For publishers looking to make the most out of ad monetization, optimizing ad placement in their website is critical. Ad placement refers to an ad unit or group of ad units used to specify where advertisers can place their ads. With so many options to choose from— size, type, and location of ads—creating high-value ad placements can be perplexing.
Each choice will
directly affect whether an ad is seen at all and how users engage with it. The
more views and engagement provided to advertisers, the higher the ad unit
value. There are no guaranteed placements for catapulting revenue. Ultimately,
creating successful ad placements is about personalization and optimizing for
both the backend and user experience.
Balance User Experience
It’s important to
understand that when ads begin to hinder user experience, publishers risk
losing loyal audience members. Apart from seeing a decline in website traffic,
revenue will also decrease. Instead, balancing ad placements with user
experience can create high-performing ad units that are relevant and engaging.
Understanding user
intent is the key to balance. When a publisher recognizes intent, they can make
informed decisions about the types of media and placements that work best
without getting in the way of users.
Ad Types
Publishers have a
variety of ad types at their disposal. Ad types describe what content (image,
video, audio, etc.) can be displayed within an ad unit. Testing how different
types work across a site can reveal what works best.
- Banner ads outperform on websites that are
highly textual in nature. They’re unlikely to disrupt user experience or
clash with website content.
- Native ads blend and look similar to their
surrounding content. Though they improve viewability and CTR, some users
may feel tricked by the content.
- Rich Media Ads are interactive media, such
as streaming, video, and audio. When done correctly, rich media ads lead
to increased impressions and CTR. Alternatively, they can interrupt user
experience and lead to high bounce rates.
Number Of Ads
75% of people form
their judgment on a website’s credibility purely based on aesthetics. Providing
cluttered, obnoxiously sized, and over-placed ads will only result in a higher
bounce rate, low impression ratings and could devalue publisher content as a
whole.
Layout A/B Testing
No ad layout can
guarantee an increase in revenue. Since what works best varies from publisher
to publisher, A/B testing is essential to optimizing ad placement. Running A/B
testing for ad placement and user experience will provide data-backed insight
into what ads to implement.
For publishers using a
header bidder provider (more on this later), using Network A/B Testing on the
same page can lead to programmatic bid confusion and problems.
Publishers can use
Google’s Optimize or Adsense to run A/B testing. providers will offer layout
testing and optimization.
Design A Revenue Model
A revenue model
identifies which revenue source to pursue and directly influences the
strategies a publisher will use. The idea is that by identifying what
metrics are essential, publishers can focus and optimize their efforts.
For example, for
publishers with a CPC model, efforts should focus on improving click-through
rates. In contrast, publishers with a CPM model would work to strengthen the
viewership of ads and quality of placement.
Improve Ad Viewability
With only 46% of ads registering
an impression, finding ad units with high viewability rates is a top priority
for advertisers. For a publisher, this means viewability must be a key focus
area to consider while optimizing ad placement. There are several tactics that
when used correctly, can improve ad viewability.
Lazy Loading
Implementing
lazy loading on a site can increase page speed and lead to a boost in
impressions. Typically ads and other content are downloaded onto a site before
a user begins navigating it. With lazy loading, placeholder content boxes are
loaded, then replaced with the ads as the user scrolls through the page or a
certain amount of time passes.
Sticky Ads
Sticky ads are
placements anchored to the page that stay with a user as they navigate a page.
They give users more time to view an ad and register an impression on the
backend of things. Though they yield high impression rates, they can appear
intrusive. Vertical ad placements perform better on desktops, whereas
horizontal sticky ads perform best for mobile channels.
Ad Refreshes
Auto-refresh can be
useful to publishers with an audience that has above-average session times.
While a user is still on the page, predefined triggers will request and render
a new ad on an existing ad unit. This allows publishers to serve more
impressions to the same user. It is important to note that any refreshing ad
units not in view can negatively affect CPMs. AdSense does not allow for
ad refreshing, so publishers are encouraged to use a header bidding provider
for this feature. If you’re considering implementing ad refresh onto your
website, be sure to brush up on all the important elements to know.
Optimize for Mobile Devices
To fully optimize ad
placement, a publisher should ensure ads are mobile-friendly. Unfortunately, the ad layout is not ‘one size
fits all’ and must be tweaked across devices. Using a 300×250 below the fold ad
does well on mobile sites and is an easy place for publishers to start.
However, testing different layouts to optimize impressions, engagement rates,
and page loading speed will prove most resourceful. With 52.2percent of all website traffic worldwide occurring on mobile devices,
mobile ads are a lucrative revenue stream.
Deploy Header Bidding
Header bidding is an
advanced programmatic technique that brings multiple demand sources together to
bid on ads simultaneously. For publishers, the increase in competition results
in a surplus of bids on their ad units. Instead of just one pool of advertiser
demand, you get access to dozens of large-scale markets.
Aside from yielding
more significant revenue, header bidding providers are great resources for
publishers seeking to optimize ad placement expertise. Header bidding providers
offer strategic ad placement based on a website’s insights and analytics.
Offer Multisize Ad Placements
By offering multisize
ad placements, publishers can send requests for multiple ad sizes in one bid
request. The result? An increase in the number of demand sources bidding for
those ad units. Placement flexibility can also improve fill rates for publishers
because of the increased competition.
Successfully
optimizing ad placement in a site’s layout is about experimenting, testing, and
collecting data. By exploring potential options—size, type, and location of
ads, publishers can maximize their ad monetization yield. It’s important to
note the best techniques and resources will produce high revenue without
compromising user experience.