Question: Where is the absolute best place for ad placement?
Answer: wherever people see it!
Ok, that’s a bit of a non-answer. The real answer to this question has been debated for years. Web site designers have employed the use of heat maps and usability studies, meticulously crawled through the web site usage stats, and have tried to find a rhyme or reason to locate the best location for their advertisements on their web site. In fact, for every person who claims they know the best location, there is at least 1 more (and usually a hundred fold) saying the opposite is true. So where do you start
Conventional wisdom tells us people scan webpages in an S pattern. Eyes start on the right, move toward the right, scan the page from left->right, and then back towards the left again making an “S” pattern from top to bottom of the web page. Banner Blindness often occurs since large ads at the top of the page are so commonplace, so that spot is usually left for a run-of-network ad or internal promotion.
Following this logic, the best place to put ads on your blog, and where you should put your highest affiliate links, will be immediately to the right of your content near the top of the page. This is where the “S” starts. You can also put ad blocks in your content, and immediately thereafter to capture the attention of the reader as they are reading or skimming your content.
Your website is unique, so your best locations may differ too. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different ad locations and keep track of clicks, earnings, or another means of figuring out where your ads better performed. Even if you find the perfect location, there may be times where a particular ad underperforms or bombs altogether – its normal.
If you look at the design here on asktheblogger.com, you will see I have used this type of placement for the small, square graphics on the right hand side. Yes, there is a banner ad at the top, but it is not the best performing ad. In addition, after each blog post’s content, there is a larger rectangle of Google-served ads immediately following the article.
Where to place ads on your site depends a lot on your site’s main design, and even the habits of your users. Start with basic ad positions such as on the right hand side and under your content, and then continually test to find the best ad position for you. That is part of what makes blogging fun – finding what works for you.