Google AdSense Ad Placement Strategies and My Food Blog
You may have noticed that I slightly changed the design of my food blog by transferring the content on the left and the panel that contains the ads on the right side.
I remember in our web design class back in college, we were taught about this W3C study of how the eyes of internet users behave in an "F" pattern thus I've always placed the ads, just like in this blog, in such manner. With Google Panda threatening my search engine ranking and traffic, I've decided to experiment with the placing and I'll explain why.
I'm sure people who browse the internet hate ads. Especially nowadays with those dubbed as "made-for-AdSense" websites and blogs. I think one current advantage that makes Google+ so appealing is that it doesn't have ads yet.
So what I've noticed with a lot of blogs is that they place their ads on the right side in spite of Google recommending that ads are more effective on the left side. I just want to experiment with placing strategy. I'm sure internet users are also so used to the Facebook environment where the ads are on the right side. I must keep in mind that clicks are more important than page views and can give me a significant increase in earnings.
That food blog is my first real blog here in Blogger that was driven by the incentive for profit. I had very little knowledge in SEO and my AdSense earnings at the time was almost non-existent. It started out back in college when I will still looking for an OJT/internship. I was probably one of the last to have an OJT and had the least regard for the time pressure. I didn't want to settle for just any job for the sake of having one. I wanted to purse a dream: that I can one day be paid for eating. They always say you should look for work that you love to do and makes you happy and that was it for me.
The search for this "get paid for eating" job was futile. The dream was deemed by society as naive. People literally laughed at me when I said that I wanted something similar to being a judge in Iron Chef when asked what I wanted for my OJT. Up to now, I am the one who is a "bum"; marginalized and criticized for being unemployed.
And so I did not give up the dream and have found a way to literally get paid for eating, cooking, and talking about food in a manner that develops my creativity and many of my other interests and passions like writing, photography, and video production. Yes, I am earning very little as of now, but in return I get something as valuable as gold: free time. Check out my post on Why People Work for a more in-depth analysis on this subject.
I guess a part of it can be attributed to some sort of law of attraction concept that is promoted in the book/documentary The Secret. It's something I really wanted and I did not give up. And right now, in spite of the threats of the stupid panda to my rankings and traffic, I am still constantly farming and harvesting ideas, trying not to be discouraged by my own "failures" and by society.
I got my last payment in the end of June and a month and 15 days later and I'm already in 72 dollars. Not bad for just bumming around, yeah? There's a chance that one day I will succumb to selling my life on a monthly installment plan. For now, I will keep on trying and never give up the dream.
#NowPlaying Skrillex - With Your Friends Long Drive (Ugly Disco Remix)
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