10 Low-Effort Ways to Make Money with Google AdSense and Blogging
Are you in need of extra cash and currently looking to put your website or blog traffic to use? Wish you knew an easy (and effective) way to generate additional cash flow, while also still being able to build an online business and brand in the process? Well, why not trying to make money with Google AdSense?
Not sure what Google AdSense, how it works, or how it can make you money? In this article, we’re covering 10 low-effort ways to make moolah with Google AdSense.
What is Google AdSense?
Google AdSense is a free Google program that makes it easy for website publishers of any size to earn money for their website. It works by helping them display target Google ads on their website. Essentially, it’s a form of website monetizing that pays you whenever anyone views these Google ads and clicks on the said advertisement.
The great thing about Google Adsense, is that there is really no work or technical design skills required. All you need to do is create a Google Adwords account, add your site, copy their banner ad code, and then you are good to go! Google will look at the content on your site and find relevant advertisements to serve. As the site owner or blogger, you will then earn a commission for every click sent to their advertisers.
Super easy and effective… which is why it’s become one of the greatest and easiest ways to make money on the internet with a website or blog.
10 Ways to Make Money with Google AdSense
Now that you know what Google AdSense is, you’re probably wondering how you can effectively use it to make money. Here are 10 tips to keep in mind for a successful AdSense strategy:
Identify Your Audience
The first step in a successful AdSense campaign is figuring out how it works in relation to your blog or website. This means doing some research (both quantitative and qualitative) to figure out who’s visiting your website.
Are your site visitors women or men, or people of a certain age? Survey your audiences, find out who they are and what they like, and the types of content that resonate with them.
Once you do that, you can better understand what your audience is looking for from your website. From there, track any data you have so you can accurately determine the type of ads your visitors want most, so you can encourage interaction.
Choose the Right Keywords
In order to take full advantage of AdSense, you need to learn the ins-and-outs of keywords and choose the right ones for your website. If you don’t choose the right keywords, you’ll end up with an ad experience on your site that doesn’t match your content or speak to your users.
And avoid over-indexing on keywords. If your keyword density is too high, Google will penalize you. They may even remove you from the AdSense program.
Pick the Right Ad Design
AdSense advertisements can come in a variety of sizes and formats, so you’ll have to do some testing to figure out which ones work best for your website or blog.
In terms of performance, the largest 336×280 rectangle-shaped advertisements tend to perform the best. This may be because it’s right in front of the user’s face, so there’s no way they’ll miss it. This ad size also enables you to present video ads, which are generally more engaging for users.
For anyone using Genesis or StudioPress, be sure to take a look at any of their top themes. Not only are all of these themes custom-built and used by some of the top brands and blogs on the internet today, they also have premium placements for ad banners and Google Adsense.
Avoid Putting Too Many Ads Above the Fold
While advertisements can drive revenue for your website, they can also hurt it if site visitors find them overwhelming or distracting. Not only can this be distracting to the end user, it can also annoy Google and their automated site-updates as well. In previous Google updates, there have been several websites and blogs that have been penalized for having too many ads on the top portion of the page, and making users scroll down to access the real content on their sites.
That’s why you need to avoid putting too many ads above the fold, which is the portion of the web page that’s visible to users without them needing to scroll. Putting too many ads here makes it hard for customers to find the content they’re looking for and causes them to exit your website.
Focus on Visual Balance
The visuals of your ads will impact their discoverability and how much they stand out to your audiences. Experiment with text ad unit colors to increase their visibility, and find one that works with your website them.
If you’re looking to display unobtrusive ads, match the background and border color to the ads. If you want them to pop, try out different styles, and avoid matching background and border colors too much.
A great way to accomplish this is to consider adding gifographics within your content. While GIF and JPG visuals will be a nice break between your text content, gifographics gain even more attention and pull in the reader with their unique designs and in-design animation.
Go Responsive With Your Ads
Part of running a successful website is making the website experience as great as possible. This means making your website responsive, so it scales to meet any device size.
Generate codes for responsive ad units so your ads can automatically resize themselves for the optimal mobile experience. By going mobile-first with your website design and Google ads, you can impress users with your website and make your ads more appealing.
Stay Up to Date on Your Analytics
In order to make money off your Google ads, you need to know how they’re performing, and when you need to modify them for your website. That’s why you should absolutely link your AdSense and Google Analytics account. This will give you insight into metrics like revenue, click rate, and overall impression, so you can understand how well your content is monetizing.
This can help you optimize your website, focus your content efforts, and gain insights on optimal ad load. You can also use these results to refine and optimize your AdSense units, which will help you make money fast.
Keep Your Users in Mind
As you aim to generate revenue with your ads, it’s important to remember that your users should come before everything else. This means your content (and ads) should provide value to your users.
The best way to do this is by being strategic and thoughtful about how you blend ads and blog content. Don’t place ads haphazardly without thinking about the aesthetics of your site or overall usability.
Be Careful with Your Blocking and Filtering Efforts
You may be wary to allow certain disruptive or irrelevant ads on your website. But you should know that every time you block an ad, you’re reducing your earning potential for that specific ad space. You may even turn off advertisers and make them less likely to advertise on your website in the future.
Rule of thumb: don’t block ads unless absolutely have to. If your ads aren’t speaking to your website’s content or audience, focus on your keywords and how you can optimize them.
Publish Content Regularly and Often
In order for your advertisements to perform, you need to do everything you can to drive visitors to your website. If you don’t have traffic, you won’t generate clicks, and in turn, won’t get any revenue. Google’s algorithm will reward you if you publish content on a regular basis, which will drive your site ranking and bring in more traffic.
Struggling with creating content or unsure what types of ads are most relevant for your site? Contact an advertising agency for assistance!
Final Thoughts On Making Money with AdSense
If you’re a website or blog publisher, you should absolutely try to make money with Google AdSense. It’s such an easy way to make money, especially if you follow the tips in this article! If you take in these tips and plan an effective ad strategy, you’ll end up creating more valuable content, and driving better business for your blog or website.
Are you struggling with your blog or looking to create one? Not sure where to start? Check out our blogging resources to get insights into how you can effectively do this!
