Forum can often be a great way to generate a lot of traffic. However, in many cases it is hard to monetize your forum and make decent income. Below are a few tips on how to best use Google AdSense on your forum.
Most forums have a welcome message on their homepage that encourages users to register. Since this message usually gets visitors attention it is a great place to display a AdSense unit. It is recommended using a 336×280 or 300×250 unit next to your welcome message.
You will also want to display AdSense units in forum posts. Do not just place a ad unit above the first forum post but instead place the ad units in between forum posts. For example, place a unit in between the first and second post. This way as readers are reading through forum posts they will be forced to look at the ads. This will also help AdSense to show the most relevant content. You can also mix in another ad in between posts farther down the page.
You will also want to make sure that you blend your ads with your forum posts by making sure that they have the same color border and font color. This makes sure that your ads do not stick out and will look similar to forum posts.
Another great way to get more relevant ads on your forum is to use section targeting. In most forums the most relevant content is in the first post. Section targeting will tell Google that the content in the first most is the most important and they will serve ads based on that content.
Following these simple steps will help make sure that your forum ads are relevant to the content and will help increase your click through rate (CTR). For more information on using AdSense on a forum check out what Google has to say at their AdSense Blog.
