If you have experience with Adsense, you know that ad spots placed within your content can convert well. In this tutorial, we will show you how to easily add an Adsense spot (or virtually anything else) right after your first post in a WordPress loop, such as your homepage or category page.
The method we will use involves adding a PHP counter within your loop that will count up as posts are retrieved from your database. Starting from 0, as soon as it finds the first post, it will add your Adsense spot above but it won’t do it for all the other posts.
To get started, you need to add a counter before the “while” loop and start counting after. Here is the code:
// Define count variable
$count = 0;
// Start your standard WP loop (this should already be part of your theme)
while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
// Increase counter for each post
$count++;
Next, set up the conditional inside the loop. Here is the code:
// Show ad if post count is 1
if ( $count == 1 ) { ?>
Your Adsense Code
Finally, here is the full example of the loop with added code:
// Define count variable
$count = 0;
// Start your standard WP loop (this should already be part of your theme)
while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
// Increase counter for each post
$count++;
// Show ad if post count is 1
if ( $count == 1 ) { ?>
Your Adsense Code
// Whatever you want to add inside the loop here
// Or…whatever is already in your theme
// End loop
endwhile;
Another option to insert Adsense into your posts and pages is to use a plugin. The free Google Adsense plugin, which was made by Google and is the official Adsense plugin in the WordPress plugin repository, is one option. This plugin has a 2.8 rating, but from reading the reviews, the low ratings seem to be due to a lack of placement options. So if you want a simple plugin to insert your ads, this might be the right plugin for you.
A better option might be the free WP Simple Adsense Insertion plugin. This lovely little plugin currently has a 4.6 rating and makes it easy to insert ads (Adsense or other ad code too) into your posts, pages, and sidebars using a simple shortcode.
In conclusion, adding an Adsense spot after your first post in a WordPress loop can be an effective way to increase conversions. By using the PHP counter method or a plugin like WP Simple Adsense Insertion, you can easily add your ads without any hassle.
