Interested in making money with Google? I have some inspiration for ya!
Here is an AdSense check I scanned from 2006. At the time, it was the largest check I had received in the three years I had been in the program.
I blurred out my address, account number and bank info for privacy reasons, of course.
Note: Today, my Google AdSense earnings are a great deal more than the amount on that check. The reason I do not have a more recent check to display is Google pays me by direct deposit now.
Here's a screenshot of my earnings taken during the middle of November, 2011.
Google.com earns
most of its revenue by
allowing other
website owners to
advertise on their
search result pages.
All this is managed
through a program
they call AdWords.
Now you can earn a share of the revenue that Google earns from AdWords by displaying these same text ads on your site. In other words, you're helping Google advertise and they pay you a percentage (roughly 60%) of what they earn.
This program is called AdSense.
Every website owner should at least consider the program. Even if your site is just for information purposes, you can still participate and make decent money with AdSense -- or at least enough to fund your website.
So if you are one of those people that doesn't like the idea of paying for a site, this is an excellent way to earn your money back and then some.
So it is logical to believe that keyword phrases like debt free, employment, make money, mp3, sex, etc. may earn you more per click since these are highly competitive keywords that are searched for quite a bit on the web.
Advertisers generally pay more for popular terms because they are searched for more.
Even though Google will not reveal how much you are earning for each ad that is clicked from your site, you can still login to your account at any time and see the total amount of revenue you've generated that day, week, month, year, etc.
For example, if you see that you've made $12.60 today from 9 clicks then you can calculate that your average click-thru commission was $1.40 per click. That's as detailed as their stats will get. Also remember, that's only an average. You won't know how much each specific ad brought in.
The amount you'll earn also depends largely on the amount of targeted traffic you receive to your own site, how well the ads match your audience's interests, the placement of the ads on your pages, and of course the amount you receive per click.
Ideally, you should create a site on a topic you know a lot about. That way you'll have a much easier time creating a generous amount of content on that subject.
I
have been
receiving
monthly
checks from
Google
since 2003 (yes that's me holding the same check from above), and I've
read
numerous
success
stories of
websites
earning 5
digit
incomes
per month
with
AdSense.
Now, I will admit, a 5-digit commission in a single month is probably not the norm for most participants.
I promote AdSense on 6 of my websites (2 blogs, a forum and 4 static sites) and my monthly checks are usually around the $7,000 mark.
My sites have been around for a long time and I have a great deal of traffic so that's a big reason why I earn so much. I promote my sites on social media, create YouTube videos etc. Making a lot of money with AdSense is all about numbers. The more traffic you have, the greater the earning potential.
My checks weren't always this large. I think my first month's earnings in 2003 totaled less than $20. However, as my traffic increased, so did my checks.
Update: Sept. 2011: For the record, my earnings are still very strong today and I have beat the record in the video above. See this post I wrote about my AdSense earnings breakdown for August 2011.
The more content you have, the better chance you have getting accepted into the program. Also, the more content, the greater the earning potential. AdSense is nothing but a numbers game. If you want to make a lot of money, prepare to write a lot of content and learn how to market your site.
Now let's talk about building your website. There are two ways you can approach this:
1) Do it Yourself (DIY) from scratch
2) Use Site Build It! (SBI!)
If you use the DIY method, you will have to go and register a domain (yoursite.com) and then sign up for a web host and build your pages.
Decide if you want a static website like this or a blog. If you don't know the difference, this article will help you out.
Averaging between $3 and $10 per month, the DIY method is usually the most cost friendly of the two but you are mostly on your own in terms of learning how to create your web pages and adding the AdSense code to your site.
Web hosts are generally there to house your site. They don't specialize in helping you market and optimize your site for the search engines to help you get traffic. So don't expect a lot from them in terms of helping you market your site and making money with Google AdSense.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. I had to learn how to build this site on my own and it wasn't very difficult.
I now manage all of my static sites with Dreamweaver. My blogs use WordPress.
Use Site Build It
This is a
revolutionary web
host like no other.
I use it for my
site,
flat-stomach-exercises.com,
and after only 11
months the site was
earning over $700 per
month for AdSense
alone.
Two years after launch, the total monthly earnings shot up to $2,000 to $2,500.
Today, the site continues to earn money from AdSense yet I have no products to sell. I'm simply offering information on a topic I know a lot about and SBI showed me how to rank high in the search engines for various keyword phrases. Over 90% of traffic comes from the free search engines.
The reason SBI! is different from the other do-it-yourself hosts is that first it provides all the web page building and marketing help all in one place. Your domain registration, web hosting and marketing help come with the price..
Find out why I think SBI! is best for AdSense.
When you are accepted, simply copy and paste the provided HTML code into any page that you'd like to show the ads. If you've done a good job of defining the content on your web pages, the ads that show should be relevant to the content of your page...increasing the chances of click-thrus by your visitors.
You can either display the ads vertically along side the page like Google does or in a banner-like formation horizontally across your pages. The placement is up to you. You can even customize the colors to match your site's theme.
Build Traffic
AdSense is all about targeted traffic. The more people you have on your site that are actually interested in what you have to offer, the more you will potentially make.
Learn more about traffic building here.
Experiment
Test ad sizes, images vs. text, play around with colors, you name it. I personally like to have my ads match the background of my site so they blend more.
Read a blog post I wrote where my readers and I discuss our best performing ad units/sizes.
Create Channels
Channels allow you to see what units are working best. So if you are adding an AdSense unit to your header, you should create a channel called (name it Header, for example) so you can track its performance in your reports.
I think it's important to maximize your click through rate (CTR) so you can attract more advertisers (just my opinion based on logic.) So I remove channels/units that perform significantly lower than others.
Advertisers want to advertise on sites that will give them the most clicks, right? So it makes sense to optimize your account's CTR as much as you can.
So how do you create channels?
When you are creating a new ad unit, you are presented the option of creating a custom channel on the first screen...
Set Units to "Targeted"
When you target your custom channel units, you make them available to Placement advertisers who may want to advertise on your site directly. These advertisers pay more so you earn more per click.
It's super easy to set this up.
Just click "My Ads" from your account, then select "Custom Channels". Click the channel you want to target and click the box for targeting as illustrated below...
Avoid Free Hosts
I know times are tough economically and a lot of you don't want to pay for a website. But the facts don't lie. Successful website owners invest money. Period.
I have yet to open up a magazine and see a successful site featured hosted on Blogger.com or another free host. Never. And I've been out here since 1998.
If you want the search engines and people to take your site seriously, you have to own your site. And if you don't do this, I question your dedication.
Even if it means you have to wait and save your money for 6 months to buy a domain and hosting. I'd rather you do that then take shortcuts with free hosting.
I cannot tell you how many e-mails I receive monthly from people who regret the decision to start off free. Once they realize the limitations, they decide to move to a paid host and are left with the intimidating task of moving all their files over. Don't put yourself in that situation.
More Tips
Watch the video below to discover more ways to increase your AdSense earnings.
Many times it's because there are not enough pages on your website. I tell people to shoot for at least 15 pages at the very minimum, and make sure your content is very niche -- centered around ONE topic.
Google doesn't like sites that cover too many different topics because it's hard to target ads. The more focused your content is, the better.
Also, check your grammar, spelling, layout etc. Remember you are partnering with Google and they don't like to see messy sites with poor/confusing navigation structures.
This has frustrated a lot of AdSense publishers because many claim they have done nothing wrong and how in the heck does Google define "potential?"
No one really knows.
Remember, Google earns its money from advertising. The ads that appear on your pages are costing someone money every single time a click is registered.
Google is watching clicks like a hawk, especially with newer accounts.
So if they sense A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G out of the ordinary or feel you are getting traffic from places that may may produce bot/automated/fraudulent clicks, they will disable your account to protect their advertiser's money.
They used to disable when they confirmed fraudulent clicks, but now they will disable even if they see potential risk with your account -- whatever that means.
Then they refund the advertiser their money -- which is why you don't receive a check for money earned if you are disabled.
If there was no AdSense program, all of that money we're earning would be Google's anyway. So ultimately it is their money, not ours.
I know that's tough to hear and I can imagine it does feel like your money was taken from you, but when we all "accepted" the terms and conditions upon signing up, that is basically what we were agreeing to.
There are no guarantees with AdSense.
Now I do believe that the system has kinks, and I believe some innocent people are disabled, but that's why you cannot put all your income eggs in one basket. Google has to protect their advertiser's money.
No one is safe from getting banned... not even me... and it's just one of those things that comes with the territory if you decide to join the AdSense program.
Google will always safeguard their advertisers because they are their customers -- not us. And if they feel their money is being wasted on fraudulent clicks (even if it's only potential), they won't stand for it.
Media.net
AdBrite
Chitika
Kontera
Infolinks
Clicksor
Don't ever depend on AdSense as your main income source. Diversify and learn to make money in other ways.
I can show you how to setup a niche website and I dedicate an entire chapter to AdSense and earning strategies in my book, Niche Website Success.
Here is an AdSense check I scanned from 2006. At the time, it was the largest check I had received in the three years I had been in the program.
I blurred out my address, account number and bank info for privacy reasons, of course.
Note: Today, my Google AdSense earnings are a great deal more than the amount on that check. The reason I do not have a more recent check to display is Google pays me by direct deposit now.
Here's a screenshot of my earnings taken during the middle of November, 2011.
What is Google AdSense?
AdSense is a nice way to monetize your traffic, and very easy to implement. It's one of my top earners and has been since 2003. (See the video about my earnings further down.) |
Untold Facts About
AdSense you need to know in order to succeed with the
program! Yes, the money can be great, but if you don't learn how to build a site that attracts targeted traffic then you won't make much from AdSense. Don't pay a cent for these "Get Rich Quick" books on AdSense. Many of them are all hype. Learn all you need to know for free. Right click and "Save As" to download this book. |
Now you can earn a share of the revenue that Google earns from AdWords by displaying these same text ads on your site. In other words, you're helping Google advertise and they pay you a percentage (roughly 60%) of what they earn.
This program is called AdSense.
Every website owner should at least consider the program. Even if your site is just for information purposes, you can still participate and make decent money with AdSense -- or at least enough to fund your website.
So if you are one of those people that doesn't like the idea of paying for a site, this is an excellent way to earn your money back and then some.
How AdSense Works
Don't like to read a lot of text? Watch my 4-minute video on how AdSense works.How Much Can You Earn With AdSense?
The commission you receive per click depends on how much advertisers are paying Google for the particular ad. You will earn a share of that amount. I've heard of earnings anywhere from 2 cents to $15 per click.So it is logical to believe that keyword phrases like debt free, employment, make money, mp3, sex, etc. may earn you more per click since these are highly competitive keywords that are searched for quite a bit on the web.
Advertisers generally pay more for popular terms because they are searched for more.
Even though Google will not reveal how much you are earning for each ad that is clicked from your site, you can still login to your account at any time and see the total amount of revenue you've generated that day, week, month, year, etc.
For example, if you see that you've made $12.60 today from 9 clicks then you can calculate that your average click-thru commission was $1.40 per click. That's as detailed as their stats will get. Also remember, that's only an average. You won't know how much each specific ad brought in.
The amount you'll earn also depends largely on the amount of targeted traffic you receive to your own site, how well the ads match your audience's interests, the placement of the ads on your pages, and of course the amount you receive per click.
Ideally, you should create a site on a topic you know a lot about. That way you'll have a much easier time creating a generous amount of content on that subject.
My Google AdSense Earnings
I
have been
receiving
monthly
checks from
Google
since 2003 (yes that's me holding the same check from above), and I've
read
numerous
success
stories of
websites
earning 5
digit
incomes
per month
with
AdSense. Now, I will admit, a 5-digit commission in a single month is probably not the norm for most participants.
I promote AdSense on 6 of my websites (2 blogs, a forum and 4 static sites) and my monthly checks are usually around the $7,000 mark.
My sites have been around for a long time and I have a great deal of traffic so that's a big reason why I earn so much. I promote my sites on social media, create YouTube videos etc. Making a lot of money with AdSense is all about numbers. The more traffic you have, the greater the earning potential.
My checks weren't always this large. I think my first month's earnings in 2003 totaled less than $20. However, as my traffic increased, so did my checks.
AdSense is NOT
an overnight get-rich-quick opportunity. Even though this may look
easy, please don't underestimate the amount of time I've put into my
sites and how much content I've written over many, many years.
My total traffic combined across all my sites is over 30,000 visitors per day. It takes a lot of traffic and time to build up your earnings. This is not a game, people! It's hard work.
My total traffic combined across all my sites is over 30,000 visitors per day. It takes a lot of traffic and time to build up your earnings. This is not a game, people! It's hard work.
Watch Video About My Record AdSense Month in July, 2009
Update: Sept. 2011: For the record, my earnings are still very strong today and I have beat the record in the video above. See this post I wrote about my AdSense earnings breakdown for August 2011.
Creating Your Website for AdSense
Before you even begin your site, make sure you've come up with a topic that you feel you know plenty about. That way it will be easiest to write a lot of content.The more content you have, the better chance you have getting accepted into the program. Also, the more content, the greater the earning potential. AdSense is nothing but a numbers game. If you want to make a lot of money, prepare to write a lot of content and learn how to market your site.
Now let's talk about building your website. There are two ways you can approach this:
1) Do it Yourself (DIY) from scratch
2) Use Site Build It! (SBI!)
The Do It Yourself Method
I've actually used both methods for building my site and there are advantages and disadvantages to both.If you use the DIY method, you will have to go and register a domain (yoursite.com) and then sign up for a web host and build your pages.
Decide if you want a static website like this or a blog. If you don't know the difference, this article will help you out.
Averaging between $3 and $10 per month, the DIY method is usually the most cost friendly of the two but you are mostly on your own in terms of learning how to create your web pages and adding the AdSense code to your site.
Web hosts are generally there to house your site. They don't specialize in helping you market and optimize your site for the search engines to help you get traffic. So don't expect a lot from them in terms of helping you market your site and making money with Google AdSense.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. I had to learn how to build this site on my own and it wasn't very difficult.
I now manage all of my static sites with Dreamweaver. My blogs use WordPress.
Use Site Build It
!
- A Web Host Made for AdSense
This is a
revolutionary web
host like no other.
I use it for my
site,
flat-stomach-exercises.com,
and after only 11
months the site was
earning over $700 per
month for AdSense
alone. Two years after launch, the total monthly earnings shot up to $2,000 to $2,500.
Today, the site continues to earn money from AdSense yet I have no products to sell. I'm simply offering information on a topic I know a lot about and SBI showed me how to rank high in the search engines for various keyword phrases. Over 90% of traffic comes from the free search engines.
The reason SBI! is different from the other do-it-yourself hosts is that first it provides all the web page building and marketing help all in one place. Your domain registration, web hosting and marketing help come with the price..
Find out why I think SBI! is best for AdSense.
How to Join AdSense
Once you have 10-15 pages on your site, go to http://adsense.google.com to apply.When you are accepted, simply copy and paste the provided HTML code into any page that you'd like to show the ads. If you've done a good job of defining the content on your web pages, the ads that show should be relevant to the content of your page...increasing the chances of click-thrus by your visitors.
You can either display the ads vertically along side the page like Google does or in a banner-like formation horizontally across your pages. The placement is up to you. You can even customize the colors to match your site's theme.
Tips on Succeeding With AdSense
Here are some tips for achieving success with Google AdSense.Build Traffic
AdSense is all about targeted traffic. The more people you have on your site that are actually interested in what you have to offer, the more you will potentially make.
Learn more about traffic building here.
Experiment
Test ad sizes, images vs. text, play around with colors, you name it. I personally like to have my ads match the background of my site so they blend more.
Read a blog post I wrote where my readers and I discuss our best performing ad units/sizes.
Create Channels
Channels allow you to see what units are working best. So if you are adding an AdSense unit to your header, you should create a channel called (name it Header, for example) so you can track its performance in your reports.
I think it's important to maximize your click through rate (CTR) so you can attract more advertisers (just my opinion based on logic.) So I remove channels/units that perform significantly lower than others.
Advertisers want to advertise on sites that will give them the most clicks, right? So it makes sense to optimize your account's CTR as much as you can.
So how do you create channels?
When you are creating a new ad unit, you are presented the option of creating a custom channel on the first screen...
Set Units to "Targeted"
When you target your custom channel units, you make them available to Placement advertisers who may want to advertise on your site directly. These advertisers pay more so you earn more per click.
It's super easy to set this up.
Just click "My Ads" from your account, then select "Custom Channels". Click the channel you want to target and click the box for targeting as illustrated below...
Avoid Free Hosts
I know times are tough economically and a lot of you don't want to pay for a website. But the facts don't lie. Successful website owners invest money. Period.
I have yet to open up a magazine and see a successful site featured hosted on Blogger.com or another free host. Never. And I've been out here since 1998.
If you want the search engines and people to take your site seriously, you have to own your site. And if you don't do this, I question your dedication.
Even if it means you have to wait and save your money for 6 months to buy a domain and hosting. I'd rather you do that then take shortcuts with free hosting.
I cannot tell you how many e-mails I receive monthly from people who regret the decision to start off free. Once they realize the limitations, they decide to move to a paid host and are left with the intimidating task of moving all their files over. Don't put yourself in that situation.
More Tips
Watch the video below to discover more ways to increase your AdSense earnings.
Just remember, success with AdSense is all about how well you bring in targeted visitors to your website.
Not Getting Approved?
People often ask me why they can't get approved for AdSense. It's tough to answer because I do not work for Google, so I can only guess.Many times it's because there are not enough pages on your website. I tell people to shoot for at least 15 pages at the very minimum, and make sure your content is very niche -- centered around ONE topic.
Google doesn't like sites that cover too many different topics because it's hard to target ads. The more focused your content is, the better.
Also, check your grammar, spelling, layout etc. Remember you are partnering with Google and they don't like to see messy sites with poor/confusing navigation structures.
Getting Disabled From AdSense
Recently, a lot of publishers have been getting their accounts disabled for "fraudulent or potential fraudulent click activity."This has frustrated a lot of AdSense publishers because many claim they have done nothing wrong and how in the heck does Google define "potential?"
No one really knows.
Remember, Google earns its money from advertising. The ads that appear on your pages are costing someone money every single time a click is registered.
Google is watching clicks like a hawk, especially with newer accounts.
So if they sense A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G out of the ordinary or feel you are getting traffic from places that may may produce bot/automated/fraudulent clicks, they will disable your account to protect their advertiser's money.
They used to disable when they confirmed fraudulent clicks, but now they will disable even if they see potential risk with your account -- whatever that means.
Then they refund the advertiser their money -- which is why you don't receive a check for money earned if you are disabled.
Unfortunately no one really knows exactly what the threshold is for determining your account has "potential fradulent clicks."
And to make things worse, their communication when you are
disabled is automated and there are usually no warnings -- which is
unfortunate and frustrating for people who have done nothing wrong.
There's also no way to reach out for definitive answers and appeals
usually fail.It's Not Our Money... Unfortunately
As frustrating as it is to get disabled from AdSense, keep in mind, Google is SHARING their advertising money with us.If there was no AdSense program, all of that money we're earning would be Google's anyway. So ultimately it is their money, not ours.
I know that's tough to hear and I can imagine it does feel like your money was taken from you, but when we all "accepted" the terms and conditions upon signing up, that is basically what we were agreeing to.
There are no guarantees with AdSense.
Now I do believe that the system has kinks, and I believe some innocent people are disabled, but that's why you cannot put all your income eggs in one basket. Google has to protect their advertiser's money.
No one is safe from getting banned... not even me... and it's just one of those things that comes with the territory if you decide to join the AdSense program.
Google will always safeguard their advertisers because they are their customers -- not us. And if they feel their money is being wasted on fraudulent clicks (even if it's only potential), they won't stand for it.
Google AdSense Alternatives
If you were disabled from the program, here are some alternate programs you can try...Media.net
AdBrite
Chitika
Kontera
Infolinks
Clicksor
Don't ever depend on AdSense as your main income source. Diversify and learn to make money in other ways.
Got Questions?
I'd love to chat with you in my forum where we have tons of discussions about AdSense going on. Register and start chatting with us today!Make More With AdSense By Creating Niche Websites
One of the keys to succeeding with AdSense is to build a niche website that targets a narrowly defined topic. This is the way I've been profiting with AdSense since 2003.I can show you how to setup a niche website and I dedicate an entire chapter to AdSense and earning strategies in my book, Niche Website Success.
