6 Easy Ways to Increase your Adsense Revenue
by: Scott Patterson
How much revenue do you generate from Google Adsense?
Recently there has been a lot of discussion about people who earn over $10,000 a month just from Adsense. Furthermore, there are rumors of a few individuals who earn over $1 million a year just from using the power of Google advertisements.
So what is Google Adsense and how can you use this program to earn a six-figure income?
About two years ago, Google created this program to help websites to monetize their web-traffic.
Here’s how it works:
Webmasters obtain a special code from Google which then displays targeted ads on their website. Whenever a visitor clicks on one of these ads, the webmaster earns a commission. Unlike other online businesses, there is no selling involved. All you need to do is get people to click on the ads.
Although this is an excellent way to generate an income, many websites are not effectively maximizing their Adsense potential. As a result, they are leaving a lot of cash on the table.
The question is how can you increase your Adsense revenue without increasing the number of web visitors?
The key to earning an income with Google Adsense is to have your ads match the rest of the site, making them look like part of your content. Your focus is to avoid having the Adsense blocks look like blatant advertisements.
The following are six ways that you can do this and increase your revenue at the same time:
1) Find the right place- Most website visitors read content that is in the middle of a webpage. As a result, the best place to put your Adsense block is in the top part of the page, at the beginning of your web content. You want to weave the Google Ads into your web content to give the appearance that they are extra links which expand on the information of the page.
2) Use the Large Rectangle-With Google Adsense, you have the option of picking different ad formats. Most of the time people opt to use the Leaderboard (728×90) or Wide Skyscraper (160×600) style ads. Unfortunately, this is the wrong choice, because both look like blatant advertisements. Instead smart webmasters have found that using the Large Rectangle (336×280) yields the best amount of click-thrus.
3) Ditch the border- Many people experience a sharp increase in Adsense revenue when they changing their border. What they change is very simple…they get rid of the border on their Adsense blocks. This is another way to make the advertisements look like useful web content.
4) Adapt the font- Whenever you write content, it should be the same font size and style as your Google Adsense block. This will help make it appear that the advertisements are a natural part of your website.
5) Match the colors- In addition to changing the fonts, you also should match the colors of your website. For instance, if your content is written in black, and your hyperlinks are blue, then the Adsense blocks should also be the same color. Again, this helps the advertisements appear to be normal web content.
6) Don’t have too many distractions- On a webpage, it is important to give web visitor a limited number of options. By having too many links and graphics, the web visitor might go to a section that doesn’t help increase your profits. While it is important to inform and entertain your web visitor, it is also vital that you monetize your site. So if the main focus of your site is to earn an income through Google Adsense, then get rid of all non-essential links and graphics.
By taking the time to implement these six simple steps, you’ll see a dramatic increase in the click-thru ratio of your ads. If added to all of the content of your site, your Adsense income will skyrocket!
The location of the AdSense ads drastically effects the CTR. You don’t want
your ads on the right or left sides of the page (a location often used by new AdSense publishers). You want them as close to the top and middle of the page as possible.
That is one small change in this version of the ebook that can make a big, big
difference. Putting one large rectangle block below the content title on the page helps draw the visitor into clicking the ad. Once they’ve read the title of the article, the next thing they see are the ads, which they immediately associate with the content and are thereby induced to click–which is exactly what you want!
I was getting great CTR rates before by putting the ads above the title, but after
switching the ads below the title, my CTR rose by 26%! That means that for ever $100 a month I was earning before, I was now earning $126. Not bad for a simple change like that, is it?
Google now allows you to show 3 ad blocks, and you want to take advantage of
that. The other place you must put an ad block is at the end of the content, right after the article. If you can get it in above the author’s “About Box” (if there is one), that’s perfect. The reason is that if the visitor has read the article completely, it is very likely that they will be interested in ads pertaining to that article.
So the top ad block catches those who are interested in products and services
now, and the bottom ad catches those were wanting some education but are now
convinced that it’s time to look further.
But you get a third ad block to use, and if you aren’t afraid of cluttering your page
with ads (and that is a valid concern for some), you want to take advantage of it. If your
content is long enough, put the third ad block inside the content, and make your content wrap around it. This way you catch the visitors who get bored with the article. Maybe at first it held their attention, but they read all they care to read or were convinced early on and are ready to move on now. Put your ad block about half way into the text of the content so that you can give those visitors a place to “click away” from your site, a place that will make you money.
Finally, there’s the AdLink ads. In addition to the three ad blocks, you can place
one set of AdLinks on your page. If your navigation is in the left hand column of your site, put the 5-link AdLinks block above your navigation in whatever size makes it fit in well (200 x 90, 180 x 90, 160 x 90 or 120 x 90). That way the AdLinks links actually look like navigation on your site, and it induces people to click. If your navigation goes across the top of your page, use the wide AdLinks (728 x 15 or 468 x 15).
Bottom Line: Place one large rectangle ad block just below the title of your content on the page, and (if the content is long enough) one large ad block about halfway down the page (blended with the content), and a final ad block at the bottom of content, just before the “About the Author” box is there is one. Finally, put AdLinks on the page so that they look like navigational links.
As a general rule of thumb you will see an increase in CTR by making your ad background and border colors the same as the background of your web page.
The reason for this is that it blends the ads in with your site so they don’t scream “Advertisement!” If ads scream out that they are ads, people will not look at them out of banner blindness. But if you blend the ads with the page, people will look at them, be interested, and click.
Two additions to the above which you may not already be aware of: 1) The
statistics show that using the “standard” blue link color works best, with one exception that is covered in the “Facts and Figures” section, and 2) You should make the color of the advertiser’s url a color that does not stand out on the page (that’s the small domain name or url that appears below the ad text–not the link url). Both of these steps make your ads look less like ads, thereby increasing your CTR.
One last tip that will really increase your CTR is to make all of the links in the
content portion of your page except the AdSense ad links a color that is 1) not the traditional blue link color and 2) that is not as bright and noticeable as the traditional blue (dark green is a good one).
If you do this you will notice that the AdSense links are very, very easily noticed
on the page, so they catch the attention of your visitors right away. Placed in the
appropriate position on the page, it doesn’t take a rocket-scientist to see why this makes the ads get clicked a lot more.
However, keep your navigation links the same color as your AdSense ad links,
because you want your AdLinks to blend in and look like site navigation.
Bottom Line: Make the border and background colors of your ads match the
background color of the web page on which the ads will appear, make the link color the standard “blue”, and make the advertiser url a color that does not stand out. Finally, make the other links on your page a color that is not the traditional link color (such as dark green).
The basic goal of this document is to make your AdSense ads look less like ads,
and more like content on your page. It has the second goal of putting the ads exactly where they need to be to draw the most clicks.
“Wait a minute,” you might say, “isn’t that a little shifty?”
No, it’s not. The AdSense publisher’s problem is that the typical Internet surfer is
plagued by “banner blindness”. People automatically overlook anything that looks like an advertisement because of being bombarded with ads all the time. It’s not that they aren’t interested in what the advertiser has to offer.
To get more clicks, you’ve got to get your visitors to notice the ads by putting them in the right place and making them look less like “traditional” web advertising.
Step 1: Use the Best Ad Format
Average CTR by Ad Format
Format CTR
336 x 280 7.46%
300 x 250 5.58%
728 x 90 3.16%
120 x 240 2.99%
160 x 600 2.44%
120 x 600 1.33%
468 x 60 0.53%
The thin and tall formats (120 x 240, 160 x 600 and 120 x 600) get a lower CTR
because they usually don’t fit well anywhere except on the right or left sides of a page.
But the right and left sides of a web page are usually reserved for navigation and
smaller advertisements. The real meat of any web page is in the center of the page.
So while these formats are not bad in themselves, the typical positioning of them gives them a lower CTR.
Google AdSense, it’s where Google pays website owners (“publishers”) to run ads on their sites. Google accepts paid ads from advertisers, and then shares this revenue with the publishers who allow these ads to be displayed on their sites. They pay based upon clicks generated from the publishers’ sites.
Many publishers have discovered that running Google AdSense ads is more lucrative, and less trouble, than marketing their own products or services. So an entire industry has sprang up around monetizing websites using AdSense and other pay-per-click programs.
Since MOST people I’ve communicated with aren’t earning four or five-figure incomes per month, let’s examine how you increase your chances of earning these amounts.
First of all, your website has to be on a topic (a niche) where people are spending lots of money. There are niches where advertisers often spend $40 – $50 per click… just to get visitors to their websites. Obviously, these visitors buy “things” on these websites that make it worthwhile to pay that much for the traffic.
In case you’re wondering what keywords any “sane” marketer would spend $50 on a single click for, read on…
Certain visitors to websites, that later convert to customers, could literally be worth thousands, even millions, to marketers. These marketers know the lifetime value of their visitors, and have the conversion rates calculated! Markets where customers can be this lucrative include legal/lawsuits, medical, higher education, real estate, new and used vehicles, investments, travel, and products offering residual income. There are many others.
I actually have a list of over 9000 keywords that I consult when building a new site, or optimizing an existing site. Doesn’t it makes perfect sense to create sites that attract visitors with a high value-per-visitor?
The keywords on the list above range from 93 cents to $108 per click. There ARE higher priced keywords but you probably don’t want to focus on them since the competition can be incredibly cutthroat. There are niches where your competitors will actually sabotage your efforts. Money does that to some people
It makes economic sense to build a site around topics where people are actually spending money already.
It makes sense to target a market where people have money to spend – and they expect to spend it on products similar to yours. In that sense, you can even set up site designed to generate traffic for governmental agencies, foundations, charities, etc. It’s all about getting in front of the traffic and then re-directing that traffic to those willing to pay for it.
When setting up content sites, it’s important that you not violate the terms-of-service at the pay-per-click management firm that you plan on using. For example, Google actually tells you that you should not build sites just for their AdSense program. Yet, they need sites to display their customers’ ads in order for their program to work.
It’s a delicate balancing act. Google wants to deliver relevant clicks to their customers. They know that traffic coming from “junky” or “spammy” sites may not convert as well for their customers. This would lower their customers ROI, and lead to many unhappy customers. This would drive Google’s customers to their ever-growing competitors.
Google wants webmasters that have quality, targeted traffic to run AdSense Ads. When you set up a free blog on Google’s Blogger.com they even have the AdSense invitation “programmed” into the signup process.
So how DO you win the Google AdSense War and get your share of that multi-billion dollar advertisers’ revenue stream? You build high-quality content sites that focus on niches where people are spending money. It’s as simple as that. You let those already doing it teach you what works best – it’s a easy as that!
Example:
John creates an Google AdWords ad about used BMW car parts, and want the ad to appear on pages that are relevant to BMW car parts.
Brian runs a community page for BMW fans, and have a section on his site about buying and selling BMW car parts.
One of Brian’s visitors clicks on John’s Ad, and John is charged x $ for this click. Brian on the other hand is awarded with x $ by Google for serving the ad, and the resulting click.
So what does that mean for you as a Adsense Publisher ?
Unfortunately Google doesn’t reveal what a click is worth, so you can only do a bit of qualified guessing using these Adsense Tools.
Some clicks range from $0,00 and are seen to go over $50 !
To continue a bit on our earlier discussion about writing content relevant web pages, you should place serious consideration on the keywords that you want to target with your pages.
Lets take our example on John and Brian again.
For the sake of argument, lets say that John is willing to pay $10 for each click on his ads.
Then let us bring Greg into play as well, he is also creating an add about selling BMW car parts, however not used ones but new. Greg is willing to pay $0,10 for each click on his ads.
Brian’s pages was targeted towards selling BMW car parts. So this means that there’s is a good chance that both John’s and Greg’s ads will appear at Brian’s Adsense ads. This means that Brian is serving Adsense ads that are paying a percentage of both $0,10 and $10.
Now, what if Brian changed his pages to target buying and selling USED car parts ?
Since Google Adsense constantly try’s to serve the most content relevant ads, it is very likely that Brian will begin serving John’s $10 AdWords ad, that he will earn a percentage of. Brian’s pages are still about the same subject, and with the same content – just targeted against a higher paying niche keyword.
Ask yourself, would you rather earn a percentage of 10 clicks on Greg’s ad or a percentage of 10 clicks on John’s ad??
If you are looking for a nice extra advertising income, Google adsense can in many cases be the answer.
Independent statements made by users on the internet shows that some advertisers are earning from less than 1 dollar a day and to way above several hundred dollars a day with the Adsense program.
We cant and wont make any promises to what your Google adsense income will be, but we can promise you that if you read through the sections of this website, you will have the best foundation for succeeding with Google’s Adsense program.
The Adsense Scammers usually use some very intriguing ad copy (marketing text) on their websites, and tries to lure new customers in with screenshots claiming big Adsense income or big increases in Adsense income from a certain date and forward. The truth about most of these screenshots are sadly, that anyone can do such a screenshot – and then alter it in any graphics program like Adobe Photoshop. The image then reflects a very “coloured” truth, and this is possible due to the changes Google has made in its policies to allow publishers to disclose their earnings, but on the same time not to allow publishers to reveal impressions, clicks and ctr.
So what kind of products should you be careful about purchasing ?
The Adsense scam products can actually be categorised into the following:
1. “The BIG Adsense Secret” E-book.
Adsense Scam claim: Several websites claims to have the “unrevealed Adsense secret” that you simply can’t live without! Usually it is claimed that these secrets will “skyrocket” your Adsense earnings virtually overnight. You can buy yourself access to this “untold information” for only $30-$100.
Adsense Fact: There are no secrets to reveal about Adsense. Anyone can earn with Adsense, and to improve performance read up on ad placement, ad colours, website content and website traffic. All this information is freely available here on Adsenseguide, and can also be found on various forums on the internet.
2. “Million Dollar Keyword Lists”.
Adsense Scam claim: When you purchase a list of “fresh top paying keywords” you can literally skyrocket your Adsense earnings, simply by changing a few words on your pages. These scam sites claims that they have developed new techniques to finding these keywords, and that their members/customers are making a “killing” creating pages based on these keywords. It is not unusual to meet claims of people making $10-$20 per click using these lists. The Adsense Scam Keyword lists can be yours either on a monthly subscription from $20 per month, or for purchase for anything from $20-$200 per list.
Adsense Fact: Yes, you can improve your earnings per click by changing/optimizing your page content. However, the obscene claims of clicks that pays $10-$20 or more are nothing more then “clever” marketing in 95% of the cases. The reason is that Google (and the advertisers), are very selective about which sites that are allowed to display these high paying keywords.
3. “Automated Adsense Software”.
Adsense Scam claim: This is one of my “favourite” Adsense Scams! Visitors are encouraged to purchase some “set and forget software” that will generate Adsense income on “auto pilot”. Most of the software does nothing more then steal (yes, I said steal) content from sites through various scraping methods (reads a webpage and gets the content from it, or through rss feeds). All you will have to do is upload the script to your website, enter a few details and the script creates thousand of content pages – just waiting to put cash in your pocket. Each of these “unique Adsense cash scripts”, can be yours for somewhere between $100-$1000+.
Adsense Fact: Scripts can be good to help you in the process of writing content (note: Writing). This is usually called CMS scripts (content management systems), and is a great way to create your design once, and from then on only focus on writing content for your pages in a simple web based text editor.
4. “Read/Listen – Learn to how I made thousands with Adsense”.
Adsense Scam claim: Often these reports and e-books tells you to purchase this and that software, so that you have anything you need ready at hand. These Adsense reports and Adsense e-books are sold from anywhere between $9.95 and up to over $100. Lately it seems that these reports and e-books have “evolved” a bit, so that you now can simply listen to the author or even view a few “power packed videos” online.
Adsense Fact: The real fact is however, that 95% of these products are nothing less then created to scam innocent people like you to pay. Flashy e-book covers, income statements / examples – usually both Adsense screenshots/checks, affiliate checks, bank statements are all displayed with the only purpose of talking to your greed.
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