About Google AdSense

How does Google AdSense work?

Google AdSense is an entrepreneurial Webmasters dream. It is arguably the easiest way for a Webmaster to make money from a content rich site. 
Unfortunately making a good content rich website isn’t easy.

AdSense is a derivative of the Google AdWords program

AdWords is basically the small adverts you see at the right side of the screen every time you look for something using Google’s search engine.

These ads are paid for by Webmasters to promote their sites. AdWords is a good, fast way to get sites seen quickly (though at a cost) without the fuss of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Due to the popularity of AdWords Google had to find alternative means of advertising their excess material and they duly came up with AdSense. The AdSense program works by enabling Webmasters to advertise AdWords campaigns on their own websites. And every time these ads are clicked Google pays the Webmaster a percentage of the sponsor’s allocated advertising budget. But what makes AdSense really work is the means by which it integrates into sites. Not only can they be configured to fit neatly into the layout of nearly any kind of site but Google has designed the system so that the AdSense ads they deliver are actually relevant to the content material of the sites they are put into. For more information go to: How Google AdSense works

 Can Webmasters make money using AdSense?

Of course Webmasters can make money using AdSense but it requires a lot of work. The work comes in three equally important parts:

• Planning, researching and organising of the site.
• The creation and putting together of the site.
• And the marketing of the site.

If all these parts are done to a reasonable level, a competent Webmaster might be able to put a decent AdSense website together. And a decent AdSense website means a decent money making business. 
The initial planning ensures that the theme and hence the keywords relating to your site are relevant and are in demand. The creation of the site requires that you make sure the layout, design and content are well arranged to make full use of the AdSense ads on your site. The marketing aspect of an AdSense venture is the end game and possibly the hardest part of the process. It is the part that is focused in drawing traffic into your site. 
However, if your research was thorough, your design is good and your content is quality you will have no problem attracting visitors to your site.

Good content is the heart of AdSense

Producing quality content-rich sites is the only means of gaining the confidence and trust of the visitors that happen to visit your AdSense website.
So in response to the opening question, yes, money can be made using AdSense but all the ingredients have to be in place to make it work. Only the most persistent, organized and motivated Webmasters can put together a viable long term AdSense project. So maybe...

AdSense isn’t for some

But that isn’t the whole story. Small, short, unplanned projects can make incredible amounts of AdSense revenue. But instances of this are extremely rare. Blogs (these are what these sites are called) can be put together quickly and cheaply (free on blogger.com and reasonably priced with Typeword). Blogs are popular, but they are often only a temporary means of using AdSense. They are often posted to reflect ongoing activity (be it in entertainment, someone’s personal life or a developing technology) and so can only be of interest as long as they kept up to date. 
But for those who are wary of taking on big, complex website projects blogs could be an alternative AdSense avenue.

Possible AdSense Earnings

Google has shrouded the whole AdSense program in a veil of mystery. That’s why everything relating to its details seems so vague and indefinite. Google has not been forthcoming with even the most basic of AdSense enquiries relating to the cost of various pay-per-click ads and how the system works. Google has also prohibited anyone from disclosing personal financial information relating to their AdSense account. This rule has been adhered to by most Webmasters; no one wants to see their AdSense membership revoked. 
But from behind the secrecy some approximate figures have come to light.

 

What are AdSense possible earnings per-click?

Earnings per-click vary markedly from one site to the next. On average a click could cost anything between $0.03 - $50.00, with most earnings per click been in the lower end of this range.

How much can you earn with AdSense?

Again this varies depending on a number of factors, these are;

• Search Engine Ranking (SER). The higher the ranking the more you get per-click per-ad.
• Website topic and theme. The content and keywords of your site dictate the type of AdSense ads that Google allocates.
• Traffic levels. This determines how many visitors passes through your site.
• Number of AdSense ads relating to specific keywords.

The perfect set of AdSense factors

So the ideal combination of factors that would result in a website that generated good AdSense income would be one that had high search engine ranking, for a number of popular keywords. Even more ideal would be if the keyword relevant for the site was linked to high paying Adwords advertisers.
It’s extremely rare for these combinations of factors to all work towards a Webmasters advantage. But a high SER with one or two of the factors above normally ensures a generous income stream for most sites.

Underlying all these factors is the need for a good constant flow of traffic through your site, without which there can be no AdSense revenue at all.

But to get the high flow of traffic that would be needed for success is not easy at all. This fact becomes apparent when we realize that on average most AdSense websites earn less than $5.00 a day. That’s $150.00 per month and a measly $1800 per year, not much really, is it?

The facts behind AdSense Earnings
So what levels of traffic is required to generate the average AdSense income? On average most AdSense sites have the following statistics:

• Make $0.5 per click
• Get approximately 1000 impressions per day.
• And we know that most sites have about a 1% CTR value  (Click-through-rates are basically calculated by dividing the number of clicks on ads by the number of impressions of a given site and dividing the resulting value by 100).
• This then gives us a value of about ten clicks per day per site.
• Earn $5.00 a day ($150.00 a month)

Not much returns for seemingly reasonable traffic levels and a value of $0.5 per click is slightly generous (the average value is a bit lower). Good AdSense sites on the other hand have statistics along these lines:

• Earn $0.5 per click
• Get approximately 10000 impressions per day (High SER’s 1-10 for popular keywords).
• Have a CTR value of about 5%.
• Altogether this results in about 500 clicks per day.
• And $250.00 a day (~$7500.00 a month).

From this we can see that the major difference between the two sites is the level of traffic. Even with a CTR value of 1%, a good site with the above statistics can earn up to $50.00 a day (~$1500.00 per month), which is reasonable AdSense earnings. But not all is lost with average sites... If a webmaster is hardworking enough they could build, up to ten average sized websites. If each earned the average amount of just $5.00 a day then ten, could altogether make more than $1500 a month.

To get a better a idea of possible AdSense earnings use the AdSense calculator.

 

The Top AdSense Earners

The few whose sites have achieved the right combination of factors have gone on to become the top highest AdSense earners. This is a list of the top individual AdSense earners of the last few years:

• Markus Frind from www.plentyoffish.com makes ~$300,000 a month.
• Kevin rose from www.digg.com makes ~$250,000 a month.
•  Jeremy Shoemaker earns ~$140,000 a month from shoemoney.com.
• Jason Calacanis, founder of weblogs, Inc earns ~$120,000 a month.
•  David Miles Jr. & Kato Leonard from www.freeweblayouts.net  are making ~$100,000 a month.

You could also be a top AdSense earner like those listed above by creating a heavily trafficked site. The key to AdSense success lies in building a unique yet popular website. If you create a site that more than lives up to people’s expectations, it will undoubtedly be remembered and will be revisited time and time again. Before you know it you could be receiving cheques from Google in the range of tens of thousands of dollars a month.

AdSense and Blogs

 The Ease of Blogs:

Using blogs is a great way to get a good idea into the web quickly without the complexities involved in setting up a proper website.
Even though blogs only takes minutes to set up they can look quiet professional. When setting these up, you are given a choice of templates to choose from, colors can be changed and other parameters can be tweaked to give a semblance of uniqueness. You don’t need knowledge of HTML, CSS or PHP, all you need to make a blog work is a great niche or a new topic that will generate fantastic amounts of traffic.

But ease doesn’t make success. To make a blog work... needs work, the same amount of content work required for a normal website.

 Most webhosts offer free blogging services in their packages. Google through blogger.com also offer blogging services for free but their site is very simple and is geared for the beginner blogger. Another good website for the more experienced blogger is Typepad who offer a free 14 day trail before registration. Typepad offers a host of fantastic services for those who wish to publish content on a regular basis into the World-Wide-Web without the hassle of getting caught up in the knots and bolts of a proper website.

The pros and cons of blogs

Blogs are different from websites for a number of reasons, some good, some bad. Blogs are quick and simple to set up while websites take a while to put together and can be extremely complicated.  Blogs tend to burn out quickly (though this isn’t always true) and are only viable as long as they are frequently updated. They don’t have the depth and the presentational variety that is possible with websites.
Blogs can be thought of as a supernova (especially a blog that has been built around a fantastic buzz topic) that burns brightly for certain period of time. Websites on the other hand can be thought of as long, stable Suns. They can take a very long time to gather momentum, but when they do so they can maintain that momentum for an equally long period of time.

 Creating simple AdSense blogs:

Blogs can be used to capture a moment. They can be used as a vehicle to discuss and write about something topical, current and personal. They can also be used with AdSense and they can be put together in minutes. Here’s how it could be done:

• Think of a theme. This could be anything you think could be of interest to people. You never know a good theme and name could be earning you some AdSense revenue faster than you think.  Take about 30 minutes to decide on an idea and a name.

• The next step is to register or apply for a blog site. This can be done through your webhost, through blogger.com or through Typepad. If you are planning on developing your blog into something serious I suggest using Typepad instead of blogger.com. The services that the site provides are probably the best you can get from any blog provider. From the use of thousands of templates to a great user interface the site has it all.

If on the other hand you are planning to only put together a small temporary blog, blogger.com is the better choice, simply because its free.

• After registration it’s time to choose the templates that best reflects your subject matter. At Google’s blogger the choices are limited, however at Typepad the choices are vastly more varied. If you a planning on creating a visually appealing blog, one that is more likely to get good traffic and a good CTR values Typepad is choice for you.

• Following customization comes AdSense registration. Blogger.com allows you to register to AdSense through the site. But if you joined another blogging site you can easily go to Google to apply. AdSense application takes no more than 10 minutes, unfortunately you will have to wait at least two days for your application to be approved.

• But in the meantime you can work on your chosen theme. It can be about anything, as long as you have an avid interest in the topic of choice. You can write about your car, your family, topical entertainment news anything that you are passionate about. Everyone has interests, hobbies and experiences, the more connected you are to the theme the better your writing will be.

• The look of your AdSense blog can be changed to your liking once Google has approved your application. Their borders can be removed, colors changed and font size fixed depending on the look you want for your blog.

• So your blog is set up and way you like it. The whole process excluding  the wait for the AdSense application approval can take as little as 45 minutes. So the next step is to divert some traffic to your site. This is the heart of any AdSense site. You will need to submit your site to the search engines, trade links with related sites and start telling anyone who will listen about your blog. 

Points to remember

• The benefit of blogs is that they keep you current. Blogs quickly loses their appeal if the information they contain gets out of date. So they need constant work, keep updating it on regular basis. Remember, Google loves blogs because they are updated regularly.
• Remember to always keep refining the content, images and video it might contain.
• If possible elaborate and expand on the theme. Remember you want to keep the blog viable for as long as possible, so expand on the theme of the site.
• Make sure your blog contains clear concise titles, plenty of keywords and loads of key phrases.
• Change the ‘meta name’ in your template and replace it with keywords of your own.
• Make sure that your blog doesn’t contain too many images. Google can’t read pictures, its crawlers only respond to text.