Optimizing for AdSense Performance

So what is SEO really all about? The following report includes some fascinating information about SEO--info you can use, not just the old stuff they used to tell you.

Adsense and Adwords are two terms that are often used interchangeable. Unfortunately, they are not the same and should be kept separate at all times. Adsense and Adwords are actually the two separate components that Google uses to place relevant ads on web sites across the internet.

Adwords is the component that people who wish to advertise their sites use in order to gain exposure across the web. Adwords is separate from Adsense, but as they are so closely related, it is understandable how somebody could misuse the two terms.

Adsense is the component that allows people to place ads on their site and get paid a small commission for each click. Adsense is one of the most profitable online advertisement publishing services available, and it has the added benefit of being fairly family friendly. As far as relevance of the ads on your site, Adsense is the best. There is no other service available that provides ads that are as relevant and interesting as those that Google provides. It is rare that you encounter an ad that is not closely related to the content of your web page and if you do encounter such an ad, it was triggered by a word of phrase within you’re the page that it appeared on.

If you optimize for AdSense, you’re sure to make more money than you thought you would. Residual income is one of the best ways to make money on the web right now, and this article will show you how to make the most of it on your website.

Before you read on, go over to adsense.google.com and take their guided tour. This tour will give you a full overview of what Google AdSense is and how it works, so check it out. Done that? Great! Let’s continue.

Positioning.

Where you put your AdSense link boxes and banner ads is vitally important – trying to make money by putting them at the bottom of the pages is useless. You need to go a step further and have AdSense links right in the heart of your template, or as close to it as you can get. The best way to determine if your ads are in a visible place is to make sure that they are “within the fold.” the “fold” is the top five hundred pixels of your page. The reason that this is such great real-estate, if you will, is because most browsers at most resolutions will display this portion of your site without your visitor having to scroll. If you really want to use sub-prime positions, then you should use more than one.

Linking.

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The ad links you put on your site appear as if they were just another menu – this is fairly new, and it works very well. By adding Google links to your menus, you can get more click-throughs than you’d ever expect. You might not fully understand it until you try it, but once you’ve got the system in place, you’ll find that many people won’t even realize that the links they’re clicking don’t belong to you, and they’ll find them useful all the same

Leaderboards and Skyscrapers.

Google AdSense comes in all shapes and sizes. You can put it across the top of your website (a leaderboard) or down the side (a skyscraper), and there are plenty of other choices. These ads might become your bread and butter in the future, so it’s good to learn as much as you can about them now. The best place to put these ads will be relatively obvious – anywhere else just won’t look right.

Square and Rectangle Ads.

This size of advertisement is a great compliment to any website, as they offer ads small enough to slot in easily. If you have content then you won’t want AdSense to get in its way – these sizes can be better at making you some extra money than the bigger ones are.

Don't forget that many of your visitors are used to seeing AdSense within a website, and will need a good reason to click on them. You can have up to three per page, so be creative. 

Filtering AdSense.

The AdSense manager gives you the option of using a ‘competition , which allows you to remove your competitors’ ads from your site. However, doing this might end up hurting your AdSense efforts – after all, isn’t it better to take your competitors’ money than not to get any? Take the time each week to monitor the ads being displayed on your site.

Now that wasn't hard at all, was it?  And you've earned a wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study an expert's word on SEO.

James Mahony is the founder of Search Engine Optimization Tips - A site dedicated to Search Engine Optimization

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