If you've been running AdSense ads on your website for some time and feel like you're not making as much money as you could be, you're probably right. Most people are frustrated because they're not getting the revenue they hoped for, and that's because of traffic and click-through rates.
There are a variety of ways to convert traffic into AdSense traffic. Here is a list of the most common, along with a description of each method.
The first thing you should do is clean up the information on your website. While some people may not be able to do this (e.g. if you run a forum), most people can turn their AdSense sites into cash cows. First, determine the keywords for your website. Checking keyword density is a basic SEO (search engine optimisation) method. The SEO Density Analyser is a useful tool for this task.
Then, using this list of words, check the Overture search inventory or the Google AdWords sandbox to see what alternative words might work better than the ones you have now. Then try to target your website to the topics that appear most frequently in your keyword ideas. Include these keywords, or at least similar terms, in your website links as often as possible. Because of the way Google AdSense works, you will get better adverts in your AdSense banners, similar to how you would get a better Google PageRank.
It is also important that you keep adding new pages to your website. Because the more pages you have, the more likely you are to get more clicks on your adverts.
Choose the right formats for your AdSense banners and the optimal places for them. Although this is a much broader topic, the three main Google AdSense formats are 336×280 large rectangle, 300×250 medium rectangle and 160×600 skyscraper.
Make sure that the colours you use for the ads are acceptable, because if they are too different from the content of your website (or just plain awful), visitors might think that they are banners that have nothing to do with the website.
Make sure that these adverts are placed where they will bring the most profit. In most cases, this place will be directly in front of the actual content of your website. Skyscrapers work better on pages with a lot of text because visitors are exposed to them for longer. You might also discover a good place for pages with news or the like at the end of your content, because then visitors have finished reading your text and are looking for something else to do.
If your site contains a lot of text, you should use multiple AdSense adverts. Just make sure you don't overdo it, because if you use this strategy incorrectly, you may end up with a much lower CTR and less revenue than you were generating before. You have the option to add up to three blocks, so use them wisely.
There is a Google AdSense preview tool that allows you to see which adverts will be displayed on your website and which you can use as a test tool. Make sure you follow the AdSense guidelines on click fraud. You can use an image next to your adverts as a hint, but make sure you leave enough space between the adverts so that visitors don't feel compelled to click on the link.
Of course, there are other strategies to increase AdSense traffic to your website, but these should provide a solid starting point for maximising your revenue.