Google AdSense for Beginners: How to Make Money from Blogging

Have you wondered how your blogger friends make money from simply owning a blog? If they won’t tell you, I would. Google AdSense is the way!

Did you know that you could make money from blogging when you use the Google Adsense platform?

Some might feel that Google AdSense is a complex concept that just doesn’t make sense?

You might have heard that it’s ad sizes that make the difference? Or ad placement? Or keywords?

Did you know that once you get past the set-up, the data is unbelievable? Does all of these confuse you?

Well, let’s change that and make it easier for you.

In this article, you will learn the beginner’s guide to getting started with Google Adsense and how to make money on the platform.

Before we dive into all the mess, you can skip reading this long article and register for our upcoming digital marekting training, where you would learn the ABC of monetizing your website with Google AdSense, and other monetization options.

You can click here to learn more about the training.

Let’s start with the basics.

What is Google AdSense?

Google AdSense is an advertisement program from Google which deals with advertisements on the websites.

In other words, this is also called PPC-Pay Per Click and this same program differs from advertiser to that of a publisher.

According to Wikipedia:

“Google AdSense is a program run by Google Inc. that allows publishers in the Google Network of content sites to serve automatic text, image, video, and rich media adverts that are targeted to site content and audience.”

When you go online and visit a website, you might have noticed ads showing in between the web page you’re reading.

Those ads are nothing but Google Adsense ads.

It is also known as contextual advertising.

Why Google AdSense?

There are many alternatives for Google Adsense like Adversal, Infolinks, and list goes on. But what makes Google Adsense stand out is the control and quality of ads that they provide for our revenue.

As stated above, Google faces stiff competition from other advertiser’s platform in the market. But even then Google AdSense is the first choice for bloggers.

So why publishers go only for AdSense program?

[bctt tweet=”The first answer would be Google is the king on the Internet. Google dominates every other search network. Therefore, Google enjoys the ultimate authority. So, publishers or bloggers trust Google blindly.” username=”dmsinstitute”]

Moreover, Google AdSense program is very easy to use and Google extends all the support that it can offer.

If you have any problem related to putting ads or payments then you could reach Google without hesitation.

Google is always ready to help you.

The benefits of hosting an AdSense advertisement far outweighs passing this opportunity by, as it is helpful to both the advertiser as well as site visitors and the site host themselves.

Think seriously about using this service for your business.

Site Advertisement Host Benefits

1. 1. Income is earned per advertisement click.
   2. Offering a helpful site link for customers/site viewers.
   3. Increasing personal knowledge of online advertising.
   4. Affiliation with a desirable advertising team.

Advertiser Benefits

1. 1. Increase in specific content traffic/customer flow to site.
   2. Inexpensive advertisement method.
   3. Increase in personal knowledge of online advertising.

Site Visitor Benefits

1. 1. Related links for further assistance in information or related products.
   2. Efficient searching assistance, time not wasted.

Google Adsense Basics

To begin with, you need to create a Google Adsense account and have to verify with AdSense for the first time.

Fill the online form, provide your personal information, provide all tax information, select a mode of payment, then enter PVN and PIN. After providing these details, your account will set up on Google AdSense.

Now, before we move on, I should clarify the meaning of certain terms that would be used again and again in this article.

Publishers – Publishers are bloggers or website owners who create content where Google allows them to show various ads on behalf of advertisers.

Advertisers – As I pointed-out in my previous paragraph advertisers are individuals who pay an amount to Google for showing their ads on publisher’s blog or website.

In other words, you can say publishers are thousands of bloggers & web-owners who create content for money and advertisers are those business owners who want to sell or advertise their products using publisher’s blog.

Google Adwords and Google Adsense: The Relationship

In order to get an inner understanding of Google AdSense program we need to know Google AdWords program.

Now, what is Google AdWords?

Google AdWords and Google AdSense are basically two sides of same coin.

Google Inc. generates about 90% of its revenue from Google AdWords.

All the large, medium and small size business owners would like to sell their products to customers around the world.

In order to reach targeted customers in quick time, these business owners make use of Adwords program.

Here, they pay Google to show their ads on either search result page or on the content of a blog (Adsense) (and many other platforms).

Therefore, Google totally runs only on the money paid by these business owners.

When it comes to Google AdWords (now called Google Ads),  there are of two types:

• One is shown on right-hand side of the search engine result. You might have noticed whenever you search something; a column of ads would appear on right side of the screen. Those are Adwords ads, business owners pay Google for showing those ads.
• Second is contextual ads shown on the publisher’s content called nothing but Adsense.

How does the Google AdSense Program Work?

Well! It’s very simple.

As mentioned earlier, business owners would pay Google for showing ads on publisher’s website.

Google Adsense is a program designed only for bloggers & site owners, unlike Adwords which is for business owners.

Now a publisher (normally called blogger) has to apply on Google for Adsense approval.

If he/she is approved, then Google would allow the display of ads on his website.

Whenever people or visitors visit a publisher’s website in search of quality content and they click on an Adsense ad, Google pays the publisher for every Click.

Google pays publishers 68% of what the money obtained from advertisers, while they keep 32%.

Advertisers, on the other hand, pay Google for each click.

Thus, Google takes money from advertisers and gives large chunk of it to publishers and keeps the remaining to itself.

Quite simple, yeah?

You can now understand how Adwords and Adsense programmes are interlinked with each other.

Let us look at various ways of showing Adsense ads on a website:

• Adsense for Content: Contextual advertisement
• Adsense of Feeds: Ads will show up on feeds
• Adsense of Search: Ads will come on search
• Adsense for Domain: Place advertisements on domain names
• Adsense of Video: Ads on YouTube Videos

Some terminologies that are commonly used in Google Adsense are:

• CPC: Cost Per Click – The amount that publishers gets when visitors clicks on the Ads. It could be from 10 cents to $2 or even more.
• CTR: Click Through Rate – How many visitors click on those ads. If 100 people came to your site and only one of them clicks, then CTR is 1%, if 2 clicks then CTR 3%, if 3 clicks then 4%, and so on.
• Views: Total number of impression blogger receives for his blog.
• Visitors: How many people came to your blog.

How to Make Money with Google Adsense?

This is going to be a step by step procedure, so let’s start with the 5 things to do before applying for Google AdSense.

5 Things to do before Applying for Google AdSense Account

Well, let me be honest, AdSense isn’t easy to join nowadays.

Things aren’t like the way they used to be back in 2006, 2007 and 2008, it’s 2018 now, but the good news is that you aren’t alone!

To signup for a Google AdSense account, you would need the following:

Your Age:

You must be of 18 years old with having a national identity.

If you are younger than this, consider writing your parents/guardian name or you may have to open a joint account with your blood relative in a bank to receive cheques/payments from Google.

Quality Content:

Google is not looking for copied, duplicate or already available content in the market.

What Google is actually looking for is, quality content which is not yet already available in the market.

It has to be grammatically correct, unique and offer quality information to the user on the subject on what they are looking for.

No Privacy Policy, About Us or Contact Us page:

If you are serious about earning money online from AdSense, then you need to be serious with your website and blog.

Consider adding Privacy Policy, Terms of Condition, About Us and Contact Us page to show professionalism about yourself and your website.

Address Details:

While Applying for Adsense, make sure to write the correct home address because Google will be sending you a pin on your mentioned address to cross check.

Check Your Content:

While I have already mentioned a few of the content tactics you need to keep in mind, but there is also one more thing and that is the niche.

Below are some of the niches which AdSense doesn’t like, so if you have a site in the following categories, I don’t recommend AdSense.

Here are some content types that are violated based on Adsense Policies:

• Pornography/Adult materials
• Pirated Content
• Hacking or Cracking Tutorials
• Illegal Drugs/Paraphernalia
• Any Other Illegal Stuff

There are few languages that are supported by AdSense so make sure your blog language is in the list of these.

How to Apply for Google AdSense Account?

Fair enough, now let’s dive into how to apply for Google adsense account.

If you already have a Google/Gmail Account, select sign in, otherwise select the green button of Signup Now.

You will then be redirected to the following page:

After filing your details into the appropriate sections above, tick the mark to accept that you will be complying with Google Adsense policies.

Once the form is submitted, you will be asked to wait 24 to 48 hours to see a reply from Google.

Google AdSense Money Making Tips

Below are some things you need to keep up in your mind once you start a website.

Don’t Hurriedly Apply for Google AdSense

A big mistake bloggers make is that they apply to the Google Adsense program after a few days of launching their blogs.

It’s a wrong step to take.

Because it’s not about the number of articles you have published, but rather how much traction you’re already getting on your blog.

It’s better to build some authority, grab attention, and let the organic visitors start to come, then apply for Google AdSense.

Don’t worry if it takes 2 to 3 months after launching the blog because it is worth it.

Test the Ads Placement

There are different places to put the ads on a blog. Try experimenting with placing the ads on different places on your blog.

It’s better to test out a set of ads on certain places for 4 weeks and see what happens after that, then compare it to the next set of ads on different locations of the blog. You might see a change in the Adsense earning.

Write Content Consistently

Consistency is the key to success. When you write content on a regular basis, the chances of getting your content rank high in the search engines increases.

Similarly, your content could go viral on social media if it suits the specific audience and they start to share it.

There are different factors of why a piece of content gets shared on social media.

For example, if it solves a specific problem or it is written for a certain group of people or it addresses a mass-level issue or it breaks some relevant news, then it gets a lot of attention.

Focus on the Niche

Google AdSense earning depends a lot on the number of visitors and page views alongside the clicks.

It means you have to have a bundle of regular visitors on your blog to make money from AdSense. It is advisable to create content in your niche so that it gets more authority over time.

On the other hand, if you mix up different types of content, you’ll end up ranking for nothing and likely to fail to build the authority over time.

So focus on your niche and try to cover each and every possible aspect of your niche to make an authority blog.

Geographic Impact

The geographical locations of the blog visitors count a lot in Google Adsense earning.

It’s a fact that a click from the U.S or UK or Australia can’t be compared to the click from Kenya or Zimbabwe or Bhutan.

However, the only way to get the visitors from countries like the U.S, Canada, Australia, and the UK is to create content that the people of those countries will be interested in reading.

There is no shortcut to this strategy.

Blog Design and Layout

It might sound irrelevant but it does have its importance when it comes to blog earnings. If your blog’s design (theme) is not attractive, readers are not going to stick to your content.

You have put together a beautiful design, the visitors will stay longer and likely to engage with your content.

If your blog design is less-attractive and lacks symmetry, the click-ability would decrease and visitors are likely to spend less time on the site.

So, pay attention to the blog design at any cost.

What are the different Ad units for AdSense?

Adsense supports various ad units depending on several categories such as:

• Text Ads
• Display or Image Ads
• Video Ads [Adsense stopped supporting them now]
• Ad Link Units
• Feed Ads

Recommended AdSense Ad Formats

I will recommend the following adsense ad formats :

• 336 x 280 – Large Rectangle
• 300 x 250 – Rectangle
• 728 x 90 – Leaderboard
• 160 x 600 – Wide Skyscraper

High Paying Google Adsense Keywords & Niche’s

While I totally recommend you to work on the topics you are passionate about, however, if you are passionate about writing on any of the following niches, then consider yourself lucky :

• Insurance Niche
• Lawyer Niche
• Banking/Credit Card/Saving Accounts/Loan Niche
• Home Financing/Mortgage/Car Financing Niche
• Donation/NGO Niche
• Health
• Attorney
• Hosting

You can also click here to read more profitable blog niches

How Much Can You Make on Google AdSense?

There are several factors that affect how much you can earn from Google Adsense. Some Adsense publishers earn a five figure income each month whereas others earn a few dollars per month. Your income from Adsense depends on:

• The cost per click for each advertisement
• The number of visitors/page views your site receives
• CTR – Click Through Rate for the ads

You have to earn $100 or more before Google will issue a payment to you. The total is rolled over each month until you exceed $100.

How Does Google AdSense Pay Bloggers?

I think this must be one of many exciting questions which every one must be waiting to hear on.

Although it may vary from country to country.

So depending on your country, Adsense may offer all of these or some of these payment methods to you which include:

1. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
2. Cheques
3. Western Union Quick Cash
4. Wire Transfer
5. Rapida

You will receive payments on a monthly basis and it can be shown on the Transactions page on your Adsense account and you will be paid on approx. 21st of next month.

For example, for a November earning, you will be paid on 21st December.

Conclusion

In this article, I’ve shared some key elements of earning with the Google Adsense program.

These factors might seem ordinary tips to consider; but in reality, they are going to play a major role in any publisher’s Adsense income growth.

If you’re a beginner who has just got an AdSense account; don’t rush to make dollars by getting involved in any type of clicking activity or other illegal practice.

All you need is to take a professional digital marketing course that will teach you how to create high traffic content, convert traffic and increase your earnings on Google AdSense and other website monetization platforms.

Instead, focus on converting your blog into a brand. Once it becomes a brand, not only will it increase your Adsense earning; but it will also land more opportunities for your blog.

more resources

Google Adwords for Nigerian Businesses

Google Keyword Planner tool for Nigerian Businesses

5 Common Google AdWords Mistakes To Avoid That Might Cost Your Business