Do you want to insert ads within your post content in WordPress?
Your post content is the place where visitors are most engaged with your website, which makes it the perfect place to show an ad.
In this article, we will show three ways to insert ads within your post content in WordPress.
Why Insert Ads Within Your Post Content in WordPress?
Banner and sidebar ads are a great way to make money online blogging with WordPress. However, they’re also easy for visitors to ignore.
People visit your site to read your content, and may not pay as much attention to your sidebar or other areas of the page. Since your post content gets the most attention from visitors, it’s the perfect place to show ads.
With that being said, let’s look at three different ways to insert ads within your post content in WordPress.
If you prefer to jump straight to a particular method then you can use the links below.
1. AdSanity
One way to insert ads within your post content is by using the AdSanity plugin.
AdSanity is a premium WordPress ad management plugin. It allows you to place ads on any page, post, or widget-ready area using shortcode.
You can then either upload your own ads or show advertisements from third-party networks such as Google AdSense. For more information, see our guide on how to manage ads in WordPress with AdSanity plugin.
First, you’ll need to install and activate the plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, go to AdSanity » Create Ad.
To get started start, you’ll need to give your ad a title by typing into the field that shows ‘Give this ad a title.’
Your site visitors won’t see the title since it’s for your own reference only.
Next, you need to choose the kind of ad that you want to create. One option is to build your own ad and host it on your website, which is perfect for selling ads on your WordPress blog.
Another option is to use the ad code provided by a program like Google AdSense.
To start, let’s see how you can create a hosted ad using AdSanity’s built-in tools. First, click on the ‘Ad Hosted On Site’ tab.
Next, you can choose how big your advertisement will be on your website by opening the ‘Ad Size’ dropdown and choosing a size from the list.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to type a tracking URL into the ‘Tracking URL’ field. This is the URL that the ad will link to.
By default, this URL will open in the same browser tab. However, you may want it to open in a new tab, particularly if the advertisement is linking to someone else’s website.
To make this change, simply check the ‘Open in a new window’ box.
Once you’ve done that, scroll to the Ad Image section. Here, you can upload the image that WordPress will use as your ad.
To upload a banner or other ad graphic, simply click on ‘Set ad image.’ You can then upload or choose an existing image from your WordPress media library.
To help organize your ads, you may want to create some advertisement groups. For example, you might create a ‘holiday advertisements’ group for all the ads you plan to use around the holiday season.
To create an advertisement group, click on the Add New Group link. This adds a new section where you can type in the title for the group.
Just like WordPress categories and subcategories, you can arrange your advertisement groups into parent-child relationships.
If you have lots of different ads, then organizing them into parent and child groups can make it easier to find exactly the ad you’re looking for.
When you’re happy with how your advertisement group is set up, click on the ‘Add new Group’ button to save your changes.
To add your advertisement to a group, simply check the group’s box.
Once you’ve finished working on your ad, it’s time to publish it. If you want to show the ad right away, then go ahead and click on Publish.
Another option is to schedule the ad so it will show up on your WordPress website at some point in the future. To schedule your ad, click on the ‘Edit’ link next to ‘Publish forever.’
WordPress will now show some settings that you can use to set the date and time when this ad will be published.
You can also use these settings to choose when the ad will be put back into a draft state. When this happens, the ad will disappear from your WordPress blog or website.
If you don’t want the ad to expire, then just click on the ‘Publish Forever’ button.
You’ve now successfully created a hosted ad.
While you can sell advertising space directly to other businesses, many website owners use an advertising network instead. These networks are often hassle-free because you don’t have to deal with advertisers or worry about collecting money.
Instead, the network decides which ads to place on your site, collects the payment, takes their management fee, and then sends the rest of the money to you.
If you’re using an advertising network, then click on the External Ad Network tab.
Next, type in a title and add your advertisement to any groups following the same process described above.
You can also choose a size for your ads. If you’re using Google AdSense, then you may want to see our guide on the highest performing Google AdSense banner sizes and formats. We also have a complete guide on how to optimize your AdSense revenue in WordPress.
Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to copy the advertisement code provided by your network. Then, simply paste this code into the ‘Ad Code’ section.
When you’re happy with how your ad is set up, you can either publish it or schedule it following the same process described above.
No matter what kind of ad you create, the next step is placing the ad on your website. The steps are exactly the same for hosted ads and ads provided by a network.
To position your ad on any page, post, or widget-ready area go to AdSanity » Manage Ads.
On this screen, find the ad that you just created and click on its shortcode link. This will copy the shortcode for this advertisement.
You can now either create a new page or post, or open one for editing. Then, simply find the exact place where you want to show this ad within your post content, and create a new shortcode block.
You can then go ahead and paste the code into this block. For step by step instructions, see our beginner’s guide on how to add a shortcode in WordPress.
If you’ve already published the ad, then you can visit the page or post to see the ad within your post content. If you scheduled the advertisement instead, then the ad will appear on your site at the date and time chosen by you.
2. Ad Inserter
Another option is to use Ad Inserter. This is a WordPress ad management plugin that can show both hosted ads and advertisements provided by a network.
If you’re using a network then you can simply paste your ad code into the Ad Inserter plugin. However, if you’re creating a hosted ad, then you’ll either have to write the code yourself, or get it from the person who is paying to show their ad on your website.
First thing you need to do is install and activate the free Ad Inserter plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, go to Settings » Ad Inserter.
On this screen, each tab is a different advertisement. This allows you to create multiple different ads, and place them on your website.
You can now either type in or copy/paste the code for the advertisement that you want to show within your post content.
The next step is placing this ad on your website. One option is to add the advertisement to any page, post, or widget-ready area using a shortcode.
Another option is to tell Ad Inserter to automatically add this advertisement to every post, at a certain location such as after every third paragraph.
If you want to add this advertisement to your posts automatically, then start by checking the ‘Post’ box.
Next, you’ll need to open the ‘Insertion’ dropdown and choose where Ad Inserter should show this ad.
Since we want to insert ads within the post content, you’ll typically want to choose either Before Paragraph, After Paragraph, Before Image, or After Image.
After choosing an option from the list, type in exactly where this ad should appear.
For example if you wanted to show the ad after the second paragraph, then you would type in ‘2’ as you can see in the following image.
When you’re happy with your settings, click on the ‘Save Settings’ button.
Ad Inserter will now insert this ad within your post content, in your chosen location.
Just like we mentioned earlier, you can also place this ad on your site using a shortcode.
To do this, click on the ‘Manual’ button and then check the ‘Shortcode’ box.
Once you’ve done that, just copy the Ad Inserter shortcode. You can then click on the ‘Save Settings’ button to save your ad.
With that done, you’re ready to place this shortcode on any page, post, or widget-ready area. For step by step instructions, you can see our guide on how to add a shortcode in WordPress.
3. Code Method
You can also add an advertisement to your post content in WordPress using code.
Since you’re editing your site’s code, this isn’t the most beginner friendly method. However, it does allow you to create ads without having to install a special ad management plugin.
To insert an ad using code, either open your theme’s functions.php file, create a site-specific plugin, or use a code snippets plugin.
You can then add the following code:
//Insert ads after second paragraph of single post content.
add_filter( 'the_content', 'prefix_insert_post_ads' );
function prefix_insert_post_ads( $content ) {
$ad_code = '<div>Ads code goes here</div>';
if ( is_single() && ! is_admin() ) {
return prefix_insert_after_paragraph( $ad_code, 2, $content );
}
return $content;
}
// Parent Function that makes the magic happen
function prefix_insert_after_paragraph( $insertion, $paragraph_id, $content ) {
$closing_p = '</p>';
$paragraphs = explode( $closing_p, $content );
foreach ($paragraphs as $index => $paragraph) {
if ( trim( $paragraph ) ) {
$paragraphs[$index] .= $closing_p;
}
if ( $paragraph_id == $index + 1 ) {
$paragraphs[$index] .= $insertion;
}
}
return implode( '', $paragraphs );
}
This code will show an advertisement after the second paragraph of a post’s content.
If you want to show your ad in some other location, then you simply need to change the following section:
if ( is_single() && ! is_admin() ) {
return prefix_insert_after_paragraph( $ad_code, 3, $content );
}
In the sample code above, you can see that we’re inserting the ad after the third paragraph.
Once you’ve done that, you can go ahead and either type in or paste your ad code. This is the code that controls how your ad looks and acts.
You’ll add this code as the $ad_code value, which is where it says ‘Add code goes here.’
$ad_code = '<div>Ads code goes here</div>';
After you’ve done that, you’re ready to publish your ad. To do this, either activate your site-specific plugin, save your code snippet, or save the changes you’ve made to your site’s functions.php file.
Now if you visit your website, you should see your ad live.
We hope this article helped you learn how to insert ads within your post content in WordPress. You may also want to learn how to increase your blog traffic, or check out our list of the best WordPress tools and SEO plugins that you should use.
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Astha says
Hey,
What is the meaning of “Permissions for ads access” in your new 1.1.1 update in this plugin?
Please explaim.
Thank you.
reles says
ty
if I want two banners?
Paragraph 2 and paragraph 5?
phil says
Just copy the function and rename one for have a different function, then choose another paragraph … easy
Fika Thiana says
Thank you so much, I have my adsense shows in the middle of the post. I’ve tried some other tutorial but this tutorial really work like a charm.
Waleed Barakat says
Wow! Amazing solution! working like a charm. Thank you
Micheal says
Please which plugin can i use to add “Read Also(another post)” within my post content to link to other post within my website for users to read another post.
WPBeginner Support says
Hi Michael,
You don’t need a plugin for that. You can link to the posts in post editor. You can also use a related posts plugin which will show similar articles from your website at the end of each post.
Admin
Ed says
Working. Just removed <?php
and paste at the bottom.
Abhijit Badgujar says
Hi,
I installed your plugin and did every step you instructed. But I can’t see the ads in my post.
Abhijit Badgujar says
Hi, Ij changed the setting and it worked. Thanks for the plugin.
Taylor says
Hi. Great thanks for the code. However, is it possible to increase the space a little before and after the ad, like increasing the margin slightly or something like that. Thanks
Taylor
Aamir says
what should i do if i want to put ads on videos…
i have movie site and i want to put ads on movies videos..
please help….
Vitor Hugo says
Nice tip, I was looking for it… but for some reason, the code (the plugin I don’t know, didn’t use it, only the code) insert a random orphan closure paragraph tag () in the end of the post.
Sam says
When using manual code via functions.php, how do you get the text to wrap around the ad code?
sandeep kumar says
I have tried you plugin INSERT ADS and completely satisfied as it doesn’t require any coding skills
Bejek says
how add random post in the_content after 2 paragraf
Deise de Oliveira says
Thanks! Tha’s exactly what I was looking for!
Robert says
How do you place the ads in the center?
Sam says
add before ad code and end with
James Burnette says
I have a post adverts google ad above the content and it causes the adsense code to be shown when shared on fb. Any suggestions?
Byron says
Hi,
I want to have a [show more] after the second paragraph and a [/show more] after the last paragraph of all posts, to show only on mobile devices.
I’ve tried ad inserter but the close [/show more] doesnt quite work. Is there anything you could recommend for me to get this working?
Thanks
Syed Irfan says
What to do if i want to add more Ads?
Arta says
How can I have a Facebook box slide up at the end of the content?
Just like list25.com
When you finish reading and you reach the end of the content, facebook box slides up
WPBeginner Support says
List25 uses custom code for that. May be we will add a tutorial about it in the future. Meanwhile, did you check OptinMonster‘s slide in optin? It is a lot easier.
Admin
Arta says
Thank you
it worked well.
Umer Shah says
Hi,
I am using a insert post ad plugin on my blog, its working fine except the position of the ad which is left. How can I move it to center?
Alex Sume says
Hello,
I use this code and it works well on my blog. Now i want to add more 1 extra ads code to display after another paragraph.
Please help.
Vincent says
The plugin method is great and I’ve added a couple of ads; one appears after 3rd paragraph and the other appears at the end of the content. This is exactly what I’m looking for since editing the code is always a pain for me every time my site’s theme gets updated. I know I should be using a child theme, but that’s just a lot of mess — your method is much cleaner and less headache. Thanks.
WPBeginner Support says
Glad you found it helpful
Admin
Salman Naqvi says
Hey , I also Implemented this code and it worked well ! Now i want to add code to show add at the end of the content ? How Would I Change this php code to show add at the end ?
Regards
Josh says
Is there a way to set which ads will show for various post categories? For instance, I might show a different CTA for a technology post than I would for finance post.
Possible?
Muhammad muneeb says
I want to add ads in the side of post content please help me for this.
shane says
Not happy now. Added the code and now my site is broken. What have I done wrong. I cant even load my site anymore?
I added the code to the bottom line as is explained in here. then removed the “ads code goes here” and replaced with my adsense code. But now my site wont even load. HELP please.
PLEASE
Arun Kallarackal says
Hi Syed,
The site specific plugin method you provided is working like a charm for me. Thanks!
Is there any way to trigger the site specific plugin only if a blog post has a minimum number of paragraphs?
For example- I want the ad to appear only if the blog post is at least 10 paragraphs long. Is there any way to add that criteria to the site specific code you provided? The ad should appear only if the minimum para criteria has been satisfied.
Any help would be appreciated!
Arun
pawan says
Not working at all.. I help try all the steps but it doesn’t work. Any help.!!
Antonia says
My functions.php file is full of stuff. Where exactly do I paste the code? Thank you!
WPBeginner Support says
At the end of the file. If you have a
?>tag at the end, then paste the code before it.Admin
Srijan Singh says
Hey, I added above codes to my functions.php file but then I got these errors:
Warning: session_start(): Cannot send session cache limiter – headers already sent (output started at /home1/srijan1998/public_html/football2mania.com/wp-content/themes/gameday/functions.php:1320) in /home1/srijan1998/public_html/football2mania.com/wp-content/plugins/accesspress-social-counter/accesspress-social-counter.php on line 139
Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /home1/srijan1998/public_html/football2mania.com/wp-content/themes/gameday/functions.php:1320) in /home1/srijan1998/public_html/football2mania.com/wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 1228
so I decided to logout my dashboard, i tried to login back by going to my w-admin page, these are errors showed up on blank screen.
I’m just not able to login, could you help please?
WPBeginner Support says
Please see our guide on what to do when you are locked out of WordPress admin area. Remove the code from the functions file.
Admin
Solomon says
Please where do I implement this code in the functions.php file. You didn’t mention to insert the code after a specific line. Thanks
Donovan says
Thanks for the plugin. However, when I deselect the posts and pages options in the settings section it will not save that setting.
Either posts or pages or both have to be checked for the settings to be saved.
Is there a way around this?
Denis says
Hi,
Plugin works fine but how can i center the div class?
display: block margin left right auto; text-align: center….nothing works :/
Thx
Raymond says
Cool! Thanks for the great tip. I manage to add my banner in every page and post.
Cheers!
Husnain Naz says
Can you please tell me how can i display the ad before 1st paragraph. I am using div float right and would like to display the ad beside first paragraph
Indy says
Hi,
Great code snippet. How can you use it to add more than one advert? I need to add two adverts inside the post. This works great for the first one after paragraph 10 but when I tried adding:
if ( is_single() && ! is_admin() ) {
return prefix_insert_after_paragraph( $ad_code2, 16, $content );
}
where $ad_code2 is the second adsense code, it shows nothing?
Any help on this will be highly appreciated
Thanks
Indy
toxicchili says
Don’t return the content before you have added both ads.
if ( is_single() && ! is_admin() ) {
$content = prefix_insert_after_paragraph( $ad_code1, 10, $content );
$content = prefix_insert_after_paragraph( $ad_code2, 16, $content );
return $content;
}
I implemented a loop add the code in for each adverts before returning the content.
In my example I am actually storing my adverts in a database then based on the targeting criteria I return an object with all the adverts for the specific ad unit placement. It them loops and add each advert. I have used various different classes in my plugin, so you will need to change the function name to suit yours.
if ( is_single() && ! is_admin() ) {
$adverts = $this->get_ads_query(3);
foreach($adverts as $advert){
$content = $this->insert_into_content( stripslashes_deep($advert->code), 2, $content );
}
return $content;
}
Anubhav says
Hi Indy
You can use the other filter
Given code this
add_filter( ‘the_content’, ‘prefix_insert_post_adsNew’ );
function prefix_insert_post_adsNew( $content ) {
$ad_code = ‘Ads code goes here’;
if ( is_single() && ! is_admin() ) {
return prefix_insert_after_paragraph( $ad_code, 10, $content );
}
return $content;
}
This should work . Do not remove the previous filter just add this below the existing filter
Markart says
You are great! thanks for second ads filter. but some posts have not enough paragraph count.
It does not have the total count of paragraphs. I want to add to the end of the post in the second filter.
How do I do it? sorry for my english thanks!
Kabo says
I’m afraid the code isn’t working anymore.. any tips?
Does it need to be under Single.PHP for some themes maybe?
Evelina says
The plugin does not work on my blog
Mr B says
Thank you for this code. Wow, it did exactly what I needed.
elena says
Hi I just downloaded the plugin and it is exactly what I needed.
However I have a question which I hope you can answer.
I have a lot of articles where my ads don’t apply to. Is there a way to just add the ad when I need it?
I know you have the option to include o or exclude from the current and future posts but what about the old posts? Do I have to do this manually?
arpan says
Hey , will the code method conflict with the auto social media post?
Raquel Smith says
Hello! I am looking to add a custom Pin It button after every first image in my posts. It seems like this method might work. How do I have it show up after the first image, not the first tag? Thanks!
habeeb says
wow! I loveth this. Thanks for the brainwave. But can I install the plugin to add ads, and at the same time I used the code method as well?
Urgent reply Pls…
WPBeginner Support says
Yes you can do that.
Admin
Ivan says
Yes you can do that but why? Keep in mind that your site safety is comprimitted by using plugins for every little thing you want. This code works and there is no need for extra plugin.
Joseph says
Can you please support for floating left or right ads in single post?
Wayne Elliott says
Plus one. Great plugin. The ability to right align and wrap content around next paragraph (float: right?) would be great. I fiddled around with WP custom css for #boxmap but could not get it right. Any tips.
malik says
How can i make the ads align to the center of the post.
Mohammed says
You can do either style the div element or add Your Ad code here tag to align the ads in center of the post.
Hope it helps.
george says
I’ve installed the plugin and choose the setting ‘post’ but the Addoesn’t show anywhere within the post. I’ve also added the code above to the functions.php file but it didn’t work either and was just a blank page. Can you please help
mahesh says
when i put the code in functions.php its comming database error
Xiao says
You have to remove the <?php tag and paste the rest of the code in functions.php file.
Nate says
How would this function work if you wanted to add two ads. Say one after the 2nd paragraph and then another one after the 4th paragraph?
Michael says
Yes it would be good to know how to do this? I would also like to add in another advert in paragraph 4 for example but duplicating the code results in an error
Favour Ikandu says
Please I’m new to blogging and ads, not to talk of the codes. I want to know if its possible to to add the AdSense code in posts using a smartphone.
Nabeel says
Hi, wanted to know that why do you have above the fold ad on your site?
Please elaborate, as I read it’s bad for seo?
WPBeginner Support says
We do not have any ads above the fold. We have a banner which expands and shows links to different sections of our website. We also don’t think that above the fold ads are bad for SEO unless they are disruptive. Particularly on mobile devices, ads placed just before the content make it difficult for users to tap on links.
Admin