Monetization Option: Google Adsense is a Simple Way to Make Money with Your Blog/Site
What is Google Adsense?
Google AdSense is an easy way for website or blog publishers of all sizes to earn money by placing unobtrusive Google ads on their websites or blogs. AdSense also allows you to provide Google search to your site users, while earning money by displaying Google ads on the search results pages.
You’ll make money when users visit your website or blog and click on or view the ads on your pages. The amount of money you make depends on the type of ad. It is free and your can give it a try.
Requirements for Google Adsense Account
For Google Adsense, you do not have to have a website or self-hosted blog to open an account, but you must at least have a free blog account by simply opening one with www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com. After creating a blog of any topic you’re interested in and post at least 2 relevant contents on it; then you can open a Google Adsense account.
Procedure to Open and Setup a Google Account
Go to Google Adsense and sign up for an account. If you do not have a Google account, open one. Once your AdSense application has been approved, you can follow the guide below to get started with AdSense.
The steps below will help you add an AdSense ad unit to your site.
1. Sign into your account and choose the AdSense Setup tab. On the Get Ads page, click the AdSense for Content link to create a standard Google ad unit.
2. Next, select the ad type. Since you’ll be creating a standard ad unit, choose the Ad Unit radio button. To enable the widest selection of ads to display on your pages, leave the drop-down set to Text and image ads (default).
3. Now, take a moment to customize your ads so they’ll match the look and feel of your site or blog. Select the size you’d like from one of ad formats, keeping in mind that larger and wider ad units tend to perform better.
4. Next, select colors for your ads. You choose one of predefined color palettes or create your own. You can view a sample of how the ads will look based on the colors you’ve selected. You might also want to review the tips on choosing colors.
5. If you’re interested in tracking the performance of your ad unit, you can add a channel. Channels provide more granular reports for the performance of specific ad units. If you haven’t created a channel yet, you can skip this step by clicking Continue.
6. Next you’ll be prompted to name your AdSense ad unit. This will allow you to change the appearance or settings of your ad easily through your account in the future, so select a name that will allow you to easily identify this AdSense unit later. For more information about this feature, check out the guide to Managing your Ads.
7. Finally, you need to get the ad code for your AdSense ad unit. Click anywhere inside the grey box to select the code, then right-click and select copy. You can now paste the code into the HTML source code of your site or blog. For details and assistance adding the code to your pages, review the Code Implementation guide.
Watch the “Generating Ad Code” and “Managing Ad Code” and “Optimization Essentials” video in YouTube below
Pros of Google Adsense
You can do whatever you want with it. It’s simple to apply and there are many options to insert Google ads into your blog. You can place a Google banner ad or button ad. You can place it anywhere in your blog or website, but some of them there is a limitation, such as no more that three Google Ads.
Cons of Google Adsense
The down side is you can not control exactly what is displayed on your blog. Google can rotate the ad automatically. So it does NOT work well with all blogs. The reason is you have to tailor the ads to your audience. Make sure you do not annoy your audience with those ads. The goal here is you can educate your audience while you make some money at the same time.
Also you would not make a lot of money out of Google Adsense, but it is a good start.
Note: I use the word “audience” interchangeably with “visitors”
Where should I place Google ads on my pages?
Tips on How to Setup you Google Adsense on you blog/webpages
The best placement for your Google ads varies from page to page and it depends on your content. Here are a few questions to ask yourself when you come to think where you place your Google Ads.
* What is your audience trying to accomplish by visiting your site?
* What do they do when viewing your particular page of your blog or website?
* What do they focus their attention on?
* How can I blend ads into your content area without annoying your audience/visitors?
* How can I keep the page look clean, uncluttered, and inviting?
Certain locations tend to be more successful than others. This “heat map” on the left illustrates these ideal placements on a sample page layout. The co dark orange color(strongest performance) to light yellow (weakest performance). All other things being equal, ad placements above the fold tend to perform better than those below the fold. Ads placed near rich content and navigational aids usually do well because users are focused on those areas of a page.
While this heat map is useful as a positioning guideline, I strongly recommend consider your audience/visitors first when deciding on ad placement. Think about your their behavior on different pages, and what will be most useful and visible to them. You’ll may find that the most optimal ad position isn’t always what you expect on certain pages.
For example, on pages where they are typically focused on reading an article, ads placed directly below the end of the editorial content tend to perform very well. It’s almost as if they finish reading and ask themselves, “What can I do next?” Precisely targeted ads can answer that question for them.
Good Luck on placing your Google Adsense on your blog/site!
You are welcome to post your comment below.
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3 Responses to “Monetization Option: Google Adsense is a Simple Way to Make Money with Your Blog/Site”
Geraldine on January 9, 2010
i also want to make money online that is why i immediately joined the google adsense program and also read a lot about making money on websites and blogs. i am also trying to learn affiliate marketing.
Paul Yun on January 9, 2010
Thanks for your comment, Geraldine. I recommend you keep an eye on my upcoming posts that I will talk about the forums that you should join and learn quite a bit about making money online and about the affiliate marketing. Good luck on your journey.
Plugins: The Best FREE Google Adsense Plugins for WordPress on August 18, 2011
[...] and analysis on where you place the ads and where you should not do. Another aid would be the Adsense heat map that can show you where the visitors or users look at and point their cursor [...]