Some More Updates to Tingram.ca
Ok some of you might have noticed I added a few little changes to the site. Let me mention them if they are not obvious.
1) Google Adsense blocks of 250×250 have been added to the 2 most recent posts and will only be displayed if the content is greater than 500 characters - Anything short of 500 characters made the post look funny because the ad block was larger than the content being displayed.
2) I remember your comment details, ok so I don’t but the site does. Pretty much your name, email address, and URL will be stored in a cookie. Email addresses are hidden from the public and may only be used for me to get in touch with you. URLs are optional but I do not have the NoFollow rule like WordPress does. I believe in sharing the love 
3) Posting of comments section has been moved below the last comment on a post. Hopefully it is easier to use, I might add some basic HTML formatting for people to spice it up abit.
4) Some other minor things have been done but do not need to be mentioned.
Now alot of you might be wondering, why not just use software like WordPress? Well I’ll tell you why, I love programming. I love having to figure out how to fix my scripts if they break or how to impliment new things that I think could be fun. To me this is all a learning experience. Sure you might say that I am Re-Inventing the Wheel, but I have learnt alot by doing so and I will continue to do it. I love the challenge this site has given me and when I become better at it I hope to share what I have learnt with other people.
If you have any suggestion on how I can make this place better I would love to hear them.
Tyler, one comment on the Adsense blocks on your site is to try and blend them into the site a little more seamlessly.
When trying to monetize your site, many of the *gurus* recommend that you try to display the ads in such a fashion that they mimic the look of the site links in other areas.
In your case, that would mean removing the blue borders around the ad blocks and duplicating the color of your standard links in the ad block links.
Came across your site from your comment on my site and look forward to reading more. We are in related fields as I am a programmer by trade, although mostly Java at my job and PHP and other web related in my personal time.
Hey thanks for the feedback! I’ll definately do as you suggested.
When I was looking over the AdBrite stuff, I was thinking about removing the borders from the AdSense blocks.
Thanks again!
No problem. Hopefully the changes work well for you and you find an increase in your CTR. If you haven’t done so, I also highly recommend the use of channels with your ads as that will help you track the performance of different changes.
One day I hope to crack into actually making some money with the Adsense but need to focus on driving traffic to my site. Best to you.
Thanks again,
I do have one URL channel set up though I set it up yesturday and I will see how it goes. Once I get the hang of it I’ll see about customizing them a bit more.
Appreciate your advice!
The best size is actually 300×250, and yes, blended into the text. Links should be the same colour as your blogs hyperlinks. Google themselves is very bullish on the 300×250 which is the reason why they perform the best.
Tyler, it will be interesting to see how your changes impact your earnings. Hopefully we will see updates from you as time goes by.
I just completed a revamp of my site to change the layout and ad integration. I’ll be tracking it to see if there is any change in earnings.
Well I changed the 250×250 block to a 300×250 block and also got rid of the left-nav skyscaper to it would allow me to have 1 more AdSense block in the main content.
So far I haev no CTR. But I suppose that will go up when traffic comes, and for me to get traffic, I gota figure out what niche I should take an interest because I find that I like to talk about whatever happens.
I’ll make sure I keep tabs on things and try and post an update if and when things start to happen.
Thanks again.