Using Google AdSense

Using Google AdSense is a smart idea to make money online, whether you have developed a website or blog that is generating some traffic. While there is some controversy among domainers as to whether or not using Google AdSense on their domain selling portfolio site is smart idea, I’ll leave that for a future post. Most domainers park their websites and generate some income from parking companies, who basically populate your domain name landing page with relevant Google AdSense ads, allowing you to get paid per click. There is nothing difficult involved with parking your names and it is as simple as registering with the company, adding your domain names and changing your domain name servers associated with the name. That’s why most domainers park their names, there is little work and they can collect some residual income. It’s no secret, however, that they are leaving money on the table and that developing your domain name into a relevant website and populating it with quality content and your own Google AdSense ads, can be a much more lucrative proposition. It takes a little work, but it really is worth it. Like many forms of advertising, there are always proven tips and tricks that you can utilize to maximize the revenue generating potential your website or blog has while using Google AdSense. This article has been written to share some tips and tricks that have proven successful in boosting my income while using Google AdSense, including a recent lesson I learned through a Google warning notification. Let’s start there.

Using Google AdSense | Using Google AdSense | Using Google AdSense | Using Google AdSense |

As everybody likes to learn something new each day, let’s start with the recent lesson learned, after I received a Google Warning notification relating to a violation pertaining to using Google AdSense on one of my websites. For those of you who may have not seen such a message before, here is what is looked like:

Hello,
This is a warning message to alert you that there is action required to bring your AdSense account into compliance with our AdSense program policies. We’ve provided additional details below, along with the actions to be taken on your part.

Issue ID#: XXXXXXXXX

Affected website: XXXXXXXXXX.com

Example page where violation occurred: http://www.XXXXXXXXXX.com

Action required: Please make changes to your site within 72 hours.

Current account status: Active

Violation explanation

AD MISLABELING: Publishers may not implement Google ads in a manner that disguises the ads in any way. For instance, publishers may not place ads under misleading headers or titles as this may confuse users into thinking the ads are actually site links related to that header. To avoid this issue, we ask that publishers use only “sponsored links” or “advertisements” to label ads. More information about this policy can be found in our help center at ( https://www.google.com/adsense/support/as/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=115985 ).

How to resolve:
If you received a notification in regard to page content, please either remove the content from your site or remove ads from the violating pages. If you received a notification in regards to the way ads are implemented on your site, please make the necessary changes to your implementation. We will automatically review the site again after 72 hours. You do not need to contact us if you make changes. Please be aware that if changes are not made within the required time frame, ad serving will be disabled to the affected website listed above.

Additionally, please be aware that the URL above is just an example and that the same violations may exist on other pages of this website or other sites that you own. To reduce the likelihood of future warnings from us, we suggest that you review all your sites for compliance. For more information regarding our policy warning notifications, visit our Help Center: https://support.google.com/adsense/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1378153&ctx=topic.

We thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team
end

It did not take me long to correct my issue and I was very happy that Google reached out to me to let me know how to correct my issue, so that I could continue using Google ADSense on my website. My issue was simple, I had one of my Google AdSense headings titled “My Sponsors”, which is actually against Google’s policies, as explained above. As Google explains, you can not disguise the ads in any way and to avoid this issue, they suggest that publishers use only “sponsored links” or “advertisements” to label ads.

I have seen this common mistake on many websites and I’m pretty sure DNForum also suggests using this language in their DNFCollege, which I highly recommend!

Okay, now that you have learned something, let me roll into some other tips and tricks that I have picked up along the way using Google AdSense.

Using Google AdSense Tips and Tricks

The first tip is to be sure and show both image and text ads. Image ads using Google AdSense compete in the same auction for your ad space that text ads do. As such, choosing to display both image and text ads will certainly increase the competition for ads to appear on your website or blog, and most likely will also increase your earnings. Instructions on how to enable image ads on your site can be found in Google’s Help Center.

The next tip is to really make your first ad unit count: Google AdSense loads the highest paying ad on a page first, so if you want to improve your revenue, you need to make sure that your best performing ad unit is the first in your HTML code. The neaty gritty of how you can really make your first ad unit count by using Google AdSense can be found here.

Another great tip is to ensure optimal ad placement, which is really important. The placement of your Google AdSense ads plays a significant role in revenue earning potential and user experience. While Google often recommends placing an ad above the fold, they also suggest that it is just as important that users can easily find the content they are looking for. Additional tips on Google AdSense ad placement can be found here.

Always remember, you can also add a search box (or two). A publisher can put up two AdSense for search boxes (along with three standard Google AdSense for content ad units and three link units) on each page of your website. Google AdSense for search lets you place a Custom Search Engine on your site to provide users with web search, and it is a free product. You’ll also earn revenue from relevant ads on the search results page, so it is a no brainer.

Lastly, although it seems like common sense, most forget to really focus on ensuring that your site has a positive user experience! It should be obvious that user experience can make or break your website. With so many other sites offering similar services and information, it’s extremely important to differentiate your site in the eyes of your users by providing a better experience. The attention of most users is limited, so you really only have a few seconds to provide a good experience and quickly guide the user to what they’re looking for.

Using Google AdSense is really how you can make some good money on-line, but you need to follow the rules and you need to maximize the potential of your site as much as you can. Hopefully some of these tips and tricks using Google AdSense are helpful to you. As I have another list of additional tips that I have found very profitable, I’ll be sure to write another post to follow up this one soon! In the mean time, good luck using Google AdSense!