Before you even begin your site, make sure you've come up with a topic that you feel you know plenty about. That way it will be easiest to write a lot of content.
The more content you have, the better chance you have getting accepted into the program. Also, the more content and traffic, the greater the earning potential.
If you want to make a lot of money, prepare to write a lot of content and learn how to market your site. Don't expect to throw up a 10 page site and make $1,000 per month. That's unrealistic.
Now let's talk about building your website. There are two ways you can approach this:
1) Do it Yourself (DIY) from scratch
2) Use Site Build It! (SBI!)
The Do It Yourself Method
I've actually used both methods for building my site and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. So the option you choose, depends on what you're comfortable with.
If you use the DIY method, you will have to go and get a domain (yoursite.com) and then sign up for a web host and build your pages.
Decide if you want a static website like this or a blog. If you don't know the difference, this article will help you out.
Averaging between $3 and $10 per month, the DIY method is usually the most cost friendly of the two but you are mostly on your own in terms of learning how to create your web pages and adding the AdSense code to your site.
Web hosts are generally there to house your site. They don't specialize in helping you market and optimize your site for the search engines to help you get traffic. So don't expect a lot from them in terms of helping you market your site and making money with Google AdSense.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. I had to learn how to build this site on my own and it wasn't very difficult.
I now manage all of my static sites with Dreamweaver. My blogs use WordPress.
Consider Using Site Build It! (SBI!)
This is a revolutionary web host like no other. I use it for my site, flat-stomach-exercises.com, and AdSense is the #1 way this website earns money.
I don't make a ton of money because it's not my primary site, but the site definitely pays for itself and then some! I actually just created this website to test the website building system out.
The reason SBI! is different from the other do-it-yourself hosts is that first it provides all the web page building and marketing help all in one place. Your domain registration, web hosting, website builder, and marketing help come with the price.
They provide you with a brainstorming tool so you can research and select a "profitable" niche based on monthly keyword searches/demand. Then they guide you to building your website using their Video Action Guide.
Now, it's important to note that SBI! does not build your site for you. That's up to you. They simply provide the guidance so you can optimize your site for AdSense or other programs.
Find out more about SBI! here.
Return to Top
How to Join AdSense
Once you have 20-30 pages on your site, go to http://adsense.google.com to apply.
When you are accepted, simply copy and paste the provided HTML code into any page that you'd like to show the ads. You can opt to display text ads, image ads, or a combination of both. It's up to you.
You can either display the ads vertically along side the page like Google does or in a banner-like formation horizontally across your pages. You can even customize the colors to match your site's theme.
Return to Top
Tips on Succeeding With AdSense
Here are some tips for achieving success with Google AdSense.
Build Traffic
You're not going to make anything with AdSense if you don't have enough traffic. Please don't think this is some easy, get-rich-quick program. This takes work and it all starts with getting visitors.
Learn more about traffic building here.
Experiment
Test ad sizes, images vs. text, play around with colors, you name it. I personally like to have my ads match the background of my site so they blend more.
Some people prefer to make their ads stand out by using bold/contrasting colors, but that never worked well for me. I think it's because they look so much like ads.
Read a blog post I wrote where my readers and I discuss our best performing ad units/sizes.
To display the ads vertically along the right side of the page, just copy this code into your site and paste your AdSense code where indicated.
<table align="right" width="300>
<tr>
<td>INSERT ADSENSE CODE HERE</td>
</tr>
</table>
You can change the width of the table to suit your needs, just remember that it needs to be wide enough to fit whatever AdSense code you selected. You can also switch the alignment by changing the align attribute from "left" to "right."
Create Channels
Channels allow you to see what units are working best. So if you are adding an AdSense unit to your header, you should create a channel called (name it Header, for example) so you can track its performance in your reports.
I think it's important to maximize your click through rate (CTR) so you can attract more advertisers (just my opinion based on logic.) So I remove channels/units that perform significantly lower than others.
Advertisers want to advertise on sites that will give them the most clicks, right? So it makes sense to optimize your account's CTR as much as you can.
So how do you create channels?
When you are creating a new ad unit, you are presented the option of creating a custom channel on the first screen...
Set Units to "Targeted"
When you target your custom channel units, you make them available to Placement advertisers who may want to advertise on your site directly. These advertisers pay more so you earn more per click.
It's super easy to set this up.
Just click "My Ads" from your account, then select "Custom Channels". Click the channel you want to target and click the box for targeting as illustrated below...
Avoid Free Hosts
I know times are tough economically and a lot of you don't want to pay for a website. But the facts don't lie. Successful website owners invest money. Period.
I have yet to open up a magazine and see a successful site featured hosted on Blogger.com or another free host. Never. And I've been out here since 1998.
If you want the search engines and people to take your site seriously, you have to own your site. And if you don't do this, I question your dedication.
Even if it means you have to wait and save your money for 6 months to buy a domain and hosting. I'd rather you do that then take shortcuts with free hosting.
The other problem with free hosts is they can remove your site without warning. This happened to a gentleman just last week who emailed me. There was nothing I could do. If you don't own your site, you don't own your income.
The more content you have, the better chance you have getting accepted into the program. Also, the more content and traffic, the greater the earning potential.
If you want to make a lot of money, prepare to write a lot of content and learn how to market your site. Don't expect to throw up a 10 page site and make $1,000 per month. That's unrealistic.
Now let's talk about building your website. There are two ways you can approach this:
1) Do it Yourself (DIY) from scratch
2) Use Site Build It! (SBI!)
The Do It Yourself Method
I've actually used both methods for building my site and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. So the option you choose, depends on what you're comfortable with.
If you use the DIY method, you will have to go and get a domain (yoursite.com) and then sign up for a web host and build your pages.
Decide if you want a static website like this or a blog. If you don't know the difference, this article will help you out.
Averaging between $3 and $10 per month, the DIY method is usually the most cost friendly of the two but you are mostly on your own in terms of learning how to create your web pages and adding the AdSense code to your site.
Web hosts are generally there to house your site. They don't specialize in helping you market and optimize your site for the search engines to help you get traffic. So don't expect a lot from them in terms of helping you market your site and making money with Google AdSense.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. I had to learn how to build this site on my own and it wasn't very difficult.
I now manage all of my static sites with Dreamweaver. My blogs use WordPress.
Consider Using Site Build It! (SBI!)
This is a revolutionary web host like no other. I use it for my site, flat-stomach-exercises.com, and AdSense is the #1 way this website earns money.
I don't make a ton of money because it's not my primary site, but the site definitely pays for itself and then some! I actually just created this website to test the website building system out.
The reason SBI! is different from the other do-it-yourself hosts is that first it provides all the web page building and marketing help all in one place. Your domain registration, web hosting, website builder, and marketing help come with the price.
They provide you with a brainstorming tool so you can research and select a "profitable" niche based on monthly keyword searches/demand. Then they guide you to building your website using their Video Action Guide.
Now, it's important to note that SBI! does not build your site for you. That's up to you. They simply provide the guidance so you can optimize your site for AdSense or other programs.
Find out more about SBI! here.
Return to Top
How to Join AdSense
Once you have 20-30 pages on your site, go to http://adsense.google.com to apply.
When you are accepted, simply copy and paste the provided HTML code into any page that you'd like to show the ads. You can opt to display text ads, image ads, or a combination of both. It's up to you.
You can either display the ads vertically along side the page like Google does or in a banner-like formation horizontally across your pages. You can even customize the colors to match your site's theme.
Return to Top
Tips on Succeeding With AdSense
Here are some tips for achieving success with Google AdSense.
Build Traffic
You're not going to make anything with AdSense if you don't have enough traffic. Please don't think this is some easy, get-rich-quick program. This takes work and it all starts with getting visitors.
Learn more about traffic building here.
Experiment
Test ad sizes, images vs. text, play around with colors, you name it. I personally like to have my ads match the background of my site so they blend more.
Some people prefer to make their ads stand out by using bold/contrasting colors, but that never worked well for me. I think it's because they look so much like ads.
Read a blog post I wrote where my readers and I discuss our best performing ad units/sizes.
To display the ads vertically along the right side of the page, just copy this code into your site and paste your AdSense code where indicated.
<table align="right" width="300>
<tr>
<td>INSERT ADSENSE CODE HERE</td>
</tr>
</table>
You can change the width of the table to suit your needs, just remember that it needs to be wide enough to fit whatever AdSense code you selected. You can also switch the alignment by changing the align attribute from "left" to "right."
Create Channels
Channels allow you to see what units are working best. So if you are adding an AdSense unit to your header, you should create a channel called (name it Header, for example) so you can track its performance in your reports.
I think it's important to maximize your click through rate (CTR) so you can attract more advertisers (just my opinion based on logic.) So I remove channels/units that perform significantly lower than others.
Advertisers want to advertise on sites that will give them the most clicks, right? So it makes sense to optimize your account's CTR as much as you can.
So how do you create channels?
When you are creating a new ad unit, you are presented the option of creating a custom channel on the first screen...
Set Units to "Targeted"
When you target your custom channel units, you make them available to Placement advertisers who may want to advertise on your site directly. These advertisers pay more so you earn more per click.
It's super easy to set this up.
Just click "My Ads" from your account, then select "Custom Channels". Click the channel you want to target and click the box for targeting as illustrated below...
Avoid Free Hosts
I know times are tough economically and a lot of you don't want to pay for a website. But the facts don't lie. Successful website owners invest money. Period.
I have yet to open up a magazine and see a successful site featured hosted on Blogger.com or another free host. Never. And I've been out here since 1998.
If you want the search engines and people to take your site seriously, you have to own your site. And if you don't do this, I question your dedication.
Even if it means you have to wait and save your money for 6 months to buy a domain and hosting. I'd rather you do that then take shortcuts with free hosting.
The other problem with free hosts is they can remove your site without warning. This happened to a gentleman just last week who emailed me. There was nothing I could do. If you don't own your site, you don't own your income.
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