Forum Moderators: martinibuster
My goal is to integrate Adsense without drawing too much attention to the ads, a/k/a avoiding crass commercialization, whilst simultaneously addressing the fact that most people don't put money in envelopes that they mail to website developers simply because they like the website.
So, I'm looking for ideas, suggestions and the experiences of people who have struggled with a sense of conflict between needing to pay the bills (make money) and wanting visitors to experience a site - your site - as a place focused on producing value not money.
How do you integrate advertising yet create a user experience that money isn't the priority BUT IT IS a necessity?
Has anyone experienced a less is more epiphany? Do tell!
As an aside, it's been my experience as a business owner that IF I focus on producing value, not money, then money tends to handle itself, i.e., income tends to flow.
Is that also your experience as a website developer, owner or operator?
P.S. Oh dear, oh drat! Timing is everything, isn't it? All this sensitivity to crass commercialization in the midst of a raging WebmasterWorld and global Adsense Font SIZE mania pandemic!
LOL ;)
[edited by: Webwork at 11:56 pm (utc) on June 18, 2009]
P.S. Oh dear, oh drat! Timing is everything, isn't it? All this sensitivity to crass commercialization in the midst of a raging WebmasterWorld and global Adsense Font SIZE mania pandemic!
Are You Just Tweaking My Nose for the Fun of It?
Unfortunately, only after posting did I realize that the big thread of the day was the news about BIGGER FONT SIZES!
My final edit, above, was preceded by an internal voice that sounded a bit like Marvin, the depressed robot from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Like hearing him say "Oh, joy. Well that was well timed."
- The ratio of ad space to content space on your pages.
- What kinds of ads you're displaying (A targeted display ad or two plus a text "Ads by Google" box probably looks more professional, or at least less scraperlike, than two or three big AdSense text-ad units).
- The intrinsic value of the content on your site. (In other words, would the site have a reason to exist, from the users's or reader's point of view, if it didn't have ads?)
- What's normal or accepted in your category. (If your competitors, including big-time corporate sites, are slapping ads all over their pages like handbills on a kiosk, you won't have too much to worry about. If you're competing solely with .edu and library sites, looking "too commercial" may be a problem.)
For what it's worth, my own editorial pages have two 300 x 250 display ads (served by a vertical ad network, so they're relevant for my topic), one 300 x 250 AdSense text-ad unit, and a handful of affiliate links. The ads are separated from the editorial content, so readers don't have to stumble over AdSense ads between paragraphs. I've never had a reader complain that my site is too commercial, and I've had plenty of e-mails from readers who have thanked me for the useful information on my site. Mind you, I've never run a pop-up or pop-under ad, and my AdSense text ads are generally more relevant than "Buy Dead Popes on E-Bay" or "Fight Belly Fat." :-)
Ads within the content monetize committed site visitors
These are the people who are reading your site and maybe even enjoying it. :P One option you didn't mention is a favorite of mine, and that's embedding a rectangular ad unit within the content same as you would a photo within an article, with the paragraphs flowing around it, with about five to ten pixels of buffer space via CSS. This option allows you to monetize someone who is actually reading the article by placing the ad before them non-obtrusively. It doesn't break up the flow of the reading at all.
Bottom of the page- Site visitor may be leaving
The bottom of the page is a decent spot for a large rectangle. I like the large rectangle because even if someone doesn't click the ad the ad unit could have loaded a CPM based ad which allows you, at the very least, to monetize a non-clicking visitor.
There aren't the only options, but they are in my opinion a decent way to think of how you're monetizing an information page. Do you put a search box at the bottom of the page, too?
Do you put a search box at the bottom of the page, too?
Not at this time. What are your observations and thoughts? Always? Sometimes? When?
However, I'm also flirting with the small banner at top and link units at the close of articles. Is that what you are doing netmeg?
I'm treading very lightly as several of the sites that my daughter and I are starting to develop are deployed on .Org domains, some of which may carry a measure of intrinsic trust due to their robustness(?), a trust that I do not wish to evaporate by overheating the sites . . with the burning airs and fires of commercialism? ;)
Put ads everywhere, unlike popular theory, content is *NOT* king, CTR is king.
Replace navigation with link units, shove as many ads as possible above the fold, jam your content so far down the page people will think the ads *ARE* the content and those that don't notice the scroll bar will never scroll down, they'll think they're seeing everything.
Every page should have the maximum ads allowed by Google without question.
Only then will you achieve maximum CTR and sleep soundly knowing you're making serious bank.
[edited by: incrediBILL at 2:18 am (utc) on June 19, 2009]
I also have a 120x600 spot in the right hand colum on those pages that can be used for ads. I've run Amazon in that spot and might rent the spot for a suitable on target ad. :)
It looks like I might give in and start selling ads directly since the number of requests is getting tempting. But I only have those 3 spots that I'm willing to rent at the moment. I suppose I could load a leader board at the top of the pages, maybe at the bottom too. And the on some of the longer pages I could always stack 2 or 3 120x600 blocks on the right. :)
Geeze, It just dawned on me that if I widen the pages from 800 to 1024 or 1200 I could really load up on ads.......... sigh....... choices, choices. :)
What's normal or accepted in your category.
That's a good point. A good many of the mainstream sites in my category make the ads on the average MFA look discrete.
[edited by: Play_Bach at 2:53 am (utc) on June 19, 2009]
I try to keep Adsense ads off the homepage, with two or three relatively small ads on inner pages, matching the colors of the site, but never transparent and usually with a border too. Works well, looks good and they're clearly advertisements so I'm not losing any sleep over it. Most sites in my niche tend to push the biggest possible ads into the main content areas. Big bucks, I'm sure, but I like to maintain a reasonable reputation and EPC.
I try to keep Adsense ads off the homepage
Our information site used to have a mostly ad-free home page, but then I realized that, with only a small minority of readers arriving on my site via the home page, there wasn't any point in bothering. By the time most users click their way to our home page, they've already formed an impression of the site.
The situation for a news site, blog, forum, or e-commerce site may be different; sites like CNET, NYTimes.com, or Webmaster World obviously get much or most of their traffic through the home page.
However, I'm also flirting with the small banner at top and link units at the close of articles. Is that what you are doing netmeg?
Link units go at the very top, above or below the logo on some sites, and underneath the "special information" box on another. I always use the 728x15; the vertical links don't seem to work for me.
Many sites *only* have link units, because ad units just haven't done anything, and I don't like the look of them enough to keep them if they're not earning.
Changed up my design on the fireworks site this year, making it look more 'bloglike' - was going to convert it to WordPress, but that'll have an effect on my urls, and I don't want to do that until after peak season. But I have a sidebar now, which allows me to use the 300x250 for the first time. It's not doing terribly well so far.
For most pages, I just have the links and the 300x250. On two sets of pages, I also have a 468x60 because the layout allows for it - I have to be careful because I have pretty large search boxes (all cities or dates) and from what I understand, I can't let those search boxes pop up to cover the ad. And whether they pop up or down depends on where you are in the page and your browser. So I had to leave them off most pages, just to be on the safe side.
The bottom of the page is a decent spot for a large rectangle. I like the large rectangle because even if someone doesn't click the ad the ad unit could have loaded a CPM based ad which allows you, at the very least, to monetize a non-clicking visitor.
If I were a CPM advertiser, I would consider it unfair and abusive to be charged for placement like that, unless I had specifically agreed to placement below the fold and the rates were discounted accordingly.
CPM is paying for visibility, make sure the advertiser gets visibility.
Putting a PPC ad below the fold is no problem.
It's up to the advertiser to actually visit the site and make the decision whether to advertise on it or not.
who have struggled with a sense of conflict between needing to pay the bills (make money) and wanting visitors to experience a site - your site - as a place focused on producing value not money.
For starters, do not ever feel like you have to apologize for paying the bills.
The way to create an experience that feels like you're focused on producing value is ... wait for it ... to produce value.
Cover your topic in depth, with skill and style. AIm for the quality of a professional journalist, not just a school essay.
Resist the path advocated by so many around here, to churn out content just for the sake of creating spider food. Aim for quality. Period.
If you build on a base of quality content, relevant ads sprinkled here and there will fit just fine as long as you keep a light hand about it.
