Adsense income

Adsense income is a key part of any content based website's monetization strategy.

Notice I mention content based websites?

Google's ad hosting program is the perfect partner for a page that has been keyword optimized.

Google adverts placed on a page which has been properly constructed will deliver beautifully targeted links which pinpoint your user's needs with absolute precision.

Take this page as an example of how effective these ads really are.

My keyword for this page is adsense income ... look at the ads that have been delivered in each of the three blocks on this page, and note how precisely they tie in with the content.

Get the keywording wrong however and Google will deliver ads which are irrelevant to your surfing audience - and therefore they won't generate you an online income by clicking on your ads.

Generating Adsense income for beginners

A few basics to note about this ad revenue program:

• Adsense is an advert placing system ... it places ads on other people's websites
• The ads are bought and paid for via Google's Adwords program
• Google uses its incredible searching powers to place the adverts in the best positions
• Adsense adverts are contextually based ... that means that they are based on the content of each web page
• You generate income from Google Adsense, you pay for adverts with Google Adwords
• If you run multiple websites or blogs, you can run Adsense across all of these, however, you should just sign up for the one account with Google

To get started generating your own Adsense income all you have to do is to sign up via the login page, shown above.

You should read the Google Adsense Programme Policies as these outline a few essentials about things you must and must not do.

The list below is by no means a replacement for reading these terms properly, but here's an overview of the type of 'rules' you'll encounter:

• Don't click on your own adverts
• Don't change the Adsense code
• Don't pay or encourage other people to click ads on your account
• Do check the webmaster guidelines to make sure your site meets Google's standards
• Do place a Privacy Policy on your website which meets Google's requirements

Practical matters for generating Adsense income

I'll be covering Adsense income in greater length as this website develops, but here are a few fast-track tips to help you get it right from the start.

Google makes it pretty clear how to actually create the adverts and generate the code, but there are some practical matters that you only really pick up through experience:

• You are using 'Adsense for content' at the moment ... there are 5 other options on offer, but the first option is what you start with.
  
• Channels take a bit of getting your head around, but let me tell you how I organize mine for absolute precision:
  
  - I use URL channels and I create a URL channel for every individual page on my websites
  - I then create regular channels for each website which I call 'Top', 'Middle' and 'Bottom' ... so 'web-work-at-home TOP', 'web-work-at-home BOTTOM' etc.
  - In addition, I add a channel for each individual website ie 'web-work-at-home.com' ... this means that when I get my breakdowns of sales made, I can see a) how much each website as a whole has generated b) which ad position is working best for me c) which pages are performing well for me
  - When I get a click/sale on a page, Google provides me automatically with detailed analytics on my account. Using this system means I can tell which individual page bought the sale and which ad placement on that page yielded the result and which websites are bringing in the most income
  - Over time, as I experiment with ad sizes, colouring and placement, I can work out precisely what works for each page
  - I use 250x250 ads at the top and middle of the page, and a 468x60 ad at the bottom of the page and I label clearly with titles like '250x250 Top RHS WWAH' where WWAH is web-work-at-home.com
  
• I keep the adsense code for each website saved in a Notepad document for ease of use. I have my web-work-at-home.com adsense income document open at the moment, and I just 'cut and paste' my code into the page as I'm working. This saves time constantly having to refer back to the Adsense pages to get your code.
  
• Make sure your ads are integrated into your page, and avoid borders because web users perceive the ads to be separated from the main page text when you do this. The ads should feel like they're a part of your page text, and in many ways they are. If you found this page via a search for 'Adsense income' not only have you found exactly what you were looking for, you have also found a number of ads related to this topic which may be of great interest. You're not being sold cat food or winter gloves, you're being offered ads that are totally relevant to your search.
  
• Read and use Google's free ad placement advice as it makes it very clear where the 'hot spots' are on a web page .. it also makes fascinating reading.
  

  

• Download the Firefox browser (below) - it's much more useful to webmasters - and make sure you get the addon called Adsense Notifier. This puts a little graphic at the bottom of your browser which shows you a running tally of how many clicks you've had on your ads and what income they've generated.

How much Adsense income will you generate?

This is the big 'unknown' when it comes to Adsense income.

The answer is 'it depends' which is not a lot of use to you I know!

Nobody can give you an answer to this question for your own particular set of circumstances, but there are some things I can tell you with absolute certainty.

The first and most important thing is that you will not get rich quick via Google Adsense.

It's not your fast ticket to wealth, fame, riches, big cars etc etc.

Actually, there is no fast ticket to that stuff, unless you're fortunate enough to come up with the next ebay or Facebook ... and even those projects took time, commitment and effort to build up from scratch.

So here's what you need to know, the reality of using this program:

• You will make virtually no money if you don't build a content rich, carefully keyworded website
• You will be banned from using Google Adsense if you don't follow and read their rules
• Don't use any dodgy techniques to massage your Adsense income ... honesty and integrity at all times!
• It's possible to build up a respectable revenue stream from Google Adsense but it's unlikely to make you rich.
• Your first aspiration should be to cover your web hosting costs, your second to get a small holiday out of your income. After that you might get a foreign holiday, and if you're really lucky it might pay your mortgage!
• You should use Google Adsense as part of an overall monetization strategy ... don't put all your eggs into one basket.
• None of this will happen if you don't work hard at generating keyword rich, quality content. Remember, there is no 'get rich quick' .. lots of boasts and claims sure, but little evidence to support it.

Finally, if you're serious about generating Adsense income 'Google Adsense for Dummies' is an excellent place to start.

Borrow it from the library, buy a copy or get one second hand, it's well worth a read.

It covers absolutely every aspect of setting up and using Google Adsense effectively, as well as offering lots of practical tips and advice, along with links to useful resources and sources of additional information.

People Search is Exploding on the Internet. Find out how to monetize this trend at Find Who You Are Looking For Here.

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