Google AdSense Optimization – Ad Colors

In a previous post, you saw how to choose the colors for the different parts of your Google Ads. I mentioned that I chose…

In a previous post, you saw how to choose the colors for the different parts of your Google Ads. I mentioned that I chose certain colors because they blended in with the theme of my site. Choosing colors for your AdSense ads is another major part of ad optimization. This is mainly because, the color can make or break the blending factor. Here are a few questions to ask yourself when deciding what colors you want to make your ads:

  1. Must the ad blend in with my site?
  2. Can I make an ad a “shocking” color?
  3. Do I need to rotate my colors?

Some of these questions might seem strange, but consider these answers:

1 – Most people recommend that the ads blend in with the site. Even Google says that “Ad color palette should blend in to the colors of the page” (Taken from their Optimization webinar). I think blending in works well in helping a reader overcome the “advert aversion” problem. I’m sure a lot of people out there hate ads. I mean, when I listen to the radio, I want music, not ads. If I record a TV show, I definitely skip over the ads. But thanks to Google’s “relevant ads”, if you blend them into your website, it almost looks like it’s a PART of your site.

2 – I’ve been told MANY a time that ads that match the color of your site are best. I tend to agree, but this is not always the case. On another site of mine, I decided to change the ads from a “blended in grey” to a “shocking green” to see if this would help people notice them. The results? My CTR practically doubled. So, I think it is always feasible to put your ads in strange colors.

3 – In a later post I will talk about a tip for rotating ad colors automatically. But for now, let me introduce a term “Ad Blindness”. This is when visitors start to skip over the ads with ease, possibly because of familiarity with the ads. Rotating the colors of your ads will help prevent this.

There is only 1 REAL answer to these questions, and this is found via testing. Use channels to test different ad formats and colors, and see what works best. It might be a slower approach, but change an ad color for a week or 3, and see what happens.

If you have any ideas or results you’d like to share, PLEASE leave a comment…

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