Please check my Ad placement / colors

I made a website about a week ago, and this is my first time I have tried to effectively use AdSense. Please let me know what I can do to try and make the ads better. Thanks.

http://thelolmaker.com/

 

Have you ever consider following the Google Ad Heat Map? Check it out here: https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=17954

Remember this map is just a start. Once you start to send traffic to your site, you should then start to test which placement truly does give you the best CTR for your site.

 

The ads themselves may be the problem, rather than the placement. Try a bigger ad format - things like Myspace tattoo maker aren't terribly interesting.

 

As for the colors, how are they? And which ads do you reccomend increasing the size of?

Thanks for the link to the heat map, that was helpful. Some of the generators have poorly related ads, is that a problem? How would I fix that?

Thanks,
Matt

 

You're welcome Matt.

As I'm looking over your site again, in my opinion, the adsense ads below the nav need to be changed. I think you could increase ctr if you put it where you know your visitors will be. Here an example: on the page:http://thelolmaker.com/lolmakers/red-warning

Instead of putting the adsense near the image, which I think is against Google TOS, put it between the Red Warning Public Sign and the sign generator.

Also, you should start to experiment with other forms of monetization to see which will work best for you. What you have to remember is adsense isn't the only game in town.

 

Should I look towards other programs besides AdSense? If so, do you recommend any? I think you are right with the ad by the images. Is the 468 x 60 ad a good size to put in between the title and the generator?

I really appreciate your advice. I am very new to being this serious with a website, and I would like to have a little success

 

Every niche is different. What works for one may not work for the other. This is where you should be studing your competitions tactics. Input the phrase 'Custom Sign Generator' into Google. From the first site to the last I want you to study their monetization strategies. Most have adsense in their site, I want you to take notice in how they position them. A couple included a Donate button, maybe with testing you can see how that converts for you.

I hope you see where I'm getting at, when you reverse engineer you competitors and do what works for them, everything becomes a little easier. But it doesn't just stop there, oh no. You can also spy on their linking techniques to see what you need to do to be in the top 10. Of course you should test each new tactic you incorporate into your site to truly see what works.