Review Adsense placement on my Slices-of-Life blog?

Hello, fellow marketers!

Anyone feels like reviewing my ad placement? I was using a similar format with big 356x250(?) square boxes, but I think this looks better. I'm thinking about putting the graphic on top, how does that sound?

http://slices-of-life.com

Let me see your good ideas, people. I know you have'em!

 

It seems like decent placement, but maybe you should put a logo up there with the ads? It would just give the site a bit more character and be memorable for returning visitors. Along with that, it could draw clicks when people go to click on the logo and accidentally click on an ad, which would benefit you quite a bit

 

Ok at first I didnt even think you were using and CMS system to run your website until I looked at the source. My guess is your using wordpress, because the All In One SEO Pack your using. Please do something about the look of your website the template you chose sucks. And your ad placement is going to cause your CTR to be around 0% because you look spammy as hell with two big ad blocks and the top of the page. And also thats the first thing the user sees when they come to your page, which Google doesn't like and they might penalize you for, but not to sure on that one. Just chose a different template please, and try not to look so damn desperate with your ad placement.

 

Thanks for your opinions, guys! I see you've also made some points concerning my design choices. Well, I should say I'm neither using a logo nor a conventional theme because I rather enjoy the minimalist look such options afford my website. I particularly enjoy the absence of a sidebar (replace by a... bottom-bar?), since I feel this arrangement keeps readers focused in the actual content.

Now concerning the actual adsense placement, I decided to move the text banner down to the bottom of individual posts. I do agree the website looks a little less desperate /spammy this way. Any additional thoughts?

 

Here is some more help. http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/3978/slices.png

 

I would have the banners between the posts, no one is going to take much notice of the one at the top.