Brian the BMW Guy - Ad Optimization Not Working for Me

I'm hoping to catch the attention of one of vbseo's resident AdSense experts but would be happy to hear the thoughts of others as well.

The prevailing view based on what I've read here seems to be that displaying only a text ad 336 x 280 and an image ad 336 x 280 side by side below the navbar to guests only is the best way to make money via AdSense.

1) Has this setup proven to be superior or have I misread other topics? Is there something that might be better?

2) In the last 7 days, the text ad has made more than twice as much as the image ad. Should I replace the image ad with a second text ad? Or get rid of the second ad altogether?

3) Between the 280 pixel high squares and the welcome message below it that is displayed to guests, the content starts below the fold. Might this be causing many people to not even bother with the site? Even if a 336 x 280 square performs better than a leaderboard below the navbar, might the latter result in a larger and therefore more active community (because people wouldn't browse away from a site with huge ads at the top before registering), ultimately making more money over time?

4) If the dual 336 x 280 squares below the navbar is optimal, should I really not be displaying any ads to members? My guess would be that guests spend much less time on the site than members - you're going to get there, spend a few minutes, and probably join or leave. Might I be missing out by not having at least a minimally invasive ad for members? Would you recommend that I ad one? If so, what size and which location(s) tend to perform best?

I'm not sure what I'm allowed to share, but yesterday for instance according to AdSense (which is only tracking the activity of guests because currently only guests see ads) I had 1,600 page impressions and made a whole $1.86. Google Analytics (which tracks the activity of guests and members) says that there were a total of 17,508 page views.

I would really like to start making back some of my significant investment in these forums and am most appreciative for your advice.

I think you might have mis-interepreted "image".

I use CPC on the left, text (adsense/etc)
and CPM on the right, Image. (tribal fusion/adsdaq/etc)

so, they click the left (like you have noticed) but you get paid for the impression on the right as well.


3) i think welcome headers are stupid. i don't run them at all.

4) i cut the CPC ad out from members. they rarely click anyway, so no point in showing them the CPC style ads. CPM only.

Thanks for your reply

1) I saw your reply shortly after I finished editing my post so you likely did not see the information I added to it. Do you have any additional thoughts based on the representative data I provided about yesterday?

2) I will research joining tribal fusion/adsdaq, but do you know offhand what minimum level of traffic they require?

3) I also wonder how well welcome headers work to motivate somebody who wouldn't otherwise join a forum to take the leap, but so many seemed to agree they help convert lurkers to members that I set them up. Does anyone else have thoughts about them? I am running the Welcome Headers plugin that uses the notice system from vb.org. Maybe I should just get rid of it?

4) Am I right that AdSense won't allow you to specify whether an image ad runs on your site CPC or CPM? I always see the same image ads running - advertising a domain in great big letters - resenting knowing that nobody is clicking so the ad is working out for everyone (Google and the advertiser) but me. Until I am able to join something like tribal fusion, would you recommend I get rid of the AdSense image ad? Would you replace it with another 336 x 280 text ad?

5) By the same token, until I am able to join a CPM program, would you recommend I continue to show no ads to logged in members?

Thanks again.

Have you tried affiliate marketing Johnny?

I used to be an hopeless adsense earner as well, just waiting for the big pay check from adsense. I always had the traffic, and impressions, but never the clicks for some reason.

I switched over to affiliate marketing with ClickBooth (and vBSEO affiliate program ) and set up some cheap $1.50 .info domains from godaddy and already made more in one month than I did in 4 years with adsense. Now i run adsense only to rotate advertisements and fill spots when I need to, and its working awesome.