Earning Income with Google AdSense Ads
Good Visitor Traffic Volume Is Not The Only Consideration

Google AdSense is a great way to bring in some immediate “passive” income for your small business website.  I’ve utilized AdSense ads on two of my websites for a number of years now and am very pleased with the results.  This article will cover the basics you need to keep in mind if you are contemplating getting involved with AdSense as a money generating opportunity.

In a nut shell, at no cost to you — all you do is provide the space on your site’s pages (or blog’s posts) – Google shows targeted ads reflecting the sorts of information and services your particular visitors want.  For almost all internet marketing sites, this is a “no brainer” approach to advertising.  You set it up easily and it automatically serves relevant ads to the topic of your page or post.

I’m going to address two of the biggest issues you need to think about in relation to financial success with Google AdSense advertising.  At the end of this article I’ll provide links to Google’s information pages.  I’m not attempting to tell you everything you’ll need to know.  I am coming from an SEO perspective and a general “how to make some decent ancillary income” viewpoint.

#1 Concern:  Your Website or Blog’s Targeted Keywords

Keyword phrases are NOT created equally … at least not when it comes to generating money every time someone clicks on an AdSense ad!  The keyword-focused ads that will be shown on your posts or pages will NOT necessarily produce the same profit as those ads showing up on other sites.  Again, it all depends upon the keywords and how competitive (or not competitive) they are.

The “hotter” or more popular and in demand the subject of the keyword phrases are … the more the advertisers must pay for each click upon their ad.  And this means the more the advertiser must pay, the MORE you get paid when a visitor to your site clicks upon the AdSense ad.  I’ll explain this in greater detail a little further down, so please keep reading.

This was a topic of conversation that I recently addressed on a private internet marketing forum, where someone asked the question “I’m wondering how much people really make from ads?  I’m thinking about putting AdSense on my small business website’s pages.  My visitor traffic is increasing every month, so I think I’ll be able to make some decent money.”

Surprising to me, though there were many positive replies, NOT ONE reply addressed the very important role keywords play in how much money you will make from AdSense.  I’ll share with you what I wrote to enlighten this new website owner:

“Hi:  I just had to add something here that is an important part of how much you might make per click, and how much someone else might make per click … it’s the KEYWORDS that the ads are targeted to!

I see too many people (not just in this thread, but all over other forums as well) stating they are making decent, great, etc. income from AdSense ads … and that is wonderful for them. They always talk about their traffic levels.

But different keywords bring in different revenue amounts for each click … and here lies PART of the AdSense success path!

For instance, and I speak from my own actual experience, so I am offering this as a helpful learning curve for you: when I launched my first website, The-Artistic-Garden.com, I didn’t know a thing about internet marketing, but I was determined.

I did a lot of research, settled on a niche theme that I was enthusiastic about and one that I was sure I could write about.  I knew ”content was king” and felt I could build a pretty good sized website around the DIY garden art crafts projects theme.

Soon I learned about AdSense and enthusiastically figured out how to use it, where to place the ads for a better chance for clicks, etc.  

Well … without going into all the particulars, one of the disappointing things I came to learn is that most all of the keywords that relate to my niche theme have very low paying AdSense ads.  I make pennies per click on too many keywords to even think about.

That being said, now that I am established and hold many top-ranking keyword phrases, my traffic is what I’d call decent and my monthly AdSense checks reflect that.

But I’ll tell you … if I had started out with a niche theme that had higher paying ads, which would bring me more $$ every time someone clicked … sure I’d be much happier.  Anyway, back to what I’m hoping to share with you here.

It’s not JUST TRAFFIC.  Very important to the equation is what are the advertisers having to pay each time someone clicks on the ad?

For instance: the keyword phrase “cheap life insurance” is currently costing the advertisers more than $25.00 PER CLICK! as opposed to the advertisers for “hypertufa recipes” (one of my #1 Google ranking keywords) who only have to pay approximately 5-cents per click.

Who’s going to make more $$ with AdSense … me with hypertufa ads or the website owner that has life insurance ads????  And I need way more traffic to try and make the same $$ that a site centered around an insurance theme with less traffic might need.  Again, this is because of the PPC cost differences between the keyword based ads.

I do hope my little story here has helped enlighten you that “traffic” isn’t all that one must take into consideration.”

Good luck.  Claudia  SEO-Innovation.com

#2 Concern:  Traffic, Traffic, Traffic

Yes, yes … it is very important for your website or blog to have a good level of traffic to be able to make some significant income via Google AdSense advertising.  No ifs, ands, or buts.  When to implement AdSense onto your web pages is up to you.  There are varying opinions on this, ranging from waiting until you have around 30 or so pages/posts of content, to others who advise to put the ads on each page from the get-go … especially if you are not utilizing a CMS generated site.

CMS means “content management system” and this allows you to make certain kinds of changes automatically to a website or blog throughout every page (or post).  CMS platforms can be terribly expense, but now most of us can take advantage of free blog platforms (like the free WordPress platform I am using for this blog) that have CMS built-in.

Clearly, CMS can enable you to place the ads on all your web pages, in your designated section(s) automatically, as opposed to non-CMS sites which necessitate that you build each page individually.  With non-CMS capabilities, adding the HTML coding necessary to have the AdSense ads appear on your pages and/or changing the size or placement of the ads can become tedious.

There is no golden rule here. There is no “one best way” as to when to begin to monetize via Google AdSense. But it does make perfect sense that the more website visitors your site receives, coupled with the theme of your website will dictate just how much you may or may not generate in income each month.

To help you investigate what the keyword phrases that pertain to your small business website’s theme are currently costing the advertisers, and approximate traffic levels for those keywords, here’s two great links to AdSense tools:

This tool allows you to enter a keyword or keyword phrase and it will generate all the other keywords that are similar and their advertising costs and traffic levels:   Google AdSense Keyword Tool. **Note: After you have entered the keyword(s) you wish to investigate and you’ve received the results, then you are able to investigate more detailed information.  Refer to the drop-down menu in the “filter my results” box and choose the “Estimated Average CPC” option.

This tool is similar however it only returns information on the specific keywords you type in, but allows finer tuning to specific countries for traffic levels; ad costs are also included:   Google AdSense Traffic Estimator

• Should An Internet Marketing Business Be Based Solely On AdSense Income?? •
• The Pros & Cons … What You Need To Know •

I am often asked by those who are relatively new to internet marketing and building their website or blog about how they can generate some passive income via Google’s AdSense ad program.  After all, the internet is absolutely full of testimonials from individuals telling you how they made tens-of-thousands of $$-dollars in a DAY and it was just from some AdSense ads on their site.  Of course, after you read a few more paragraphs into their pitch … they’re stating that you too can buy their “secrets” for only $XXX.xx (you can fill in the dollar amount).

What Is A “Made For AdSense” Website or Blog?

This article will address the issues of “MFA”, or “Made For AdSense” sites.  Unlike  websites or blogs (such as mine) whose Number #1 main focus is to provide high quality, informative content that is 100% focused on a specific niche (or theme), “MFA” sites do NOT operate under this premise.

“MFA’s” have one purpose … and that’s to generate an income stream from the ads.  If you’re not familiar with AdSense, find out more here:  Google AdSense Quick Tour   In a nut shell, it is a free program for internet marketers.   A maximum of three ad units per web/blog page are allowed under Google’s rules.  The ads are targeted to the theme of the content of the web page.  Every time one of your visitors clicks on an ad, you receive a pre-determined amount for the click.

The content on an MFA site is basically slapped on each page.  These websites or blogs are normally nothing more than a hodge-podge of information which is plastered on as many pages as can be generated.  I am SURE you’ve innocently landed on more than one of these types of sites, only to find it was a waste of your time because there wasn’t any information pertaining to what you were searching for.  Or if there was any content, it was very sparse and way to generalized.

In order to make a sizeable profit from the ads, you’ve got to generate hundreds and hundreds of posts or pages.  For ethical internet marketers, it is a challenge and an on-going task to continually write quality content and to continually add pages to one’s website or blog … or both!  (Yes I can relate!  lol)  

How do the “Made For AdSense” site owners do it?  Well guess what?  Yes, there are now many “content auto-generator” software programs available for tidy sums that claim to be able to generate all the content you can shake a stick at.  Oh so perfect for an “MFA” site.  Just get out your wallet and off you go.

This Concept May Sound Like An Absolutely Ideal Way To Make Substantial Income … But There Is A Big Downside

Actually, putting up MFA sites isn’t a very good idea.  Many respected internet marketing gurus will tell you this.  I also agree.  Here are the main reasons most internet marketers don’t even think twice about creating MFA sites of their own:

1. Technically, “MFAs” are outside the guidelines of a “proper” website or blog.
2. Search engines don’t take kindly to nor tend to index sites without meaningful content.
3. Visitors truly don’t like to arrive at sites that have no value.
4. 99% of the web hates MFA sites — search engines, users and webmasters who don’t do those type of sites.

I think #4 sums it up quite well.  If you want to rake-it-in with a website or blog created solely for the purpose of cashing in on the revenue generated via AdSense ads, then go for it.  There are folks out there doing it.  But what it will take to make the so-called “big bucks” will more than likely take a lot of effort and will take a lot of behind the scenes monetary investment.  Plus, it will be a very short lived internet experience.  It’s just the nature of the beast.

On The Other Hand, A Site That Has High Quality Content Can Be Quite Profitable With Adsense Ads, Too

As previously mentioned, 99% of “the rest of us” do wish to provide a lot of unique, excellent information on our targeted, themed websites and blogs.  We pretty much stick to one area of expertise, and do our best to offer our visitors the information they are looking for.  Of course, some of us achieve better results than others.  Some of us utilize ethical search engine optimization techniques, know how to write copy that results in the sales conversions that we wish for, and we slowly but surely rise in SERP rankings.

We also find that adding AdSense ads to our sites can be a value-added feature for our visitors.  In addition, we might possibly generate some pretty impressive income each month.  Over time these ads might become a revenue stream that’s secondary to the purpose of our sites.  In this way, we’re creating something of value for our visitors and not wasting our time, nor their time, and we are not filling the search engines with useless swill.

To learn more about what you need to consider in order to earn “passive” AdSense income from your internet marketing website or blog, please read my article:   Google AdSense Revenue Basics — Keywords & Traffic Matter

Bottom Line: there are NO shortcuts to making money online!  NONE.  It’s like any other business, you’ve got to make the plan, work the plan, and tweak as necessary.  And like most businesses, it’ll take years of dedicated effort.

Whether You Own A Traditional “Storefront” Business or Work From Home …
Make Sure Your Website Is “Localized”

The SEO experts predicted there was going to be a big explosion in local online advertising in 2007.  Possibly as much as a 30%+ growth rate.   And it does seem that prediction came true.  I don’t think we’ll see any slow-down in this trend. 

Let’s face it … more and more people are buying computers, so of course these folks (consumers) are going online to find whatever product or service they need.  In many instances, these folks do want to find a physical establishment to drive to and visit.  So, if you maintain a traditional brick and mortar storefront, you NEED to get an online presence in order to try and capture those potential customers who are looking for what you sell or offer in services.  I will wager you’d welcome more business (which hopefully equates into more income!).  

For those of us who work at home, myself included … we, too, need to take advantage of letting those internet searchers know about our geographic location.  I’ve had some very nice clients based on the fact they wanted to deal with an SEO consultant who also lived nearby their city, or in a couple of other cases, who at least lived in their state.  Even though all our contact was over the phone or internet, these clients were reassured in some way that I was “within their radar”. 

So then, what has this trend in localized online advertising mean to you, me and our websites?   It means that Google, Yahoo and MSN have become very aware of this trend and they’ve made darn sure their little spiders know what to look for as they crawl around.  These spider-bots are looking for information pertaining to the specifics of our  business address. 

So, here are some of my professional search engine optimization recommendations on how to make your website and web pages more local search-friendly:

1. Have your physical location on every page of your website.  Believe it or not, too many small businesses do NOT do this!  If you work from home and don’t want to list your home address, then you could get a mailbox at your local “rent-a-mailbox” store if you want to list an actual street address on your site.

Another option is to rent a post office box.  I’ve chosen to do this to help protect my privacy.  And I use a footer at the bottom of each web page on any website I own to accomplish this SEO suggestion.  Take a look at the bottom of this page on my SEO consulting site:  www.SEO-Innovation.com

2. Your local phone number needs to be on every page of your website.  I’m not talking about an 800 number.  I mean an actual local phone number with your area code.  Those search engine spiders want to “see” a local number because it’s one more way the engines connect you to your location.  (And by the way, 800 numbers are wonderful for your customers, just not great for SEO purposes.)

3. Place your physical address at the top of your “Contact Us” page.  Yes, give yourself a little SEO boost by placing your street address, city, state, ZIP code, and local phone number right at the top of the page where the spiders will get to it quickly.

4. If you have a real brick and mortar establishment:  create a page on your website titled “Directions” or “Location” or “Visit Us” (or similar).  Make sure to clearly define where your business is located and how your customers can get to you.  Be very descriptive and offer lots of location descriptions.  This helps your customers and once again, gives those search engine spiders valuable information.  It’s OK to use a Google Maps or MapQuest image.  Just don’t let a map image be the only thing on this web page.

Mention the name of a shopping mall, or industrial park, or other significant place (street, avenue, etc.) that will help people find you.  Mention you are “nearby historic Washington Square” or other details like these to make this page a nice meaty one for the spiders.

Driving directions from all directions should also be included.  Use lots of descriptions as I’ve just explained.

5. Link to Google Maps and Yahoo Maps on your “Location” page.  You can get a free-to-use link from both of these search engines.  Many experts feel that it is beneficial to utilize these links on one’s website because they both include the latitude and longitude of the location in the URL, and that can help the spiders learn more about where you are.

6. Wherever appropriate, include your location in your page Titles.  Titles carry a lot of search engine ranking importance … so take advantage of this.  To learn about Title tags, please read:  Why the Title Tag is So Very Important

7. Make sure to list all the cities and towns your business covers.  If your business is located in Smalltown, but you also serve many other outlying locations, then by all means do list those on your Home page, About Us page, or your Contact page.

8. List your street, city, state and zip code in the “keyword” meta tags for all your web pages.  Though there’s much debate about the keyword meta tag being “good for nothing” nowadays, I am of the belief that we shouldn’t ignore it.  There are still some search engine spiders that look at it.  And should things change on up the road and more significance is once again given to this meta tag, well you’ll be ready!

9. Finally, do take advantage of internal linking opportunities with effectively worded anchor text.  When linking to your “Location” page, don’t say “Click Here for Directions”.  Be specific!  State: “Click here for directions to our Name-of-your-town, State-name location”.