When your blog is big enough, you can then start considering ways to monetize for income. For example, in Part 1, I discussed the importance of “product reviews†and how you can use them to build monetization momentum to your blog. Today, I’d like to look at Google Adsense and how you can use their platform to make enormous money. Google Adsense uses a PPC model for advertising and this means, depending on the niche, you can make a lot of money. Legal and other high paying niches can easily give you $10.00 a click, however, this will depend on the keyword you’re ranking for as well. I remember when I did some research, I noticed the keyword “personal injury lawyer†was paying around $25.00 a click. Imagine, 4-5 clicks a day will net you $100.00 in your Adsense account.
Being able generate money through Adsense does depend on many factors and I’ll be discussing them below. I’ll also be going over how to tweak your Adsense settings to get the MOST out of your monetization strategy. Let’s get started.
Google Adsense Requirements
When referring to “requirementsâ€, I’m talking about what types of websites have done well using Adsense in the past. Getting an account is tough and it’s FREE, however, the approval process can be bit tricky. I’ve noticed if you are niche that’s NOT flooded with competition, then you won’t have a problem getting approved. Next, if Google charges a premium for using the ad network, then it’s much easier to get approved. Here’s an example,
In the law niche, Google charges enormous money per click so it’s in their interest to attract these types of clients, however, they’ll need quality legal websites to post ads on so the approval rate will be much higher. With that said, you have to keep the following in mind as requirements:
- Nice website design, which means policies
- No clutter and easy to navigate
- Competitive niche that’s NOT cluttered with so many other websites
- You have a clean track record with them and NO problems with network
If you meet the criteria, you can apply for their network. Simply use your Google account information and submit some basic information needed to get you started.
Google Adsense Tweaking
I’ve used Google Adsense in the past and it’s all about finding what works so you can focus on that. First, no matter where you are going to place your ad, it’s important to name them all. If they are going in the sidebar, name them “sidebar†or in footer will be “footer homepageâ€. Why is this so important? You’re trying to find out where the clicks are coming from so you can continue to tweak those ones going forward. Next, this is especially important when first starting out because you don’t know what areas will generate the click-through so you need to keep track.
Next,
You want to keep track of what type of websites are displaying ads on your website. For example, within the backend, you have a section where you can see a list of URL’s being displayed on your site. In that section, visit each site to see the quality of the website and if you’re NOT happy, then block it from being displayed. You’ll also be able to see from what categories with a breakdown by percentage. You’ll want to uncheck any categories you don’t want, like dating, weight loss, and automotive. This will obviously depend on your niche and testing is the right way to find out what’s working, especially in the beginning.
Next,
Try different ad units like image, text, or both to see what works the best for you. Some will find text is better than image or vice versa, however, it’s important to keep track. In the backend of Google Adsense, you’ll be able to get a complete breakdown of CTR depending on ad unit type. In the end, simply stick to the ad unit with the highest conversion because this is where you will obviously make the MOST money.
Many people have found Adsense to be awesome because they show quality ads but it’s very easy to get kicked off. Some have actually complained about losing accounts for NO apparent reason so I always like to have an alternative available just in case. It’s true to never put all your eggs in one basket!