How to Position Adsense Units on Blogger to Earn Extra Money

Want to know more about how to make money with Google Adsense and your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog)? A lot of bloggers make money blogging solely from Google Adsense clicks. Placement of your Adsense ad units on your blog is critical if you are to earn money. In this article I will give you some tips about some of the basics of placing Google Adsense ad units on Blogger from my own experience so that you will earn extra money from your Adsense banners.

Tips for Adding Google Adsense to a Blogspot Blogger Blog

• Use the Google Adsense Heat Map Placement Guide

  First take a look at the Google Adsense Heat Map that shows you the hot and cold positions of Google Adsense ad placement. Notice that a lot of the primary positions where you would put Google Adsense are around the main content. If you use this Google Adsense Heat Map as a guide to your Adsense placement you will start to earn extra money from your ad units.
  
  



• Decide on How Many Adsense Ads?

  Just because Google Adsense rules allow more than three ad units per page doesn't necessarily mean it is a good idea to put more than three on a page. If your blog is fairly new and your traffic low at this stage more than two maybe overkill.
  
  One strategy is to position your ad units by placing one above the first post or around the title and another at the foot of the post. This placement strategy has worked successfully for me in the past.



(Update 2020: Google Adsense now allow a lot more ad units since I wrote this.  If you don't want to think too much about ad placement consider using Google Adsense Auto Ads. If you are intent on customizing your Google Adsense ads the Google Adsense heatmap still pretty much applies as a guide to ad placement.)





• Best and Worst Performing Google Adsense Ad Units

  • I have found that my best performing Google Adsense ad units is 336x280. This sized unit has been very successful in the position above the post and under the post title. Both of these areas are Adsense hotspots as depicted in orange. If this size is not an option you could try a 728x90 leaderboard which is a high performance unit too.
  • I don't particularly like a 468x60 Adsense ad unit in the header. I haven't found this a particularly high performing unit either. Instead I now reserve this slot for my favorite affiliate banner rather than an Adsense ad unit
  • All my Adsense vertical skyscraper ad units such as 160x600 in the sidebar of my blogs have been a waste of time and I have now gotten rid of them. Notice how this is borne out by the white low performing area of the Blogger sidebar
  • I have had mixed success with the linked units such as 728x15 in the Blogger header. They do work on some blogs where there is no navigation menu so I have decided to keep them on in the meantime.

Summary

In this post I have given you the benefit of my experience with respect to strategically placing Google Adsense ad units on a Blogger blog to earn extra money. I strongly suggest following the Google Adsense Heat Map which is an authoritative guide to ad unit placement. If you want to earn extra money try out a 336x280 unit and dispense with any sidebar skyscrapers and 468x60 header banners unless you are sure they are actually good earners. Any questions or if you would like to let me know how you get on please don't hesitate to comment.

Related Links

Making Money From Affiliate Ad Banners Links with Blogger
How to Get More Adsense Clicks with Blogger
Easy Ways to Put Banner Ads on Blogger
7 Tips for Choosing a Great Blog Topic
How to Put a Copyright Notice on a Blogger Blog
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Easy Way to Put Banner Ads on a Blogger Blog

Beginner bloggers who want to make money from their blog often ask me how to put affiliate banners on a Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). In this Blogspot tutorial I outline the steps to help you put banners on Blogger the easy way in three different positions: the sidebar, the footer and above blog posts. Follow these instructions and you will have your affiliate banners up and running in no time and start earning money from your blog.

Sign Up for Some Affiliate Marketing Programs

In order to make money online and place affiliate banners on Blogger you first need to sign up as an affiliate with at least one referral program. What affiliate market program you choose will be dictated by your blog topic and your niche within the topic.

If the world of affiliate marketing is all completely new to you I suggest you start with becoming an affiliate to services you might already belong to like Amazon and Ebay.

Another good place to dip your toe in the water of affiliate marketing is Clickbank which boasts a huge range of advertisers. If you make a search you are bound to find a product on there that would integrate well into your blog.

Steps to Put Affiliate Banners on Blogger the Easy Way

Once you have signed up with an affiliate program which fits with your blog topic and niche and will pay you referral fees you can start earning money by placing an affiliate banner on your Blogger blog.

Placment of an Affiliate Banner

Before you start the process of putting a banner on Blogger you will need to decide where you want to place your banner on your blog for best effect.

Here are 3 very easy options:

1. Place Banner in Blogger Sidebar

Adding an affiliate banner to the Blogger sidebar is an easy placement option and likely to afford the best benefit. Follow these steps to put a banner in the side bar on your Blogspot blog:

1. Login to Blogger


2. From the Dashboard choose Layout from the left-side menu


3. In Layout scroll until you find the sidebar





4. Click on Add a Gadget in the Blogger sidebar


5. Choose the HTML/Javascript gadget from the list


6. Choose a name for your banner if you wish and type it into the title box (optional)


7. Paste the affiliate banner code provided by the affiliate service into the content box of the pop up window


8. Click on the Save button


9. Move your banner around in sidebar using drag and drop until it is positioned where you want it


10. Check that your banner is displaying and in the correct position by clicking on the Preview (eye icon) in the lower right corner


11. Click the Save icon (next to the eye lower right corner) to confirm the new layout of the sidebar.

If you want to center the banner enclose it in a center HTML tag like this:
<center>YOUR AFFILIATE CODE</center>

2. Place Banner in Blogger Footer

Adding an affiliate banner to the Blogger footer can be effective especially if you have other gadgets like random posts and recent posts there. For third-party and some default Blogger themes there may be three columns in the footer so you will need to check the bottom of your template and decide in which column to put your banner.

Follow these steps for easy placement of a banner in the footer of your blog:

1. Login to Blogger


2. From the Dashboard choose Layout from the left-side menu


3. Click on Add a Gadget in the column of a footer where you want to put your banner if your Blogger theme has more than one footer


4. Choose the HTML/Javascript gadget from the drop down list of options


5. When the pop up window appears paste the affiliate banner code as supplied by the affiliate marketing service into the content box


6. Choose a name to give your banner a title. A title is optional


7. Click on the Save button


8. Place the banner in the optimal position in the footer by using Blogger's drag and drop feature


9. When satisfied check that your banner is displaying correctly by clicking on the Preview (eye icon) in the lower right corner


10. Click the Save icon (next to the eye lower right corner) to confirm the changes to the Blogger footer.

If you want to center the banner enclose it in a center HTML tag like this:
<center>YOUR AFFILIATE CODE</center>

3. Place an Affiliate Banner Above the Blogger Posts

Another excellent place for a banner is to position it so that it appears in the very central position above the blog posts. To add a banner to the main section or page body area of Blogger involves putting the code in an HTML/Javascript gadget and placing it above the blog posts gadget.

Follow these steps to add your banner code above the posts on the home page and every other post page:

1. Login to your blog on Blogspot


2. From the menu on the left-hand side of the Dashboard select Layout


3. Scroll down until you find the Section labelled either Main Section or Page Body Section. Look for the blog Posts gadget to confirm you are in the right section


4. Click on Add a Gadget (if you find there is no Add a Gadget link you will need to open up the section. Take a look at my step-by-step post about how to add a gadget above blog posts including detailed instructions about how to unlock the Main Section / Page Body Section of Blogger to add more widgets.


5. Assuming you can the Add a Gadget link in the main blog post section / page body section click on it.





6. Choose the HTML/Javascript gadget from the menu of gadgets that appears


7. A pop up window will open. Paste your banner code into the content box and add a title if you wish (optional)


8. Select Save to save the changes


9. Make sure the new gadget is the first widget in the section and is above blog posts. If not use the drag and drop feature to position the gadget in first position.


10. Click on the Preview button (eye icon) found in the bottom right corner. Check that the banner is displaying how you would like it displayed.


11. Click the Save button to apply your changes

If you want to center the banner enclose it in a center HTML tag like this:
<center>YOUR AFFILIATE CODE</center>

Today I have shown you the easy way to add affiliate marketing banners to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) in three different positions: in the sidebar, in the footer and above the blog posts. Affiliate marketing banners can generate extra money but do need to be placed strategically. Remember affiliate programs are free to join so it costs you nothing to experiment with positioning your banner to find the best spot.





Related Articles
Make Money from Affiliate Program Banners and Links with Blogger
How to Add a Gadget or Widget to Blogger Above Blog Posts




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How to Get More Adsense Clicks on a Blogger Blogspot Blog

Today I am going to talk about how to get more Google Adsense clicks on your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). These are simple and straightforward Blogger tips and Google Adsense tips that will increase your Adsense CTR and thereby help you make extra money from your blog. I will show you how you can make money from Google Adsense just by streamlining your Adsense ads and increasing your Adsense clicks.

If you are just starting out with your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) you may be under the impression that all you need do is stick a bunch of Google Adsense ads on your blog and you will instantly make money from Google Adsense clicks. Unfortunately there is much more to making money from Adsense. First of all you need traffic and secondly for best results you will need to optimize your Google Adsense ad units on your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). By optimizing your blog's ads you will increase the Adsense click through rate or Adsense CTR as it is called. And more Adsense clicks means you will earn extra money from Blogger.

Tips to Increase Your Google Adsense CTR on a Blogger Blogspot Blog

Rather than using the Blogger Google Adsense default widgets or Google Auto Ads to place Google Adsense on your blog I would recommend that you create you own Google Adsense ad unit at Google Adsense. That way you can track the success of each individual Google Adsense ad unit you place on your blog by using channels. This will help you pinpoint the Adsense ads that earn money and those that don't.

1. Use the wider Google Adsense ads such as 336x280, 300x250 or 250x250 as these are known to be the best performing ads and will consistency earn money

2. For the highest possible CTR select Google Adsense ad units that display both image and text in the one ad unit.

3. Adjust the Google Adsense ad units fonts to blend with your blog so that the ad unit is integrated rather than looking like an ad. Google Adsense allows the choice of 3 different fonts - Arial, Times Roman and Verdana, or you can go with the standard Adsense font family setting. If you are not sure what font family your blog is using you can check this in the top section of your Blogger template.

4. Match the colors of your Google Adsense ad unit to blend with the pages of your blog. The effect of matching your blogs color scheme will be that the ad units are integrated into your blog and this may encourage readers to click on the links contained in the ads.

If you are concerned about ad blindness you can choose contrasting colors to make your ad stand out. Readers are used to ads and may not even see them at all so presenting ad units in complimentary colors may help your click through rate. Some experimentation on your part will be needed to get the right look and the money earning results for your blog.

5. Rotate your Google Adsense ads regularly as this will reduce the effect of ad blindness or banner blindness as it is sometimes called and help you make cash

6. Know what your blog's keywords are and use them in your content. For instance make money, earn money, making money, making money online are examples of important keywords and phrases for this article. Check out keywords relevant to your Blogger blog by using one of many free keyword generators like Ahrefs or Ubersuggest. Also check out Google Trends for keywords that are currently trending.

7. Ensure your Blogger posts are keyword rich so that Adsense has a good basis of Google keywords to draw from. Use this free tool to check your keyword density ratio.

8. The more visible your ad unit the better. By placing your Google Adsense ad unit above the fold, that is the part of your blog that the visitor sees without having to scroll down, the more likely your ad unit will be to make an impact.

9. Placing a Google ads at the bottom of your Blogger posts is a good money making idea I have found. After reading your post your visitor will be wondering where to next so displaying a Google Adsense ad in this location will encourage Adsense clicks by them.

10. A Google Adsense linked ad unit such as a 728x15 can be an effective way to make money from Google Adsense when placed near a navigation menu especially when your ad unit is very closely related to your content.


Summary
In this Adsense tutorial I have explored 10 ways to increase the Adsense CTR (click through rate) of Google Adsense ads that you place on your Blogger blog. If you follow these Adsense tips you are likely to increase the number of Adsense clicks and in turn earn higher Adsense revenue from your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). If you have time please let me know about your increases in Adsense revenue and Adsense clicks with these simple Adsense tips.


Related Links
Making Money From Banners with Blogger
Easy Way to Add Affiliate Banners to a Blogger Blog
Blogger Guide to Google Adsense Placement