Half-banner

at http://www.bipolarnation.com, I've minimized a lot of it to make loading time faster.

jackburton's advice of getting a half banner on your site was a good one, I think, because it's non-intrusive and still has a presence.

Is the way my site is configured right now (with the banner on top) better than having banners in between posts?

 

Might want to change the link colors on the left column to another color. The strong blue is hard to read and hard on the eyes. How are the Amazon links converting for you?

 

Will do, as soon as I figure it out. It was weird vBulletin code and took so long to get it just to do that I was like "i'll do that later!"

The Amazon links are terrible, earning nothing. In fact, adsense has been earning me nothing lately, as well.

 

No surprise. Amazon has been the pits at conversion for years now. Consider removing the half-banner, put a 468 adlinks unit in its place instead, and move one Adsense skyscraper up to the top, and move the Amazon (if you must have them) below that. For the content you have at the front page, I would just go with the adlinks and one Adsense skyscraper. It might convert better if you don't have so many ads crammed up there. By the way, what are your numbers nowadays? Unique visitors?

 

Will do. I want that blogads thing to remain there, as I plan on calling the shots with my ad rates down the line.

So keep the half banner, and then on the right column, have adlinks, and then a tower?

As for traffic, it's been improving. 1,000 visits today (most ever), though I can't say how many were unique. I'm building a web community, and traffic is really integral to everything I'm working at - I've been considering placing a 150 dollar ad on the FesteringAss network (goldmine for my demographic).

 

Well, if you want to keep the half banner, you should keep the half banner. It's your site, and it's up to you.

 

Haha well I only put it up because you had a post about it, and I agreed. But if the adlinks and ads on the side are enough, in your more expert opinion, it can be done away with.

 

Updated. Is that what you were suggesting?

 

I was actually thinking of a 468 adlinks unit in the place where the half-banner used to be. I think you should try to avoid 'stacking' your ads whenever possible.

 

FYI: the bright blue links for 'Today's Posts' on the dark blue background are seriously hard to read. Perhaps it's my PC or my eyesight but I had to squint close-up to read them.

 

adding my puny intellectual weight against the blue

 

Okay, fixing it, taking away the stack. Thanks for the comments on the blue guys - I agree, and will change that soon as well. What's a good color? White or red?

 

The table width in the middle is only 400 - I edited the adlinks code to fit in. Is that against TOS?

 

If you can't change the ad codes using the CP, then you can't alter it manually. I would suggest changing it back post haste, Dan.

 

Just to drive home what others have been saying...