In the past few years blogging has become one of the common profession of many academic scholars and people with expertise in various different fields. There is no doubt some of them has generated a lot of revenue, but still millions of bloggers are waiting to come their dreams too.
While blogging sometime people get frustrated when they don’t see any improvement even after doing a hard work and investing a lot of time. Well, blogging require a lot of patients and calm to achieve what you wish for. You only start generating revenue after one year of what we can say patients work instead of the hard work.
In this post we will mainly talk about generating revenue out of your blog which includes a brief introduction to the Google Adsense which is the major source of income.
What is Google Adsense?
Well, in simple words Google Adsense is a product by Google, which offers website owners so called the “publishers” to display ads and generate money by displaying ads on their website or blog. There are different types of Google Ads which include:
- Custom Search Engine which includes Google Ads
- Ads for Apps
- Ads for Website (desktop & mobile both)
Some of the very challenging tasks about Google Adsense :
- Getting your Google Adsense account approved.
- Running ads without getting banned.
- Following Google Adsense Policy.
Though these are not rocket science that you cannot do that, but still it is very important and when it comes to generating revenue.
Step 1 – Getting Ready for Google Adsense
In order to get your Google Adsense Account approved, you need to follow some of the very basic things which include:
- Minimum Required Articles, Pages or Posts
- Inclusion of essential pages
- Integration of Google Analytics
- Registration and Verification of Google Webmaster (now Google Console)
- Proper XML sitemaps
- Implementation of robots.txt
- Alexa Rank
Minimum Required Articles, Pages or Posts
One of the very important things you should keep in mind that your website has at least 40 numbers of genuine posts, articles or pages with good quality of contents.
When we talk about good quality of contents it means that your website should have well written articles, posts or pages and it should be your original and creative work and not copied from anywhere else example internet i.e. from another website and books. You cannot play a trick with Google and that’s when it knows everything. Keep the word limit up to 500 to 1000 words.
Inclusion of Essential Pages
Keep in mind that Google only serves the ads when it knows to whom the ads is being served. It means you should tell Google who you are? What you do? And how Google and people can reach you?
In simple words, you must have the following pages on your website:
- About
- Privacy Policy
- Contact
“About” – About page should contain at least 3 or more paragraphs which sounds like something a professional. In About page you can write about yourself and the motive on and of your website.
“Privacy Policy” – It is one of the very important pages that every website should have as per norms and Privacy Laws of various countries example – IT Act. 2000 of India and of course it is mandatory as per Google Adsense Policy. In this page you basically tell the users about how, when and what types of information you collects when a users visit, registers or subscribers, etc. Another thing you should not forget about the Cookies which is served almost every time and by every website when a user hits the website.
“Contact” – I don’t think you need a description about integrating a contact page on your website or blog. Well, we suggest you to create a simple contact page with input forms in it. You can try contact form plugins, if you are on WordPress.
Once you have done with above stuffs, you can apply for Google Adsense. It may take up to 7 days to get your Adsense account to be approved or rejected.
Integration of Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a very useful tool for web developers and publishers and for those who owns a website or a blog. This helps webmasters to get raw data about the hits, visit, referral and other useful information about their website. All they need to sign up for the Google Analytics accounts which is free. Once you register for Google Analytics you need to place the Analytics code on your website.
This tool also helps Google to collect information about the visits and other related information.
Registration and Verification of Google Webmaster
It is very important for every webmaster and publisher to register and verify Google Webmaster account as to get their website to be visible in Google Search results.
This also helps Google to verify that you are the actual owner of the website. Once you register your website to Google Webmaster Console it asks you to verify your website through various methods. Just chose the one in which you feel comfortable.
Proper XML sitemaps
XML Sitemaps are generally used to guild the Google Search Engine bats locate the different pages, posts and articles on your website. If you are using WordPress of BlogSpot, you can simply get it through plugins.
But, if you are using a custom developed or designed website you need to generate it manually. But nor worries, there are several websites that will do for you and that’s for free of cost.
Implementation of robots.txt
It helps Google and various other search engines to decide what to be indexed, i.e. what should be included and what should not be included in the Search results. Mainly, you restrict search engines to avoid including certain pages in the search engines. Well, it’s up on the search engines and bots to honor it the robots.txt.
Alexa Rank
Do Alexa Rank matters for getting Google Adsense? No, definitely not! Well, there are no such things which tell that Google consider Alexa Rank in approving Google Adsense Account. But, still if you have a Good Alexa Rank it is an indicated that people are getting engaged on your website.
Our Suggestion: Get at least 5 Million Alexa Rank before applying for a Google Adsense Account
Step 2- Placement of Google Adsense ad code
Once your Google Adsense account gets approved the next step is placing Ads to your website by simply inserting Google Ad-codes.
But, wait a minute! Placement of Ads should be done very carefully and within the scope of Google Adsense Policy for placement of Ads. Any violation of Google Adsense policy can lead to getting banned of your Google Adsense Account.
There are certain things that you should keep in mind while placing ads-
- How many to place?
- Where to place ?
How many to place?
Google does not allow to place more than 3 days on a page until you are not a premier Publisher. Though placing more than 3 ads on a page is not a violation of Google Adsense Policy but still you are not allowed to place more than the numbers of ads permitted to place a page.
Where to Place?
Since Google permits only 3 Ads to be placed on a page. We suggest following three areas on a page where you can place ads-
- Just below the navigation or above the article
- Right top sidebar
- Right bottom sidebar
These are the areas which gives the optimum earning from the ads.
Step 3- Running Ads Without Getting Banned
Google is very strict against its policy and one should also follow it very strictly. Google simply banns the account, if it catches anyone violating its policy.
When it comes to Google Adsense one need to be an extra careful. These are some of very basic but important policy that you should follow very carefully:
- Avoid invalid clicks
You should not click on the ads or ask your friends, family or visitors to click on ads. Google uses advanced methods to determine the clicks on your website. - Avoid use of tricks
You should not use any tricks or methods to increase the hits on your website which violates Google polices. Some webmasters and publishers use referral and other programs to increase the ranking of their website. Well, now you should avoid that and when it is not permitted by the Google Adsense Policy. - Avoid unsupported languages on your website
What? Well, still many languages are not supported by Google Adsense.. You can find on Google the list of languages supported by Google. - Avoid copyrighted contents
Many publishers across the world were blocked and banned by Google for using copyrighted content on their website. Well, Google takes strict action against those who uses copyrighted contents and punishes by simply banning their account. - Use of prohibited contents
You should not use prohibited contents on your website which includes:- Adult material and Porn
- Violent content – copyrighted
- Cracking and Hacking tricks and tips
- Casino and Gambling stuffs
- Drugs, Alcohol etc.
- Selling of Weapons and ammunition
- Contents like Essays etc.
- Avoid illegal methods and tricks to bring traffic
Most of us make mistakes where bringing traffic through unhealthy ways can be quite expensive and especially for those who are running Google Adsense. Google does not allow to use in-purchased system of traffic. If you are running such stuffs around your site, you should not place ads on landing pages.
See the detailed Terms of Services for Google Adsense Programme.
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