The AdSense Code: What Google Never Told You About Making Money with AdSense
INDEX
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 11
PART 1. GETTING STARTED WITH GOOGLE ADSENSE....................... 14
1.1 THE BASICS: BUILDING YOUR SITE ..................................................... 14
1.2 NAMING YOUR SITE........................................................................ 15
1.3 CHOOSING A HOSTING SERVICE......................................................... 15
1.4 DESIGNING THE SITE..................................................................... 16
1.5 CREATING CONTENT ...................................................................... 16
1.6 GETTING STARTED WITH BLOGGER.COM................................................. 17
1.7 SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION.......................................................... 18
1.8 LINKS ...................................................................................... 18
2. ADSENSE — MAKING THE MONEY!................................................ 19
2.1 WHAT IS ADSENSE?....................................................................... 19
2.2 SIGNING UP MADE EASY .................................................................. 21
2.3 GOOGLE POLICIES......................................................................... 23
2.4 AS EASY AS 1-2-3!....................................................................... 24
3. HOW TO "TWEAK" YOUR ADS TO MAKE THEM "CLICK"! ............... 25
3.1 AD FORMATS: “DRESS” YOUR ADS FOR SUCCESS!...................................... 25
3.2 DON'T "LOOK" LIKE AN AD .............................................................. 25
3.3 MEET THE ADSENSE FAMILY.............................................................. 26
3.4 TEXT ADS — GOOGLE’S FINEST.......................................................... 26
3.5 IMAGE ADS — BUILT TO BE IGNORED ................................................... 34
3.6 LINK UNITS — GREAT LITTLE STOCKING FILLERS....................................... 35
3.7 EXPANDED TEXT ADS — SHRINKING CONTROL OR EXPANDED INCOME? ............. 39
4. USING COLORS TO INCREASE YOUR CLICKS................................. 42
4.1 DESIGN YOUR WEBSITE TO HIGHLIGHT ADSENSE...................................... 42
4.2 MAKE THE BORDER GO!.................................................................. 43
4.3 TEXT IS DESIGN TOO!.................................................................... 45
4.4 BLUE IS BEST ............................................................................. 46
4.5 WHERE DID MY URL GO?................................................................ 47
4.6 DELIBERATE MISMATCHING............................................................... 47
© Copyright 2006, Joel Comm and InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
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5. HOW TO MAXIMIZE VISIBILITY AND RESPONSE.......................... 48
5.1 AD PLACEMENT: WHERE TO PUT YOUR ADS?........................................... 48
5.2 GO WITH THE 'FLOW'..................................................................... 49
5.3 ABOVE THE FOLD.......................................................................... 50
5.4 USING TABLES ............................................................................. 52
5.5 COMPLEMENTING YOUR ADS .............................................................. 54
6. CONTROLLING YOUR ADS.............................................................. 55
6.1 ATTRACTING RELEVANT ADS .............................................................. 55
6.2 KEEP THE TITLE, DIRECTORY AND HEADLINES RELEVANT............................. 56
6.3 FINDING KEYWORDS ...................................................................... 56
6.4 KEYWORD DENSITY ....................................................................... 57
6.5 KEYWORD PLACEMENT .................................................................... 57
6.6 KEYWORD FRAMES ........................................................................ 58
6.7 SECTION TARGETING...................................................................... 58
6.8 NO 'BAITING'!............................................................................. 60
6.9 CHANGING METATAGS .................................................................... 60
6.10 INVITING THE ROBOT ................................................................... 60
6.11 GOOGLE ADS PREVIEW .................................................................. 61
6.12 PUBLIC SERVICE ADS ................................................................... 62
6.13 BLOCKING ADS .......................................................................... 63
6.14 “ADVERTISE ON THIS SITE”............................................................ 63
6.15 DOES LOCATION MATTER FOR CPM ADS?............................................. 68
7. QUICKSTART ADSENSE: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE.......................... 69
ADSENSE QUICKSTART GUIDE #1: BUILDING A BLOG...................................... 70
ADSENSE QUICKSTART GUIDE #2: BUILDING A SITE FROM SCRATCH .................... 71
PART 2: BEYOND BASIC ADS ............................................................. 72
8. CATCH FICKLE VISITORS WITH THE GOOGLE SEARCH BOX ......... 72
8.1 FINDING MONEY WITH SEARCH.......................................................... 72
8.2 LEARN HOW TO ADD GOOGLE SEARCH TO YOUR WEB PAGE .......................... 73
8.3 TO SEARCH OR NOT TO SEARCH ........................................................ 75
8.4 HOME PAGE SEARCHING.................................................................. 75
8.5 CUSTOMIZING YOUR SEARCH ............................................................ 75
9. ADSENSE AND FIREFOX REFERRAL PROGRAMS............................ 76
9.1 REFERRING FOR ADSENSE ................................................................ 76
© Copyright 2006, Joel Comm and InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
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9.2 FIRING UP FIREFOX........................................................................ 78
10. USING MULTIPLE AD BLOCKS...................................................... 79
10.1 HOW MANY ADS IS TOO MANY? ....................................................... 80
10.2 WHAT TO DO WITH THREE AD UNITS.................................................. 80
10.3 WHERE TO PUT THE SEARCH BOXES................................................... 81
10.4 GOOGLE IS MEAN WITH THE LINK UNITS ............................................. 81
10.5 PUT REFERRAL BUTTONS NEAR AD UNITS ............................................. 81
10.6 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER ............................................................. 82
10.7 PUTTING MULTIPLE ADS IN ARTICLES.................................................. 82
10.8 PUTTING MULTIPLE ADS IN BLOGS..................................................... 83
10.9 PUTTING MULTIPLE ADS IN MERCHANT SITES......................................... 84
11. BUILDING CONTENT ................................................................... 85
11.1 WRITING CONTENT...................................................................... 85
11.2 MAKING BUCKS WITH BLOGS .......................................................... 86
11.3 ADDING ADSENSE TO YOUR BLOG..................................................... 87
11.4 OLD CONTENT ........................................................................... 88
11.5 VOLUNTEER WRITERS ................................................................... 91
11.6 BUILD THOUSANDS OF PAGES WITH OTHER PEOPLE’S CONTENT..................... 92
11.7 ADD PUBLIC DOMAIN WORKS TO YOUR SITE ......................................... 94
11.8 ADSENSE IN RSS FEEDS ............................................................... 95
11.9 USE YOUR NEWSLETTER TO DRIVE TRAFFIC!.......................................... 96
11.10 BUYING CONTENT/ HIRING WRITERS ................................................ 97
11.11 AUTOMATED CONTENT................................................................. 97
PART 3: FOLLOWING THE FIGURES................................................... 99
12. RESPONSE TRACKING: YOUR HIDDEN POT OF ADSENSE GOLD! 99
12.1 HOW TO TRACK WITH CHANNELS.....................................................101
12.2 HOW TO CREATE A URL CHANNEL....................................................102
12.3 HOW TO CREATE A CUSTOM CHANNEL ................................................104
12.4 WHAT CUSTOM CHANNELS SHOULD YOU CREATE? ...................................106
12.5 HOW TO READ YOUR SERVER LOGS ..................................................107
12.6 TRACKING TOOLS .......................................................................112
13. SMART PRICING... AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOUR INCOME. 117
13.1 WHAT GOOGLE HAS SAID ABOUT SMART PRICING ..................................118
13.2 WHAT ELSE DO WE KNOW ABOUT SMART PRICING?................................118
13.3 STRATEGIES TO BENEFIT FROM SMART PRICING.....................................119
© Copyright 2006, Joel Comm and InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
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14. HOW TO MAKE ADSENSE WORK WITH INTERNET COMMUNITIES
......................................................................................................... 121
14.1 GOOGLE’S FORUM HEAT MAP..........................................................122
15. HOW TO READ YOUR VISITORS LIKE A BOOK........................... 125
15.1 MAKING SENSE OF STATS, LOGS AND REPORTS... ...................................125
15.2 THE MOST IMPORTANT STAT OF ALL..................................................126
15.3 OPTIMUM CTR..........................................................................126
15.4 ADSENSE ARBITRAGE ..................................................................127
15.5 WORDTRACKER.........................................................................128
16. WHAT TO DO BEFORE YOU APPLY TO GOOGLE ADSENSE......... 130
16.1 DON'T BUILD A WEBSITE THAT SPECIFICALLY TARGETS SEARCH SPIDERS, WITH
NOTHING UNIQUE TO OFFER HUMAN VISITORS. ............................................131
16.2 DON'T BUILD A WEBSITE JUST TO MAKE MONEY FROM ADSENSE .................131
16.3 PROVIDE TARGETED CONTENT THAT WILL HELP GOOGLE ADVERTISERS TO
CAPITALIZE YOUR TRAFFIC....................................................................131
16.4 DON'T BUILD A WEBSITE SPECIFICALLY TO TARGET HIGH-VALUE KEYWORDS
UNLESS YOU PLAN ON DEVELOPING QUALITY CONTENT!...................................132
16.5 WEBSITES THAT RANK HIGHER IN A GOOGLE SEARCH (SERPS) WILL GET A BETTER
PER-CLICK PAYOUT THAN WEBSITES WHICH RANK LOWER FOR THE SAME SEARCH TERM
..................................................................................................132
16.6 INCREASE 'READINESS TO BUY' .......................................................133
16.7 DON'T CUT CORNERS! .................................................................134
PART 4: ADVANCED TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES................................ 135
17. RECOMMENDED RESOURCES: TRY THESE TOOLS AND ADSENSE
UTILITIES (SOME ARE FREE!).......................................................... 135
17.1 TEST YOUR METTLE WITH THE ADSENSE SANDBOX!.................................135
17.2 GOOGLE ADSENSE PREVIEW TOOL....................................................136
17.3 OVERTURE BIDTOOL ...................................................................137
17.4 OVERTURE KEYWORD SUGGESTION TOOL ............................................137
17.5 ULTIMATE SEO TOOL ..................................................................137
17.6 GOOGLE ADWORDS TRAFFIC ESTIMATOR AND BID TOOL...ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT
DEFINED.
7.7 KEYWORD RANKINGS TOOL..............................................................138
17.8 MASS KEYWORDS SEARCH.............................................................138
17.9 GUIDE TO GOOGLE-FRIENDLY DESIGN ................................................138
© Copyright 2006, Joel Comm and InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
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18. KEEPING TRACK OF WHAT WORKS — AND WHAT DOESN'T WORK
— FOR YOU!...................................................................................... 138
18.1 A SAMPLE ADSENSE JOURNAL.........................................................140
19. OTHER CONTEXTUAL ADVERTISING PROGRAMS...................... 143
19.1 KONTERA — MAKING YOUR WORDS PAY .............................................144
19.2 CHITIKA — ALL MALLS, MORE MONEY................................................145
19.3 CONTEXTCASH — AFFILIATE REVENUE THE EASY WAY.............................146
19.4 YAHOO! PUBLISHER NETWORK ........................................................147
19.5 ADBRITE.................................................................................147
19.6 KANOODLE – BRIGHT ADS..............................................................148
19.7 SEARCHFEED............................................................................149
20. GETTING TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEB SITE .................................... 149
20.1 ADVERTISING ...........................................................................150
20.2 RECIPROCAL LINKING ..................................................................150
20.3 SEND A FRIEND ........................................................................151
20.4 OFFLINE MARKETING ...................................................................151
20.5 PROMOTING YOUR BLOG ...............................................................151
20.6 PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PUBLICITY ...................................................152
20.7 LEARN FROM A PRO ....................................................................153
21. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION.............................................. 154
21.1 ROBOT.TXT..............................................................................155
21.2 TITLES AND URLS......................................................................155
21.3 LINKS ....................................................................................156
21.4 CREATE GATEWAYS.....................................................................159
21.5 AUTOMATIC SUBMISSIONS.............................................................159
21.6 SEO TOOLS.............................................................................159
21.7 A WORD ABOUT CLOAKING.............................................................161
21.8 TRAFFICANDCONVERSION.COM ........................................................162
PART 5: QUICK TIPS ........................................................................ 163
22. ADSENSE PROHIBITIONS, MISTAKES AND PROBLEMS............ 163
22.1 THE BIGGEST MISTAKES THAT ADSENSE PUBLISHERS MAKE... AND HOW TO AVOID
THEM ...........................................................................................165
22.2 WHAT TO DO IF YOUR ADSENSE ACCOUNT GETS CLOSED ..........................169
© Copyright 2006, Joel Comm and InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
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23. TROUBLESHOOTING — WHAT TO DO IF YOU’RE NOT GETTING THE
RESULTS YOU WANT........................................................................ 170
23.1 LOW REVENUES .........................................................................171
23.2 LOW TRAFFIC LEVELS ...................................................................171
23.3 LOW CLICKTHROUGH RATES............................................................172
23.4 LOW CLICK PRICE.......................................................................172
23.5 LOW AD RELEVANCE ....................................................................173
23.6 TOO MANY PUBLIC SERVICE ADS ......................................................174
23.7 TOO FEW ADS IN A UNIT...............................................................174
24. STAYING UP TO DATE AND LEARNING THE LATEST ADSENSE
TIPS ................................................................................................. 174
24.1 TALKING ADSENSE AT ADSENSECHAT.................................................175
25. CASE STUDIES .......................................................................... 178
25.1 FREEAFTERREBATE.INFO — UNMISSABLE ADS ........................................178
25.2 GREAT IDEAS FOR INTEGRATION FROM THE IDEA BOX...............................179
25.3 GIFTS-911.COM GETS EMERGENCY TREATMENT WITH MULTIPLE AD UNITS ......180
25.4 STELLAAWARDS — A PRIZE WINNING DESIGN ......................................182
25.5 OFFSHOREBANKINGCENTRAL.COM BRINGS HOME THE BACON ......................183
25.6 PILING ON THE PICS AT BABIES-WORLDWIDE.COM..................................185
25.7 GO4TH.ORG TAKES ADSENSE FORWARD .............................................186
25.8 SMART AD PLACEMENT AT DOGTOYSMART.COM......................................188
25.9 ADDING ADSENSE TO BLOGGER .......................................................190
25.10 MATCHING ARTICLES TO ADS ........................................................191
25.11 DRIFTING INTO PROFITS AT 247DRIFTING.COM....................................192
CONCLUSION ................................................................................... 193
GLOSSARY........................................................................................ 195
LEGALESE.........................................................................................
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