Which is the Best Placement for Google Adsense Ads

August 24, 2010 by The Big SEO  
Filed under Adsense

Why, on your web pages of course. Ok, just kidding. The real question should be: “Is there really any truth to the rumors that where you place those Google AdSense ads can actually improve response?” According to my best information, the answer to that question is: Yes.

Google’s own AdSense experts say that that there is a direct correlation between the placement of the AdSense ads and the resulting clickthrough.

When ads are placed in “content zones”, rather than in “advertising zones”, response rates on Google AdWords goes up. There are also indications showing that ads appearing on the right side of the page get clicked more than ads appearing on the left side.

Advertising analysts with degrees in human behavior and psychology have spent thousands of man-years (people-years?) studying how people read printed and Internet content and what it takes to get them to respond to ads. While some of these studies are proprietary, or are only available to anyone with $10,000 or more to spend on a copy, other studies have been made public and can be read by anyone who is interested.

Google themselves has released some relevant information which is focused directly on increasing your Google AdSense response. You can read their findings here

Of course, all of the studies in the world aren’t worth a hill of beans if the findings don’t work on your web site. That’s why it is important to test, test and test again. Experiment with your Google AdSense placement and track the results over a period of time. Google provides response tracking tools in your AdSense control panel. Google’s own AdSense experts say that that there is a direct correlation between the placement of the AdSense ads and the resulting clickthrough.
Learn how to use them. As you begin to see what may be only subtle differences in response, you’ll be able to determine what works best for your particular site. But don’t get complacent. What’s working for you now might not work next month if you change your site design or content.

One of the most important factors in determining placement of your ads is the type of content that your site delivers. If you are primarily an e-commerce site, and you have a lot of pictures and ad copy for your own products competing for attention against AdSense ads, then it is going to be a particularly tough challenge getting any kind of decent Google AdSense clickthrough.
When ads are placed in “content zones”, rather than in “advertising zones”, response rates on Google AdWords goes up. There are also indications showing that ads appearing on the right side of the page get clicked more than ads appearing on the left side. It is situations like this that require very thorough testing and a lot of trial and error.

Blogs seem to have a lot of success generating high response rates to Google AdSense listings. Perhaps it’s because blog readers realize that ad revenue is the only way that their favorite blogmaster can keep the lights on, so the readers think of clicking on ads as a way to make a donation.

Define AdSense Placement?

December 18, 2009 by The Big SEO  
Filed under Adsense

If you are depending on Google AdSense for revenue for your website, you need to learn the truth about AdSense placement to ensure that you are getting a high number of clicks on the ads. When it comes to Google AdSense, not getting clicks means your website is not earning revenue! However, by learning the truth about AdSense placements, you will soon see a higher number of clicks on your Google AdSense reports.

The truth about AdSense placement is that there is a trick to it. You want to do several things to make sure those ads get clicked if you are depending on that income! Start by determining where to place the code on your pages. There is no one spot that is right for all websites and all webpages. Each website and each page is unique, and the goal of the page is unique the more the ads look like actual content on your page, the more they will get clicked on. For instance, if you have a directory of listings on your site, you would want to make the font and colors the same, so that the Google ads actually looked like part of the directory listing. A good way to integrate the ads into content is again to use the same fonts and same colors, and to place the ads in the middle of the pages content.

The more you can integrate the ads into your pages in a way that looks like it is part of the content, as opposed to ads on the pages, the more clicks you will receive. You definitely need to match your ad fonts and font colors to your pages fonts and font colors. Retain the same look and feel of your website wherever possible. If you are making the ads part of the content or part of a directory listing, choose not to use a border around the ads. This customization can all be done through the Google AdSense control panel when you login to your Google account.

You have to determine where your visitor’s attention is focused on your pages, and place the ads in that general area Again, you want to match the look and feel of your website, but in this instance, you should probably use a border around the ads.

The truth about AdSense placement is that you should place the ads where they will be the most visible to your visitors. You want the ad blocks to look like they belong on your pages, but at the same time, you want them to draw attention as well, so that your visitors will click on them.
This brings us to another fact that you need to know. Placing the ads in a particular spot on one page is no indication that the ads should be placed in the same place on a different page on your website. Again, think about how you can integrate the ads into your content; this will vary from page to page in many cases.

Just remember that there are many factors to consider when determining the truth about AdSense placement for your pages. What works well for one website may not work for another. What works well for one website page may not work well for all pages on that website. Experts are great for a lot of things, but when it comes to placement of AdSense ads on your website, you have to be your own expert.

Free Web Hosting Tips

July 25, 2009 by The Big SEO  
Filed under Web Hosting

Can you really get FREE web hosting?

Yes, there are hundreds of free hosts, as far as not having to pay any money. Generally they either cost you in time, hosting restrictions, or modifying your web pages by adding popups or other adverts. When looking for free web hosting (especially on search engines), you should beware that there are also a large number of commercial web hosts that claim to offer free hosting, but those have a catch, such as paying an excessive amount for a domain name or other service, and therefore aren’t really free.

How do the free web hosts make money?

The free hosts often make money in other ways, such as putting banners, popups, or popunders on your site. Some free hosting companies do not put ads on your site, but require you as the webmaster to click on banners in their control panel or signup process, or just display banners in the file manager in hopes you will click them. Some lure visitors with free hosting in hopes you will upgrade and pay for advanced features. A few send you occasional emails with ads, or may even sell your email address.

Are free web hosts reliable?

Generally no, although there may be a few exceptions. If the host is making money from banner ads or other revenue sources directly from the free hosting, then they likely will stay in business, provided someone doesn’t abuse their hosting with spam, hacking, etc., as often happens to new free web hosting companies with liberal signup policies. If the host accepts just anyone, especially with an automated instant activation and it offers features such as PHP or CGI, then some users invariably try to find ways to abuse it which can cause the host to have a lot of downtime or the server to be slow. It is best if you choose a very selective free host which only accepts quality sites (assuming you have one).

Uses for free webspace

Free web hosting is not recommended for businesses unless you can get domain hosting from an ad-free host that is very selective, such as DistantHost (http://signup.distanthost.com/) or Fairmount (http://www.fairmount.nu/). Other reasons for using free hosting would be to learn the basics of website hosting, have a personal website with pictures of your family or whatever, a doorway page to another website of yours, or to try scripts you have written on different hosting environments.

How to find the right free web hosting

The best place to search for free webhosting is on a free webspace directory website (i.e. a site which specializes in listing only free web hosting providers). There are some which add new free hosts pretty much every week (and if it is updated often, has usually had to delete about as many). There are also many which almost never update their site, and a huge percent of their links and info are outdated. Unfortunately that includes most of the directories that were the best several years ago. The problem is free hosts change so often, and most fold up in less than a year (often even after only a day or two), that it is hard to keep such a directory up-to-date. The most recommended directory is Free Webspace (http://www.free-webhosts.com/), which has a detailed list of over 900 free web hosting providers with user reviews, ratings, forums, and searchable database. It is updated daily, and the advanced free web hosting search has 42 options, helping you to find the free hosting package with all the features you need, such as CGI, PHP, MySQL, ASP, SSI, and FrontPage extensions.

For a smaller, more selective list of the best free hosts, there is also:

100 Best Free Webspace (http://www.100-Best-Free-Webspace.com/)

Free Hosting (http://www.Absolutely-Free-Hosting.com/)

Free Webspace (http://www.free-webspace.org/)

Other (usually less useful) resources include subcategories of freebies sites, search engines and directories, and forums. Your ISP might also supply you with free webhosting.

Hints for finding the best free web hosting

Generally it is best not to choose a free hosting package with more features than you need, and also check to see if the company somehow receives revenue from the free hosting itself to keep it in business. As already mentioned, it is best to try to get accepted to a more selective free host if possible. Look at other sites hosted there to see what kind of ads are on your site, and the server speed (keep in mind newer hosts will be faster at first). Read the Terms of Service (TOS) and host features to make sure it has enough bandwidth for your site, large webspace and file size limit, and any scripting options you might need. Read free webspace reviews and ratings by other users on free hosting directories. If you don’t have your own domain name, you might want to use a free URL forwarding service so you can change your site’s host if needed.

Recommended free web hosts

It would be awfully hard to recommend any host and someone not like it, as different people need different hosting features and have different priorities, and the hosting quality may change over time. Also some people want free domain hosting (you own the domain), and others might not be able to buy a domain. Here are some of the most recommended free web hosts, and their main features.

DistantHost (http://signup.distanthost.com/) offers subdomain or domain hosting, 100 MB webspace, no forced ads on your site, FTP and/or browser upload, CGI and Perl, PHP, MySQL database, SSI, and FrontPage Extensions, as well as a collection of other pre-installed scripts. It has great support and a generous bandwidth limit of 6 GB/month. There is also CPanel 7 control panel with most if not all the options you would find on a paid host: web-based Email and forwarding, statistics, custom error pages, SSL, Cron, and much more. What is the catch? You must click on a certain number of banners in the control panel monthly.

HostRave (http://www.freehosting.hostrave.com/) gives you a URL such as http://freehosting.hostrave.com/b/ , and offers 21 MB webspace, POP3 and web-based Email, PHP and SSI, MySQL database, guestbook and forum script, and unmetered bandwidth. You can upload via a file manger or FTP import. Only English websites are accepted, and there is a text link at the top of your pages. It has about the best support of any free host, and in fact, maybe better than any paid host. It’s two sister sites offer slightly different features:

Hp-h (http://signup.hspages.com/cgi-bin/signup) – 50 MB.

Homepage-Host (http://www.homepage-host.uni.cc/index1.html) – 10 MB, and no forced ads.

Yahoo Geocities (http://geocities.yahoo.com/home/) is controversial. Many people hate the ads they put on your site or its other limitations, but it is one of the oldest and most reliable free web hosts. Your URL looks like http://www.geocities.com/you . They give you 15 MB webspace, file manager and editor, web-based Email, and statistics. The bandwidth limit is 3 GB/month, and the file size limit is 5 MB. You can upload several file types such as RealAudio, RealVideo, Flash, MP3, and Java, but other scripting is not supported.

Adsense Placements- Truth

November 10, 2008 by The Big SEO  
Filed under Adsense

If you are depending on Google AdSense for revenue for your website, you need to learn the truth about AdSense placement to ensure that you are getting a high number of clicks on the ads. When it comes to Google AdSense, not getting clicks means your website is not earning revenue! However, by learning the truth about AdSense placements, you will soon see a higher number of clicks on your Google AdSense reports.

The truth about AdSense placement is that there is a trick to it. You want to do several things to make sure those ads get clicked on as especially if you are depending on that income! Start by determining where to place the code on your pages. There is no one spot that is right for all websites and all WebPages. It just does not work that way. Each website and each page is unique, and the goal of the page is unique and therefore, the placement of the ads must also be unique.

If possible, you should use catchy tricks to get your ads clicked on. The more the ads look like actual content on your page, the more they will get clicked on. For instance, if you have a directory of listings on your site, you would want to make the font and colors the same, so that the Google ads actually looked like part of the directory listing. A good way to integrate the ads into content is again to use the same fonts and same colors, and to place the ads in the middle of the pages content.

The more you can integrate the ads into your pages in a way that looks like it is part of the content, as opposed to ads on the pages, the more clicks you will receive. You definitely need to match your ad fonts and font colors to your pages fonts and font colors. Retain the same look and feel of your website wherever possible. If you are making the ads part of the content or part of a directory listing, choose not to use a border around the ads. This customization can all be done through the Google AdSense control panel when you login to your Google account.

If you can not make the ads appear as part of the actual content, you have to determine where your visitors attention is focused on your pages, and place the ads in that general area where they can be seen. Again, you want to match the look and feel of your website, but in this instance, you should probably use a border around the ads.

The truth about AdSense placement is that you should place the ads where they will be the most visible to your visitors. You want the ad blocks to look like they belong on your pages, but at the same time, you want them to draw attention as well, so that your visitors will click on them. Furthermore, if you can include the ads as part of the content itself, you will find that you are getting a higher number of clicks almost overnight!

You have probably heard that putting your AdSense ads in certain spots on a page increases clicks. This is not necessarily true. Although some places generally are hotter than others, the ads need to be located where they will get the most clicks. Depending on the content on your pages, the layout of your pages, and your visitor’s attention, this will vary from website to website, and from web page to web page.

This brings us to another fact that you need to know. Placing the ads in a particular spot on one page is no indication that the ads should be placed in the same place on a different page on your website. Again, think about how you can integrate the ads into your content, and where your visitor’s attention will be focused. This will vary from page to page in many cases.

Just remember that there are many factors to consider when determining the truth about AdSense placement for your pages. What works well for one website may not work for another. What works well for one website page may not work well for all pages on that website. Experts are great for a lot of things, but when it comes to placement of AdSense ads on your website, you have to be your own expert!