When I started my own blog, I tried Google AdSense. I signed up and provided the details requested. I researched, studied how to put an ad on my blog, and observed day by day, week by week, the status of the ad, whether it was clicked by a visitor to my blog and if I had earned a few cents.
I also learned that your account has to reach $100 before you can withdraw your earnings. It was a few years ago but my earnings still didn’t reach $100.
Does Google AdSense work? Is Google AdSense worth it? Here are some things you should know about Google AdSense.
What is Google AdSense?
Google AdSense is a program run and owned by Google. Launched in 2003 Adsense is the largest online advertising network that pays you every time a site visitor clicks an ad displayed on your blog or website. The advertisement can be text or image.
Earning money through online advertising is a very practical way to cover costs for small websites or it can earn income for larger websites. AdSense is probably the simplest and maybe the easiest way to earn money online.
How AdSense Works
Google AdSense and AdWords are both part of Google advertising network.
The AdWords program allows advertisers to create advertisements which appear in the search results and also on the network of their partner’s sites.
Google AdSense then pays the owners’ of these sites based on the number of times the ads were clicked. The amount of each click varies depending on how much the advertiser agreed to pay Google when they set up their advertisement in Adwords. It can vary from anything from a few cents to a few dollars.
When someone clicks on an ad you get about 68% of the revenue Google gets the rest.
Reasons to Use AdSense
Probably the easiest method of making money from a blog is with AdSense. This is a contextual ad network which means the ads displayed will be in relation to your content. Another method AdSense use is showing ads based on your visitor’s search history. This means your readers are shown targeted ads which ensures you will receive more clicks and more revenue.
Another thing to remember is that the majority of digital ad spending goes through Google, so I think we can rely on them to give you the ads that will convert the best.
A word of caution, although Adsense is a great way of making money, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Google protects their advertisers and may close or suspend your account at any moment if they suspect click fraud. Therefore, diversify your income sources.
Does AdSense Devalue Your Content?
I know some people don’t like AdSense because they say it detracts attention from the content on your site. I think ads do distract your visitors from your copy. Here are few reasons AdSense could adversely affect your site.
- As the ads shown on your site are contextual, your readers may see an ad that seems interesting to them and they click away from your site. Result one lost visitor!
For example, if you have a site about lawnmowers AdSense may show adverts for lawnmowers which could encourage your visitors to click away from your site to a competitor’s site. Hence for a few cents or at best a few dollars you might lose a prospective client.
However, you do have some editorial control over the ads appearing on your website. You can block:- competitor URLs
- general categories such as real estate or dating
- sensitive categories such as politics or religion
- and more
By blocking certain ads you will lower your potential earnings.
- When people click on an ad they leave your site, the ad opens in the same window. This risks giving you a higher bounce rate.
- Another negative point is having ads on your site you’re diluting your brand. What do people think when they see Adsense on your site? He just wants to make money he’s not really interested in helping us. Now that I’m a blogger I never think like that, I know how hard it is to monetize a site. So if someone has ads on their site and they choose to monetize that way, good luck to them!
- If you put the Adsense ads at the beginning of a post or in the middle of your content this makes for a poor user experience and looks ugly. Although it produces a poor user experience and I don’t like to see adverts at the beginning or in the middle of an article I can’t say it makes me leave the site.
Personally, I think if you use Adsense wisely, I don’t like to see it at the beginning of an article or in the middle of your posts, then it’s fine. Utilize AdSense in moderation and don’t go overboard putting ads everywhere, then you won’t drive visitors away from your site for bad user experience. However, you may encourage some potential clients to click on ads from your competition.
How Much Can You Earn With AdSense
This question is often asked but impossible to answer. You hear stories of people making thousands of dollars per month with AdSense so you probably wonder if you can do the same.
There are a number of factors that determine your AdSense earnings.
- Traffic is the major factor that will affect your earnings. The more people that visit your site the more likely you are to receive clicks and ad revenue.
- The cost per click. The commission you receive will depend on how much the advertisers are paying Google for any particular ad.
- Your niche. There are certain niches that have a higher cost per click than others, for example, health, insurance, financial loans, mortgages or hosting. The more competitive the search term the more the advertiser pays and the more you earn as a publisher.
- The demographic of your visitors. If most of your traffic comes from the USA you will earn more per click than if your visitors come from India.
- The placement of the ads. When your ads are in a prominent position you are likely to receive more clicks.
This is up to you, if you have important content, then you don’t want Adsense ads competing with this content. In this case, you could put the ads in the middle of your sidebar. - Type of ads – image or text
- The size of your ad units. There are a number of different ad sizes you can install on your site.
- Customization – choosing a certain style can make the ads more noticeable to attract more clicks.
- you can make the ads blend in with your site by having the same background color
- use the same colors as on your site but a different background
- you can choose colors that contrast against the background of your site
You should experiment to find what: placement, type of ads, size of ads and customization works best for you.
Reasons You’re Not Making Money With Adsense
If you’re struggling to make much with AdSense there could be a few reasons.
- The most important is traffic. If you’re only receiving a few visits per day you won’t make much with AdSense.
- Not many relevant ads being displayed. This could be because there aren’t many ads related to your niche or it could be due to Google not being able to determine what your website is about. This is another reason to produce sufficient content to enable Google to identify the subject of your site.
- Your site is in a low paying niche. If you have chosen a niche where the advertisers pay very little per click then you will earn very little.
Building A Website For Adsense
I have read of people building sites just to make money from AdSense. This is nearly the same process as for creating any niche website.
First, you should choose your niche, a subject you know a lot about is ideal. This means you will be able to write a lot of content. Writing content is necessary because if you choose the right keywords, you will achieve good search engine rankings and attract traffic to your site. And the more traffic you receive the more your earning potential.
If the primary goal of this site is to make money from AdSense you will need to pick a topic that is popular in countries with a high buying power like the US or the UK.
Although your main aim may be to earn with AdSense it’s always a good idea to add a few affiliate products to your marketing efforts. It’s always better to have more than one income source.
A website with just a few pages won’t make you much money. The more posts you write the better! This will give you more rankings in the search engines and will help Google to determine the subject of your website to display ads relevant to your site.
In Conclusion
There are a number of different opinions about AdSense, for some it works, for others it doesn’t. Some bloggers think it makes your site look spammy and can spoil the user experience.
One thing to remember, just because you put AdSense on your website doesn’t mean you will make money. This isn’t a scheme to get rich quick, you will have to put in the work to make money.
When using Adsense on your site you should consider:
- Why your readers visit your site.
- What is more important for you – your content or the ads
- Where to place the ads to give your visitors a good experience
For most people AdSense will probably be a supplement to your websites earnings with your principal goal being to build a following of loyal visitors and creating an affiliate marketing income. If this is your case you don’t want Adsense competing with your content, so you will have to be less aggressive in the placement of the ads. You need to be clear about the primary goal of your site, affiliate income or Adsense income.
If you don’t mind having ads on your site and you’re getting enough traffic, I think AdSense is worth it. The sign-up process is quite easy, then experiment a little and see what results you get. I hope you are successful, but don’t rely on Adsense as your only source of revenue. Remember, Adsense earnings vary and your account could be suspended with no warning leaving you with no income.
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Have you tried or are you going to try AdSense? Let me know about your experience in the comments below. I would love to hear from you!
Thanks for reading,
Peter
Hey Peter, just wanted to share my very brief (2 week) experience with Google Adsense, who knows, maybe someone will find it helpful…
I added Google Adsense to the first-ever affiliate marketing website I ever made just 2 weeks ago. I created it in 2015, it has 120 posts and even though I haven’t touched in at least 3 years, it still manages to get 800 to 1,000 page views per day.
The reason I made this decision was because, like many newbie affiliate marketers just starting out, I kinda picked the wrong niche/wrong keywords. So while it generates a lot of traffic, despite my best efforts I just haven’t been able to monetise it any other way.
You’re right about the earnings being small… I might make between $1.20 to $10 a day but as I see it, it’s better than nothing.
I do think there are better Adsense alternatives out there though, like MediaVine. Just letting Adsense run for a couple of months first to see how it goes.
That’s my experience so far anyway 🙂
Agreed Simon, making a few dollars a day is better than nothing! It surprises me that with 800 to 1000 pages views per day you aren’t getting any affiliate sales. But as you say it may be due to the niche/keywords you chose.
I just wonder, if you are getting this sort of traffic without having touched your site for a few years, have you thought about updating your posts? It might boost your rankings and get you more traffic.
Anyways appreciate your feedback.
Peter
I am getting a few affiliate sales between $100-$500 a month but this is a super-specific niche with only a few affiliate program options. Unfortunately, the main player is so unreliable.
At one point I was making up to $2,000 per month in affiliate sales but the affiliate program is terribly unorganised and the company has been sold and changed hands at least 5 times in the last 5 years. I basically have to beg them for payment every month. The longest they made me wait for payment was 6 months because “the PayPal login information was missing” and to be honest, I think it’s only a matter of time until they go out of business…
I should go back and update and add more content, the issue is I’m working on so many other projects right now that are more exciting to me lol.
As I say, the site I’m talking about was the first-ever affiliate website I created and I’m grateful for the lessons learned. Starting my second, third and fourth websites was so much easier because I’d already gone through the process.
Anyways, I hope someone finds my experience useful. Love the blog Peter and be sure to keep up the great work! 🙂
Great to hear you are getting some affiliate sales, Simon! What a shame the affiliate program isn’t very serious.
I understand with your other websites you haven’t the time to update your existing posts and when you have to deal with such a poor affiliate program it’s not very motivating!
Thanks for the additional info and the compliments 🙂
Peter
Is AdSense is worth it?
I would say No? Fully waste of time.
From my experience, it’s not worth using AdSense. You will never get paid from Google. Even if you get paid it will be less than your expenses. You have to spend money on hosting, domain registration, website template, SEO, Backlinks, marketing and many more. This will cost more when compared to your final earnings.
So, it’s better to avoid Google AdSense instead of using AdSense try some other way to earn online.
I wouldn’t say it’s a total waste of time but to make some money you do need some decent traffic. Many people do very well with AdSense so you do get paid from Google and it can be much more than your expenses. There are other monetization methods that I prefer such as affiliate marketing and I feel that having AdSense ads may take people away from my affiliate links.
Thanks for your comment,
Peter
Hi Peter, I have just started up a food blog site (terracedhousekitchen.com) i have signed up to AdSence and still waiting for the to get back to me they said it would take 3 days, it has been about 2 weeks so far and nothing is happening. Please can you advise me what i may or may not be doing. Thank you Chris
Hi Christopher,
You could try the Troubleshooter which may help you to understand at what stage your application is at and any problems. Also, I tried accessing your website but received an error message, this could be the problem.
Hope that helps,
Peter
Hi Peter,
Excellent post as usual. I think you should wait till this post hits position #1 in Google and then slap on some Google Adsense ads and see what happens to your bounce rate.
I make full time income on my site and see between 500 – 1,000 visitors/day organically. I threw up Adsense on my sidebar and a few posts that consistently collect around 7,000 new visitors per month. I’ve make just over 200 dollars over a year – Not so hot.
However, I’ve got a friend who’s built a site based on name meanings in Asian languages. Zero content, just lots of names = meanings. Around the search bar to find your name meaning, he placed Adsense all over the border.
That simple site makes over 4K/month. Incredible ahh.
I’ve gone back and forth with Adsense as well because it does distract from the user experience. But then again, maybe your reader was gonna drop out anyway, might as well send them to an ad they like and get paid.
But I agree with your take on the subject. It does depend on your traffic and site. My site is geared towards affiliate marketing and content so that’s where I see my results.
Great post as always Peter, thanks,
Todd
Hi Todd,
It would be an interesting experience to test the effect of AdSense on bounce rate. However, I’m not going to try, I get slightly less traffic than you so I don’t think it’s worth it and like you I don’t want to put Adsense in prominent positions on my site. I know some people do very well with it like your friend, but as I understand he has the ads placed around the most clicked part of his site. The position of the ads is the most important criteria.
If you have a site that is successful with the affiliate products you promote perhaps you generate a little extra income from the people who would not have brought your affiliate promotions. Who knows?
Thanks for your insight Todd.
Peter
Thanks for the informative article on Adsense. I have worked on websites for 10 years and have stayed away from Ad words and Adsense. I used to hear that people would click the link or ad just so the person who owned the website would have to pay Google. I didn’t know anyone that actually did it, but I am not surprised.
Hi Kevin,
There used to be and still is some click fraud both with AdWords and AdSense. Some people click the AdWord ads so that the people who placed the ads will have to pay for some useless clicks and have more expenses. For example, this could be their competitors. With AdSense, it might be the owner of a site or his family or friends who click ads so the owner of the site earns more.
On both counts Google tries to detect any click fraud and if you intend earning money this way it’s certainly not worth doing. You risk being banned!
There are some WordPress plugins that help to detect AdSense click fraud, they automatically block visitors who have clicked on the ads a few times in a short time period.
All the best,
Peter
I’ve looked into Google Ad sense and actually applied to them but was rejected. But I did that only a few days after starting my blog so that probably wasn’t very good timing. Still, I haven’t felt the need to go back to them yet, and I think it might be a good thing not to use them. I don’t know. If it takes a few years to accumulate $100, that doesn’t seem worth it.
Hi Mike,
Yes, you probably applied too soon, you really need to have some posts on your site before applying. Having AdSense on your site is up to you, it might make you some money but depends on your traffic, where you place the ads and also your niche. As you say, if it takes a few years to earn a $100 then it’s not worth it, but at the same time, some websites do very well with AdSense. Whatever you decide you can reapply whenever you like.
Thanks for your visit,
Peter
Thanks for great information. I was actually looking at google adsense last night considering if this was something I wanted to add to my webpages or not. So far my page is very new and I am just starting to get some traffic. The way you explain the pros and cons is great for a newbie on this subject like me. So thank you very much for a nice informative lesson about google adsense!
Hi Ingunn,
If you want to put AdSense on your site I would wait until you have some good content and traffic. Although, I have seen some bloggers recommending putting it on your site as soon as you have some content. In a way, I can see their point, “if you want to monetize your blog you may as well start right away”. Anyway, whatever you decide I think the most important point is not letting the ads interfere with the readability of your content.
Wish you success with your website,
Peter
Hi Peter,
Having Google AdSense on your site may give your site some authority. My understanding is that before Google approves your site, they see if your site is interesting. I heard stories about people expecting a new website with very little content complaining that Google has not get approved their site.
My take is that a website owner needs to do an amount of testing to find out if having certain ads or not on their website makes better sense to them. Of course to do the testing, you need a decent amount of real human traffic to be hitting your website.
I did notice that currently for this article and your current sidebar that you don’t have any Google AdSense advertisements. Is there a logical reason for this? Or are you testing to see if you should have Google AdSense advertisements or not on this website?
Kind regards,
David
Hi David,
Yes, you need some good content before you will be approved for AdSense. I don’t know if Google considers if the content is interesting but it should be unique and original. It’s also a necessary or recommended to have a Privacy Policy page an About page and a Contact page.
Testing different positions, customization and sizes of ads is a good idea but as you say to get some useful pointers you need traffic.
Although I’m not against AdSense on a site, I haven’t included it on this site yet. I have tried it on another site but didn’t make much from it, so, for the time being, I’m continuing without it. As traffic builds perhaps I will change my mind.
All the best,
Peter
You are absolutely right with Adsense. I felt a lot of the same things you listed here like devaluation of content and not making enough to be worth it. But I tried it and have been using it for a few weeks. Although I’m making literally pennies right now hahaha, I think in the long run it’s good to have.
And I do place them only on the right side below ALL my other non-ad banners, and on the very bottom. Even though this means less views on them, I think it’s still better than at the top or even in the middle of my content. Besides, knowing the bottom ad is getting views, means people are reading to the end!
Time will tell, Wing, if AdSense will be good for your website. If your site is new and you’re adding content all the time then your traffic will grow along with your AdSense earnings. Glad to see you’re placing the ads in your sidebar, this doesn’t hamper your visitors when they’re reading your posts. As you say this may mean fewer clicks but for me, a good user experience is very important and if readers are reading to the end of your posts you’re doing a good job.
Best of luck with your business,
Peter
This is a great article explaining in depth about AdSense. I also use it on my site but have also had limited success to date. In all honesty, it is probably only worth using once your site has enough traffic each month.
A great post written expertly
thanks for sharing
Thanks, Ryan,
Yes, many people seem to only have limited success with AdSense. You do need a lot of traffic and it also depends on your niche. If you keep working on your site your results should slowly improve and you can also experiment with the positions, sizes, etc of the ads.
All the best,
Peter