Donna Monday

Maybe you've had your own "Aha" moment with Google Adsense.



I had mine earlier this year when I realized I could make more
than just pocket change by featuring those now familiar ad
blocks on my websites. I had worked hard building my content
oriented niche sites and had expected to make decent affiliate
income--which never materialized.



You see, most people online (including you and me), are looking
for information. I call them "lookey-loos." They want to gather
information before making a purchasing decision. This is normal
behavior. However, if you are looking to earn or make online
money via a web site affiliate program, you'll quickly realize
that it takes a lot more than slapping banner ads and links on
your site.



Although, I've made a modest amount of affiliate income, it
didn't seem enough to make it worth my while, in spite of what
the affiliate marketing ebook gurus said. That's the point where
I decided to put Adsense on my sites. Got nothing to lose, right?



At first I was like "Cool. A few pennies a day in the piggy
bank." I didn't have to do anything extra for it, so it was kind
of an easy way to make some "spare change." I didn't care how
much I made each day. Anything was better than looking at a big
fat zero.



Then something changed. The money accumulating in my Adsense
account began to grow. Hmmm. Maybe there's something more to
this Google Adsense thing than I realized. Adsense seemed like a
pretty decent opportunity to make money online.



This is when I got serious about the potential to make money
with Google Adsense. I know I'm just one of thousands of website
publishers that has recently discovered that this is one of
several ways to make extra money.



So here many of us sit, anxiously checking our stats to see how
much money we've made today. What is our CTR (click through
rate)? How much are we getting paid per click? And so forth.



While we all hear the tales about those making thousands per day
or month with Adsense, most of us web publishers, here in the
trenches, are not blessed with having a gazillion visitors that
produce big fat checks. We are trying to steadily grow our
modest Adsense income fairly and honestly.



But what is the secret to doing that?



**WARNING: If you're interested in information on how to make
lots of money quick and easy using black hat techniques or using
SPAM website generators, you can stop reading now**



I believe that slow and steady wins the race--and, you'll get to
keep your Adsense account for the long run. Let me give you some
perspective. Google is worth $120 billion. Google stock is now
valued at over $400 per share. A good portion of their profit
comes from pay-per-click advertising (Adwords). Yet, online
advertising is still a relatively small percentage of total
(U.S.) advertising dollars spent. However, things are rapidly
changing. Online advertising will see steady growth for many
years to come.



The potential windfall for online web publishers is enormous. A
web publisher making $30 a month today, could be making
$300-$500 per day in a few short years. Those who go for the
quick, unethical profits now, but lose their Adsense accounts
because of it, may be kicking themselves in the future. To me,
it's just not worth it.



Anyway, for those of you who think that you'll never make it to
that coveted $100 per month mark so that you can join the Google
monthly check club, take heart. There's still plenty of time for
you to get there. However, you must get serious. You won't make
the big money if you're treating your websites like a hobby.



Ok. So, here's some quick tips on what you can do to grow your
Adsense profits (I'm currently making over $300 per month with
Adsense by following this very strategy):



=> BUILD QUALITY CONTENT SITES



Content is King.



You will not see good CTR without quality content. Put yourself
in the visitor's shoes. What's the first thing you'll want to do
when you visit a crap website? Yeah, that's right. Leave. Some
web publishers believe that quality content doesn't matter. That
people will be less likely to click if they get good information
at a site. This is not my experience. Some also believe that a
crappy content site will cause visitors to click on Adsense ads
to "escape" a bad site. I think this is B.S. When's the last
time you clicked on an ad to escape someone's site? It's too
easy to hit the "back" button or close the browser.



Your job as an online web publisher is to give people quality
information. The ads are an added benefit to your visitors. If
they want more information on a product or service related to
your subject matter, then they are more likely to click on an
ad. They will trust your site more. And, yes, my sites
consistently have really good CTR. That means "high interest."



=> BUILD MORE THAN ONE WEBSITE



While a few lucky web publishers have hit the golden jackpot
($10,000 a month and up) with only one site, most of them had
built up a very popular site over several years and already had
tons of steady traffic (in the thousands). When they put Adsense
on their sites, they saw instant big money, and they continue to
reap the rewards.



You and I, down here in the trenches with fairly new sites,
cannot realistically expect to achieve these lofty heights
overnight. It's gonna take a lot of work to get where they are,
if we ever do. Even if we don't, we can still make a nice enough
income to achieve our desired financial goals. So quit obsessing
over what so and so is making and focus on your own web
publishing business.



Now the truth is, the more quality websites you build, the more
money you'll make with Adsense. This goes for blogs too. If one
site drops in clicks, then another site often picks up the
slack. This is my experience. And these sites don't have to be
big money makers on their own, or get lots of traffic. It's a
numbers game. The more sites you build, the more opportunities
you'll have to reap Adsense profits. How many sites you build is
up to you, but it's not uncommon for successful web publishers
to have between two and 10 sites, some have many more!



Yes, this takes a lot of work. You have to research a niche
topic, keywords, popularity potential, design a decent looking
site, write or hire someone to write quality content, get your
site listed in the search engines, keep monitoring your site,
etc. So, you'll be working some long hours in front of your
computer. But think of it as building your online empire--one
site at a time.



If you want more information on building niche websites, please
read my article: "How to Build a Niche Web Site in 9 Simple
Steps"
http://www.1minutesolutions.com/Build_a_Niche_Web_Site.html



=> USE HIGHEST PERFORMING AD BLOCK



While you can test various Adsense ad block sizes and colors on
your website, others have already done the research as to the
top performing ad block. It's the 300x250 rectangle. This block
should be blended into your web page so that it doesn't look so
conspicuously like an ad. People hate ads. They don't like to be
sold to. However, if your ad blocks don't scream "advertisement"
to them, they're more likely to click. This has been proven.



The best positioning for ad blocks is at the top of the page
(center position seems to get more clicks). Also, blue link
color gets more clicks than any other link colors. But of
course, you're free to experiment with ad blocks on your own
site.



=> TWEAK AND UPDATE YOUR WEBSITES



No website is perfect. You can always make improvements. Change
or add new (relevant) information. If your website is ranking
low, try adding new information. Search engines love websites
that have fresh information. You don't have to add something new
every week, but you can tweak and update your sites
periodically. I've had sites move into excellent search engine
positions just by doing a little tweaking.



BEWARE of auto-generated feeds and content. Google is cracking
down on sites that have too much automation. The search engines
seem to love organic content that looks and reads like the web
publisher put some personal effort into it.



=> WORK ON GETTING MORE TRAFFIC



I know. This is the 100-pound gorilla for all of us. By now you
know it's not easy getting web site traffic. Whole ebook empires
have been built around this very subject. All I can tell you is
that there are some proven techniques, but they take work and
time. One of the best ways, and the method I use consistently to
get great results is writing articles like this one, and
submitting them to article directories and lists. It's also a
nice way to get new sites indexed relatively quickly.



You MUST keep working on getting more traffic to your websites.
Traffic=Clicks=$$$



I know it can be frustrating when your site traffic is in the
single digit per day category. Look at it this way, there's
nowhere else to go but UP.



=> KEEP LEARNING



An important KEY to increasing your Google Adsense profits is to
learn as much as you can about the business of making money
online with your website. Knowledge is power. There are plenty
of generous people online offering free advice on how you can
improve your Adsense income. One place I frequent is here:
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/forumdisplay.php?f=27



I wouldn't be where I am now without taking full advantage of
free and paid resources. Remember, you're not alone. There are
lots of folks going through the same thing that you are. If you
are open to learning, you CAN move forward towards reaching your
income goals with Google Adsense.



=> SET GOALS



If you made $30 this month, set a goal to make $40 or $50 next
month. If you made $80 this month, set a goal to make $100 next
month. Having a monthly goal is a great way to stay motivated
while you work on your website business. Trust me, I know. My
first month with Adsense I earned a whopping $32.46. It took
several months for me to make it into the monthly check club.
However, with steady work, and determination to increase my
Adsense income, that check has grown bigger every month.



=> HAVE RESPECT FOR ADWORDS ADVERTISERS



Adwords advertisers respect web publishers who understand that
the reason they allow their ads to show up on your website pages
is so that you can help bring them quality prospects. Adwords
advertisers are looking for a decent return on investment (ROI)
for their Adwords dollars. They don't have to run their ads on
the content network. Google makes it easy for them to turn that
option off--and many do.



So, keep in mind that it's in YOUR best interest to keep the
Adwords advertiser's best interest in mind when you build your
websites. Advertisers want to see profits just like we do. They
want some of those clicks to produce sales. If they don't make
enough sales, they will quit using Adwords. That leads to less
money for web publishers.



There are some greedy, opportunistic web publishers out there
who only care about filling their pockets with quick cash. They
don't care about how much money their SPAM pages cost
advertisers when they send unqualified, or barely interested
visitors, clicking onto the advertiser's site. Poor quality
website traffic may make some web publishers a tidy sum, but
they risk being downgraded eventually by Adwords advertisers and
Google itself. Google is giving their Adwords advertisers more
tools to track clicks and sales conversions.



Trust me, you want to be on the good list of web publishers that
can be trusted by Adwords advertisers to consistently bring them
qualified visitors. That's what they are paying for. And, quit
crying over low paying clicks. Google and their advertisers
don't owe you a living. If you want to make more Adsense money,
then you'll have to work smarter and harder.



=> BE PATIENT BUT PERSISTENT



While Google Adsense is a great way to earn or make online
money, it's definitely not a get-rich-quick scheme. It'll take
months, maybe even a couple of years before you realize those
big check dreams. Meanwhile, keep doing a little bit here and
there to build a solid online business.



Actually, what we really do is provide a needed service to
people--we provide quality information to help them find what
they're looking for quickly and easily. We help the "looky-loos"
save time and money. We are information providers extraordinaire!



What a great way to make a living.



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© Donna Monday The Best Information from Around the Web
http://www.1MinuteSolutions.com





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