AdSense Tips for maximizing your earnings

 Follow the 10 AdSense tips presented below and see your earnings increase without taking any risks or violating any AdSense guidelines.

AdSense is one of the most popular ways to make money online and perhaps among the easiest ways if you do things correctly.

By doing things correctly I mean following standards and practices that are in accordance with AdSense guidelines but at the same time can contribute in maximizing your revenue and earnings.

So, let’s see below the most important AdSense tips that will help you achieve that.

#1 Don’t violate any AdSense Guidelines

I have mentioned this 3 times so far in the article and we are only in the first AdSense tip but it’s very important that whatever you do to increase your earnings is not against these guidelines. You can read the full guidelines here but in general avoid:

Clicking on your own ads for any reason (even testing them)

• Buying traffic or clicks
• Making the ads not look like ads
• Showing only the ads to the user and no content
• Asking your friends to click on the ads
• Adding the ads on website that have inappropriate content (adult, alcohol, gambling etc)

#2 Use Responsive AdSense Units

We made several tests and all tests show (more details to be published in coming posts) that responsive websites with responsive AdSense units perform better than non-responsive websites.

If you have a responsive website then you can replace your ads with Responsive AdSense Units. This means that depending on the available ad space, AdSense will show the most appropriate ad (both in size and type).

Especially for mobile websites, you will soon realise that the 300×250 on mobile performs much better compared to the standard 320×50.

#3 Place your ads where users can see them

The position of the ads is very important and can make a big difference in clicks and earnings.

It’s always better to have the ads above the fold (that’s the area users see without scrolling) but if this is not possible then try to have the ads in the main content of the page instead of the sidebar.

Caution: Google punishes websites that have too many ads above the fold so if you choose to enter the ads in the main content do it at the end of the article.

#4 Publish Content more often

Depending on the type of website, you may choose to publish content more often.

The idea is that frequent publishing will generate more visits to your website and more visits will naturally generated more AdSense clicks and revenue.

#5 Make your website load faster

It is proven that faster websites lead to more ad clicks so if you optimize your website’s speed this will eventually increase your earnings too.

Avoid using too many graphics and remove any images that don’t add value to the user experience but slow down the site.

#6 Remove other ad networks

If you want to make more from AdSense then you can remove any other ad networks and run AdSense only.

This will not only make your website load faster but also it will give more visibility to the AdSense ads that will lead to more clicks and revenue.

Certainly many ads does not mean more revenue so it’s always better to stick to the 3 ads per page (even if you are not using AdSense).

#7 Find your Adsense Referrers and improve them

When you connect your Google Analytics account with Google Adsense, you can go in Analytics and see which referrers generate your AdSense revenue. You can see that under Behaviour -> AdSense -> AdSense Referrers.

Maybe visits from Facebook or other social media networks generate AdSense revenue when they visit your website so it’s a good idea to work on those and improve your presence so as to get more traffic and revenue.

#8 Use standard ad sizes (both text and image)

When setting up your ads use the sizes recommended by AdSense as being the most popular. These usually are 728×90, 336×280, 300×250 and 300×600. Other sizes may have less demand from advertisers and this will lead to lower earnings.

Also, make sure that your ads are set to show both text and images as this will increase the numbers of advertisers competing for your ad spaces and will lead to better earnings per click.

#9 Use AdSense experiments to test different ad variations

One of the features of AdSense that is not well known to users is AdSense Experiments (found under My Ads in your AdSense account). With experiments you can test different variations for the same ad spot and see which one performs better.

For example you may test different link colours, border or no border etc. This feature is very easy to use and you can tell in a few days which of your ads are better performing.

#10 Don’t make your website look like it Made for AdSense (MFA)

AdSense is supposed to enhance the user experience (and it really does in most cases) by showing relevant ads that may interest the user.

That does not mean that your website should focus on the ads but still your focus should be on the user experience and high quality content.

AdSense is a way to monetize your content and not the reason of your website’s existence.

What else you can do to improve your AdSense earnings?

How to increase AdSense earnings almost instantly (case studies)

 Everybody wants to increase their AdSense earnings and the good news is that there is a way to start gaining more money from Adsense almost instantly without breaking any rules or guidelines.

Below you will read what happened when we applied that method on 2 different client websites that run Adsense and the immediate effect it had on their earnings.

So, what is the magic solution?

Anyone that is working online for a number of years knows that there are no magic solutions when it comes to SEO or making money online.

Everything you achieve is after a lot of hard work and continuous testing of different scenarios that can increase your traffic or earnings.

In regards to Adsense, I did explain in the past that it is possible to make money with Adsense but you have to ensure that you do everything ‘by the book’ without doing anything that may put your Adsense account in danger.

What I will explain below is in accordance with Adsense guidelines and in fact it is something recommended by Adsense since besides increasing your earnings it also improves the user experience and interaction with Adsense ads.

Responsive websites and ad units can increase your traffic and earnings

Adsense raised the importance of having multi-screen optimized pages and encouraged publishers to try out the responsive ad units.

This was not something new for Adsense as the responsive ad units were first introduced in July 2013, but something that did not get too much attention in the industry.

Responsive ad units can be used on responsive websites only and they have the embedded logic to resize depending on the available ad space, which depends on the screen size.

If you are not familiar with what a responsive website is you can read more about it in this article but in summary a responsive website is optimized for viewing on different size screens and resolutions.

The design adapts on the available space and it looks good without having to zoom-in or out or use the horizontal scrollbar.

A responsive design is also Google’s recommended configuration for creating smartphone optimized websites.

The case studies

If it is not clear by now, the way to increase your Adsense earnings almost instantly is by making your website responsive and switching from normal AdSense units to responsive ad units.

The best way to prove that the above claim is correct, is to view the results of two different case studies.

Case study 1: caloriesecrets.net

As you can see from the AdSense report above, the Adsense earnings increased by 100% and remained at that levels.

Turning the website into responsive also increased the number of visitors from mobile and tablets and this number continuous to increase on daily basis.

Case study 2: manageyourlifenow.com

The number of visits that this website gets from mobile and tablets is less compared to the first case study, that’s why the increase is not so impressive.

Still, from the date this website was made responsive we saw a 20% increase in Adsense earnings and a gradual increase of visitors coming from mobile devices.

How to add responsive Adsense units on your website?

In order to run responsive AdSense units on your website you first need to have a responsive website.

You cannot run responsive ad units on non-responsive websites. So if your website is not responsive, the first step is to make it responsive.

Step 1: Make your website responsive

Almost any type of website can be turned into responsive and we have done it successfully on many websites.

Whether you are running a small, medium or large website in any platform or theme, contact us to give you a quote on how much it will cost to make your website responsive so that you can take advantage of the responsive ad units.

The cost can be as low as a few hundred dollars and for sure it worth’s the investment.

Step 2: Create Responsive Adsense units

Once your website is responsive the next step is to login to your AdSense account and create a new ad unit by selecting “Responsive Ad Unit” from the Ad size dropdown list.

You can fill out the rest of the information as you do with any other ad unit like channel, ad type, channel name and ad style.

Then when you click on the SAVE AND GET CODE button you have two choices: Smart sizing and Advanced.

Smart sizing is the recommended method and basically what this does is serving the best ad unit size depending on the available space.

For smart sizing to function correctly you need to set a width to the parent container at every different resolution.

In the example shown above the width of the <div> container is set to 100% so that it changes automatically when the browser size changes.

If you cannot set a pre-defined width or you want the size of the ads to stay the same regardless of the resolution then you need to select the Advanced Code.

The disadvantage of selecting the advanced configuration is that you will have to make changes to the media queries and if you don’t have the technical knowledge this will be very difficult.

Step 3: Insert the code into a responsive website and test

After you insert the code you can test that the AdSense units are showing correctly by viewing the website on different devices and orientations or by simply resizing your browser window and see how the ad size changes (you may need to refresh every time you change the browser size).

What rules NOT to break?

Fully compliance with AdSense guidelines is always very important especially if you depend on Adsense for income.

When it comes to implementing responsive ad units on your website you need to make sure that you don’t break any of these 3 rules:

1. Do not put responsive ad units on non-responsive websites – if your website is mobile friendly but not responsive then using responsive ad units is a bad choice and against Adsense guidelines.
2. Do not use a 300×250 unit on top of your mobile optimized page – When the users first view your responsive website on their mobile phones they should see content first and then ads (and not the other way around). From experience you may need to use javascript to move the ads below the content but it is important to do it in order not to violate any rules.
3. All other Adsense guidelines that have to do with the content, number of ads above the fold and number of ad units to show per page are still valid for responsive ad implementation as well.

Conclusion

The number of people using different devices to browse the internet is increasing day by day and as an Adsense publisher you cannot ignore it.

If you want to stay in synch with the latest trends in web design but also increase your Adsense earnings by utilizing your existing content then going responsive is your best option.

If your website is old then switching to a new responsive design may be a good choice but for the majority of websites (especially wordpress) this is not needed.

As you may have noticed both case studies shown above are running the Thesis theme which is not responsive but was made responsive from our development team.

There is an investment to be made but the gains in traffic, usability and conversion rates are more important and can cover the initial investment very fast.

You can contact us for a quote on how to transform your website to responsive and also help you with the implementation of responsive AdSense units.

Can You Still Make Money With AdSense?

 AdSense is perhaps the most popular way to make money online but is it for real? Can you still make money with AdSense? Can you make a living out of AdSense?

I will try and give you honest answers based on my experiences as an AdSense publisher but also examples from successful websites that are using AdSense.

• What is Google AdSense?
• How to make money with AdSense?
• Examples of websites making money with AdSense
• Can you make a living with AdSense?

What is Google AdSense?

The majority of Internet users are probably aware of Google AdSense but for the sake of keeping beginners up-to-date here is a quick overview of the program and major benefits:

• It is own by Google
• It’s a major source of income for Google. In 2018 earnings from AdSense were $24.1 billion for Q3 only!
• It is free for publishers
• Advertisers use the Google Ads program to advertise their products or services on AdSense websites. They only pay when someone clicks on their ads (PPC – Pay per click)
• Publishers receive 68% of the revenue and Google 32%. For example, if an advertiser pays $1 for a click then 68 cents will go to the publisher and 32 cents to Google.
• The cost per click calculation is based on an auction type system
• It is very easy to use
• It is the most reliable advertising platform on the Internet  today and can generate the most revenue for publishers (compared to other similar PPC systems)
• AdSense besides content websites is also available for games, videos, mobiles, and search products.

How to make money with AdSense?

So, AdSense is free, easy to use, you get 68% of the revenue – what else do you need to make money with AdSense?

• You need a content-rich website
• You need a high-quality website
• You need a LOT of traffic
• You need to target the right keywords
• You need to fully comply with AdSense policies
• You need to have a website with a purpose and not an MFA (made for AdSense) website

1. You need a content-rich website

AdSense loves content-rich websites. Content can be of any kind (text, images, videos), and provided that it does not violate the AdSense content policies.

It is suggested though to have text content on the pages so that the AdSense crawler can understand what the page is all about.

AdSense is more suitable for websites that publish articles, case studies, how-to guides (like this one), and blogs.

Having a rich-content blog with content that helps people learn something or accomplish a specific task, is one of the best ways to make money with AdSense. If you don’t already have a blog, the resources below will help you get started.

Resources to help you get started with blogging:

• How to make a website: A tutorial for building your first professional looking website!
• WordPress Blog Guide: A step by step guide on how to get started with WordPress Blogging
• How to start a blog and make money: A comprehensive guide on how to set up a blog and start publishing content with the purpose of making money online.
• How to make money with a blog: A step by step guide for beginners on how to make money with AdSense and other popular methods.
• How to make money using digital marketing: Effective ways to make money online.

2. You need a high-quality website

It’s not enough to publish content that does not violate AdSense content policies but you also need to provide high-quality content on a high-quality website.

Google is liable to advertisers for the money they pay so they don’t want their ads to appear on low-quality websites.

In the past this was possible but in the last couple of years, they have more strict policies on the type of websites you can run AdSense.

3. You need a LOT of traffic

AdSense is a good way to make money online and it is perhaps the easiest method provided that you have a good amount of quality traffic coming to your website.

I cannot give you an exact number because the amount of money you can make depends on the earnings per click (EPC) and click-through rate (CTR), but I don’t usually advise my clients to run AdSense on websites that have less than 300-400 unique visits per day.

In general, though, the more targeted traffic you have, the more money you can make with AdSense.

4. You need to target the right keywords

If you target the right keywords in your content then you can make more money with AdSense or with any other advertising platform.

What are the right keywords? Keywords that are:

(1) used by advertisers to promote their products  – so the competition is greater and this raises the earnings per click (EPC)

(2) action keywords – action keywords are more effective since the users are more likely to ‘take action’ i.e. convert after they click.

Let’s look at the following example:

Assume that you have 2 websites in the weight loss niche that are running AdSense. Both websites receive the same amount of organic traffic and they have the ads in the same positions.

The first one is getting visitors searching for: ‘weight loss tips’, ‘how to lose weight’, ‘lose belly fat’ and the other one is getting traffic from keywords like: ‘why drinking water is important’, ‘what to eat after dinner’, ‘how many meals to eat per day’.

The first website is likely to make more money with AdSense because more advertisers are interested in those keywords so the number of available relevant ads will be greater.

Users are also likely to click the ads more often since users looking for tips or solutions to their problem are more likely to click on a relevant ad than users who are searching for general information.

This is also the reason why organic traffic is considered to be more valuable than any other form of traffic i.e. because it is highly targeted and converts better.

5. You need to fully comply with AdSense policies

As I said above, AdSense represents 1/4 of Google’s revenue so they take the whole program very seriously. While it is relatively easy for everyone to get an AdSense account, if you don’t play by their rules 100% you risk losing your account.

Even if you are an existing or new AdSense publisher make sure that you read their policies before implementing AdSense on your website.

Remove from your mind any ideas for tricking the system and always remember that they have hired the best people to make sure that nobody will be able to bypass their rules and policies.

6. You need to have a website with a purpose and not an MFA (made for AdSense) website

While AdSense is a great way to monetize a website, websites that are made for the sole purpose of running AdSense ads are not favorable by Google.

I have mentioned this in a previous post: 5 reasons you are not making money online and what is important to understand is that your website or blog needs to have a clear purpose that goes beyond making money with AdSense.

Yes, you can use AdSense to make money from an established blog that has lots of traffic and visitors.

You can also use AdSense to make some extra money from your website while selling your own products and services, but it’s not a very good idea to make a blog and start publishing mediocre content for the sole purpose of getting organic visits and then run AdSense to make money.

In the past this model may have worked, but not anymore.

Examples of websites making money with AdSense

To be more precise let me give you a couple of examples from websites that make money with AdSense.

While reading the examples try to relate these websites with what I have explained above and try to understand how they have applied in practice all the guidelines.

Example 1: Digital Photography School

DPS is owned by Darren Rowse, the all famous Australian ProBlogger. Darren was among the first people who managed to make a living online and if you read his story and income spread, AdSense played a very important role especially in the beginning.

Let’s see how he is utilizing AdSense on DPS.

Website Using Adsense Ads

He is using a number of Ads per page. One of the ads is ‘above the fold’ and others are below the fold but in the main content area. He also has an ad in the sidebar.

Example 2: Calorie Secrets

I also use Adsense on caloriesecrets.net. Instead of charging for the products we are offering (calorie counter, food tracker, diet plan), we decided to have the products free and use AdSense to monetize our content.

I am using 3 AdSense ads per page, 1 above the fold, 1 below, and 1 in the sidebar.

What is common in all the above websites?

After seeing the above examples, can you tell what they have in common?

1. They are content-rich websites, offering top quality content
2. They have lots of traffic
3. They fully comply with Adsense policies.
4. They fully comply with webmaster guidelines
5. Although they have Ads above the fold, they are not interfering or damaging the user experience
6. They all have their ads in the main content and sidebar. The reason is simple: Click-through Rate (CTR) in the main content area is greater than the sidebar and this translates to more clicks i.e. more money from AdSense.
7. They all offer other services/products and are not operating for the sole purpose of running AdSense.

Can you make a living with AdSense?

I have explained above what it takes to make money with AdSense but can you also make a living? In other words, can you depend 100% on AdSense for all your expenses?

The answer is NO. The reason is not that you cannot make thousands of dollars per month with AdSense and make a good living, but because you cannot rely on a single source of income.

The online world is more dynamic than the offline World and you cannot assume that you will always have thousands of people visiting your website and clicking on Ads and you cannot assume that AdSense will exist forever.

Maybe it will, but you cannot base your income on it. Diversifying your risks and spreading your revenues is always the best practice either online or offline.

Conclusion

AdSense is perhaps the easiest, more reliable, and best way to make money online. Provided that your website meets the criteria explained above, you can enjoy a good monthly revenue by utilizing your content and the hours you spend online in the best possible way.

On the other hand, you should not rely solely on AdSense if you plan to escape from the 09:00-05:00 and make a living online.

Take a look at any example you want from people who work online. Everybody agrees that AdSense is great but you should have other income sources as well.