How to Put Google Ads on Your Website
Monday, September 29, 2008What are Google ads?
Google ads are those little "clickable" links that you see on many websites above, below and beside the articles. For example, if you look towards the top of this page, you'll see a horizontal line of text links. Reading from the left, it says "Ads by Google" and then has a number of text links that you can click on. Those ads are placed there by Google, with my permission.
What's the difference between Adsense and Adwords?
Adsense is what Google calls their program where website owners (called "publishers") sign up to allow Google to place ads on their webpages.
Adwords is what Google calls their program where advertisers pay to have Google place ads on other people's webpages.
So the ads on this page are Adsense ads for me (I get paid each time someone clicks on one of those ads) and Adwords ads for the advertiser (who pays a fee each time someone clicks on one of those ads).
What ads get displayed?
Google "reads" each page and decides what ads to place based on the content of the articles. For example, on a page about zoning for home business the ads would relate to zoning. On a page about designing business cards, the ads would likely be about business cards.
Why would you want someone else's ads on your website?
AdSense is a fast and easy way for websites to earn money. Because the ads are related to what your users are looking for on your site, it puts ads that are relevant in front of the user at the exact moment that they are looking for information on that topic.
There is some flexibility in the program, so I can specify if I don't want a certain type of ad (e.g. gambling) or a certain company (e.g. my direct competitors) to be displayed.
How do you sign up for Adsense?
The program is free to join (naturally, because it's a big money-maker for Google) and quite user-friendly. All you need to start is an active website or blog for the ads to appear on. You can click the link below to apply.
Google will review your application and follow up with an email within 2-3 days. If you are accepted into the program, you can log in to your new account and get started.
How much will you earn with Adsense?
How much you earn through Adsense will depend on the type of website you have and the number of visitors your site attracts.
In the beginning, you might make a few cents to a few dollars a day. Over time, as you build the content on your website and increase traffic, this can increase to a sizeable income. Be aware, though, that the majority of publishers don't make a lot of money from Adsense. You have to really work at it to get the big bucks.
There's lots of free bits and pieces of information on the Internet about how to make money with Adsense. If you go to Problogger he has some good articles on adsense tips for bloggers. If you're looking for an ebook that has it all in one place, the best one I've found is What Google Never Told You About Making Money with Adsense. It costs $19.95 but there is a free mini-version that you can get to try it out.
The mini-version of the Adsense ebook is 33 pages and it is a good introduction to making money with Adsense. One cavaet though: he refers to the "fat checks delivered month after month". That may happen eventually, but as I mentioned above, most people make only a few cents to a few dollars a day from Adsense. There are some people who make a full-time living from Adsense, but they are in the minority.
