10 Tips to Maximize Your AdSense Revenue

10 Tips to Maximize Your AdSense Revenue

Advertising revenue is one of the most important aspects of website monetization and the need for a successful strategy can’t be ignored.

Google AdSense is the most popular advertising network and allows you to display ads that your traffic can’t resist clicking on. The more clicks you get, the more dollar signs flash up in your bank account.

However, despite this simplicity, many entrepreneurs fail to maximize their revenue.

I’m going to take you through 10 simple tips to get you generating the revenues you’re capable of.

1. Create Rich and Engaging Content

The number one priority for your site is to create great content which people fall over themselves to share, retweet and blog about.

The engagement levels of this high quality traffic will ensure ads on your site receive maximum exposure and are more likely to be clicked. Ignoring this fundamental aspect of websites means that your overall revenue is more likely to be counted in cents than dollars.

2. Advertise with Text and Images

AdSense gives you the choice of displaying either ‘image only’ ads or showing ‘text and image’ ads, but many people mistakenly think that all the impact is in the image ads.

By selecting both text and image ads you’re giving AdSense a broader range of ads to work from and increasing the chance of conversion from click happy visitors.

3. Don’t Crowd Your Site with Ads

Like me, you probably get really irritated when you load up a webpage and find ads being thrown at you left, right and center.

No matter how rich the content is, visitors are likely to leave if you annoy them.

Not only are you losing potentially high quality traffic, you’re also missing out on clicks for your ads. And that’s bad news for the lining of your wallet.

4. Experiment with A/B Testing

AdSense has a really useful ‘experiment’ feature available in its dashboard and, don’t worry, you don’t need a bunsen burner, you just need a curious and investigative mind!

Say, for example, that you can’t decide on whether your ad unit is going to generate more clicks if it has a blue border and text only or a red border with image and text – AdSense allows you to test both options against each other over a set time period.

The results of these experiments allow you to optimize your ads until they’re firing on all cylinders.

5. Make Sure Your Site is Quick

In this super quick world of mega-broadband speeds people aren’t prepared to go and make a cup of coffee while your site loads. Get into the 21st century and make sure your site’s speed is fully optimized.

Otherwise, you can expect your bounce rate to go through the roof as people leave for more accessible sites where ads are just waiting to be clicked.

6. Insert Ads Between Content

The ultimate aim of an ad is to draw attention to its shiny promises and what it can offer, but capturing this attention isn’t always easy – particularly when it’s up against with your exciting content.

A great way to achieve this engagement is to insert ads between two paragraphs of content. It’s an approach which can pay dividends, but needs to be applied sparingly to avoid infuriating visitors.

7. Don’t Ignore Your Scorecard

AdSense has a very handy scorecard feature which details your site’s health and revenue optimization. Many people dismiss this tool as a generic add-on which offers little advice.

However, don’t forget that Google are the KINGS of analysis and any advice they offer you for free is not to be ignored. Taking notice of it may have you wiping your forehead in relief when you realize it’s pointed out a major error with your advertising strategy.

8. Choose the Right Size Ads

Contrary to popular belief, size DOES matter, but don’t worry about the competitive element in this instance!

Certain ad sizes are more successful and draw on wider ad inventories than other sizes, so it’s a good idea to understand which sizes to concentrate on.

The most attractive ads to click on for desktop traffic are the following sizes: 300×250, 336×280 and 728×90. Mobile traffic is slightly different – due to the screen sizes on offer – and favors 300×250 and 320×50 ads. Using these ad sizes gives you the best chance of capturing clicks.

9. Trust Google

Google doesn’t just offer AdSense as a charitable donation to mankind. AdSense is a business, a very important business which generated $3.4 billion for Google in Q1 2014. Google, then, want your AdSense campaigns to be as successful as possible to maximize revenue.

In order to achieve this, AdSense monitors your performance metrics and optimizes settings where necessary e.g. determining whether text or images are more successful for a specific ad unit.

Putting faith in Google’s analysis can top up your earnings and saves you valuable time fretting over every single setting.

10. Anchor That Mobile Ad

Mobile traffic is a sector which is experiencing explosive growth and you probably underestimate just how much traffic you receive from mobile devices. Any little tip which helps maximize the chances of an ad being hit with an eager thumb can enhance your ability to generate revenue.

One really helpful tip is to use AdSense’s new ‘anchor’ tool to keep an ad anchored to the bottom of the screen no matter how much you scroll.

This increases the ad’s exposure time and keeps it in the user’s eyeline at all times. Of course, you need to tread carefully here with size and design as anything too imposing will annoy visitors and have them heading elsewhere.

These simple tips can all be implemented easily and maximize your AdSense revenue quickly. Try them out and let us know how you get on.