When you place and ad near a graphic that catches the eye, it generally grabs the viewers attention to that area of the web site. The diagram above shows the ad unit to the left of the image, but this technique is also useful for placing the ad under an image, or on another side of an image.
- Images catch a viewers attention
- Do not repeat the same image on every page, they will once again become "blind"
- Experiment with different ad unit types, such as leader boards, or small box units
Always be sure to check with your affiliation programs policies when placing your ads. Some programs make clear in their policies that there should be distinct borders between ad units and content (such as text or images).
Now lets have a look at text links. While text links typically have a lower CPM than banner ads, studies have proven that typically, text links get quite higher CTR's. By using some of the techniques described above for placement, text links can be a very effective tool in advertising income.
One other thing worth a try when placing text links on a web site is to place them near a sites Navigation. This is especially effective if the ads are similar to your sites content. When a user is finished reading through an interesting piece of material on your web site, they may want to find more on this subject, so when they scroll to the navigation and they see text links to similar content, there is a high chance that they will click them.
Rule 3: Forums will boost your impressions, but typically will destroy your CTR if you are not careful.
A common mistake for many webmasters is to place advertisements on forums to improve Impressions. Unless your ad types are CPM, ads on forums generate little revenue, and get VERY low CTR's.
Some forums have begun to start having ads display in actual forum posts. While this method seems to be working well for some, it also has been thought that this drives away visitors. Forums can be very difficult to produce a good income with using advertisements, so experiment, and decide which way works best for you.
Rule 4: Ads on the left have higher CTR than those on the Right.
Based on some of my own statistics, I have found that by placing my ad units on the left, I get higher CTR's than those placed on the right. In an experiment with 2 large box ads right next to each other, the one on the right was clicked many more times than that of the one on the left. Other webmasters have also said that by surrounding an ad with more padding, it draws more Clicks in as well.
In short, there are many things to consider when placing ads on your web site. It is important to track each individual ad units statistics to see what works best on your web site in terms of ad revenue. These tips should help you get started, I have seen a few sites increase their CPM and CTR by over 500% using these and similar techniques. Each site is different though, and requires its own unique layout for maximizing advertisement income!
"Always place ads above the fold near your main content", a phrase you probably have heard over and over again by many webmasters and articles. In truth, this is incredibly important for good ad revenue, but this piece of information barely skims the water when it comes to strategic placement of ads for improving a web sites advertising income.
There are endless strategies for improving a web sites total income through ads, and this article will outline some of the techniques I have found useful for improving Ad CTR (Click Through Rate), and total earnings. This article will cover a few basic ad placements and go over the ups and downs of each type with statistical analysis on why each one works fails to work. Along the way, consider some of the basic rules scattered throughout this article, and take them as basic guidelines to producing better revenue on your web site.
- Rule 1: Ads should be placed above the fold (above the fold means visible when your site loads, without scrolling down your page), and near your main content where the viewers eyes will be scanning.
This rule is a must for all web sites looking to improve their CTR, and overall earnings through ads. Typically, when a user views a web page, their eyes will immediately start scanning the page for the "Content" they are looking for. Because most web users are used to looking on the left or center of a web page when finding content, it is a safe assumption that these will be the first two places their eyes scan before looking elsewhere.
Consider the following Ad Placement Setup:
In this setup, there is a basic web site, with a header, a left navigation menu, center content area, and a right navigation area. Let's analyze why this ad placement is very effective in producing good revenue.
- Viewers typically read from left to right. Notice how the ad is placed on the left side of the content, but at the very top. Chances are, the viewer will see the ad before anything else in this setup.
- The Ad does not take up to much room, which can be annoying to many viewers.
- The Box Unit Ad in many affiliate programs has been proven to be one of the most successful ad types in both CTR and CPM for a banner ad.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/kyletech/tuts/adtopcenter.jpg
In short, this ad placement is an excellent way to produce good revenue off of a content based web site. When placing an ad into a content area however, such as the one shown in the example above, observe the following:
Rule 2: Ads that blend with your web sites theme and content will produce a better income typically (though there are a few exceptions).
Try blending your ads to match the content of your web site. When a viewer visits multiple pages on your site, a common trait is for that viewer to go "ad-blind". Ad-blind is a common effect that occurs when a viewer sees something that repeats on each page, or multiple pages. Once ad-blind, a user may start ignoring ads altogether on your site. By blending your ads with your content, it is more likely that a viewer will keep seeing the ads before the content on your site.
There is more than one way to get a viewer to notice an ad. Here is a popular technique used by webmasters to improve ad CTR even when the ad in not right in the content:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v318/kyletech/tuts/imagebyad.jpg
The grey box in the diagram above is the ad unit, while the green one is an image.
This technique of creating good advertising income could be considered as the ad-near-pictures technique. When you place and ad near a graphic that catches the eye, it generally grabs the viewers attention to that area of the web site. The diagram above shows the ad unit to the left of the image, but this technique is also useful for placing the ad under an image, or on another side of an image.
- Images catch a viewers attention
- Do not repeat the same image on every page, they will once again become "blind"
- Experiment with different ad unit types, such as leader boards, or small box units
Always be sure to check with your affiliation programs policies when placing your ads. Some programs make clear in their policies that there should be distinct borders between ad units and content (such as text or images).
Now lets have a look at text links. While text links typically have a lower CPM than banner ads, studies have proven that typically, text links get quite higher CTR's. By using some of the techniques described above for placement, text links can be a very effective tool in advertising income.
One other thing worth a try when placing text links on a web site is to place them near a sites Navigation. This is especially effective if the ads are similar to your sites content. When a user is finished reading through an interesting piece of material on your web site, they may want to find more on this subject, so when they scroll to the navigation and they see text links to similar content, there is a high chance that they will click them.
Rule 3: Forums will boost your impressions, but typically will destroy your CTR if you are not careful.
A common mistake for many webmasters is to place advertisements on forums to improve Impressions. Unless your ad types are CPM, ads on forums generate little revenue, and get VERY low CTR's.
Some forums have begun to start having ads display in actual forum posts. While this method seems to be working well for some, it also has been thought that this drives away visitors. Forums can be very difficult to produce a good income with using advertisements, so experiment, and decide which way works best for you.
Rule 4: Ads on the left have higher CTR than those on the Right.
Based on some of my own statistics, I have found that by placing my ad units on the left, I get higher CTR's than those placed on the right. In an experiment with 2 large box ads right next to each other, the one on the right was clicked many more times than that of the one on the left. Other webmasters have also said that by surrounding an ad with more padding, it draws more Clicks in as well.
In short, there are many things to consider when placing ads on your web site. It is important to track each individual ad units statistics to see what works best on your web site in terms of ad revenue. These tips should help you get started, I have seen a few sites increase their CPM and CTR by over 500% using these and similar techniques. Each site is different though, and requires its own unique layout for maximizing advertisement income!