Getting Adsense to work well

[Princeton]

Charts are based on personal observation.
*Large navbar ad = multiple large ads alongside link units
**Small navbar ad = 1 leaderboard ad or similar


[lft][/lft]
Long Term Growth

I'm sure you'll agree with the Growth chart.
Basically, it says less ads equals more growth (registration, participation, etc) for
your site.

The more "undesirable" ads you display the slower your growth.

Long Term Ad Revenue Growth

TIP - Obtrusive ads will turn away new visitors.

Initially, "large navbar ad" will increase ad revenue; but, long term growth in revenue will flatten maybe even drop. The cause of this is because your visitor-to-member conversion will decrease.

How will you be able to convert visitors to members if they are turned off by the
large multiple ads? Most visitors won't even see your "content" before scrolling and will never return.

Every admin knows, if a site lacks new content - it will ultimately fail.


For many, a revenue stream is necessary. So, I recommend 1 leaderboard ad above the fold (small navbar ad). It can be any ad format just as long as you don't push the site content far down. People visit sites to enjoy it's content not ads!

You can even display "small navbar ad" to logged in members. Be creative with your usergroup settings.

The good news about inserting a "small navbar ad" is that as your brand exposure increases so will the ad bidding for your ad placements. Advertisers can directly display ads by "targeting" your site. Advertisers will target a site if they believe they can get a higher ROI.

Targeting is available per placement.

Targeting will increase your EPC. Long term - you will see a higher revenue
growth.