6 – ADD ADVERTS

Google Adsense

If google hadn’t done enough to change the way we use the internet by creating Google.com and Google Adwords they just went another step further and created Google Adsense!

Google Adsense was started in May 2003 and it enabled website owners to display advertiser’s adverts who had signed up to Google Adwords.  It has revolutionised the way advertising is conducted on the internet.  You no longer need to approach individual advertisers to get them to advertise on your site and implement some kind of payment system because Google does this all for you.

All you need to do is sign up, generate some code by pointing and clicking your mouse and then copying and pasting this code in to your site.  Then you will get an advert that looks like:

appearing on your site.

Every time someone clicks on the advert (and you can have up to 12 of these on your site)  you get paid anywhere between 1c and $100.  Yes, that is $100.  The most I have ever been paid is $19.50 (approx £10) but there are some serious internet marketers out there in niche industries (which they keep very hush hush) where serious amounts of money are being paid for clicks.

Google pays you a percentage of whatever the advertiser has to pay.  So if an advertiser in the UK is willing to pay £2 for a click and their ad is displayed on your site and it gets clicked Google will give you a share of that £2, paid in US dollars.  The exact share is a mystery to me because Google doesn’t tell you how much you get.  Nor do they let you choose what ads get displayed on your site or tell you what you are likely to expect to get from the ads.  You only find out once someone has clicked on the ad and you see what you get paid.

This is one of the most frustrating thing about Google Adsense but also quite a challenging sport!  You have no control over what is displayed on your site or what you get paid.  This is all up to google.  The only choices you have are:

1.     How many ads appear on your site

2.     Where they appear

3.     What colours the ads are

4.     The content around the adverts

And that’s it.  This is why it is an art form.  Subtle changes can yield massive results.  Google gets robots to “read” your site and guess what your site is about and then add adverts they think are relevant to your site.  All you can do is 1 to 4 above to make the right adverts appear so you get paid well.

The way to profit from adsense is to tweak points 1 to 4 above to get the result of getting your Google ads clicked.  When your readers click you get paid.

Adding Google Ads To Your Site  
1. When you’re in the website editor go to: website/edit/pages and then click on the page you want to add the adverts.

2.When you are in the page editor click on the icon ‘<>’ and then the HTML code will be displayed.

3.Paste the code from Google adsense at the top or the bottom of all the code.  Do not try to read the code.  It is possible to make sense of the code but for starters just add it at the top and the bottom.

4. Click on “Save page>>>” and then preview the page by clicking on “View” next to the page name.

You should now see google ads on your site.  If not repeat the copy and paste again as the website editor can sometimes be tempremental.

Adding A Google Search Box To Your Site

Instead of cicking on “Adsense for content” click on “AdSense for search”.  Here google will guide you through generating the code for your site by pointing and clicking.  Once the code is generated follow stages 1 to 4 above and your google search field will appear.

Now every time someone searches through your google search box and clicks on a sponsored ad generated from the search then you will get paid.  Now just have a think about that.  Every time some uses your search box you potentially stand to earn every time.  Just imagine if you could get a user to perform all their searches using your box then you stand to make a fair bit from this user.  On average someone searches via google 3 times a day which equates to 90 searches a month.  If they click on a sponsored ad 10% of the time paying an average of 25c per click then each user you have is worth 90 x 10% x 25c = $2.25.  So if you can get 2000 users to use your site then you stand to make:

$2.25 x 2000 = $4,500 per month.

There are many that are going after this market and actually succeeding.  This is because since the search results are generated by google there is no loss of search quality to the user using your search box over google’s as they are exactly the same.  So if you provide better content around the search box than google (which isn’t hard to do!) users will be tempted to put you as their homepage as you’ve got more of what they’re interested in.

Now that’s the basics of Google Adsense.  if you do get confused with their really user friendly program Google adsesne has excellent help sections to help you out.  The difficult part which google doesn’t help you with is helping you to get your ads clicked!

Don’t worry.  When I discovered google adsense back in early 2005 I soon got the hang of it.  By February 2006 I was earning on average $500 a day.  My record day was $2,302!!!!!  I got so good at adsense that I wrote an eBook about it and I still sell it for £49.95.  But seeing I’m kind of a generous guy I thought I would include in this book for FREE.  Its called No Nonsense Adsense and its all about getting the most revenue out of Google Adsense.  So here it is……..

No

Nonsense

Adsense

A Comprehensive Guide on Improving Adsense Revenue

Index: 

-         Introduction

-         Section 1: Can I Make Money With Adsense?

1A – Why Google Adsense?

1B – What do I have to do?

1C – Is this legitimate?

1D - Playing with Adsense

1E - The outcome

1F - Why should I spend time on Adsense?

-         Section 2: How to optimise and tweak Adsense

2A - Should I blend in or not?

2B - Which size ads should I use?

2C - Any Adsense to avoid?

2D – Using images to improve click-rates

2E – When not to use these techniques

2F - 10 Key Tips When Designing Your Site

-         Section 3: Google Adsense Resources

Introduction

This eBook has been written with the assumption that the reader has a basic understanding and some experience of google adsense. The idea of this eBook is to make the reader aware of how small yet significant tweaks can greatly improve and boost the google adsense income from a content-filled website.

Section 1: Can I Make Money With Adsense?

Why Google Adsense?

Google Adsense, if used in the correct manner, can prove to be a very fruitful revenue generator for Google, Advertisers and most importantly, provide a healthy income for you.

What do I have to do?

In simple terms, create a content filled website, insert some adsense scripts into your code and put your site online. With the right marketing, and using our strategy for Adwords, you sit back and watch the dollars roll in.

Is this legitimate?

If you visit every other site say, you are more likely than not to see some adsense strewn across the page. This is completely legitimate and as long as you comply with the terms and conditions of Google Adsense, then you’re completely fine!

Have you ever clicked on google adsense? I initially thought that hardly anyone clicks on these links, but I was wrong. Are you a clicker or not? Well, you don’t need to answer that as there seems to be a lot of people who want to click in the google links shown to them as visitors are interested in that product, be it insurance or pottery classes. However, it is highly likely that at some point during your surfing life that you have clicked on a link whether you knew it was sponsored or not as you saw something that you, the visitor, got drawn to.

Generally, it doesn’t matter what type of website you have, Adsense can substantially increase your online profits. What we are doing with this eBook is inform you of ways to increase the revenue generated from Google Adsense.

Playing with Adsense

I am doing what you are doing right now with Adsense. This is why you are here. You have heard of people making hundreds or even thousands of pounds a week through online clicks and you just don’t seem to be able to. I was there at one point during my initial try out with adsense a couple of years ago, but using key techniques outlined in this eBook, you too can significantly boost your adsense income.

It took me a good six months to realise that something had to be done. Enough was enough. For every pound I was spending, I was making a mere 8 or 10 pence. This would be fine if I had a 10,000 visitors a week clicking through on adsense, meaning I would make a shade under £10,000 a week, but I wasn’t even getting 1000 people coming onto the site, never mind clicking the adsense links. So, in conjunction with setting aside whole evenings working on improving Adwords, I would also look at ideas on how I can make the Adsense more appealing once I had a visitor to the site.

The outcome

I know I and other so called experts on Adsense have a lot to learn from this fast changing technology, but spending a little time playing with Adsense and Adwords has improved my adsense income from £3 a day to over £250 a day. This dramatic improvement comes with simple techniques that I will expose in this eBook. You do not need to spend hundreds or even thousands of pounds on an e-marketer who promises to get you on the first page of Google results.

Why should I spend time on Adsense?

The income I generate from Adsense pays for my hosting, the website maintenance, pays wages of some of my employees and leaves a little left over for me to re-invest elsewhere. At the start of my adsense campaign I was making a couple of pounds a week. Now I make thousands of pounds a week and this is improving month on month. Sure, I’m not a millionaire from it, but if I can apply the same techniques over and over to a tried and tested method, then there’s no reason for me not to command a regular six figure income from this by the near future. That’s why it proves beneficial to spend some time perfecting your adsense on your pages.

Section 2: How to optimise and Tweak Adsense

Every other site has some google adsense strewn across the site somewhere. When I say every other, I mean small business types

Once you have registered for an account with Adsense, you will have to decide where you're going to put it. If the site is being built from scratch, then it’s much easier to place your ads. If it’s an older site that you have, then it’s OK, but will be a little more troublesome to incorporate the Adsense.

People have two different strategies to the general introduction of adsense:

1. Making the adsense blend in with the background
2. Making it stand out somewhat (but not overbearing or disorganised) like this site: www.propertysourcer.com

The worst thing to do would be to paste the adsense code randomly, where you’ll end up with a really ugly site, where it is blatant that you are just offering links/clicks/spam.

To get an idea of how to place the ads, google has offered heat maps to give you an indication of how they think visitors will most gain exposure to the ads.

Should I blend in or not?

Answer Person A: Yes!

This is a tricky one. I generally blend my ads in. This means that I try and make it look like it is part of the site, because it is! I want to make money for my advertisers, which means more money for me, so I try and make it look like the links are relevant to their interests. If they have typed in the relevant key word on google search, then they should find the ads of high relevance.

How do I blend in?

Three key points:

       Lose the border – this can be done by making the border the same colour as the background

       Correspond the text font to the font on the ad write-up – You should also change the colour to fit in with the colour of the text.

       Lose the url if possible – this is completely legitimate and it only involves you choosing the right ad. You cannot make the colour of the url the same as the background as this is against the rules of adsense. What you can do though, is choose the 728x90 ad size (see below) and when you have 4 ads popping up, the url automatically disappears! Great!

Answer Person B: No!

Some people think that the heading should always remain blue, and this is understandable. Why you may ask? Well, people have always associated the dark blue colour with a link. So if they are to click on something, it will be the one that stands out as a link through! I don’t use this strategy, but it has proved beneficial for some.

Which size ads should I use?

Google has published a list of the highest performing ad sizes:

       336x280 large rectangle

       300x250 medium rectangle

       160x600 wide skyscraper

I generally put a 728x90 banner across the top and on the bottom. Even though this is not mentioned in the top 3, FOR ME, it has been the most profitable. Again, I reiterate how it is important to play around and keep an eye on your statictics. What works for some, doesn’t necessarily work for others.

The next best performing size for me is the 300x250 medium rectangle. I have in the past used the skyscraper, but it didn’t work for me, and this is the reason why: My sites are full of content. Content means, space. I felt I was wasting space using a 160x600 skyscraper, and this has been justified by the increase of my adsense clicks.

Any Adsense to avoid?

In my eyes, and pretty much in everyone else’s eyes, yes, there is one that you should try and avoid. The 468 x 60 banner has become so apparent on the internet, that it is claimed that users of the internet have developed a natural blindness to any 468 x 60 banner as we automatically register this shape and size of banner with advertisements. “Annoying, non-releveant, spamming” 468 x 60 banner is what signals in our heads and we automatically overlook it. Very much like advertisements on TV when an ageing, over-tanned man in a grey suit starts talking out insurance or “consolidating your loan” advertisements on TV, we tend to ignore it as we automatically register it as a crummy company with something sub-standard to sell. Whatever the scientific reasoning behind it, it is generally agreed that this option should be avoided and it is one of Google Adsense’s lower earning banners.

Using Images to Improve Click Throughs

Have you ever thought about using images to correspond to the google adsense listings? This legitimate way of adding a bit of life to your adsense is easily done on the 728x90 board which usually holds four ads like the following:

This is fine as it is, but once images are applied, the vast improvement in clickthroughs is really significant. The idea is to relate your content, write ups and images to the advertisements that come up. You should note that sometimes the 728 x 90 board will hold three advertisements as opposed to four, but the latter is more the case than not.

!!! EXTRA TIP !!! Do you notice how the url disappears on the 728 x 90 board when 4 advertisements come up. Try it for yourself and see. This makes it look less like a blatant advertisment and when tied in with a relevant image, makes it a worthwhile clickthrough for visitors. It’s not tricking anyone, nor is it illegitimate against the rules of Google adsense. It’s just polishing the rough edges.

Can you see how this has improved the aesthetic appeal of the clickthroughs? It really does have a great effect on the clickthroughs. Test it for yourself and see the improvements. The key remark is relevant images.

You should note that generic/non-trade images should be used and not images that correspond to a particular brand or a specific type of consumer based product as this will firstly distract the person clicking and make them wonder about the image for too long and most importantly, you could contravene the regulations of Google Adsense.

Does Affiliate Links Affect Adsense income?

(To find out what an affiliate link is go to page xx)

It depends. If it can spruce up and add content to your page, then it should not really be a problem as long as they are affiliate links that pay out. It is no good having a 336X250 placard on the site that gets you a £3 commission every couple of months. You need to either:

1. Review the affiliate link and choose a better paying merchant
2. Remove the link altogether

What you do with the remaining space is up to you, but again, I stress: Content is Crucial.

A good way to see if the links are having a positive or negative impact is to take the affiliate link down for two weeks and see how your adsense takings have changed for that page.

It also depends on what affiliate links you are using and whether they offer high click throughs. I get a good return on the affiliate links as they are finance related which pay out highly for visitors filling out their loan applications, mortgage applications, finance tracking, credit card leads, advice online and so on. So what it is important is what your affiliate links offer and if they ADD RELEVANCE to the site. The finance affiliates usually pay anything between £2 to £115 for each lead, and I usually get around eight to ten applications a week through this, amounting to roughly £250 - £1,000 every week! So in this case, the affiliate links are definitely staying online.

When Not To Use These Techniques

In my experience, adsense doesn’t generate the best revenue through the following situations:

1. Placed in forums

Why not you may ask? Well, it’s not that they don’t work, they’re just not relevant. For example, if your forum is on holidays, then someone will be writing about car rental, holiday insurance, bikinis, flip-flops, sun cream etc the list goes on and on. In such a mish-mash page where anything is being discussed, adsense click throughs will not be as high as the adsense targets words on the page to match advertisers. With such varied topics going on, you will also get a wide variety of google adsense.

So you may ask, should I not bother with adsense on forums? Yes, Yes and Yes!  It takes 2 minutes to do and the ads do get clicked even though at a much lower click thru rate.

The tip I can give you is to use 728 x 90 leaderboard across the top of the page or maybe a 336 X 250 underneath a placard with “latest forum postings” or something of that ilk.

1. Your site does not conform to AdSense program policies

Anything that violates the agreement with Adsense or content that is not suitable to host the adsense. This means that any content that promotes pornography; gambling, drug use or any illegal activity is unsuitable for AdSense use. You are also forbidden from using AdSense to promote alcohol, tobacco, counterfeit goods and other controversial products or services.

I strongly recommend you do not even try to violate their policy as they will switch your account off, keep your dollars and not let you re-apply for an adsense account.  I have seen it happen to someone.  They had a great idea, played about slightly with the code (which is another violation of Google policy) and they just booted him out WITHOUT any explanation. 

iii.                Placed in blogs

It is really difficult to get paid on blogs. Many bloggers complain of the low CTR’s. If you want to put it on a blog then remember that you can still use a blog as your online diary or journal, but nowadays it's more profitable as a commercial blog

1. Your website gets too much traffic

The basic AdSense program is geared for small-to-medium sites. If your site gets significant traffic, look into the Google AdSense Premium Service (http://services.google.com/ads_inquiry/ct)

1. The ads are simply unsuitable 

Although Google does its best to find targeted advertisements that are relevant to a page's content, sometimes that targeting fails and unsuitable ads are shown.

1. You make more money by keeping visitors on your site

The fundamental premise of pay-per-click advertising is that you're willing to send your visitors elsewhere in return for some kind of payment. If AdSense is your only form of revenue then this is an acceptable trade-off. If, however, your site makes you more from other programs, you should consider whether or not losing some of your visitors to pay-per-click ads is worth it.

10 Key Tips When Designing Your Site

Section 3: Google Adsense Resources

The following pages can be found about Google adsense Adsense Homepage

Adsense Support

Adsense Glossary

Google Guide to Adsense

Google Adsense Terms of Service

Google Adsense types

Google Adwords

Examples of my Adsense built pages:

Property: www.propertyhotspots.net

Investment: www.ahuja.co.uk

Search: www.propertyinvestmentsearch.com

Click here to download the complete book as PDF

CLICK FOR NEXT CHAPTER