5 Tips for Earning With Google AdSense

What Is Google AdSense? 5 Tips for Earning With AdSense

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If you have a website or blog—whether it’s for sharing your latest recipes, travel tips, or workouts—you can monetize that content, especially if you have a reliable following. Advertisers pay to appear on your website through Google AdSense, and you get paid when a reader clicks on ads.

What is Google AdSense?

Google AdSense is a free advertising program run by Google that allows you to earn money by displaying ads on your site. Advertisers pay for Google ads to appear in ad spaces on blogs and other websites that their target audiences visit. When someone clicks on ads, the site owner receives a cut. 

Once you’ve logged into Google AdSense, you can copy and paste HTML snippets into your page’s source code to display ads on your site. Some content management systems (CMS) even come pre-equipped with AdSense, while others support it as a plug-in.

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Google AdSense vs. Google Ads: What’s the difference?

Google AdSense allows publishers to monetize their websites or blogs with ads. Google Ads, on the other hand, is a program for marketers—it’s effectively the other half of the equation. Brands use Google Ads to place advertisements within Google search and on publisher websites that use Google AdSense.

If you’re running an ecommerce store and are looking to expand your marketing efforts with digital ads, Google Ads can help you do this. If you run a well-trafficked blog that you want to monetize, you might use Google AdSense.

5 types of ads available on Google AdSense

Google AdSense offers five different types of ads you can display on your website:

1. Display

Display ads are the most popular AdSense ads. They are image-driven advertisements that typically appear in the margins of your webpage as horizontal banners across the top, vertical ads, or box ads along the side. They are responsive, meaning they adjust to different screen sizes and page layouts. 

2. In-feed

In-feed ads are a type of native ad, meaning they match the format of the content on your website for a more seamless user experience. If your site features a feed of blog posts, for instance, an in-feed ad would appear in between two of them. It will appear stylistically similar but include a green “Ad” tag to distinguish it from your own content. 

You might also include in-feed ads on your site’s internal search results page. In-feed ads can be text-only or they can include pictures, depending on the design of the page. 

3. In-article

In-article ads are a type of native ad that appears between paragraphs within articles. They can include text and images. You can set the font and colors of the ad text yourself to make it match your content. Alternatively, you can select the option for “Google-optimized style,” which will automatically select a color and font designed to generate the most clicks.

4. Multiplex

Multiplex ads are grid-style ad units that recommend related content and products to readers. It’s common to place multiplex ads at the bottom of articles. Instead of interrupting the user’s focus as they read, multiplex ads provide options for continued interaction after the user is done with your content.

5. Search engine

Google’s search ads show up at the top of Google search results pages. You can use them to earn money by including a Google-powered search engine on your site. When your site visitors use your search bar, Google Search ads will appear in the results. 

How does Google AdSense work?

Publishers must apply to be a part of the AdSense Program by signing up for an AdSense account. When Google approves your website and payment information, you can start displaying ads on your site. You make spaces available by pasting HTML code (provided by Google AdSense) into the appropriate fields on your website. In doing so, you get to choose which types of ads you’d like to show and where to place them. 

Then, advertisers bid on those ad placements based on your site’s content (which is evaluated by Google’s crawlers) and click-through rate. Google places the highest bidder’s ads on your site. Since Google Ads runs on a cost-per-click payment structure, advertisers are only charged when someone clicks on their ads. When this happens on your website, you earn money. 

How much can you expect to earn with AdSense?

There is no guarantee that you will make money with Google AdSense. Your income will depend on a variety of factors, including your region, the type of content you publish, your website traffic, your ads’ click-through rate, and the advertisers’ cost-per-click bid. To get an idea of what you could make, use the Google Adsense revenue calculator to get an estimate. 

5 tips for making money with Google AdSense 

If you want to use the Google AdSense program to earn money from your website, use the following pointers to help you maximize your AdSense revenue:

1. Build a reputable website

While Google doesn’t reveal specifics of what is required to be accepted into the AdSense program, it’s clear it prioritizes high-quality websites in its advertising network. That means you’ll want to build a reputable website that’s easy to navigate, publishes valuable content, and offers a positive user experience.

2. Focus your content

Focusing your content around a specific subject or category will make it easier for Google to match you with advertisers who want to reach the same target audience. Google uses crawlers to assess your website and identify signals, such as keywords and page structure, that indicate what kind of content you’re sharing. Google uses that information to determine which ads are relevant to your site. The ads will have a higher click-through rate if your readers have an interest in the ads displayed on your site. 

3. Use strategic ad placements

Ensure the ad placements on your site are easily visible to increase the likelihood that your audience will click on them. Where you make ad spaces available also depends on the type of ad. Place display ads near the top of your site, so users don’t have to scroll to find them. In-feed and in-article ads are also a great way to prominently display ads where your readers will be looking. Just make sure your site isn’t so saturated with ads that it makes for a poor user experience. 

4. Drive traffic to your website

Because AdSense publishers only get paid if a user clicks on the ads displayed on their site, it’s important to drive as much traffic as possible to your website. You can increase your website traffic by posting regularly, promoting your content on social media, and employing search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. SEO is a particularly powerful tool to help your target audience discover your website via search engines. 

5. Follow Google’s guidelines

Ensure you are able to continue displaying ads by following Google Adsense Program policies. While it may be tempting to increase your click-through rate by clicking on your own ads or encouraging others to do so, Google wants all clicks to result from genuine user interest and penalizes invalid traffic. Encouraging users to click on ads, placing ads where users might click on them by mistake, and directing bot traffic to ad links can get your AdSense account disabled.

Google AdSense FAQ

What types of ads are available through Google AdSense?

There are five types of ads available through Google AdSense: display, in-feed, in-article, multiplex, and search engine. Display ads, which appear as a banner or sidebar on the margins of a webpage, are the most common.

How does Google determine which ads to show on your site?

Google will match you with advertisers based on the content of both your site and the ads, as well as your site’s click-through rate and the advertiser’s cost-per-click bid. Only the highest paying ads appear on your site.

How do I customize the ads that appear on my site?

You can choose the type, size, and placement of the ads on your site. The specific ad will then be determined by which advertiser bids the highest for that placement.

Are there any common mistakes to avoid when using Google AdSense?

One common mistake to avoid is poor ad placement. If your audience has to scroll to the bottom of the page to see the only ads on your site, they may be more likely to miss them. On the other hand, don’t overload your website with so many AdSense ads that it creates a distracting user experience.

Do you need to have a minimum amount of website traffic to use Google AdSense?

Google doesn’t specify a required minimum for the AdSense program, but the more traffic your site gets, the more likely you are to be accepted and earn money.

Should I use Google AdSense on My Blog or Website? Does Google AdSense Make Money?

Last Updated on June 3, 2023

Two questions I often get asked are if Google AdSense makes money and if it is worth using AdSense on a blog. So, in this post, let me answer those two questions, in addition to telling you about how to set up AdSense, and what the alternatives are.

How Does Google AdSense Work?

Once you start a blog I am sure you will be happy to make money from it, if you can do this with very little effort on your part, by using auto-generated ads.

What happens is that you can add one piece of code one time to your blog (very easy if you use WordPress) and then ads will automatically show up on your site.

The ads will normally be related to the content on your pages and the browsing history of the person who visits the site.

So, if you have a blog page about food because you are a food blogger, the chances are that the automatically generated ads will also in some way be related to food.

This is because the ads are generated based on the words in the text and are then matched with suitable related ads.

In addition, Google will show ads that are related to the content that a visitor was searching before landing on your site. This is because Google tracks the user’s activity using cookies to show them targeted ads.

What Is Google AdSense?

One of the most well-known auto-ads services is owned by Google and is called Google AdSense.

As one of the leading search engines in the world, Google has thousands of businesses paying them on their advertiser’s platform called Google AdWords.

If you have a blog and are happy to allow ads in your content, in return for a percentage of the ads income that Google get, you can easily start making money with AdSense.

Advantages of Using Google AdSense

The real advantage of using AdSense is its simplicity.

You can just add the code once and sit back and watch the pennies flowing in.

If you are looking to make just enough money, for example, to cover the costs of your hosting and domain name, you can quite easily achieve this effortlessly, as long as you have a few dozen or more pages of decent content.

A lot of advertisers pay Google to have their ads placed on blogs and websites just like yours, so you will have no problem getting ads onto your site with AdSense.

Disadvantages of Using Google AdSense

One of the major disadvantages of using AdSense is that the amount you make per click is really quite low compared to what it used to be.

Valeria and I used to make a very decent amount of money from Google using AdSense 5 – 10 years ago.

We could make USD$1000 quite easily in one month back then whilst sitting on the beach and leaving the sites to make auto-ads income with little effort.

In recent years, the same ads will make only a few hundred dollars, i.e. the percentages have become much more diluted.

It is much harder now to make a good income from Google AdSense, compared to a few years ago.

What Are the Alternatives to Google AdSense?

What has happened in the last few years is that a bunch of bloggers got together after being tired of the low commissions paid by Google, to form their own ads network.

One such network is Mediavine.

Mediavine is harder to get accepted for because they require you to have at least 50,000 sessions (you can find these stats in your Google Analytics).

For Google AdSense, there are no such limitations to joining their program in terms of needing already to have lots of web traffic.

Mediavine will also check the quality of your site to make sure it looks genuine and not in any way spammy.

The great benefit of Mediavina vs AdSense is that you will make a lot more money because the percentage Mediavine will give you is much more generous.

Tip: If you are likely to want to apply for Mediavine in the future, then you are advised not to use Google AdSense at all.

The issue is that, once you get penalized by AdSense (easily done in AdSense), this can go against you when you apply for Mediavine and some other similar ad networks.

How Much Does Google AdSense Pay?

There is no way to be able to give an exact amount on how much you can make from Google AdSense because every blog or website is different and everyone makes a different amount.

There are people making £50 (or USD$50) whilst there are some people making £££ thousands because they have multiple sites with AdSense ads on them, or because they have one site with thousands of pages on it.

So, to answer the question directly, there is no set amount and what you earn every month will vary (according to what other businesses are spending to have their ads show on sites or blogs like yours).

How Can I Start Using Google AdSense and Login

You can simply head across to the official Google AdSense website and just follow the instructions. It’s relatively easy.

How Can You Make Money with Google AdSense Earnings Without a Website?

One of the best ways to make money with Google AdSense without a website is to make AdSense income through videos.

If you have a YouTube channel, once you have a certain number of subscribers, YouTube will allow you then to connect automated ads onto your videos.

Google owns YouTube and they are of course the owners of Google AdSense, so it’s probably no surprise that automatically connecting the two is really simple.

Vlogging on YouTube is one way to make AdSense money without a website.

Is Google AdSense Worth It?

There are two ways to look at it really.

Easy and small – if you are simply looking to make just enough to pay for some basics such as for your hosting and domain name and want a hassle-free way to make that money, AdSense can be a great option.

Making a decent income from auto-ads – to make a decent income the easiest way (once you have enough traffic to get accepted) is to go with an ads company such as Mediavine or Monumetric.

So, basically, yes it is worth it for making very small amounts.

If you are more serious about making income from autogenerated ads then I recommend Mediavine or Monumetric or a similar service.

Google AdSense Revenue Calculator

If you are wondering where you can estimate your potential earnings with Adsense, via a Google AdSense revenue calculator, the free-to-use tool I recommend is from Smallseotools and can be found here.

How to Earn Money From Google at Home

I have included this question because I often get asked this from those of you who are looking to start working online from home.

There are many ways to make money online and I think this question gets asked more in reference to how to make money online than how to get paid directly from Google.

AdSense is basically the answer in terms of making money from Google directly.

If you are wondering how it’s possible to make a 5-figure income online then you can check out our post about it here.

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