Text Ads – purely text based ads, these tend to blend well with content, and dont appear to be blatant advertising

Image Ads – much more obvious that they are an advertisement, usually animated image banners

Link Unit – this is a list of key words, which then takes the user to another screen with text ads, requiring 2 clicks to earn your commission

From my experience I have found that the text and Image ads convert the best, but I have found while image ads may have a higher conversion rate than text ads (differing with your placement), text ads are often higher paying per click. Depending on the purpose behind your site, your style, and your readership its always worth doing some testing with the various ad groups before you settle on your decision of which to use.

As Google Adsense Ads are contextual advertising, Google has their own special algorithm to work out what businesses or services advertisements they will place on your site, so while you cannot choose specific companies or particular ads to host, there are a few Adsense Optimization Tips I can share with you:

In Google’s Keyword Research Tool we have previously talked about researching high commercial value keywords and keyword phrases. When using this keyword research tool, Google will give you a ball park estimate of the figure you will have to pay to get your advertisement (if you were advertising in Google Adwords) to appear i the top 3 positions on Google search paid listings. There is a direct correlation between this figure and the amount of money per click Google will pay you for hosting Google Adsense Ads for that particular keyword.

Ah Hah!

So If you can find keywords, which are related to your particular niche marketing/website topic, optimise a single page for that keyword, then Google will work with you on that keyword or phrase and post ads to your site from advertisers who are targetting that keyword or phrase.

Just because the top 3 position is paying $40 per click does not mean that Google will pay you $20 commission, you have to remember that not all advertisers who advertise with Google Adwords decide to advertise on the content network (which is what you have just joined by hosting Adsense Ads).

Firstly let me say this… if you are going to go to the trouble of optimizing particular pages of your website or blog to attract higher paying Google Adsense Ads then you need to realise that you will need individual pages create for each of these keywords/keyword phrases. To properly optimize a page for high paying google adsense keywords you must use the keyword in the following places:

Page Name

Page Title

Bolded Once

Italicized Once

3% to 5% keyword density in total page content

In meta tag keywords

In meta tag description

In link text – linking to itself

By placing that particular keyword in those places Google will see that the content and structure of your site is clearly appropriate for the companies who want to advertise for your chosen keyword. If you are currently hosting Google Adsense Ads on your site, but haven’t really put any thought into optimization, have a look at the ads which are being displayed and then look at the various elements listed above in your site, and you might just find a correlation.

On a side note – these elements are also very important for targeting keywords and keyword phrases for Search Engine Optimization or SEO, to get your site or blog ranking well in Google and other search engines.

Where you position your ads from Adsense is again entirely up to you and firstly dependant upon the content, style and readership of your website, but if that is all flexible then here are the various positioning options according to the Google Adsense heatmap:

According to Google’s studies this heat map shows the conversion of your adsense ads according to how dark the area is… ie. the white area in the top right corner is the lowest converting area for hosting Google Adsense Ads, where as the highest converting position and ad size is in the middle directly above your primary content and one of the smaller square ad blocks.

Because the highest converting area on your site is so close to your primary content it is probably then best to use the Adsense Text Ads, rather than the image ads for these reasons:

1. Text Ads will blend into your site more in turn will appear to be links through to other areas of your site, increasing your conversion rate.

2. Because they blend better they will help you maintain the integrity of your site if it is an information site or blog.

DO NOT click your own ads (Once your banned , there’s no redemption in Google’s Eyes)

DO NOT use more than 3 Google Ad Units (The 4th is usually ignored and will be empty anyway)

DO NOT change , modify , spruce up , or add anything to the code. (Google gives you the option of using changing font/background colors when you login) Check it out

DO NOT put Google ads on Adult – Oriented Sites or other banned website Content

DO NOT force or encourage your users to click on your ads

DO NOT blend your ads so that your users can not tell the Difference between advertisement and web-content. (Wrapping images around Adsense is a BIG no-no and will get you banned)

DO NOT forget to create a Privacy Policy Page explaining to your users about the Google Adsense network and how data may be collected.

DO NOT Pay for traffic services that will artificially inflate your traffic statistics. Google’s Engineer’s are smart and will find out eventually.

DO NOT register multiple accounts

Finally people please DO NOT tell ANYONE online how much money you make with Adsense on a Click-Through-Rate and Earning-Per-Impression basis.