As it turns out the “heat map” that Google released years ago is very accurate. If you want to get the highest click-through rate and make the most Google adsense revenue possible you need to follow it. Personally, I thought that ads placed on the right sidebar would be the most clicked. They seemed to be less obtrusive, more appealing, and highly visible as I thought people read left to right.
As it turns out I was wrong. There has been a lot of research done into this heat map and this is what was found. It is not based on what people believe, or think, but on what was successful. Google tested all sorts of ads on many different high volume websites and the diagram above represents the results.
Here is what I can tell you having personally made money off the adsense program myself.
- A large percentage of our society is ADD and even with great content the majority of your viewers, first time or return, will not read your entire post.
- You have a couple seconds and a couple lines to capture a reader’s attention. There are millions of articles and millions of websites about the same subject, many of them the same article except they are “spun,” and people do not have the time or patience to read everything written on the web. Therefore, if you do not capture a person’s attention you want him to click out (hopefully) on an adsense text link or image instead of pushing the back button.
- There are millions of sites, blogs, and forums on the internet. At least half of them are using this adsense program to make money. People see these ads everywhere! When someone sees something too many times he or she tends to tune them out. Therefore, you must put your adsense block in an obvious place that is in the reader’s face. Do not attempt to hide them! You want the person to see them.
- Blend your ad’s background with your website’s background
- Do not go crazy on the ads. You are allowed so many but you do not want to clutter every available inch of your site with them. Making your pages look like total spam will not help you in the long run. If you can it is nice when you can get a “natural link.” These links are awesome and require no work on your part. Nobody wants to link to a site, putting their name on the line, to any site that might even be remotely considered a “bad neighborhood.”
Generally speaking your best placement will be the top left hand side. The next best place will be in the middle of your content. You can get a cool plug in called Adsense Now that makes doing this very easy and simple.
I know there are a lot of places that will tell you to experiment with adsense placements. Why? There is a time tested heat map that shows you exactly where to place your ads. I am all for going against the grain when it benefits you but in this case it does not. Having a website is fun but its even more fun when you can write whatever you want and make revenue off of it. Follow the heat map and there is a good possibility you will.
