In 2005, Dan began a full review of his site to improve ad-serving and therefore, increase AdSense revenue. A period of trial and error followed whilst Dan tried out different optimisation tips, including different placements, colours and combinations of ads. Some things worked better than others -- this period of experimentation allowed him to see what worked best for his site and his readers.
One key improvement was to make ads more visible. Dan said, "Before, I had small ads shoved away in the corner of pages. I learnt that I had to make them bigger and put them where people would see them -- at the top left of the page -- since this is where people look first."
He also tried rotating the colours of the ads, but this was not successful on his site. In fact, through experimentation he learned the most successful change was the one he least expected. "The best tip was to blend the ad into the site. Don't make it contrast with the site and therefore stand out," Dan explained.
The figures prove what an enormous impact these changes had: Following a couple of months of testing, his revenue increased from $18 to $150 per day.
"The optimisation tips are really just common sense but you don't think about it or realise what can be done until someone suggests it. In the past I read stories from publishers claiming they were making hundreds of dollars a day on AdSense but I just thought, yeah right. This proves that it really is possible and a few simple changes can have a significant impact!"
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