Adsense for beginners

You started a website and/or blog and now you want to make a little extra cash off of it. Adsense is leading ad program for publishers and advertisers alike. That doesn't mean it's the best, but it's probably the largest and the most well known.

Adsense is not for every website. There are a lot of sites out there that make plenty of money without ever showing a single Adsense ad. But if you think Adsense is right for you, then here are a few tips to help you out:

Getting started with Adsense

If you haven't already, you'll need to create an Adsense account. This includes giving up some pretty personal information like full name, address, and even a social security or employer identification number so Google (and you) can properly report earnings to Uncle Sam.

When I signed up several years ago, they did require approval for the site the ads will be served on. Not sure if they still do this now, but approval is easy. As long as your site conforms to their terms of service (i.e. no adult content), then you should be okay. Once your Adsense account is approved though, I believe you can start serving ads on multiple sites (again, as long as you comply with their TOS).

Placing ads

Okay, your account has been approved, you've signed your life over to Google and you are now ready to start placing ads on your website. Here are a few items to keep in mind:

• Pay careful attention to where you place your ads. Do some research, as a properly placed Adsense ad can generate a lot of revenue. Also, there are many different types of ads, such as text, video and image ads. Each have their own unique advantages and disadvantages. It will probably take some tweaking and experimentation to get the ad placement just right. Again, research is key. There are a lot of websites out there dedicated to the art of Adsense ad placement.
• Customize the ads to blend in with your site. This will keep your website looking tasteful and will minimize the chance visitors will be annoyed by ads that stand out too much. You can control stuff like background and text color for each ad unit.
• Keep the number of ad units to a minimum. Google sort of forces you to do this by only allowing 3 ad unites per page (always check Google's TOS first). Some sites won't need that many and others can take advantage of all 3 with minimal fuss.

A few warnings

While Adsense can be a great way to generate revenue from your website (and a fairly easy way at that), there are also some warnings you should think about.

• Adsense will not get you rich quickly, maybe not even ever. Don't expect too much from the program, especially at first, and be thankful for any revenue it generates. A lot of how much you make depends on what your site is all about. Some topics pay very well, while others might only pay a few cents per click.
• Follow Google's terms of service to the letter. They can (and have) banned people from the program for fairly minor infractions. This can include everything from tweaking the ad code they give you to clicking on one of your own ads (a big no no!). And finally, brings me to my last point...
• NEVER CLICK, OR ENCOURAGE VISITORS TO CLICK ON YOUR ADS. This is the fastest way to get banned from Google Adsense. If you see an ad on your owns site you are interested in, don't click on it. Find out the url and type it manually into your browser bar. And never ever write stuff like "Click these ads" or "Support these sponsors" or "You click on my ads, I'll click on yours".

I don't know how they track clicks, but they do. If they even suspect any sort of fraud on your part, you'll lose your account (and depending on the severity, you might find yourself in a nasty lawsuit).

Also, if you see yourself getting good Adsense results, don't brag about it by revealing too much. You are not allowed to reveal click-through rates or anything like that. Ballpark earnings numbers are okay, but nothing specific.

Adsense is fairly straightforward and if you play by the rules, you shouldn't have any problems. Just make sure to read the terms of service, as ignorance is no excuse.

That said, Adsense is a great way to generate revenue from your site with minimal effort. It will take time to start seeing the earnings checks come in on a regular basis, but as you build your site's readership, the revenue will follow.