Adsense for Dummies Like Me
While I officially started blogging in mid-June, prior to that I was experimenting with Adsense ads with little success. However, I have learned some things over the course of the past few months, and though I am not ready to retire on my riches quite yet, the amount I am making is increasing monthly. I am hopeful that with a little luck, I might eventually make it to the minumum $100 payout, which is my ultimate Adsense goal. :D
MAR - $0.03
APR - $0.02
MAY - $0.87
JUN - $6.12
JUL - $6.50 (and the month is not over yet!)
While I am clearly not “making a killing” the amount of small funds I am making has increased and seems to be on an upward turn. Don’t tell John Chow though, he might get jealous of my ridiculously lucrative Adsense endeavors.
So here is what I have learned then about Adsense thus far:
- Put ads on every page - if you are just going to have ads on your home page it is almost not worth it. And put more than one ad unit on each page.
- Make the ads coordinate with your own blog colors. Not only does it look better, but people are more likely to click on the ads.
- You can still make money with Adsense even if you do not have a very high traffic blog. Blogs such as John Chow’s make money just from having people view the page, but you can still make money even with a low traffic blog - so long as they click on your ads.
Google Adsense does have some guidelines that must be followed, keep in mind, and these are very important to ensure that you do not get your account closed suddenly. Here you can view their .
Now, clearly since I am gloating about the approximately $14.00 I have made over the course of several months, I am no expert on monetizing my blog, so here are some information relating to making money with Adsense that I thought I would consolidate for your personal perusal or study:
- from Graywolf’s SEO Blog
- from Quick Online Tips
- from Problogger (8 part series)
I have heard talk that you should not put up Adsense ads until you are getting a lot of traffic. Well that is one rumour I would like to dispel. Think of it this way - you can put up ads even if you are not getting traffic and this will not deter people from visiting, and eventually you might start making a bit of money. Or you can wait until you are getting a lot of traffic, and then put up the ads, and watch as people get a little peeved that all of a sudden there are ads. Devise a monetizing plan early on your blogging career - and people will expect it. Do it later in your blogging career, the outcome might be shocking to some.
P.S. Not only does Google have content ads, but they now offer referral ads… and for some reason I find the mannequin one funny (don’t tell Adsense I am making fun of this :P):
So if you want to start monetizing your site with Google ads, and you have not done so already, then just
Good luck! And remember, John Chow is considered evil by everyone, so don’t do whatever he is doing and get all greedy pants!
Posted: July 17th, 2007 under Blogging For Money.
Comments: 9
or
Comments
Comment from
Time: July 17, 2007, 2:00 am
The one thing that bugs me about AdSense is that I can’t control as much as I’d like. For example, with a blog like mine that makes use of the “drum” theme, I constantly get ads related to drums. As you know, I’m so not about that. I know I can do competitive ad filtering, but in order to find out who those advertisers are, I’d have to commit click fraud to do it, so it’s a catch-22. Aargh!
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 17, 2007, 2:11 am
Yes - I know what you mean - I used to have my seocontest blog hosted on Tripod so my ads were all ads for companies selling camera tripods… :P There are some downsides to this, but I find if you publish ads not on your main index page, but on the single post page, you get a better, more accurate contextual match.
You might want to consider all the new referral ads they have available. Then you can pick what you want in the ads instead of it changing all the time to match your text.
Comment from
Time: July 17, 2007, 2:16 am
All the points you make here are definitely on point, Danielle. However, I find it ironic (though I always misuse this word apparently) that one of your tips includes using colors to match your blog, yet the Adsense ad appearing within this post is using blue links instead of pink links. :)
Well congrats on your earnings so far! I’m sure you’ll reach the $100 minimum for cashing out before you know it. I just hit it a few days ago, and half of those earnings were from just what I’ve earned so far this month. I have high hopes that your blog will do the same. :)
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 17, 2007, 2:35 am
Yeah - I did not change that one because I wanted it to stick out and I don’t want to encourage clicks - I just like the fact that it is an ad for male mannequins!!! But the ad is not for male mannequins as it is supposed to be for some reason which is dumb… so no one gets to laugh at the male mannequins ad so I might just remove it.
I am glad you checked this out - I was hoping you would let me know if I was just talking out of my a**. Congrats on meeting the minimum payout - I look forward to seeing how your recent boom in traffic has affected your blog earnings. John Chow better make some room at the top - HERE COMES MATT HUGGINS!!!
Comment from
Time: July 17, 2007, 3:07 am
Haha, well I haven’t really had many other sources of income contribute to my earnings this month. I was hoping for more advertising earnings this month, whether direct or via Text Link Ads, but nothing has come to fruition there yet. I also haven’t done any sponsored reviews or anything, simply because the opportunities haven’t been suitable for my blog (unless I’m just not applying for those good opportunities in time).
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 17, 2007, 3:38 am
It’s just a matter of time my friend. You have been busy with other projects, and I think following a PR update and as more and more people notice your blog, you will soon have the opportunities flooding in.
Comment from
Time: July 17, 2007, 4:45 pm
I actually did better with only one ad appearing on the page. I have mine in the top right hand corner of my sidebar. A few days ago I started placing ads within the post that are hit the most. Its been five weeks and I’ve made $63.15 at Vegan Momma nothing to brag about but I’m still learning and definitely improving. I usually get a few CPM’s per day.
I also use adsense targeting to that seems to control what ads are placed and what I want ignored generally my ads stay on point with my posts. I have my comments ignored since at times they tend to go “off topic” which is hard to do at Vegan Momma since I write about many things, lol.
Comment from Danielle
Time: July 17, 2007, 4:59 pm
@Opal - Thanks for those helpful tips - I will certainly put them to use, and I am sure that those who read my blog appreciate this from someone who is clearly doing well with Adsense. Good job and thanks for stopping by!!! :)
Comment from
Time: July 19, 2007, 5:43 pm
Great suggestions but what about affiliate ads. If you have a targeted audience you easily make more than you do with adsense even with a low traffic site.
Write a comment