CC goes in the middle, ya dingus

So you don't know what to do with that Clan Castle.  Troops go in there, you use them sometimes when you attack, it has a pretty clan shield with our name on it.  You should probably just chuck that thing off to the side somewhere to make room for the rest of your defenses.

Or...hear me out here...you could take advantage of the strongest defense you have available to you.

Couple of fun facts!

1. Your CC has the 2nd highest hit points (HP) of all your buildings.  It's essentially a defensive meat-shield.
2. The troops that come out can be a meat-shield of sorts, allowing your defenses to do their business while the attacker's troops deal with your CC.
3. 20-25 level 5 archers (which you're likely to have in your CC) deals 400-500 damage per second (DPS).  That's about ooohhh 300+ more DPS than any other defense you have at TH8.  Your CC is by far your strongest defense.

Having said that, it's also a fragile little flower.  Most skilled players can lure your CC troops out and make them disappear with a single lightning spell.  If you're chucking your CC in just any old place, you're essentially throwing away your most valuable defense.  How do you avoid this?  Put that thing in the center of your base, dummy.  This is what's known as an "unlureable" CC.  Most of the good setups you see here and here have the same thing in common - unlureable CC.

This is all just food for thought.  You can have your strongest defense defending a bunch of empty space like this:

 Or you can have your strongest defense defending all of your goodies, like this:

CC goes in the middle, ya dingus!