Boost Your Revenue with Google AdSense (7 Tips for Bloggers)
Boost Your Revenue with Google AdSense (7 Tips for Bloggers)
Making money from your blog is a dream of many bloggers. Some people manage to make a living; many more supplement their living or at least get enough beer money to make their efforts worthwhile. One of the key ways to monetize a blog is advertising, and the largest advertising network is Google AdSense.
Unlike many smaller boutique networks, AdSense does not require that your blog already be successful to sign up, but making the most of it means that you have to understand how AdSense works and how to optimize it for your blog. Here are some tips on improving your AdSense revenue that don't require a degree in marketing to understand:
Abide by AdSense Terms and Conditions
The first rule is to follow the rules. Not doing so can result in your losing your AdSense account permanently. Specifically you must not:
- Click on your own ads. (Using an adblocker on your own site can help keep you from doing this by accident, but it also prevents you from checking what ads are visible on your blog).
- Ask people to click on your ads, offer any reward for clicking on your ads, etc. (You can ask people to turn off their adblocker, though).
- Create content that violates the Publisher Restrictions, as this will reduce the number of advertisers willing to advertise on your site.
- Attempt to trick or coerce people into clicking on your ads, including auto redirects.
- Participate in any kind of paid to click program.
- Send unsolicited emails.
- Place ads in pop-ups, emails, software.
- Have pop-ups or pop-unders that interfere with navigation.
- Use an unsupported language.
- Fail to disclose that you have advertising cookies on your site.
- Pass on identifiable information about your users.
- Target users under 13 years.
Basically, most of this is good etiquette anyway (pop-ups are a quick way to get people to leave your blog and never come back, for example).
Place Ads Well
Limit the number of ads above the fold, that is to say where users see them without scrolling. Users get annoyed when ads get in the way of their experience, and Google will penalize you in searches if you have too many above the fold. This particularly goes for ads that are placed within your content.
It's good to have an ad or two above the fold, but make sure that users aren't seeing a forest of ads and no trees of content when they first load your site. If you normally work on a desktop with a large screen, view your site on a laptop with a small one, with any adblockers off, to see if laptop users are going to be overwhelmed by ads. Above-the-fold ads perform far better, but you can't overdo it.
Use a 728×90 leaderboard image ad below the main navigation bar on your homepage, and a smaller rectangle at the top of your blog post. Ads that are wider than they are tall tend to do better.
Integrate Ads into your Site
Use colors for your ad links that already exist on your site, but contrast nicely with your background and borders. Make the background and borders of the ads the same color as your page background so you don't get an ugly frame. However, you should make sure that there is space between ads and your content.
The ads should look like they belong there, but users should also not be mistaking them for part of your site. You may want to try out different styles until you find a format that performs well.
Use Responsive Ads
Your entire blog should use responsive design, allowing it to look good on multiple devices. Make sure that your ads are set as responsive units. This means that when somebody opens your blog on their phone, there's no risk of them seeing nothing but a huge ad. Responsive units may also change the type of ad depending on the device your visitor is using. 60% of web traffic comes from phones and tablets and that number is only going to grow.
Block Ads you Don't Want
Make sure you don't click on ads to get the URL, but keep an eye on what ads show up. You have the ability to blacklist advertisers, and you should block four kinds of ads:
- Ads for your direct competitors. This isn't as much concern for bloggers as some others, but it's something to keep an eye on.
- Ads that you find unacceptable or offensive. These are likely to also be unacceptable or offensive to your readers.
- Ads that just aren't getting you any money or that your readers never click on. MonsterInsights will track AdSense clicks and allow you to see how ads are performing.
- Cheap ads. Some advertisers pay very little per click, and unless you are getting a lot of clicks to that ad, it's wise to block it.
Blocking ads you don't want will increase the ads you do want. You can also reduce irrelevant or inappropriate ads by using the category blocking feature in the AdSense interface. The category blocking feature will tell you which categories are performing poorly. However, you should only block ads that are negatively impacting your revenue. If you block too much then you will not have enough competition for the ad spaces on your site.
Publish Regularly
It doesn't matter how well you optimize your AdSense ads, if nobody is coming to your site you still won't make any money. You need to keep publishing high-quality content on a regular basis. (Having a publication schedule can help). You should also make sure you already have an audience before you start adding ads. You want to be established as an authority in your niche first. This is not a get rich quick plan.
Read Any Emails Google Sends You
Those AdSense publisher emails? Read them. If they're personally sent to you, it might mean that Google is unhappy about something on your site and you need to fix it fast. If not, then they might point to changes in the terms of service or provide useful information on how to optimize your site for AdSense.
AdSense can be a great source of income for your blog, but you need to use it right otherwise it's going to achieve nothing or, worse, actually reduce your readership. If you don't have an AdSense account, now is a good time to set one up. For more tips on how to be a successful blogger, then contact Blog With Ben or join my mailing list to get access to my free ebook, “The Blog Starter Kit.”
Making money from your blog is a dream of many bloggers. Some people manage to make a living; many more supplement their living or at least get enough beer money to make their efforts worthwhile. One of the key ways to monetize a blog is advertising, and the largest advertising network is Google AdSense.
Unlike many smaller boutique networks, AdSense does not require that your blog already be successful to sign up, but making the most of it means that you have to understand how AdSense works and how to optimize it for your blog. Here are some tips on improving your AdSense revenue that don't require a degree in marketing to understand:
Abide by AdSense Terms and Conditions
The first rule is to follow the rules. Not doing so can result in your losing your AdSense account permanently. Specifically you must not:
- Click on your own ads. (Using an adblocker on your own site can help keep you from doing this by accident, but it also prevents you from checking what ads are visible on your blog).
- Ask people to click on your ads, offer any reward for clicking on your ads, etc. (You can ask people to turn off their adblocker, though).
- Create content that violates the Publisher Restrictions, as this will reduce the number of advertisers willing to advertise on your site.
- Attempt to trick or coerce people into clicking on your ads, including auto redirects.
- Participate in any kind of paid to click program.
- Send unsolicited emails.
- Place ads in pop-ups, emails, software.
- Have pop-ups or pop-unders that interfere with navigation.
- Use an unsupported language.
- Fail to disclose that you have advertising cookies on your site.
- Pass on identifiable information about your users.
- Target users under 13 years.
Basically, most of this is good etiquette anyway (pop-ups are a quick way to get people to leave your blog and never come back, for example).
Place Ads Well
Limit the number of ads above the fold, that is to say where users see them without scrolling. Users get annoyed when ads get in the way of their experience, and Google will penalize you in searches if you have too many above the fold. This particularly goes for ads that are placed within your content.
It's good to have an ad or two above the fold, but make sure that users aren't seeing a forest of ads and no trees of content when they first load your site. If you normally work on a desktop with a large screen, view your site on a laptop with a small one, with any adblockers off, to see if laptop users are going to be overwhelmed by ads. Above-the-fold ads perform far better, but you can't overdo it.
Use a 728×90 leaderboard image ad below the main navigation bar on your homepage, and a smaller rectangle at the top of your blog post. Ads that are wider than they are tall tend to do better.
Integrate Ads into your Site
Use colors for your ad links that already exist on your site, but contrast nicely with your background and borders. Make the background and borders of the ads the same color as your page background so you don't get an ugly frame. However, you should make sure that there is space between ads and your content.
The ads should look like they belong there, but users should also not be mistaking them for part of your site. You may want to try out different styles until you find a format that performs well.
Use Responsive Ads
Your entire blog should use responsive design, allowing it to look good on multiple devices. Make sure that your ads are set as responsive units. This means that when somebody opens your blog on their phone, there's no risk of them seeing nothing but a huge ad. Responsive units may also change the type of ad depending on the device your visitor is using. 60% of web traffic comes from phones and tablets and that number is only going to grow.
Block Ads you Don't Want
Make sure you don't click on ads to get the URL, but keep an eye on what ads show up. You have the ability to blacklist advertisers, and you should block four kinds of ads:
- Ads for your direct competitors. This isn't as much concern for bloggers as some others, but it's something to keep an eye on.
- Ads that you find unacceptable or offensive. These are likely to also be unacceptable or offensive to your readers.
- Ads that just aren't getting you any money or that your readers never click on. MonsterInsights will track AdSense clicks and allow you to see how ads are performing.
- Cheap ads. Some advertisers pay very little per click, and unless you are getting a lot of clicks to that ad, it's wise to block it.
Blocking ads you don't want will increase the ads you do want. You can also reduce irrelevant or inappropriate ads by using the category blocking feature in the AdSense interface. The category blocking feature will tell you which categories are performing poorly. However, you should only block ads that are negatively impacting your revenue. If you block too much then you will not have enough competition for the ad spaces on your site.
Publish Regularly
It doesn't matter how well you optimize your AdSense ads, if nobody is coming to your site you still won't make any money. You need to keep publishing high-quality content on a regular basis. (Having a publication schedule can help). You should also make sure you already have an audience before you start adding ads. You want to be established as an authority in your niche first. This is not a get rich quick plan.
Read Any Emails Google Sends You
Those AdSense publisher emails? Read them. If they're personally sent to you, it might mean that Google is unhappy about something on your site and you need to fix it fast. If not, then they might point to changes in the terms of service or provide useful information on how to optimize your site for AdSense.
AdSense can be a great source of income for your blog, but you need to use it right otherwise it's going to achieve nothing or, worse, actually reduce your readership. If you don't have an AdSense account, now is a good time to set one up. For more tips on how to be a successful blogger, then contact Blog With Ben or join my mailing list to get access to my free ebook, “The Blog Starter Kit.”
Written by Ben Cummings
Cofounder of Sage Wave Media
Ben is a professional blogger who holds an MBA with a specialization in Entrepreneurship. He enjoys teaching, blogging, startups, a hoppy IPA, and college basketball. Whenever he's not blogging, you can find him cruising around sunny San Diego with his amazing family.
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