How to do an ad optimization audit in 20 minutes or less:
It only takes a few minutes to make sure your most popular posts are making you the most they possibly can. Here is a guide for doing a content audit in 20 minutes.
1. Navigate to your Mediavine Dashboard.
2. Change the date range to the last 3 days. This is the date range the Site Health Checks are using:
3. Look down at your top posts for those 3 days:
4. Open up the top 4-5 posts, and make sure they meet the following "best practices" guidelines:
a. Use your Page Level Data to improve your overall performance.
The Page Level Data section of your Dashboard gives you a ton of data about your content and how it is performing. Review the following help docs to learn how to use those metrics to make the best decisions for earnings.
b. Your sticky sidebar ad is showing up on the screen prior to your second in-content ad.
This is going to give you a good indication that your sidebar length compared to your content length is meshing well. A short sidebar + long content = high RPMs.
c. Your sidebar is its leanest self, with anything not 100% necessary and profitable removed.
We know it can be difficult, but having a short sidebar is very important for monetizing. It allows your sticky sidebar ad to perform at its peak levels. Really analyze if items in your sidebar are useful and actually being USED by your readers.
One caveat: If you are utilizing the Optimize Ads for Desktop Pagespeed feature, you may want to place a sidebar widget (or two short widgets) at the top of the sidebar that will effectively push the first ad "below the fold" and out of the first screenview.
Please remember that if you make any changes to your sidebar you will need to reach out to publishers@mediavine.com to have your ads retargeted.
If you ensure each of your top 4-5 posts are meeting these guidelines, you'll be on your way to TEAL in no time! Bonus points for optimizing beyond your top 5 into the 10's and 20's, and keeping these guidelines in line when writing new content!