AdSense is an ad serving application run by Google Inc. Website owners can enroll in this program to enable text, image, and more recently, video advertisements on their websites.

AdSense has become a popular method of placing advertising on a website because the advertisements are less intrusive than most banners, and the content of the advertisements is often relevant to the website.

There are 2 main points that will affect your overall revenue:

  • Traffic
  • Clicks
Traffic = clicks?

To put it simply – the more traffic your website generates the more clicks your ads will get. It’s as simple as that. But that’s not all – you also have to work on a several other things to increase the number of clicks by your visitors.

AdSense Types

AdSense for content

An easy way for website publishers to put ads on their websites and earn money by it. Because the ads are related to what your users are looking for on your site, you’ll have a way to both monetize and enhance your content pages. It combines pay-per-click and pay-per-impression advertising – meaning you get paid for valid clicks on the ads on your site as well as impressions.

AdSense for feeds

Allows web publishers to earn by placing targeted Google ads in their feeds. It works just like AdSense for content does: by delivering ads that are relevant to your content and your readers. You also have the possibility to earn by impressions and clicks.

AdSense for domains

Allows advertisements to be placed on domain names that have not been developed or are just in an inactive state. This offers domain name owners a way to monetize such domain.

AdSense for search

Allows website owners to place Google search boxes on their websites. When a user searches the Internet or the website with the search box, Google shares any advertising revenue it makes from those searches with the website owner. The publisher is paid only if the advertisements on the page are clicked – not for mere searching.

AdSense for video

Allows publishers with video content to generate revenue using ad placements.

Optimizing AdSense

Blending

Probably one of the most important aspects would be blending your ads to your content. The point of this is to make ads a part of your content and make your readers want to click on them for more info. For ads showing up in your content you shouldn’t use borders, use the same background and set the link colors to match your overall website color scheme.

Ad unit size

Google AdSense offers a large variety of ad unit sizes. The three most popular are:

  • 300×250 (medium rectangle)
  • 160×600 (wide skyscraper)
  • 728×90 (leaderboard)

The reason these three are the most popular ones is the fact that they all can display text, image and video ads. This gives Google a greater ability to determine which of these three formats will work best.

Placement

An important piece of advice is to make sure your ads are placed comfortably in your pages. If they aren’t they may not generate you as much income as you’d like. And there’s always the possibility that they may start irritating your readers.

Always try to think as a reader – how comfortable would it be for you to read your articles with the way you’ve positioned your ads.