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Finding suitable placements for ad serving

Determining to have ads on your site or app is just the beginning of the process, as there is a lot more work to be done before all goes live and begins generating views, clicks and sales. Also included in the process is finding suitable locations for ad serving. But even then, there are still more things to consider. What types of ads are you running and where are the best places to display them? Those are just a couple of things that need to be considered, which is why we thought it might be a good idea to discuss them in this article. Let’s look at what you need to consider when thinking about finding suitable ad placements.

Visibility with consideration

When you place an ad on a website, you certainly want it to be in a place where it will be seen by as many people as possible. Visitors have a tendency to be a little ad-blind nowadays, and while you want to grab their attention it’s important not to do it in a way that is intrusive or takes away from the reason why they are on the site in the first place. Ideally, the ad should fit the overall aesthetic of the site and be in a position, preferably above the fold, where it can obtain a good viewability.

Varieties of ad formats

Rather than going all in with just one type of ad, it’s always a good idea to experiment a little. Yes, video ads are becoming increasingly popular, but not everyone has time to watch a video and not every site has video content. Sometimes, a simple, well-placed ad banner can attract just as much attention as a video. Similarly, ads in email newsletters can be very effective for conversions and text-only ads can also get the job done, assuming that they are well written.

Profitability

There are different pricing models for ad serving on your site. The most common ones are cost per click (CPC), cost per impression (CPM) and cost per action (CPA). You don’t need to use the same rate type for all ad placements. Different ad placements can and should have different pricing models. The goal is to maximize profit and ad performance. You do not want to charge a CPC rate for low-CTR ads in a high-traffic area. In this situation, the ads continue to display and take up valuable impression inventory while generating only a small ad revenue for you. Typically, CPC is effective in email ads and targeted placements with high interest and relevancy. CPM is a good candidate for videos, above-the-fold and high traffic placements. CPA ads are effective but must be integrated properly and optimized for conversion through the landing page and the whole ordering process.

Desirability

Not all pages on your site or app are equal in terms of traffic or desirability. The homepage is more likely to have the highest number of pageviews. Pages and areas with higher traffic are more desirable and can generate more ad revenue. Your goal is to increase traffic to more pages and areas. Also, a specific location on a page is also important. Above-the-fold placements have a higher viewable ratio than below-the-fold placements.

Testing

Digital advertising moves very fast. Both publishers and advertisers need to adapt, change on the fly and test out different things before pulling the plug on an ad campaign or determining if an ad placement is not suitable. Very often, it is the simple but timely little tweaks that you make to an ad that can prove to be the difference between an ad campaign that delivers the goods and one that falls flat. Test ads in different places and make changes until you find that perfect balance. Luckily, online ad servers make it easy with real-time updates and reports. You can see what is working and what is not working and make the necessary changes.

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