Ad Placement

After you make the decision on which Ad Type and Advertisers to use, you have another decision to make. Where do you put them?

How you determine what is best for your site depends on the type and style ad you choose. There is no set criteria for placement, and is a topic for debate in many forums.

There are hotspots that have been found by AdSense that will give you an idea of where people are more likely to click on an ad (right).

Left of the page seems to be the most prominent position followed by above and then bottom of your post.

Usually, on the left in the sidebar you would use a skyscraper type ad. If you opt for the top or head, you will probably use a banner ad of some type. You could use the same type at the bottom or foot of your post.

It seems more and more often, publishers are utilizing ads within the contents of the post itself. The reasoning behind this is, the ads are more prominent and more likely to get the readers attention.

In most cases, but not all, you should try to keep the ads above the “fold” (page break). Statistics show that most visitors to a site only stay an average of 60 seconds or less. So, if it is hidden below the fold, most visitors will never see your ads.

Another spot that is not usually considered is in the comment section. If you have a lot of readers and contributors to comments, why not give them another chance to click on an ad?

There are a lot of different thoughts on the subject of ads and how best to use them. Darren over at ProBlogger has an 8 part series on AdSense Tips* that is very useful and adaptable to other types of advertising online.

Reference:
Adsense Tips for Bloggers