Monetization Blog (part-2)
Chapter 2How To Work With Google
Once you have your blog created in Blogger, signing up for AdSense is a very
easy thing for you to do. The first thing you will want to do is go to the
AdSense Console located online at:
On the AdSense starting page you will want to click on the “Click Here to
Apply” button.
Clicking on the “Apply” button will take you to a second sign-up screen where
you will enter the URL of your blog, your name, address, phone number and
the other usual basic information about yourself.
You will also have to check the boxes agreeing that you will not ever click on
your own Google AdSense ads, that you will not put ads on sites which
include incentives to click on the ads, that you will not place ads on sites with
any pornographic content, that you can have checks made out in your own
name, and that you have read and agree to the AdSense Program Policies.
Remember to take the time here to read and understand the Program
Policies!
The last selection, the AdSense Program Policies, is very important for you to
read and make sure you fully understand it. Google is very vigilant about
compliance to their rules and regulations when it comes to AdSense. You
cannot ever click on your own ads, you cannot ask your readers to click on
the ads hosted on your sites, and you need to understand where you can
place the ads and where you cannot. Understanding the AdSense policies
and rules will potentially save you a lot of hassle in the future.
Once you have applied to host AdSense on your blog you will be asked to
confirm your request via the e-mail address you have provided on your
application. To do this, simply open your e-mail client, and click on the link
to confirm that you did indeed apply for AdSense in the message Google has
sent to you. This step insures Google that you are who you say you are.
Once you have confirmed your request by clicking on the e-mail link you
were sent, then you will need to wait to be approved by Google. Google
generally takes about two to three business days to get back to you.
Generally AdSense is approved for anyone who applies. They are mostly just
making sure you have the site which you say you do and that you do not
have another AdSense account already. They are not really looking at your
site itself and what’s on it. Even if your blog has a single post on it that’s
fine and they will approve you for AdSense hosting.
During the waiting period there is nothing you can do with AdSense other
than think about where you would like their ads to show up on your blog.
Because of this waiting period, it is best to apply for AdSense right after you
have created your blog – even if you have yet to post a single message to it.
After you have applied then the first thing you should do is make a post to
your blog so that Google can see you are making a blog and what it is
basically about for the approval process.
Once You Are Approved for AdSense
Once your blog has been approved to host AdSense ads on it, you will want
to add in the three blocks of ads into your Blogger template. How and where
you do this is vitally important as to how well you will generate income from
AdSense. You want the ads to blend in with your template and you want
them to not look like obvious ads to your readers.
Reading the terms and conditions of AdSense you find that you are allowed
to host three separate AdSense ad blocks per website. For a Blogger blog,
you will want one at the top of the page, one within your message text and
another on the sidebar with your links. These have been proven locations for
many bloggers and are generally the known preferred places for anyone who
wishes to make money from AdSense.
Your number one goal with these three ad blocks is to make them blend in
with the rest of your blog and not appear to your readers as ads. Google has
helped you out with this by providing you with the ability to “blend” your ads
with your chosen template. To do this you will go to the Dashboard in
Blogger and click on Settings -> AdSense.
Notice where it says “Blend Template” under “Select Colors,” this is the
selection you will always want to use! It is very important to have your
AdSense ads blend in with the rest of your content. While other colors might
look better, people will not click on them as often if they scream “ads” to
them. Better to stick with what has worked for other bloggers and just blend
the ads into your template.
To the left of that is the “Select Ad Format” drop-down box. This allows you
choose the size of your AdSense ad block. The size of the block you choose
will be determined by where you want the AdSense ads to appear on your
blog and how you want them to look arranged on the page.
AdSense Block Locations
You will want to place all three blocks which Google allows you to have onto
your blog. The best location to place the first ad block is at the top of your
message. In the “Select Ad Format” field choose the “468 x 15 Horizontal
Row” format. This format will blend in nicely with your blog and will appear
as if it were a menu bar of a traditional website. Google will automatically
place this ad block for you at the top of your blog. Leave it where Google
puts it.
For your second AdSense block you will want to place it on the sidebar of
your blog. (You will need to generate this code using the AdSense Console,
which I will show you how to easily do, in the next chapter of this eBook.)
Generally, right under your “links” section is a good place to put this second
block. If you choose the same font and text size as your links you can make
your AdSense look just like additional links for your blog. To ad in this block
choose a vertical rectangle, whichever works best for the space you have,
and paste the code into your template right after where it says:
<h2 class="sidebar-title">Links</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.test.com/">Edit Me</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.test.com/">Edit Me</a></li>
</ul>
By placing your AdSense block at the end of your links, it will blend in nicely
with them.
Your third AdSense block should be added so that it shows up in the text of
your posted messages. Again, you will need to generate the code in the
AdSense Console and then you will want to paste it here in your blog
template:
</Blog Item Title>
<div class=”post-body”>
<div>
By pasting your third block within your posted message content you will put
it in the reader’s view enough that they will invariably click on the links. This
can be the most profitable place of all for AdSense ads to appear.
If you do not like the ad block in your posted message area, consider adding
it in right above the footer of your posted messages. By adding the ad block
here your readers will see the links and assume you are offering them
suggested reading on the same subject of your message. And remember,
the more they look like your recommendations, the more your readers will
respond and click on them! And ultimately the more clicks you get the more
money you will make.
Graphics and AdSense
Another good AdSense money making trick of experienced bloggers is to add
a picture or graphic file directly above the Google AdSense ads. Google
requires you to have a border separating the image from the ads and to
make them not look like they belong together. However, by placing the ads
directly under the graphic your reader’s eye is drawn to the graphic and then
naturally to the ads. This can be one of the most effective ways to place
AdSense on your blog! Just make sure you adhere to Google’s requirement
that you clearly separate the ads from the graphics.
Chapter 3Your Control Center
Once you have created an AdSense account and added your ad blocks to
your blog, you will want to learn a bit about the AdSense Console, what it is
and what it can do for you. To logon to your AdSense Console simply go
online to:
Enter your e-mail and password for AdSense, which you used previously to
create your AdSense account.
AdSense Report Tab
The AdSense Console is very easy to use. The first page you see is the
“Overview” page of the “Reports” tab. Here you will find the number of page
impressions your blog has had, the number of clicks on your ads, your page
click-through rate, and your earnings. You can view today, this week, last
week, all time, etc… Using this simple overview you can start to adjust your
ad block locations and see if your revenue improves or declines based on the
location of your ad blocks. One good thing you can try here is to look at your
click through rate for a day. Move your ads and then see if your click
through improves or declines. Look at the content on various days and find
out if one topic seems to get you better click through than another. If so
then you might want to create more content based on those keywords. Your
goal is the highest click through rate possible.
As you can see in the graphic above, Google holds AdSense payments until
you have reached a total of $100 and have specifically told Google how to
pay you. This helps to keep Google’s overhead down and your earning
potential higher.
In addition to various simple to use reports, Google offers you a Site
Diagnostics page. This site will alert you if there is anything on your site that
the Googlebot has issues with. It is a good idea to view this from time to
time and make sure everything is okay with your site.
AdSense Setup Tab
The AdSense Setup tab located in the AdSense Console allows you to create
the customized text blocks you will need to paste into your Blogger template,
get the code for AdSense for Search, and also an AdSense referral button
which you can put on your blog to generate income through referring other
sites to use AdSense on their own sites.
From the “AdSense Setup” tab you can easily generate the code for your ad
blocks, change the colors and look of your ad blocks, update your channels
and use the “Competitive Ad Filter” to filter out any ads from you competitor
websites which may be showing up in your AdSense ad blocks.
My Account Tab
Under the “My Account” tab you will simply find your personal and financial
information. This is where you would update your payment choices or
address, e-mail account, etc.…
Need More Help With AdSense?
One of the best things about Google is that they assume everyone needs
some clear helpful explanations and easy to navigate help pages. They have
done an excellent job of creating their “Help” pages with regard to AdSense.
Reading the help screens in AdSense can help you to get the most out of the
program with your blog. It is well worth taking some time to familiarize
yourself with these pages and the information contained within them.
No comments: