How to Increase Your CPM

1. Give your ads key position. Successful advertising depends largely upon the location of the ad. The most valuable real estate on a website is the area referred to as 'above the fold,' meaning the part of a page a user can see without having to scroll down. Placing ads in this area will increase the probability that they will be clicked on, thereby increasing the value of the ad displays you are serving.

2. Keep the ads relevant. Displaying ads that are somehow related to the subject matter on the page is a great way to make sure the advertisement is seen by a targeted audience of people. Athletic products, for example, can be successfully advertised on sites related to health and fitness. Because the audience has a known interest in the subject, you want to display ads that relate to their interest.

3. Blend your text ads into the content of the site. Text-based advertising is very popular, but can sometimes be overlooked by website visitors. Blending the advertisements with font colors and styles that match the rest of your website will allow the ads to look like just any other content. Visitors will view the ads more as additional references than as advertisements, and will be more likely to follow the link.

4. Consider geotargeting your advertisements. If you are part of an ad network that supports the feature, geotargeting allows you to serve ads based on the visitors location. This allows you to offer special promotions to visitors from a certain area, or to make sure a particular advertiser's ads are only shown within the areas they serve. Geotargeting makes the advertisements more relevant to the user on a local level and can lead to higher click-through rates.