Blogger Guide to Google Adsense Placement

There are so many places to position Google Adsense in a Blogger Blogspot blog. This article covers the most common places to add Google Adsense ad units and linked units in a Blogger blog together with links to the various articles which explain in detail how to insert the Google Adsense ad unit into Blogger.

Included in this article about Google Adsense placement are articles that cover positioning in the header both above and below the title, in the sidebar, in the footer, between the posts, between the header and the first post, below the post title, in the middle of posts, between the end of an article but before the embedded comment form

Format of Google Adsense Ad Unit

Google Adsense Ad Units

728x90 Leaderboard
728x90 leaderboard under Blogger header
728x90 leaderboard above Blogger header

160x600 Vertical Wide Banner
160x600 vertical wide banner in sidebar or 120x600 or 120x200

336x280 Large Rectangle
336x280 below post title or 250x250 or 300x250


Google Adsense Linked Units

728x15 Linked Unit
728x15 linked unit in Blogger footer or 468x15
728x15 linked unit in Blogger header or 468x15
728x15 linked unit above Blogger header or 468x15


Placement of Google Adsense on Blogger

EASY - CHANGE SETTING ONLY

Add Google Adsense Between Posts in Blogger
Blogger has a setting which allows you to add Google Adsense between posts. Read more about how to Add Google Adsense Between Posts in Blogger


EASY - ADD WIDGET ONLY

Add Google Adsense to a Blogger Sidebar
It is extremely easy to add a Google Adsense ad unit to a Blogger sidebar using a HTML/Javascript gadget or widget. For instructions on adding an ad unit to the sidebar please refer to Add Google Adsense to Blogger Sidebar

Add Google Adsense to a Blogger Footer
It is not so popular to place Google Adsense ad units in a Blogger footer however with the increased use of footers as a place that contains valuable information it is becoming more common to place an ad in the footer particularly a linked unit. For instructions on how to place a Google Adsense 728x15 linked unit in the footer refer to Add Google Adsense to a Blogger Footer


EASY-INTERMEDIATE - MINOR CHANGE TO TEMPLATE CODE AND ADD WIDGET

Add Google Adsense or Banner Above Blogger Header
If you have occasion to display either Google Adsense or an affiliate banner above the Blogger header you can by adding a section to the Blogger template. You can add any kind of Google Adsense content or linked ad unit although I suggest that a 728x90 leaderboard would be ideal for this spot.

Add Google Adsense or Banner Above Blogger Header



Add Google Adsense to Blogger Header
The header of a Blogger blog is a popular place to add Google Adsense particularly a linked unit. I have good success adding a linked unit below the blog title in the header of my blog.

Add Google Adsense Above the Title



Add Google Adsense Below the Title



Add Google Adsense Between the Header and the First Post in Blogger
Some templates lend themselves well to having a full length banner below the header. The Minima template for example suits a 728x90 Google Adsense unit just below the header and before the first post. Instructions on how to Add Google Adsense Between the Header and the First Post in Blogger



INTERMEDIATE - INSERT GOOGLE ADSENSE CODE INTO TEMPLATE

Add Google Adsense to Body of Post
Positioning Google Adsense within the body of the post in Blogger is a bit more tricky as it requires adding the Google Adsense code to the template. Before adding the code it must be parsed so the Javascript can be read by Blogger

Add Google Adsense Below Post Title



in this article I have pulled together a number of Google Adsense articles I have written in the past about adding Google Adsense to a Blogger Blogspot blog so that it will provide an easy reference for anyone wanting to find out about Google Adsense placing on Blogger.

Related Articles
Bloggers Guide to Google Adsense Myths
Google Adsense Tips for Blogger Blogs
Better Placement of Google Adsense in Blogger
Add Google Adsense to Blogger Header
Add Google Adsense or Banner Above Blogger Header
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs

Place Google Adsense Below Post Title in Blogger

I have had a lot of interest in my articles about placement of Google Adsense in a Blogger Blogspot blog. Today I continue the Google Adsense series with an article about how to place your Google Adsense ad unit below the post title in Blogger.

This ad placement requires pasting the Google Adsense code directly into your Blogger template. While not difficult I have rated the skill level as intermediate as it requires parsing (conversion of the Javascript into a format readable by Blogger) of the Google Adsense code first before pasting it into your template. For the benefit of newbies and beginner Bloggers I have broken down the steps to simplify the process and make it more manageable. What follows is a detailed step by step tutorial on how to place Google Adsense below the post title in a Blogger blog including how to create a Google Adsense ad unit if you don't already have one.


Steps to Place Google Adsense Below Blogger Post Title
Follow Steps 1-11 if you don't have a Google Adsense ad unit.

IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A GOOGLE ADSENSE UNIT SKIP TO #12

1. From the Blogger Dashboard click on the Google Adsense link at the bottom of the page

2. Proceed to Adsense Setup > Get Ads or sign up for Google Adsense if not already

3. Choose Adsense for Content from the Ad Setup screen

4. Choose Ad unit or Link unit from the Adsense for Content screen. In most cases you will want an ad unit.

5. Choose the Ad Type from the dropdown menu depending on your needs. I often select text only because I think they are better performers but you may have a different experience. Click on the Continue button

6. Choose the Ad Format. Most likely this will be between 336x280, 250x250, or the 468x60 banner sizes.

7. Choose your color palette according to your blog color scheme.

Tip: I find the best way to get the colors for my ads if I am not sure is to create an Adsense unit in Blogger and transfer that color scheme to the new ad unit in Google. Alternatively you can accept the default and change the color scheme later. Changing the color scheme won't affect your ad unit code for your template.

8. Accept the default font in the meantime unless you know the font that you need. You can always check this out later by reviewing your template

9. Click on the Continue button

10. Create an Ad Channel by clicking the link add a new channel. By default Google will add this to Your Selected Channels. Click on the Continue button

11. You may need to give your ad unit a more detailed name. I recommend keeping the dimensions of the ad unit in the name as it makes the unit easily identifiable. I usually add the name of the blog to the name because I have several blogs. Save and Get Ad Code by clicking on the Submit and Get Code button.

START HERE IF YOU HAVE A GOOGLE ADSENSE AD UNIT
12. Copy the Adsense code by right clicking the mouse while it is in the code box. Choose select all and then right click again and choose copy. Make sure you get all of the code


13. Open the Ad Converter by following this link to Centricle.

14. Paste the Google Adsense code into the converter and press the Convert Ad Code button. This will parse the code so that Blogger will read the Javascript properly. Leave this window open for now as we will be returning here. Note that pasting Google Adsense code in to your Blogger template that has not been parsed will produce errors

15. Login to Blogger if not already logged in

16. Navigate to Layout > Edit HTML

17. Back up your Template (recommended) by downloading it to your computer

18. Check the Expand Widgets Template checkbox

19. Bring up Blogger Search using CTRL + F. Copy and paste the following line of code into the text box to locate the block of code in your template beginning with this line:

<b:if cond='data:post.title'>

Code Block to Find

<b:if cond='data:post.title'>
<h3 class='post-title'>
<b:if cond='data:post.url'>
<a expr:href='data:post.url'><data:post.title/></a> <b:else/>
<data:post.title/>
</b:if>
</h3>
</b:if>


20. Return to the Ad Converter and copy the converted code by right clicking your mouse and choosing select all followed by right clicking again to copy it

21. Paste this code directly after the above code block:

<p>
<!-- Start Google Ad-->
<!-- End Google Ad-->
</p>

22. Paste your Google Adsense ad code between <!-- Start Google Ad --> and <!-- End Google Ad -->


23. Click the Save Template button

24. Take a look at your new Google Adsense ad unit in your blog by following the View Blog link.

Troubleshooting Your New Google Adsense Below the Post Title

• Note only a placeholder will show up for about the first 10 minutes or so. If no placeholder appears go back and retrace your steps to make sure you haven't forgotten something. Check you have copied the code exactly.
  
  
• If you need more white space between the ad unit and the start of the first line of your article add this html tag <p> before your Google Adsense code and this </p> after the last line of your Google Adsense code
  
  
• If you have Google Adsense ad units in other parts of your blog you will find that only 3 Google Adsense ad units will display on one page at any one time according to Adsense rules. for this reason you may get a placeholder appearing for some of your earlier posts which appear further down the page. To counter this problem I suggest you set the number of posts on a page to 3 if you have no other ad units anywhere else and 2 if you have another unit some where else. Linked units are not included in this only ad units.

In this tutorial I have covered the steps involved in creating a new Google Adsense ad unit at Google Adsense. I have also provided a detailed walkthrough of the steps involved in adding a Google Adsense ad unit below the post title in a Blogger Blogspot blog. Let me know how you get on.

Related Articles
Bloggers Guide to Google Adsense Myths
Add Google Adsense to Blogger Header
Add Google Adsense or Banner Above Blogger Header
Better Placement of Google Adsense in Blogger
Google Adsense Tips for a Blogger Blog
Add a Banner or Google Adsense Above Blogger Header

Add Outbrain Ratings Widget to Blogger

Outbrain provides a free and very stylish content recommendations and ratings widget which can be easily added to your Blogger Blogspot blog. In this tutorial I will discuss the benefits of Outbrain and also provide a step by step walkthrough of the process of adding an Outbrain widget to your Blogger blog and your Feedburner FeedFlare if you have burned your blog feed at Feedburner.

Benefits of Adding Outbrain to Your Blogger Blog
By adding an Outbrain content and ratings widget to your Blogger blog you will encourage visitors to record their reactions to a post they have just read. Along with features likes polls this is another good method of encouraging visitors to interact with your blog. Outbrain also makes it possible to display your most popular posts within the widget. In addition the Outbrain ratings widget may help drive more traffic to your blog when your visitors use the Recommended Posts feature which is embedded in the widget. By the same token it may also mean that the traffic doesn't stay long as visitors will be wooed away by recommended links so you will have to weigh up the benefits versus the costs for yourself. Outbrain also provides reports on widget activity

How to Add an Outbrain Ratings Widget to Blogger
1. Register at Outbrain. This is a simple sign up process that requires you to click on a confirmation email once you have requested sign up and filled out a simple form.

2. Once registered click on Get the Widget from the footer menu

3. Choose Blogger as your Blogging platform

4. Select the language of your widget if other than English which is the default

5. Click on Get the Widget button and Outbrain will automatically refer you to Blogger in a new window. Sign in to Blogger in the new browser window. Don't close the Outbrain window as we will be returning here.


6. Choose your blog from the drop down menu and click on the Add Widget button.


7. Navigate to Layout > Page Elements and reposition if necessary your new widget which will now be appearing in the sidebar of your blog. Save any changes you make.

8. Return to Outbrain in your open browser window and click on the click here link to verify your blog. You will receive a message verifying that you have claimed your blog

9. Click on the View Blog link in the menu tab section and view your new Outbrain widget in action.

Note that once your readers start to rate your posts by clicking on them the stars will become yellow. 5 yellow stars is an excellent rating


Customizing Your Outbrain Ratings Widget
1. Return to the Outbrain window in your browser

2. Navigate to Manage Posts using the Sidebar Menu on the lefthand side

3. In the list of blogs you will see your blog listed. Click on the settings link

4. If you leave the default setting you will see recommended links appearing as pictured above in #9. If you don't want any recommendations you can set this to no.

5. If you have set up your blog with the idea of earning a little extra money you may choose to turn off sponsored recommendations. If you leave the radio button set to yes any proceeds from the sponsored links clicked on will go to charity. The charity sponsored can be selected via the drop down menu

6. Outbrain will show the most popular posts in the sidebar of your blog if this feature is enabled. To enable popular posts select the enable radio button.

7. Click on the Submit button


Adding Outbrain to Your Feedburner FeedFlare
If you already have a FeedFlare appearing at the footer of your burned Feedburner feed of your blog you can easily add Outbrain too. Check out my article on adding a Feedburner FeedFlare to Blogger if you are not sure what a FeedFlare is or how to add one to Blogger.

Go to Feedburner and choose your blog from the list of My Feeds. Select the Optimize tab and then FeedFlare from the lefthand sidebar menu. In the Personal FeedFlare section paste the following code (URL) into the text box:

http://widgets.outbrain.com/FeedFlareUnit.xml

and click on the Add New Flare button. Click on Save. Your readers will now be able to rate your blog straight from your Blogger feed.

Outbrain Troubleshooting Tips for Blogger Installation

• When you install Outbrain on your blog resist the temptation to rate one of your posts as this vote can't be deleted once it is cast. Even when I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the widget the vote did not clear.
  
  
• The Popular Posts feature takes a while to show any posts as it needs at least 2 visits before it will start rating the post
  
  
• If you have other problems with Outbrain try this active Outbrain support forum for answers

In this tutorial you have learned how to install the Outbrain Ratings widget on your Blogger Blogspot blog and customize it. Also some of the benefits of the Outbrain widget were discussed along with a couple of Outbrain installation troubleshooting tips. If you have a moment let me know how you get on installing this widget. Don't forget to bookmark this post for easy reference.

Related Articles
Add a Feedburner FeedFlare to Blogger Feed

How To Delete a Blogger Blogspot Blog

I notice I get a lot of traffic to my blog from Blogger Blogspot webmasters searching for tutorials on how to delete their blog so this has prompted me to write this post about deleting a Blogger blog. As most of us are trying to get our blogs up and running this post may not be very useful for you right now however you may have occasion in the future to want to delete a blog so read on in case the day comes when you need to know what you do.

Why Might I Want to Delete a Blogger Blogspot Blog?
There a variety of reasons why you might decide to delete your blog. Here are some common ones:

You have set up a test blog and have now finished with it

You are unhappy with the name you have chosen for your blog and wish to change it. Please note you can change the name of your Blogger blogspot.com subdomain for another subdomain name provided the address is available on Blogger. Or you can change to a custom .com domain name and have Blogger redirect your blog traffic to your new address. You may want to consider these options first before proceeding with deletion)

You have tried blogging and it is not for you and you want to get rid of your blog all together

How to Delete a Blogger Blogspot Blog
1. Login to Blogger if you are not already logged in

2. From the Dashboard select the blog you wish to delete. Make sure you are in the right place if you have more than one blog

3. Navigate to Settings > Basic

4. If you think you may want to come back to your blog at a later date you can use the export tool to export your blog before you delete it. To export your blog click on Export Blog in the Blog Tools menu. If you aren't interested in exporting a copy of your blog to your home computer skip this step


5. Under the first heading Blog Tools click on the Delete Blog link

6. You will be taken to the Delete Blog screen in Blogger. Check again you have the right blog displayed by checking the name which should appear just above the row of menu tabs.

7. A warning message like the one pictured below will be displaying:



8. If you wish to proceed with the deletion then click on the Delete This Blog button

9. You will now be returned to the Dashboard. Notice that your blog is no longer displayed in the list of blogs. If you wish to view your deleted blog you can click on the Show All link at the bottom of the Manage Blogs list in the Dashboard

10. You will now be able to see your deleted blog including details of its deletion date. Follow the link provided to undelete this blog. Blogger allows you 90 days grace.

In this tutorial we have covered some basic reasons why you might want to delete a blog and the steps involved in actually deleting a Blogger Blogspot blog.