If you have a web site that focuses on interesting topics, it is fairly easy to earn some passive income from the web site by placing Google AdSense ads on your web pages. AdSense is a context-driven system, which means that the ads displayed should be related to the theme of the content on the page.
The ads displayed through AdSense are part of Google’s AdWords advertising program where advertisers bid on ad placements based upon keywords that trigger the display of ads. Whenever a user clicks on an ad found on your site, Google shares part of the ad revenue charged to the advertiser. It is important to note that you do not get paid for displaying the ads; you only get paid when someone clicks on an ad.
AdSense matches the keywords used to trigger ads in the AdWords program to the content on the web pages of AdSense members. In order for an ad to display on a web site, the advertiser must have the Content Network selected in their AdWords campaign setup. Once you place an ad on a web page, the entire process is automated, so you do not have to do anything beyond that.
First, you will need to sign up for the AdSense program. You can do that using the following:
You will have to give them a web site URL where you intend to display AdSense ads. Make sure that this site adheres to the AdSense Program Policies.
Once your site is approved, you will be given access to the AdSense system. The system is pretty straight-forward and simple to use. The main page displays current statistics and earnings.
In order to generate cut-and-paste code for your web pages,
- Log into the AdSense system.
- Click on the AdSense Setup tab.
- Select the type of ad that you want to display. For a text ad like you see on this page, select AdSense for Content. Click Continue.
- There are two types of Content Ads. An Ad Unit is a collection of ads that display the ad titles, advertising text and links to the advertisers’ sites. A Link Unit simply displays titles with links. If you wish to choose an ad that looks like the one on this page, choose Ad Unit. Click Continue.
- A format need to be selected. There is a wide range of vertical, horizontal and rectangular formats. Pick one that fits the location that you have designated for your web pages. You can also choose the colors for text, borders and ad links on this same page. Google recently added a selection of corner styles that can be found further down the page. Click Continue.
- The next page allows you to choose Channels, which a topic beyond the scope of this article. You do not have to choose a channel. Click Continue.
- On the next page enter a name for your Ad Unit. This format will be saved for future use. Click Submit and Get Code.
- The final page allows you to select the code that has been generated. You can then cut-and-paste the code into your web page code.
The code that you cut-and-paste is a block of JavaScript code that retrieves the ads to be displayed in the page. You will not see the individual ads when you list the HTML code for a page. The ads are dynamically generated by Google.
When you add a new block of code to a page you may initially see public service ads. This means that Google has not yet sent their MediaBot spider to visit the page to determine the contextual theme for the page. The spider usually visits within a few hours. You will not receive any commission for clicks on public service ads. One method that we have found that helps to immediately display relative ads is to use a descriptive name in the file name for the page. Apparently Google does try to determine an initial theme by analyzing the file name. A page named article072.html will initially generate public service ads. The chances are very good that a page named internet-marketing-secrets.html will initially generate ads related to Internet marketing.
Once your ads are in place, a certain amount of visitors will click on the ads, which will generate income for you. Some clicks will bring in a few pennies, while other may yield several dollars. This all depends on how much is being bid for the keywords that represent the specific ad that is clicked.
How do I add AdSense to my blog?
With a blog, you can either add the JavaScript code directly to your page templates, or you can use one of the many plug-ins available. Just search for “adsense plugin” and you will find dozens of freebie adsense plugins for the most popular blog software.
Important Notes
- Always make sure that your web sites adhere to Google’s guidelines. If they do not, Google may close your account.
- NEVER CLICK ON THE ADS ON YOUR SITE. I cannot stress this strongly enough. This is one of the best ways to get banished from the AdSense program and is considered to be click fraud.
- Do not build pages full of gibberish content or content stuffed with keywords. These are Called MFA (made for AdSense) sites and you may get banned.
- Develop useful and unique content. Do not copy content from other sites for your web pages. First, this is probably a copyright infringement issue. Second, duplicate content pages routinely get penalized by spiders, and thus your entire site could suffer.