I’d bet most people that read this blog own a website or blog of their own. I’d also bet that a fair amount of you also sell advertising space on that website or blog. If you do, how do you optimize your ad space? Do you try and find the ad that does the best or do you just throw up ads and hope they do well.

I want to point out that you could be missing out on some nice ad revenue because you’re not split testing your advertising placements. By testing out different ads in different spaces you can find what works out where. While one ad may convert okay on the top left of your page, if you put the same ad on the top right, it may have a higher click through rate (and therefor have the potential to earn you a lot more).

Split testing is simply trying out multiple types of one thing in a situation then comparing results to see which of the things you tried out works the best (and then going with it to make more money ). Applying this to advertising can really help you increase revenue while not having to add any more ad space to the website.

By split testing the placement of your advertisements you are truly testing to see what does well where and finding out those little differences that can really make a big difference. If you can even eek out one or two more bucks a day from each ad placement due to some optimization on the type of ads or the placement of them, you can see it add up quickly into a noticeable boost in your income.

An Example

I feel the best way to demonstrate what I mean and really drive the point home, is an example. If I’m a blogger and own a blog about fishing, I may monetize it in a couple ways. I may do various things like promote affiliate products or put up banners where I get paid per clickg. Either way I have banners I want people to click so I can earn money.

By swapping in different banner ads, sizes and even types, I can truly tell what works for my site. Remember, every website is unique so the advertising placement that works will be unique as well.

You will truly learn what works best by testing. So, in that spirit. I may have a 468×60 on the top of my website that is doing decently. I may want to try moving that block around to different parts of my header to see where it gets more clicks (and makes me more money). Perhaps where it currently resides is the place where it makes the most, but there is that chance that you could find another spot that still looks okay that makes you a lot more.

The Point

The point is simple, You don’t know until you try. By split testing ad block placement and comparing results you will see what ads work where and as a result help maximize the revenue you can get from your website.