Adsense

Ways to Better AdSense Earnings

Posted by staying alive is not enough Friday, October 24, 2014 0 comments

You can make lots of money monetizing your blog with AdSense if you have quality content, the right keywords, and the right AdSense ad layout. Many people complain they can't make money with AdSense or that it cheapens their site. I will show it how it will not only increase the value of your site, but how it will start building you monthly income!

I monetize my web sites and blogs in many different ways. I see many web sites missing out when it comes to non-invasive ways to monetize your web site or blog, and they don't have to be ways in which you anger your visitors. In fact - good monetization will always compliment your web site, not "cheapen" it. I have also read many articles that debate when to monetize, and there are still some hold-outs that say build up traffic on a site first and then monetize once it gets to a certain level. I'm sorry - that's just BS in my book, and I have the experience to back it up. Monetize your web site from day 1 - PERIOD!

Why? Every post and page is an opportunity to make money. Making money with a web site is like planting a garden. Why would you want to keep plowing the field for 6 months and and keep waiting to plant the seeds? Also monetization is marketing, and marketing takes time and skill. Yes - skill. The more you do it the better you become, so do it from day #1.

Making money online is like a sport or a professional trade.

Ingredients you WILL NEED to become SUCCESSFUL:
Competent Trainers and Mentors
Passion and Drive to Succeed
Organization and Work Ethic
Ability to make 10,000 mistakes and keep going
Good Communications Skills
Practice, Practice, Practice!

Today we're going to talk about monetizing your web site with Google AdSense. If you're already using Google AdSense - read this article anyway and learn how to make more money using AdSense. Click the banner above to join AdSense if you haven't already. By signing up with AdSense you can build code snippets and place ads on your web site.

AdSense Myths:

To make any money you need thousands of visitors per day
Ads will make a percentage of your visitors leave and not come back
AdSense cheapens the look of your web site

You would be surprised how much more money you could be making with some very basic and simple changes to your web site. Think about how much you could be making per day. Just $1 per day is $30 per month, which should more than pay for most basic hosting plans (and then some). Only $5 per day and you're making $150 per month, $10 per day is $300/mo. It adds up quicker than you think. Especially if you have more than one blog or web site to monetize.

AdSense Facts:
You can make $1-$3 a day on as little as 20-30 visitors per day
A percentage of your visitors quickly leave anyway (the bounce rate) - you can make money on that dead traffic
AdSense is so targeted that it's less of an intrusion and more of a service compared to other ads

The first thing you need to understand is where the ads come from. AdSense is fed by Google's other product AdWords. If you haven't used AdWords before - it's where you can pay to drive traffic to your web site - you "pay per click". In the AdWords marketplace - people "bid over keywords". The more competition there is for a keyword, the more it costs and the highest bidder wins the top slot, the next bidder the next slot, and so on. For example it may cost 50 cents per click to get the keyword "designer handbag", but I bet you can get "clay flowerpot" for under a nickel. It's all about supply and demand. The most searched for terms are fought over pretty fiercely. Once keywords are purchased, the AdSense algorithm places the actual ads on web sites - matching them up with keywords and content on web pages. The algorithm is pretty amazing, and in most case will be serving highly target ads to your web site within minutes. If the ads are way off target or inappropriate - you need to re-think your web site setup.

So once a keyword is purchased and an ad is written - it's matched up with a highly targeted web page where it should perform well. It doesn't matter how "busy" or popular that web site is, well performing and paying ads are placed on appropriate pages getting from a dozen to thousands of visitors per day. If you are using high paying keywords in your web site content, you will attract high paying ads. Did you understand that statement? Go back and read it two more times and think about it a minute.

That's right - the key to making money in AdSense is attracting well paying ads. If I have a web site that gets only 30 visitors per day, and 3 per day click an AdSense ad paying 35-50 cents, I can easily make $1 per day from this very low-traffic web site. Of course everyone wants to get more than 30 visitor per day, but all sites have to start somewhere. I'm illustrating how easy it is to make money from day #1. I do this in nearly all the sites I setup. Many of you that have used AdSense for a long time won't believe it, because in my example my AdSense clicks pay extremely high and the click-through-rate (CTR) is 10%. Most sites are lucky to get a 2-3% CTR on AdSense ads, and the clicks usually pay a nickel or less on average.

I said earlier that if you received off target ads your blog or web site layout was possibly not "AdSense optimized". If you want to attract high paying ads and make the most AdSense revenue possible from your existing traffic - I'll give you some very simple rules to follow when writing articles, pages, and posts. If you follow these very basic rules you will not only get more revenue per click with AdSense, but (in the long run) you will also get more visitors, and better search engine listings.

Top 10 Ways To Make More Money from AdSense Using Keywords

Obtain a URL with very important keywords in your niche: I can't say enough about this. The #1 reason I have so many domains is because when you build a niche site if the domain has your top 2 or 3 keywords in it - you immediately start getting traffic from post #1. This is very important.
Use permalinks, pretty URL's, etc: This is second most important whether you are using WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Mambo, or whatever. As soon as you setup your software turn on permalinks, pretty URL's, or whatever it's called so you posts have "site.com/this-is-my-post". Having great keywords in the URL past the top level domain name is only second to keywords in the domain name itself.
Find the Best Keywords and Phrases: DO YOUR RESEARCH! Find out how to do keyword research. If you don't know what the best keywords for your niche are - there really isn't much point reading any farther than this...
Create a Great Title: When you write a post the title controls much more than you think. Everyday I read great articles with crappy titles. With every title you need to be thinking of using keywords that will be searched for while linkbaiting a title enticing people to click. This can be harder than it sounds, because the best titles are 6-8 words or less. I've gotten better at this over time, but it's just practice, practice, practice to become a master at it!
Have an H1 Title first: WordPress natively takes your html post title tag and puts it into an H1 tag as the textual title on the post's web page. If you use another CMS like Drupal, Joomla, Mambo, or something else make sure your Content Management System does the same. Keywords in header tags (especially the first header of the page) carry much more weight than laster in the content areas.
Start with a Synopsis Paragraph: Unless you are writing custom meta description tags for every single page the most important area of any post or page after the title is that first paragraph. This paragraph ultimately becomes your description under you title link in search engine results pages. You want to stick to 2 or 3 sentences when possible, or at least place your important keywords there. Remember - what you type will not only determine how well this page comes up in search results, but also how your page is described and why people click!
Bold important keywords as you write: As you write your post or article bold keywords and phrases when you are making points. These keywords, combined with your title and synopsis help target ads (and traffic!).
Link relevant sources: This is a given, but should be mentioned. Be sure to link only relevant items in your post - it helps target everything.
Organize sections using h3 and h4 headings: Using h3 and h4 headers in longer pages and posts is a great way to "sub-title" the page with even more targeted keywords. It's also easier to organize information (and for more people to follow and read).
Use keyword laden categories and tags: Just before you publish that page or post, be sure to use great keywords to both categorize and tag it.

Now back to the AdSense ads themselves. First - if you are brand new to AdSense, be sure to visit the newly created AdSense official newbie help at Google and get all the free information that you can. Second you want to get the code for the AdSense ads necessary for placement on your web site. I want you to view the Google heat map (you can find it in the newbie help link). This picture illustrates where a visitor's eyes go first, and where you would get the most clicks. Do you see how the reddest spot on the page is directly above the content? I want you to understand that if you could only place one AdSense ad per page - it should be directly above you content. In addition, the highest paying and best performing AdSense ad is 336x280 large rectangle.

So you're ready to place that ad? Not so quick - you need to "blend" it into the look and feel of your page. When you create it in AdSense setup make the background color the same as where it will be placed on your page. Make the font color and size the same, make the link colors the same too. I personally would never use video ads for any reason - only text. My reasoning on this is that in a 336x280 text ad you normally get 4 text ads, and that's 4 chances to make money. If a video takes up the entire 336x280 block - it's only 1 chance to make money, and it's images and video that can be intrusive to many visitors. IMHO - you would need some type of pop-culture (music, movie, celebrity, joke, media based) web site to be successful with image or video ads. Place one 336x280 AdSense ad directly before your content and one directly after. If you use Google analytics to track your web site - you many already be aware of your "bounce rate". When people come to your site, and quickly leave because they didn't find what they wanted they "bounce". To me a bounce rate of 20-30% is normal. Over 50% is incredibly high.

If you've placed the 336x280 blocks before and after the content your are placing highly targeted ads to soak up your bounce rate. In other words - if 20-30% of my customers are going to leave my site quickly anyway to find what they want - I'd prefer that they click on one of my AdSense ads to find it. I help them find what they need, and I get a "referral fee" for the click. Also visitors that stay awhile on my site many click an ad because they're in the same niche. It's like being in the library and finding the book you need, but seeing others on the same shelf you might also like.

Beyond the two mandatory AdSense blocks I use before and after the content - I often also add a 4 text link unit in a sidebar or a 160x600 skyscraper. How you feel about this is up to you and your layout. If you have other ads or sidebar content that could be earning money - it might be better placed there. But if all you have is the latest posts and some categories - these types of AdSense ads can help you not "leave any money on the table". That means - you might only make a few extra pennies or nickels per day - but if that money was just laying on the table would you just leave it there? Probably not. It adds up over time. Again - especially if you are monetizing multiple web sites.

I learned this term (money on the table) from Joel Comm, whose AdSense eBook I read a few years back just after setting up my AdSense account for the first time. For the first 6-7 months I used AdSense I made no money at all. After I read Joel's book I quadrupled my CTR and went from making pennies per day overnight to $3-$5. One month after reading that eBook I received my first ever Google AdSense check, and I've received one every month since.

So - if your web site or blog consistently using my techniques above you should have no problem earning more money from AdSense. A lot of times you read a great article like this and you wonder how successful it was for the author. Well, it worked for me - last year I made more than $10,000 from AdSense on just a few web sites...

Three Steps To Triple Your Adsense Earnings

Posted by staying alive is not enough Monday, September 29, 2014 0 comments

If you're like nearly every Webmaster who has Google AdSense on your websites, you have undoubtedly been tempted by the AdSense Gurus who promise to teach you how to make a gazillion dollars a month with no extra work. While this of course sounds enticing, like everything else on the web; if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Three Steps To Triple Your Adsense Earnings

I'm going to tell you up front, for free, what all the gurus charge $40 to $250 to learn.

Are you ready?

Are you sure you're ready to receive this earth shattering, mind blowing secret that will MAKE YOU MONEY RIGHT NOW!?

The secret is; There are no AdSense secrets!

Believe me, if there was a secret method to make thousands of dollars a month with little to no work, none of these gurus would go through all the effort to tell the world about it. They would exploit the secret themselves and sit in their walrus leather super massage loungers on their solid gold super yachts and laugh at all the poor saps following the rules

There are no AdSense secrets, just common sense and a couple of neat little ideas that you can implement that will increase the CTR (Click Through Rate) of the AdSense ads being served on your website. And an increased CTR means increased MIYP (Money In Your Pocket).

The first thing you must realize is that content is king. If your website does not have an abundance of keyword rich, search engine friendly content that provides a valuable service to your visitors, no amount of AdSense tweaking in the world will make a difference. There are far too many sites slapped together with the sole intention of generating AdSense income. In fact, for $40 or so on eBay, you can buy a CD with over 350 websites themed to high paying keywords and setup for Adsense. All you have to do is enter your AdSense information and sit back while the Mailman struggles to deliver the hernia inducing bags of AdSense checks to your doorstep.

This is a really cool fantasy, one I like to entertain almost as much as the winning the Lottery fantasy, but it just isn't going to happen. These sites have no original, valuable content. People who may be suckered into visiting one of the sites will see that in an instant, and view the Google AdSense ads as a desperate and annoying attempt at fooling them into clicking. If a live AdSense editor were ever to visit one of these sites, your AdSense account would be suspended quicker than you can say click fraud.

The underlying non-secret that all the AdSense gurus want to sell you is that if your AdSense ads look like content, and are tightly keyed to your own valuable, original content, you will see your CTR rate double at the least, and more likely triple or more.

I recently began implementing the three steps I am about to reveal to you, and my average daily CTR on one of my sites went from .86% to over 4% literally overnight. Now this is a new site, just under a month old and I only get around 100 visitors a day, but I went from $0.30 a day in AdSense revenue to an average of $6.00 a day in AdSense revenue. Now scale those numbers up to the amount of traffic an established site is getting, and you can see just how phenomenal of an increase this is.

1. Remove the AdSense Border. By default, the AdSense units are surrounded by a border with a text box at the top that says "Ads by Gooooogle". You goal is to work the AdSense units into your content as seamlessly as possible, so get rid of the borders. Now, Google won't allow you to delete the borders, but they do allow you to control the colors of nearly every element of an AdSense unit. Simply make the border the same color as the background of your website. This goes for the background color of the AdSense unit as well, change it to match the background color of your webpage.

2. Use Rectangular Box Sizes for your AdSense Units. Like most people, when I first started with Adsense, I primarily used the horizontal skyscraper, you know, the one that looks like a banner. The problem is people have developed an advertising sensory overload, they don't even see banner ads anymore, they visually tune them out. You need to make your AdSense unit blend in with your content, so use rectangular boxes. I get the best response with the 336X280 box size. Most languages are read from left to right, so try to place your rectangular AdSense unit in a table aligned to the right of your text.

3. It's all about the colors. Google gives you an incredible amount of leeway with the colors you can select for your AdSense units. Use this to your favor, in addition to changing the border and background color, change the link and URL color as well. Most people are accustomed to clickable links being blue, so make sure your AdSense links are blue, with one exception: if you use a different link color on your site, change the AdSense links to match that color. At the bottom of each AdSense unit there is the URL for website paying for that ad. You want to draw attention away from the URL and towards the clickable link, change the color of the link to match the body color of the ad, generally black.

Just follow these three simple guidelines and I assure you, your CTR will skyrocket. Keep adding more original, relevant content to your site, increase your targeted traffic, and watch your AdSense revenue explode.

There are many more AdSense techniques that will increase your CTR, but these three are the most important. Watch for future articles in which I explain the importance of positioning your AdSense units and how to track your AdSense campaigns using channels.

Adsense Alternatives

Posted by staying alive is not enough Friday, August 22, 2014 0 comments

Many people have started using Google's AdSense program, but there are some who find it a bit too uncertain or simply not suiting their own requirements from an ad program.

But thankfully for such people, there are many alternatives to AdSense which attempt to alleviate some of its shortcomings. Here is a list of the most noteworthy ones from the lot with a description concerning each one.

AllFeeds (http://www.allfeeds.com/?action=publishers)

AllFeeds has a great pool of online advertisers to choose from. It also features many display formats that you can choose from. These include banners, buttons, XML feeds, DHTML pop-ups and so on. It also features real time reporting of your ad status. The site will mail a check every month, provided that you earn more then $25.00, while rolling over earnings for the next month if you don't. Another interesting thing about AllFeeds is that it integrates with Google AdSense, maximizing your earnings with AdSense.

MarketBanker (http://www.marketbanker.com/mb/sell.php)

MarketBanker allows you the unique possiblity to set the pricing for your site. It also allows you to allow or reject any link that appears on your site (although AdSense itself does a very good job of this as well, with URL filters) There's also a statistics section which will allow you to see how well your site is doing. The ads are small just like AdSense's and they're just as easy to set up. Also, registration for MarketBanker is free.

BidClix ( http://www.bidclix.com/PubTop.html)

BidClix is different because it has advertisers compete for clicks on your site, which in turn is meant to generate the highest possible profits for your page. It also has a very large pool of advertisers which ensure there are plenty of people to choose your site. However, it does require more polish on site contents then AdSense. As most sites, real time statistics are available and its very easy to get started with this service, but it's also very flexible.

Chitika (http://www.realcontext.com/index.php?option=RealContext:+Contextual+Targeting+Engine)

RealContext uses Artificial intelligence to retrieve the most relevant ads for your page. And there's an extra feature which makes RealContext unique as well. Keywords are selected based upon which previous selections payed off and which didn't. That means there's a constant feedback process that ensures you gain better revenue from your ads. It also supports blocking certain adds and child-safe filtering and many more options.

AdHearus (http://adhearus.com/webmaster.php)

AdHearus is a very feature-packed contextual ad provider. As with AdSense, advertisements are targeted but it doesn't stop here at all. The ads are very flexible, you can select from text-ads, banners, rectangles, pop-ups, pop-unders or skyscrapers. You can also display your own ads, through rotation, both on your site and on other affiliate sites, which makes AdHearus a hybrid with conventional advertising technologies. There's a very comprehensive on-line real time reporting feature and, as usual with such services, starting out is free and it's a breeze.

AffiliateSensor (http://www.affiliatesensor.com/)

AffiliateSensor has highly customizable ad blocks, which you can make for yourself with an easy to use on-line interface. You also get realtime reporting with clicks-by-domain, page and refferer. There's integration with Google AdSense as well, through the google_alternate_ad_url so AffiliateSensor can be used as a substitute for Google PSA's (Public Service Ads).

Kanoodle Bright Ads (http://www.kanoodle.com/about/brightads.cool)

Kanoodle's offering allows publishers to get ads related to topics or segments, and not the traditional keyword oriented ads. The site also groups publisher sites with advertisers by hand to ensure high-revenue generating ads. And speaking of revenue, the amount of money you receive is a clear 50% share of the amount of money Kanoodle recieves for an advertiser.

TargetPoint (http://publisher.targetpoint.com)

TargetPoint is oriented more towards content publishers. It offers full control over the look the ads, statistics over your site's overall performance and better revenue. It's free to register and you earn a guaranteed 60% of the total revenue. You can get payed with Paypal of Bank checks and (most times) wire transfers as well.

Clicksor (http://www.clicksor.com)

Clicksor will earn you as much as 60% from the amount of money your website produces. What you get is about the same as AdSense, there are targeted text ads, you can view the revenues from your website in real time. You can receive money via PayPal or through a check every two weeks, provided that you have earned more then $50. If you haven't made that much, your earning roll over to the next period

Why Advertisers support Adsense

Posted by staying alive is not enough Wednesday, August 20, 2014 0 comments

Google is the biggest search engine on the web. It controls over 40% of Internet searches, and with that it controls pay per click advertising (pay per click). PPC involves the advertiser paying a rate for every click through (CTR) in which the advertisers set. As their budget increases, their position increases, and as their position increases, they get more traffic.

This has lead to over 140,000 companies choosing to advertise with them, and they advertise in a number of ways. The first way is through is through appearing on Google searches, the second is through appearing on distributors websites, and the third is through appearing in distributors search results. As advertisers appear in Google searches, the question is sometimes asked. Why do they choose to advertise with distributors as well?

One reason for this is scalability. Those who originally choose to advertise in search results and who were getting a ROI (return on investment) will decide at one point that they need to identify other advertising opportunities. With thousands of websites which have the capacity to display their adverts the advertisers can gain further exposure very quickly.

Another reason why advertisers choose to advertise in Google distributors websites is that it gains them further exposure. 60% of internet users do not use Google, so the advertiser can appeal to a wider audience through choosing to opt for distribution channels. Many website users may be looking to buy a product such as a phone, yet instead of coming across a website which sells such a product, they come across an article. If the article is on a website which contains Adsense then inevitably advertisers can use this channel to penetrate their audience.

Another reason why advertisers choose adsense is because they trust Google. The company is renowned for being an ethical company who are fun to work whilst providing free services to millions worldwide. Advertisers feel that money invested with Google is safe. Despite the evolution of click-fraud and its inevitable disadvantages for advertisers they appear to understand that this is an issue which Google wants to stop and hopefully will eventually. Advertisers are happy that Google admits a problem exits and provides refunds accordingly.

The trust in Google also stems from a trust in pricing. The pricing is set by market forces and therefore advertisers never feel that publishers or Google are overpricing the service. This means that as long as advertisers are able to advertise they will continue to do so, if not at the same rates.

Another strong advantage for advertisers is that they can appear where publishers promote their service. An example of this can seen if you consider a publisher who is discussing the benefits of new IT software. If a software retailer appears on the website then inevitably they will be the likely source from which the web surfer will purchase the product. If the surfer is not interested then you could argue that they would not click on the advert.

The service which Google provides has created an opportunity for businesses of all sizes to advertise. Although the issue of click fraud still plagues the service it is till widely regarded as the best. New businesses attempt to promote themselves on the web, whilst established brands alike choose to attract interest in their service using the same technique.

Text v Graphic on Adsense

Posted by staying alive is not enough Tuesday, August 19, 2014 0 comments

Google Adsense provides advertisers and publishers with the opportunity to place adverts in both text and graphic format.

As advertisers decide to put adsense into their website over banner advertising, the question still remains. Which is the best for advertisers and which is the best for publishers?

On one hand advertisers may feel that image adverts are more responsive yet less likely to stimulate a sale. On the other hand text adverts may convert more, whilst being less visible to the consumer.

Text based adverts are considered the least intrusive of the two formats. However does that mean that Graphic advertising is better? Consumers are used to graphic advertising from signing into free email accounts, and from using other web based services. Through being used to graphic advertising they have almost programmed their selves to ignore it. Through the adverts being untargeted, the consumer is used to brand advertising which they feel is generally less purposeful. This may cause the consumer to ignore the graphic advert from the assumption that it will be the same.

Text adverts are not forced upon surfers. Through being less obvious some people will not see them at all, however those who do see them, and read them are significantly more likely to click on them. This is for a number of reasons, but the first is that they provide more information. Generally, someone who is reading text on a page is not going to be fully satisfied by what they read, and if they check adsense adverts they will most likely read something which will further supplement whatever their intention is next. With an image advert, it is far more of a gamble for the surfer.

Graphic advertising is often paid per impression. This is because the advertiser may be trying to promote their brand, instead of promoting a specifically useful service. They therefore are assumed to have worse conversion rates, and with this text adverts are in the consumers eyes more effective. However, if the text contained within an advert was placed in graphic format, which would be the most effective? Well firstly it can assumed that the surfer will be more likely to view it, however if their were multiple image adverts appearing next to each other they may feel overwhelmed.

Graphic adverts are also harder to regulate. Let’s consider Google allowing adverts to be changed frequently and without regulation. The advertiser could claim affiliation from the website they are advertising on, and contain keywords such as “ipod” which cannot be contained within a text advert. Although more regulation and quality control could be in place, a pornographic image for example could be made to appear in an advertiser’s adverts unknowingly.

Text adverts also have a broader market appeal, as advertisers don’t generally have the in house resources to create an image advert, but do have the in house resources to write a text advert. This could mean that a wider array of advertisers find text advertising accessible, through text adverts being less burden on the advertiser, and being easy to change.

Text adverts are also cheaper for the advertiser to create, where as a graphically designed advert may cost in excess of $200. Through removing this fixed cost advertisers may be willing to allot a higher rate to advertising itself; thus benefiting the advertiser and the publisher.

Text advertising appears to be the preference of the advertiser. They pay a CTR (click through rate) and only receive targeted traffic. This removes risks from businesses that previously had to worry that adverts were not only seen, but clicked on and stimulating sales. As CPC (Cost Per Click) is more relevant to text adverts, advertisers are able to gain exposure without needing a high click through rate to be effective.

The big brands are willing to advertise in both formats however the broad market appeal of text inevitably makes it the winner. As flash websites disappear with image adverts, it is becoming clear that text and information is the preference of the website users.

Ways to Identify and Tackle Click Fraud

Posted by staying alive is not enough Monday, August 18, 2014 0 comments

Identifying and tracking examples of click fraud is the first step to eradicating the problem. Click fraud is an enormous drain on the resources of advertisers operating on a national and international scale, estimated to occupy around 30% of all pay per click advertising spend. With so much at stake, its no wonder the search engines are investing so much time and effort into devising solutions.

One way in which Search Engines and other pay per click programme providers have attempted to curb the growing click fraud problem is through introducing IP address repetition algorithms. These formulae are designed to pick up on suspicious click patterns emanating from a singular IP address, which can help to uncover the existence of click farms and competitor-led sabotage, as well as identifying potential fraudsters at source.

However, there is an array of problems with this method of attempting to identify the fraudsters. Firstly, fraudsters logging on through a dialup modem, DSL line or cable modem can almost completely bypass this check, as with every new online session, a new IP address is generated. Furthermore, there is an extensive range of software available to alter IP addresses, which again can be used for 'cheating' the algorithm. Cookie and session tracking are other methods by which search engines can attempt to uncover potential fraudulent activity, but again there are ways around these for the fraudsters.

More comprehensive software is being developed which profiles and reports on the browsing habits of each click-through to enable companies to track and monitor suspicious behavior, although this could be seen by many as intrusive and ineffective as anything on a small scale is still likely to go unnoticed, based on the vast coverage of ads across the internet.

The problem of click fraud recently hit the headlines with a class action raised against Google, prompting Google to offer $90million as a potential settlement. Perhaps an acceptance of their responsibilities, Google's offer goes some way to suggest the extent of click fraud, and its vast costs to the internet economy.

There are a number of self-help remedies that can be implemented to keep an organization out of trouble. The first of these remedies is the reliance on search engine optimization and organic listings. If a site is well and fully optimized, it could eventually realize a ranking that another site is willing to pay $2.50 a click for. Similarly, with organically high rankings there are no clickthrough rates, therefore the costs associated with PPC are not applicable. Although the process is significantly more laborious and takes significantly longer to see results, the SEO process is much cheaper in the long run, and with an estimated 25-30% of all clicks being performed fraudulently, an organically high listing can save money which would otherwise be drained by click fraud for more beneficial reinvestment.

Year on year, as the pay per click advertising market continues to grow and expand, surely click fraud will follow suit. Unless an effective means of preventing click fraud is developed and successfully implemented, buyers will steadily lose confidence in the advertising medium and turn to more effective, less wasteful marketing methods, which would seriously hit the search engines and could potentially threaten the online economy as a whole.

Adsense and the Surfer

Posted by staying alive is not enough Thursday, August 14, 2014 0 comments

AdSense is an easy program to grasp: it's a great form of an advertising bringing a lot of benefits to every person in the chain. And of course, seeing the results it can have on a business (and a publisher) people encourage this form of publicity.

For the browsing audience this is probably the most straightforward model available, because they can be directed to a lot of new sites they wouldn't have otherwise found. Needless to say, if you have an AdSense banner on your site, and a large number of visitors you'll know it offers a great financial benefit.

But why does it work for the people clicking the links, as opposed to a standard approach?

It is aided by today's society. With bloggers and information based articles on the internet, people may be encouraged to complete purchases, which adsense can provide links to relevant suppliers whilst also benefiting the publisher.

And the good thing about this is that it works for site visitors as well. In fact Google realized that by pleasing the people who are looking for something, and directing them to what they need faster, everybody wins.

It is because of this that a lot of websites promote through AdSense in both content and search. They do it because they ultimately learned that it works for everyone.

If we look in the past, we can realize that this kind of publicity has a great impact over the people, especially in the last few years. When we enter on a web site and we see a graphical banner, our first idea is to cancel it out of our mind, because it's of no concern to us.

That's why traditional banner advertising is wrong. It's precisely because people are becoming savvy that they don’t look at a flashy banner because they think they'll be losing their time with it.

We've gotten accustomed to banners that don't interest us. And we're accustomed to them having nice graphics. So we naturally associate the two things and think that a banner with nice graphics has nothing to tell us.

But we might look at a text-ad because we've grown accustomed to them being targeted at what we're looking for. Basically these advertisements have marketed themselves into being looked at by any visitor.

This is a typical "no fluff, just stuff" situation. And in the end it means the visitors will see what they're interested in, not some random cool graphics you throw at them.

As stated above, site visitors adopt this advertising mechanism, because it is efficient in leading them to pages of interest and can offer ton of things they really want to see. Someone coming across an article on adsense was probably looking for shoes or doing research on shoes when they came across the article.

And most importantly for everyone, including visitors, this scheme can only improve as the process gets further refined to make ads more relevant to what you're looking for, not just a couple of keywords on a site.

Nowadays, it is because of AdSense that Internet surfers are looking after more interesting related things from banners, and the companies behind the site (Google and the advertiser) need to have better ideas to display, as expectations have increased a great deal.

So could "Do no evil" actually work in today's cut throat competitive marketplace? Well, as you can see it can and it does. And you, as a visitor are the one who gets to enjoy this the most. Advertising becomes less of a burden and more of a benefit, and is still a benefit you can choose to ignore.

Less obtrusive banners; banners that you're actually likely to be interested in and click means you'll be less annoyed by surfing the web and feel like you as a visitor being offered a relevant service.

Although some may feel reluctant to read articles that are there purely to compel consumers, undoubtedly without this consideration they are useful. Ultimately the adverts mean that you don’t have to go back to your homepage every time you are compelled to complete a purchase.

Where Adsense Should Appear

Posted by staying alive is not enough Tuesday, August 12, 2014 0 comments

When deciding whether to incorporate Adsense into your website there are several factors to consider. Many feel that it diminishes their brand, whilst others see it as a useful tool for visitors which creates revenues and makes their content profitable.

The choice can largely come down to the commercial goals and the purpose of your website. Many businesses who sell products decide to place Adsense adverts within their website. This would appear to be a strange choice, opening up opportunities for rivals to promote their service or product to your potential customer base.

Many publishers claim that they are only doing this to allow companies who provide ancillary services to advertise. These claims have some merit, as those who for example sell pillows could provide those who sell bedding with an opportunity to advertise.

Although this would make sense, there are still those online retailers who allow rivals to penetrate their audience. Many claim that there are still benefits in allowing your direct competitors to advertise within your website. One of these is that ultimately if visitors wish to see your competitors they would be able to see them through a Google search regardless. This may be true however the thought of an established brand like coco-cola having a Pepsi advert in their website is not even a possibility.

Another factor which is considered in this situation is that publishers do not feel that Adsense is effective in making conversions. They feel that visitors who would click on adverts are not highly qualified customers, as they would quickly navigate to the materials or products that interest them if they were.

Despite Adsense being a questionable choice for online retailers, it is surely a good supplementary service for other varieties of online publishers. For example, a website which provides a free service like dictionary.com gets high levels of traffic, and is able to make their service profitable through adsense. This has been the case for Bloggers who originally provided content free of charge, being unable to reach the scale that is necessary to contract with advertisers directly.

This could also apply to other previously free services, including wider forms of information broadcast, and news for example. In 2006 a man who later published a selection of Videos claims to make $19,000 a month through adsense, claiming that he was also contacted through Google to help him increase the CTR (Click Through Rate) that he achieved. The thought of success like this has been a major factor in stimulating online publishers to opt for Adsense.

Many publishers also claim that adsense makes their website look more professional. Those who are able to contract with advertisers are generally seen to provide a service with large appeal, and therefore those unfamiliar with the program may feel that the Adsense advertiser is in this position.

Adsense however, is also aligned with those publishers who use the service purely to provide links to adverts. Everyone has done a Google search, clicked on an Adwords advert and came into a website which reads top ten resources on… This is a major problem, as is generally something that surfers find frustrating. If people see that it says adverts by Google, and they then see adverts by Google on another site, they may align that site with consumer unfriendly practices. This is therefore an issue which Google has to address, to maintain Adsense as a reputable service.

Regardless of the disadvantages and the websites for which the service may be inappropriate it is still a useful tool for website visitors. Those who visit a website, and click on a link provide revenues for the publisher, whilst those who provide free services are able to generate revenue.

The only fear that Google has, is that rival PPC programs offer better deals to publishers and they decide to go elsewhere, therefore taking advertisers with them. However, ultimately it is best for advertisers and publishers if they largely remain in same PPC circuit.

Turning Traffic in to Adsense Traffic

Posted by staying alive is not enough Sunday, August 10, 2014 0 comments

If you've been running AdSense ads on your site for quite a while and you feel that you aren't making as much cash as you could, in 99.99% of cases you're right. Most people feel frustrated that they cannot generate the revenues they expected, and this is down to traffic levels as well as click through rates.

There are many ways to turn traffic into AdSense traffic and here is a short list of them with a description for each.

The first thing that you need to do is tune up your site's contents. While for some people this isn't an option (if you're running a forum for example it's a lot harder) most people can make their AdSense sites veritable cash cows.

To begin, you should find out what your site's keywords are. This is a basic technique in SEO (search engine optimization) known as keyword density verification. A good tool for this job is SEO Density Analizer.

You should then take this list of words and search the Overture Search Inventory or Google AdWords Sandbox to find out what other words could be doing better then what you currently have.

From that point on try to keep your site focused on the things that appear mostly in the keyword suggestions you receive. Try to include those keywords, or at least some related keywords as often as you can in the links on your site.

Because of the way Google AdSense works this is a sure way to increase your earnings because you'll get better ads in your AdSense banners, similar to how you would get a better Google PageRank

It's also important that you continuously add new pages to your site. This is very important, as the more pages you have, the higher the chance is that you'll get more hits on your ads.

It's also very important that you choose the appropriate formats for your AdSense banners and the best locations for them. While this is a much wider subject you should generally know that the top three Google AdSense formats are: 336x280 large rectangle 300x250 medium rectangle and 160x600 skyscraper.

Make sure you choose the appropriate colors for the ads, as making them too different from your site's content (or just different in a bad way) is sure to make visitors regard them as banners which have nothing to do with the site itself.

Make sure these ads are positioned where they'll generate the highest amount of profit. Most times, that location is said to be right before the beginning of your site's actual content.

On pages with a long text body, you might find skyscrapers to do better, simply because users get exposed to them for more time. Also, for sites with news or similar items, you might find a good position to be at the bottom of your content, because that's when people are finished reading your story and are looking for something else to do.

You should use more AdSense units if you have a lot of text on your page. Just make sure not to overdo it because you might find that you will get a lot lower CTR and lower revenues then you were getting in the first place by employing this technique inappropriately. You can add as many as three units, so use them wisely.

There's a Google AdSense Preview Tool that will let you visualize what ads would get served on your page and it can come in very handy as a testing mechanism.

Just make sure you respect the AdSense policy regarding click fraud. As a pointer you could place a picture next to your adds, just make sure to leave some room in between in order to make sure this isn't regarded as encouraging visitors to click the link.

Of course there are more ways to increase AdSense traffic from your site, but these should serve as a good starting point for income maximization.

The Advantages of Adsense For Search

Posted by staying alive is not enough Sunday, July 27, 2014 0 comments

Adsense for search provides publishers with the opportunity to provide a search tool through their website. The search tool provides results which contain adwords adverts, and therefore publishers can generate revenues.

The effectiveness of this tool for publishers comes in its functionality for website visitors. Those who have browsed resources on a website may return to Google to complete a search. If this resource is contained within a website they are currently on, then they are likely to use the publisher’s website for search, and therefore the publisher can receive returns.

Publishers often claim that having a search tool within their website is a good way to generate Adsense revenues without the concern of diminishing their brand. In the way that a company who sells a product would not want a rival provider having an adsense advert within their website, they will not feel that this disadvantage is relevant. The advantages of adsense for search also lies in the space that it occupies on screen. The results are displayed on a separate page, so publishers do not feel that they are sacrificing space where Adsense would previously appear.

The tool may also lead to visitors selecting the given website as their homepage. If the website contains relevant resources, and still has the functionality associated with Google then the website has broader general appeal. Those who are visiting the website for the first time, and realising it will not satisfy their needs may still use the websites search function.

Adsense publishers often state that they receive less per Click Through with Search. Although this is the case surfers are more likely to be targeted towards adverts than with Google Adsense. If a visitor has have changed the item or topic they wish to search for, and isn’t compelled by the adverts; they can still find what they are looking for as the publisher earns a percentage.

It is also a good tool as publishers can allow their site to be searched using the same technology. Therefore surfers are more likely to also find the resources within the publisher’s website that they require.

Google has a lesser database of advertisers for Adsense through the selectiveness of advertisers. The search toolbar provides results which include advertisers that do not want to appear in Adsense for content.

Google for search is also used by large market leading websites where this is rare with adsense. Companies who provide a service or sell a product are more regularly opting to incorporate the search toolbar into their website whilst not feeling that it depreciates their brand.

In fact; many businesses actually feel as though their brand is strengthened through it’s alignment with the Google logo. Other’s who choose not to use the Google logo, may benefit from the customers assumption that the search technology used belongs to the website they are on, and therefore further benefits are reaped by the publisher.

As adsense is plagued with click fraud, the same is less likely to happen with search. Click Fraud would require the person or persons committing the crime to follow realistic searches, and to avoid any suspicious behaviour. This could be particularly hard, and with less revenue per click those committing click fraud are likely to stay away from search all together.

The Future of Google Adsense

Posted by staying alive is not enough Wednesday, July 23, 2014 0 comments

There are many ideas springing up concerning what AdSense will look like in the future and how the system will change as opposed to what it is now.

Firstly, it's clear that targeting algorithms will become even better and more powerful then they are now. This has clearly been seen with the Google search engine itself over the last few years and it should be of no surprise as this happens with AdSense. Advertisers will appear in more appropriate results and those advertisers who manipulate their content to allow high paying keywords to appear may struggle to do this unless it is actually appropriate to their content.

Another thing which is bound to happen is more protection for AdWords advertisers concerning click fraud. Google acknowledges this to be a very key issue that it needs to address as quickly as possible and there's no doubt it will happen as fast as possible. At the moment those who have high levels of traffic, can easily disguise IP addresses and increase CTR ( Click Through Rate).

Google is always keen on improving its products and this has been seen before in AdSense. The search engine company has introduced site-targeted AdSense CPM, "smart pricing" and domain blocking and there will probably be improvements that have already been added by other similar sites.

One such example is the option for the advertiser to have more control over where the content is being displayed. This could mean blocking your site from displaying on several addresses that host AdSense banners.

Another idea that has been advanced is that Google will integrate AdSense in other forms of media like newspapers or television and so on. While this might seem to be more on the science-fiction side of the facts there's no indication that this might not happen.

Google have access to an international array of over 150,000 advertisers of whom may choose to penetrate offline markets in different countries. With Google’s strong network of advertisers, they may choose to appoint or allow offline distributors to create a format for Adwords advertising in content, in search and now offline.

More options could be implemented for AdSense publishers, allowing them to specify keywords of their own. While Google has been reluctant of this there's no indication that this will not happen in the future.

Also, a lot of people are demanding a clear specification of the pricing policy of AdSense. Google has given no indication of why this isn't public information but at this moment it seems highly unlikely that such information will ever be present on Google AdSense.

Another feature that could find itself into AdSense would be letting website publishers see which links are generating clicks on their website and based on what keywords they arrive there.

This could end up being a major issue that could threaten the entire system as it could perhaps encourage more adsense only websites as profits become more transparent. A lot of people may make AdSense-only sites, designed just for making profits through AdSense.

While this is already happening today, it might be foolish of Google to put such tools in the hands of its publishers.

However, one thing that could happen is a way for users to fix their issues with low AdSense generated income on their site. This could be done through an on-line wizard or something similar that would make suggestions to website owners based on their contents.

But the major buzzword of the day is RSS. The possibility of sending targeted ads directly to users without requiring any navigation on their behalf is becoming a reality with RSS. And there are clear signs that Google isn't going to let such an opportunity pass by.

This is what "interactive television" and similar items have been trying to do for quite some time now. But the Internet would be a much better medium for this, because there are no mediums quite as interactive as the Internet.

But in the end, this is mostly speculation and we are bound to have Google surprising us with new features we would have never thought of.

SEO for Adsense

Posted by staying alive is not enough Monday, July 21, 2014 0 comments

If you've been using Google's AdSense on your pages you obviously feel the need to somehow generate even more traffic for your website, which in turn would translate to more AdSense click and a higher income.

But who do you do this? Well, the major way you'll get visitors to see your website (other then using AdWords, which is encouraged as well) is to use some techniques to have search engines send more and more users towards your page, by ranking high in search results for your topics of interest.

Believe it or not this is a technique, better known as search-engine optimization or simply SEO. So here are a bunch of tips that come handy under every amateur or professional optimizer's belt.

The first thing you need to take care of is the actual source code and layout of your page. This has to be kept as simple as possible. The problem comes when AdSense and the search engines themselves begin to have troubles in extracting the most relevant keywords on your site because of a too complex layout.

Secondly, try to have each one of your pages target only one specific topic. This way it is a lot easier for them to get indexed properly and for the AdSense ads to be consistent with the content of the site itself.

Also, try not to include too many hyperlinks in your page as well. This also means you should try not to use too many AdSense ads on your page either.

If there are certain keywords you wish to target, make sure the word you wish to target is present in the title, in the first paragraphs as well as in the name of the file. While you're at it you might want to ensure the word springs up in the page's last paragraphs.

And of course, it's very important for your content to have original and compelling content. How do you do this? Well the easiest way to do it is to find something you're really passionate about. That way, providing you give it a lot of effort you're bound to have a great page quite fast.

If the content you use in your site is in the public domain (which is highly discouraged) make sure that you at least give it an original title, and add an opening and a closing paragraph of your own.

This takes a little while, but if, after waiting, you still can't find your page near the top, you should try rewriting your title and your first and last paragraphs. It doesn't take much, often just changing a few words will give you the right results.

And of, course there's the use of keyword tools that may aid you in finding some good keywords to include on your page that will drive visitors to your site more and more.

So those are about the basic techniques in search engine optimization. You can find a lot of computer tools to aid you in doing this, and of course, Google is a great place to search for this.

In the end, you'll find that SEO is a complex topic, and entire books have been written on the topic as well. You might find that you have a lot of optimization you need to do in order to get more and more visitors to your site and clicking those precious AdSense banners.

Google PPC: Content or Search?

Posted by staying alive is not enough Saturday, July 19, 2014 0 comments

When advertising with pay per click Google gives the advertiser two broad options. Advertising in search results, advertising in websites content or indeed many choose to do both. Advertising in search means that results are displayed in Google under searches, and in its distributors search results. Google content advertising applies to those websites who choose to incorporate “Adsense” into their websites. As adsense rapidly expands, it is now viewable on millions of web pages throughout the web. However, many advertisers are shunning this in favor of merely advertising in search results.

There are several reasons for this, and the first is trust. This has been a result of smaller websites, through to adsense empires choosing to embark on Click Fraud. Although this issue occurs in search it is far less dominant. Those who commit Click Fraud on search are those trying to weaken a competitor’s ROI. With Adsense the same applies, along with the website owner trying to increase his revenues using similar tactics.

Another reason why website owners are choosing to market out with content is the motivation of the buyer when he is on a website. Someone who is on a different website, other than the advertisers might be there for entirely different reasons. For example a website discussing the disadvantages of Adsense, would actually return adverts for those selling “Adsense Websites” for example. People may click on it, but they are unlikely to buy after reading a negative review. The other reason could be that the person on the adsense website was actually looking for what is the best color palette to use. The person therefore would not find the advert relevant, but might click on the advert in a care free manner.

Adsense websites are also often rejected by the advertiser because they feel it involves more administration. Checking through websites to see how relevant they are, and editing their bids to ensure they still appear on a page. With some words having a network of over 500 websites, it is surely a tedious and expensive task. Although this is the case, many also find that their Adwords account returns websites, that don’t even appear to be trying to support their keywords. The example which is ripe, are those advertising under legal phrases who appear on adsense websites “terms and conditions” and “privacy policy” pages.

Although many are rejecting content advertising, there are still those who feel it provides a similar ROI to search. A reason for this can be found through in the fact that more and more advertisers are only choosing search. As this occurs the advertiser has less competition so the price of the word reduces. Advertisers are also finding a good ROI from publisher’s websites who decide to actively promote the advertiser’s services within their content. An example of this can be realized from when someone is discussing printing services, and actually directly recommends the advertiser’s services. This is a positive move for both the publisher and the advertiser, and a good way for publishers to move forward. Despite this, publishers still have to remember, to not be too obvious in doing this, or savvy buyers will definitely calculate the publisher’s intention.

Another reason why advertisers are opting for content is to increase their scale, however this can also be done across other search engines. The fact however still exists that those who choose content advertising should choose the Google Adsense network. It is regulated far and above yahoo’s and others equivalents whilst its superior network of publishers means the advertisers will benefit from being able to spread their message through a diverse range of websites.

Despite Adsense being the best PPC content distributor, it certainly doesn’t compare to search for the advertiser. On search the leads are more qualified, more regulated, and less fraudulent. This has seen advertisers consistently choose search over content. Despite this advertiser’s should always test adsense and see if it can provide the ROI they are looking for. Some advertisers say that content provides a better return for their business than search. This varies, however in general search remains King for PPC advertisers.

Adsense

Ways to Better AdSense Earnings

Three Steps To Triple Your Adsense Earnings

Three Steps To Triple Your Adsense Earnings

Adsense Alternatives

Why Advertisers support Adsense

Text v Graphic on Adsense

Ways to Identify and Tackle Click Fraud

Adsense and the Surfer

Where Adsense Should Appear

Turning Traffic in to Adsense Traffic

The Advantages of Adsense For Search

The Future of Google Adsense

SEO for Adsense

Google PPC: Content or Search?

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