Ad placements play a key role in revenue generation from websites. The position where ads are placed can impact the overall success of the ad campaign. But choosing optimal placements for ads can be a tough call. Publishers must consider several factors, such as ad size, user experience, viewability, and more.
As every website is different, there’s no one-formula-fits-all as far as ad placements are concerned. Determining the best ad placement involves having knowledge of industry trends and applying personalization to achieve the desired goals.
This blog uncovers the best strategies for optimizing ad placements to leverage engagement and ROI potential. But first, let's take a quick look at what ad placement is and why it is significant for website monetization.
What Is Ad Placement?
Ad placement refers to one or more ad units that specify the areas on a website where advertisers can put their ads and grab viewer attention.
With Google Adsense, publishers can opt for automatically created placements or define their specific placement criteria. Such criteria can include the ads' location, type, and size.
The placement of an ad on a webpage impacts its viewability. This, in turn, impacts ad revenue.
Significance of Ad Placement
In online ad campaigns, it’s not enough to make creative ads. The placement of the ads is equally important, if not more. Regardless of how well an ad is made, the whole point gets lost if it fails to draw viewer attention and generate revenue. So, paying attention to where ads are placed is important to improve ROI.
Top Strategies to Consider for Ad Placement
Here are some of the best strategies that publishers can follow for ad placements on websites:
Pay Attention to Site Navigation and User Experience
While placing ads on their webpage, publishers need to be mindful of a few things. The first is to ensure that the site is easily navigable for users. It needs to have self-explanatory buttons for ease of navigation. Also, the site must offer unobstructed content for enhanced user experience.
When it comes to ad placements, publishers must consider the impact of ads on user experience. For instance, it is a good idea to place ads in a separate column from the primary content on the page. This will enable ads to capture the user's attention without interrupting the main content. Another technique is to place an “Advertising” text above the column for ads.
Evaluate the Revenue Model
The website's revenue model is one of the key areas publishers need to consider while developing strategies to improve ad placement.
For instance, if a website follows the CPM (Cost Per Mile) revenue model, the publisher must improve quality and impression numbers. On the other hand, if it’s a CPC (Cost Per Click) model, the publisher should strategize how to enhance the click-through rate on creatives.
If a website uses both models, the publisher needs to determine which is more profitable and prioritize accordingly. Determining the revenue model is essential for finding the best ad placements.
Opt for Advanced Ad Formats
Side banners often serve as one of the best-performing ad placements. This makes the ATF (website area above the fold) on the right the most viewable position for placing an ad.
Sticky sidebar banners can enhance viewability even further since they remain in view for the entire duration of the visitor on the webpage.
The anchor ads are another advanced ad format that can improve viewability. They generally remain at the bottom of the viewport for the entire visit duration.
Consider Testing and Monitoring
As mentioned previously, no ad placement formula can guarantee improvement in ad revenue. Publishers need to carry out regular tests to determine the best ad placements for their websites. This requires them to make testing and monitoring a continuing process.
Publishers can take help from Google Ad Manager, which extends the A/B testing experiment. They can even opt-in for third-party services to carry out placement tests for different web pages.
The basic aim is to find the most engaging section of a webpage.
The Bottom Line
It’s important to remember that adding more ads to a website doesn’t indicate more ad revenue. Also, no ad placement can ring in instant results and generate huge ad revenues. A good user experience is essential for increasing viewability. The abovementioned strategies will help publishers optimize ad placements and leverage ROI.
