Profitable Blogging

Yes, you can make money using AdSense on your blog or website.  It’s one of the easiest ways to make money blogging, and can be extremely lucrative.  But while AdSense works well for most niches, it’s not for everyone. 

Let’s take a look at how AdSense works and if it’s right for your site.

What is the AdSense Affiliate Program?

AdSense is a program that automatically displays relevant ads on your blog.  These are from advertisers who have products or services for sale, that people looking at your site may be interested in.

Whenever a person is on your site and clicks on one of the ads, you get paid a sum of money.  Sometimes it’s a penny or two; sometimes it’s several dollars; the sum depends on the keywords used.

How Does it Work?

When you are accepted into the Google AdSense affiliate program, you’ll receive the information you need to include the ads on your blog posts.  You can either enter the information (in the form of javascript) by hand, or automatically using a WordPress plugin.

(I use the All in One AdSense and YPN plugin, which is free.)

You can choose from several different kinds and formats for the ads you display on your site.

How Do You Get Paid?

Google pays once a month, and you must reach the payment threshhold of $100.  If you don’t reach $100, the amount will roll over until the following month(s) until you do reach at least $100.

If you’re in the United States, you can have your payment direct deposited into your bank account.  Otherwise, you can use the default (a check).

Why Use AdSense?

It’s probably the easiest way to make money online.  With just a little bit of code (or even easier, with a plugin), you can set it and forget it.

But It’s Not for Everyone

Easy it may be, but AdSense still isn’t for everyone — here’s why.

In order to make money, you need targeted traffic to your site.  While you can make money on just 10 page views a day, a steady income generally needs at least 100 page views a day.  And obviously, the more traffic the better.

The other thing you need is a niche that has plenty of ads for the niche.  For example, if your niche is organic goldfish food, you may not find many (any?) advertisers willing to post ads.  If there aren’t any ads showing, you can’t make money.

Other variables include your CTR (Click Thru Rate) and the ad costs.  Ads can pay anything from pennies to dollars per click, and the amount depends on how much advertisers are willing to spend.   Here’s where I talk more about what is CTR and why it’s important.

Targeted Traffic, Plenty of Ads?

If your blog gets of targeted traffic and there are plenty of ads for your keywords, then you may want to consider making AdSense part of your profitable blogging strategy.  Just remember that unless you have at least 100 page views a day, though, your earnings may be a bit erratic.  However, as your traffic builds, so will your AdSense income!

If this sounds like it’s for you, here’s where you can sign up for AdSense (for free).