Big Foot Web Marketing

Working with some template files (.tpl ) files this week and came across problem with Google Adsense code not showing up.

AdSense Code Not showing Up?

My Adsense code was not showing up when I pasted into some .tpl files
.I knew I was supposed to do something but took me a bit to figure out. The answer was pretty straight forward, need to add literal tags. Literal tags prevent a section of the template from being parsed, placing the contents directly into the template.
Basically- this is all you need to know:

{literal}
ADSENSE CODE HERE
{/literal}

You can open up the .tpl file in notepad or edit in your ftp client as well.

Tags: Google Adsense, Web Design by Lisa Stewart
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As of last Week Google Adsense has made available video units for Canadian sites.
I have not had enough time to tell how effective ( read profitable) they are. Ideally I would like to pop a small video in a sidebar but the formats are just too large.
With this them ( Networker) the largest image I can place anywhere is has to be less than 400 pixels or theme format is scrambled.

Tags: Google Adsense by Lisa Stewart
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Wrapping Text Around Your Google Adsense Ads

This is a more aggressive approach to inserting your Google AdSense Ads into your blog posts. Floating your ads left of your text.You will get a higher CTR on embedded ads like these rather than ads popped into the top or bottom of post. Weigh the benefits of the higher CTR vs. the in your face style Google Ads. A blog that screams MONETIZED may not have the same credibility as one that is more low key. I am reluctant to post ads on this site and I use sparingly. I am much more aggressive with a few of my other sites.

What Size Google Ads Should I Use?

If you are going to to this I suggest you use smaller sized ads, like the 200×200 square or the 250×250 square- especially if the posting area of your blog is not very wide ( like this blog) . It gets repetitive but you really have to test what ads work best where- there is no one magic formula. All the “Make Money Blogging-type” blogs will tell you basics- like ads should be above the fold , in “hot areas” and blend into your site or the reverse and totally stand out, etc. ;the rest is really testing and more testing and using intuition. This is the difference between a 1% CTR and an 8% CTR. All of my blogs have a steady CTR of about 6-12% depending on the blog and the season. I account for the high CTR because of the niche areas of each blog and the ad positioning. These are the MOST important factors. learning whats ads work best mean setting up endless channels and experimenting. This can all go out the window if you decide to switch themes, i.e. Going from a 3 column split theme to a 3 columns or 3 columns theme.

Code for Embedding Google Adsense Ads in WordPress Blog Posts

Embedding your Google AdSense ads deeper into your post- by wrapping the text- is worth trying. here is the easiest way to do it. If you are using AdSense Plugin, you can set up in there. I do recommend NOT doing that as first- if you use the same code for all your posts you wont be able to track the ads in each post and how they are performing. Set up separate channels and insert the code in several post to see how they do for you. Even better is to put the wrapped ads in post where you have had Google Ads up for awhile and compare results.

Float Ad to the Left:

To float your Google AdSense code to left use this code to float ad to the right

<div style="float:left">paste your adsense code here</div> <p>

will look like this:

to float Google AdSense Code to the right:

<div style="float:right">paste your adsense code here</div> <p>

I have a page set up with some quick and basic HTML cheats, like this one if you need to know some quick HTML code or forget sometimes, like I do

Tags: Blog For Money, Google Adsense, Internet Marketing and Blogs by Lisa Stewart
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You may have noticed something odd going on in your Google AdSense reports- Your CTR (click-through-rate) has dropped, a lot.
Many AdSense users are reporting heavy drops in the AdSense earnings the last few days. It may be because of the new way Google displays its ads.

The only part of the ad that is clickable for a user is the TITLE- not the whole ad. The change started a few days ago and does NOT affect all ads.

AdSense Ads Without URL’s

The two ad unit sizes without URLs are:

The 468×60 Banner

and the
234×60 half banner

You may want to switch to these size ads if you have notice big drop and see if it helps. Give the new ads their own channel and track. ( Which you should be doing anyway) . If you are using Google AdSense Deluxe Plugin then it will be very easy for you to do- just replace the old code with the new in options.
I would be curious to know if you were affected if if switching ads helped- please let me know.

Increase AdSense Performance and Make Other AdSense Ads More Clickable

If it is more practical to stick with your current ad- you can give this a try:
If you have not all ready done so- make your ad “blend” with site. Use the same background color on the ad and border as you have on your site. ( You can check your theme’s stylesheet in WordPress -Presentation/Themes/Edit/stylesheet to see the hex code for your color if you don’t know it)

You can also try keeping the TITLE of AdSense ad same color as the other anchor text on your site ( the color of a live link on your site that tells users this is a link) and then making the TEXT and URL same as color of text on your sidebar or header- depending on where you are placing the ad.

I have also tried making the TEXT and URL a light color-Anchor text on site red and text black, make TITLE of ad red and TEXT light grey, making the TITLE more prominent.

Tags: Blog For Money, Google Adsense by Lisa Stewart
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