One of the ways to earn some money your blog is by utilizing AdSense; this advertising program will work with just about any blog and if you receive enough traffic, it can be very lucrative.
AdSense puts relevant ads on your blog after you sign up and insert a few lines of code into your blog; some WordPress themes聽 allow this code to be inserted easily. If your theme does not make it a breeze to enter the AdSense code, you can always use a plugin. Don鈥檛 be intimidated, it is easy to do. The good thing about AdSense is that the ads are displayed based on the content of your blog, so readers only see ads that will likely appeal to them, increasing the chances that they will click on them.
AdSense operates by pairing relevant ads with your content. As long as your blog has enough content to support a few text ads, you will be able to run a few non intrusive ads along the side of your blog.
If your blog is hosted independently, chances are you will be able to make the necessary modifications. If you blog on a network or on another site, you will have to check to see if it is compatible with AdSense, many are. If you are using a site like WordPress.com (and your site address is something like YourDomain.WordPress.com – they you will not be permitted to use Adsense – see Switch Your Hosted Site To Your Own Site).
To get started with AdSense, go to www.adsense.com and sign up. It is free to use AdSense and if you have an existing Google account you can use it as your AdSense account as well. Signing up with AdSense is free, but you must provide tax information and report your earnings.
You then choose what type of ads you want to be displayed on your blog. You have the choice of text ads that run along the top, side, or bottom of your blog or graphic ads that display an ad with a picture on your blog, either in a size like a banner ad or in a smaller size.
AdSense is a cost per click advertising program, which means that every time that a visitor clicks on an ad in your blog you get paid. Google does not disclose exactly how much you make for each click before you sign up, but you can track your daily, weekly and monthly earnings once you have started running AdSense and calculate how much you are making per click.
If you do not have a large readership base, most types of monetization on your blog will probably not be successful and AdSense is no exception. The more people you have clicking your ads, the more money you make. Earnings will vary widely depending on how many visitors you receive and if your blog is very popular you can make a good income from AdSense alone.
If you are interested in more information on driving traffic to your site, check out Steve Word
Yep, easy way to make some money. I haven’t had a huge amount and some times wonder at the ads that are placed but every little bit of income is good.
I agree, Shawn! With enough mini-sites, however, the money can add up! Most clicks only get you a few cents (maybe a quarter if you are lucky 馃檪 ) so this certainly is not a get rich way! AdSense is just one very passive way to supplement your income stream.
What about google affiliate network. Is this a profitable venture?
Any affiliate program can be profitable, Laura, if the products are good, the price is reasonable, your market has an interest, and value is provided! The difference with the G.A.N. and AdSense is that the ads displayed on AdSense will constantly be changing based on the content on your page. When you place an affiliate banner, that banner stays until you change it or remove it.
Thanks for stopping by!
I am researching AdSense right now for my blog. How do you know how much traffic will be enough to generate income and what ideas do you have for generating traffic.
There is no easy answer for this question. Each niche and ad will have an amount per click that is different. You get paid when someone clicks on the ad. Someone else is paying to have that ad placed on your site by Google. For example, I might pay $2.50 per click for my mortgage site. If Google puts that ad on your site (because you mentioned your mortgage on your post), you might get paid $1.00.
Now, I might pay $0.35 per click for my Gratitude site. If that link is on you AdSense site, you might only get $0.09.
Make sense?
Great post Paul. Like some of your other readers, I’m one who has still not quite seen enough adsense revenue to meet their payment threshold. But it’s still nice to see a few dollars trickling in from pages that people visit.
That is a nice way of thinking of it, Loralee! I do not count on a big AdSense check myself, but it is nice when that threshold gets broken and the check comes in. 馃檪
Interesting information Paul, does this mean that the more visitors we have the more we get paid?
Which is the most important criterion the niche we are in or the number of visitors?
I was wondering if there is a way to increase the number of visitors on our site using adsense!
Thanks for your advice!
Hi Patricia –
Driving traffic to your site will get your visitors, however, there is no guarantee that they will click on an AdSense link or purchase anything on your site.
AdSense will not increase the number of visitors on your site. You have to search for traffic methods to do that.