WHAT IS ADSENSE?

In the Getting Started series of articles (links on the right side of this page, if you missed them - shame on you), we learned a little bit about AdSense. We learned that Google AdSense could help us earn money from blogging. You probably saw the words money and blogging and feverishly read on to other articles, but hold on cowboy (or cowgirl)! This isn't a get rich quick scheme. We need to educate ourselves and today we're going to do just that

AdSense is a free Google program that allows site owners to earn money from ads. What's great about these ads is that they're targeted to your content. The AdSense actually "crawls" your text and from there determines what ads are best suited for your website. How cool is that? So if you have a blog about cars, well you're going to get ads targeting car subjects.

Well that's fine and dandy but how do we generate money off of these ads?

I'm glad you asked. The answer is both simple and complex. I'll keep this article simple and save the complex for the future. But in a nutshell - you make money from people who click on your AdSense ads. That's it! Really!

But users have to purchase something on the advertising site before we make money, right?

No! That's what makes this program wonderful. Google's business model is brilliant - they help people make money, while making more money in the process. In layman terms: the advertisers pay Google to promote; when a user from your site clicks their ad the advertiser wins (they get additional traffic, possibly more business), Google wins (they get a big piece of the advertisers money they used to promote), and we win (we get a small piece but it's a piece that will add up over time... more on that in future articles).

There's a reason why Google is the Internet giant and AdSense is a perfect example. It's a snowball effect that helps all participants involved: Google, the advertiser, and most importantly… You!

Today we learned that AdSense, makes sense.

WHAT IS RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. When you create a new post with Blogger it publishes a new RSS “feed”, which is simply a stripped down version of your website. It contains the basic text and any images you display

.

I don’t get it. What’s so good about a stripped down version of my site?

In today’s ADD, news-hungry society, RSS has exploded in popularity. People want as much information as they can get their hands on, with as little effort as possible.

With RSS comes “Feed readers” like Google Reader. These applications allow readers to “consume” or subscribe to your sites feed. When you post a new article, the user is alerted. The great thing about these feed readers or RSS readers is that they provide a quick list of your article subjects. So instead of being overwhelmed with a page load of content, they can simply scan for subjects that interest them and then drill down further if they wish.

I’m starting to get this RSS thing… but maybe you can create some analogy for me to make it clearer?

Boy you sure do ask for a lot. Ok – here goes: Let’s say you go to the store and purchase a magazine on computer software. Chances are good that you will flip open a page and have a subscription card fall on to your lap. For this example, let’s pretend it’s a subscription to the latest Microsoft news. Well, if you like Microsoft and you care about their news (I’m an Apple guy by the way) you’ll fill out their card, write a check and send it off in the mail. Now the first of every month – you’ll get a brand new magazine from Microsoft and learn about their many failed attempts to beat Apples’ iPod with their Zune (sorry, I just had to throw that in there). And of course if you get tired or the same ol’ same ol’, you can cancel at any time.

RSS is the same way (Minus the paid subscriptions, thankfully). If you run across a site that you find interesting, you can simply subscribe to that sites feed and you’ll be alerted to anything new coming from there. And of course, you can cancel the site feed at any time.

This was an introduction to RSS. In future articles I will discuss ways we can present an RSS feed for our users to consume. In the meantime, digest this information, because RSS is something you need to know about if you’re going to be a serious blogger.

GETTING STARTED WITH BLOGGING

So you’re interested in making money with AdSense? Well join the club. But before we get to the good stuff, we have to build the foundation. Chances are good that if you’re reading this you know what blogs are and how to create them. Good for you! You’re on the fast track to getting started with AdSense. But patience grasshoppa, we must help those who don’t even know what blogging is.

Here’s the definition of a blog from Wikipedia:

“A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.”


A blog is basically an online diary - A journal written by an author, about the author and/or the author’s interests. The great thing about a blog is there are no boundaries whatsoever. You can blog about your dog, cat, career, relationships, car, favorite ice cream, etc, etc. You have total control to be as creative as your heart desires!

The important thing about this journey is that you blog about something that matters to you. Different people have different interests and you’re no exception. Chances are good that others just like you are ready to delve into your material because they have similar tastes. Don’t hesitate to write about something you’re passionate about - just do it! (like Nike)

If you interested in learning more about blogs and blogging, check out the wikipedia page.

sign up for Google AdSense

It's time to get signed up with Google's Adsense andhopefully start making some money!

Like everything up to this point (minus your personal time) AdSense is 100% free. So head on over to the Google AdSense home page







Now simply fill out the fields provided and voila!



Google states that they can take anywhere from 2 days to a week for approval, but my experience was quite quick - a couple of hours.Google's AdSense Help Center does a great job of answering all frequently asked questions. Now that we have an account we'll be able to put the ads on our blog page!

Do you have an understanding of Google's Terms of Service so your account doesn't get banned?

In my last article you learned how easy it was to sign up for Google AdSense so we can try and generate some money from our blog. But before we go haphazardly placing our Google AdSense ads, it’s important that we understand their TOS.

Generally Terms and Conditions are quite boring. We often scroll down the long page and hit “Yeah I accept, sure I read your blah blah blah”. If that’s you (like most) then this post is for you – it’s important we understand the TOS so we don’t get our AdSense accounts banned.

Invalid Clicks

Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT click on your own ads. Do NOT encourage others to click on your ads. If your intentions were to setup your blog so your Aunt Peggy can sit on your site all day and click your ads – forget it! You’re going to get your account terminated.

Do NOT encourage your audience to click on your ads. Attempting to be slick with your ad links and say, “click these ads” or “support us” is a good way to get the boot.

Ad Placement

There are several types of ads that Google AdSense allows you to place on your site. We’ll learn more about these as we go but for now, remember these guidelines:

1.) Up to three ad units may be displayed on each page.
2.) A maximum of two Google AdSense for search boxes on a page.
3.) Up to three link units per page.
4.) Up to three referral units per page, in addition to the options above.

This site is dedicated to generating money from our blog legitimately. This is a great program and the fact that it’s free really presents an excellent opportunity for everyone. Let’s keep it that way.

Remember, this is an abridged version that touches on the highlights so you don’t fall asleep while drinking your coffee. But I encourage you to read the Terms and Conditons and the Program Policies in their entirety so you’re equipped with the proper knowledge. Heck, I’ll even provide the links on my sidebar in addition to this blog so we can all stay informed!

Google AdSense Program Policies
Google AdSense Online Standard Terms and Conditions

Have you successfully setup your very own blog with the Blogger service?

Estimated Time to Start Earning Money: 60 minutes

Google's AdSense sounds interesting to you. You like the idea of legitimately making money online with advertisements. You even went so far as to read my last post: Getting Started with Blogging! But you have no idea how to get setup - until now.

I do Web Consulting for a living (no, I'm not a full-time blogger… yet). I'd say on a scale of 1-10 of web knowledge I'm probably near a 9, maybe a 9.1. But guess what? You don't have to know squat about web design or web programming. Of course you'll have to learn some web terminology along the way but you can start at ground zero today. The great thing about blogging and potentially earning money with AdSense is that you don't have to be a web guru.

I repeat: you do not have to be a web guru to start a blog and use AdSense.

There is a wide range of blogging tools out there. Some free, some not. If you haven't noticed, I'm using a tool called: Blogger. Before this I had experimented with Typepad and even created my own (this was a few years ago when the term “Blog” wasn't exactly a household name).

Why Blogger? Well for a few reasons: 1.) It's Free! 2.) It's a breeze to setup and 3.) Google owns it. Yeah, the same Google that's helping us earn money through their AdSense program - A perfect marriage indeed.

Ok, so you have your blog topic (or maybe not but you will soon…right?) I'm going to get you hooked up to the service in no more than 10 minutes (times will vary for animals and small children). At the end of this you'll be ready to start writing up some content, free of charge.

1.) Go to Blogger and sign in with your Google account. If you don't use any Google services like Gmail you can create a new accounthere.



2.) Click on the “Create Your Blog Now” button arrow on the bottom right and fill in the information.



3.) Name your blog and give it an address. Make sure the name is meaningful and not too long.



4.) Choose from one of the many templates available.



5.) Your blog has been created!




Now wasn't that painless? In a matter of minutes you have reserved some real estate on the Internet.

I would suggest doing some exploring on your own at this point. Get a sense of the tools available to you and I'll go into further detail in the near future. Have fun!

Are you familiar with the terms: blogging and bloggers?

So you’re interested in making money with AdSense? Well join the club. But before we get to the good stuff, we have to build the foundation. Chances are good that if you’re reading this you know what blogs are and how to create them. Good for you! You’re on the fast track to getting started with AdSense. But patience grasshoppa, we must help those who don’t even know what blogging is.

Here’s the definition of a blog from Wikipedia:

“A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.”


A blog is basically an online diary - A journal written by an author, about the author and/or the author’s interests. The great thing about a blog is there are no boundaries whatsoever. You can blog about your dog, cat, career, relationships, car, favorite ice cream, etc, etc. You have total control to be as creative as your heart desires!

The important thing about this journey is that you blog about something that matters to you. Different people have different interests and you’re no exception. Chances are good that others just like you are ready to delve into your material because they have similar tastes. Don’t hesitate to write about something you’re passionate about - just do it! (like Nike)

If you interested in learning more about blogs and blogging, check out the wikipedia page.

PLACING ADSENSE ON YOUR BLOG

Let's do a quick recap up to this point in case you have some catching up to do.



1.) Do you know what AdSense is?
2.) Are you familiar with the terms: blogging and bloggers?
3.) Have you successfully setup your very own blog with the Blogger service?
4.) Do you have an understanding of Google's Terms of Service so your account doesn't get banned?

If you answered no to any of those questions, simply follow the link to my post explaining in more detail before you continue on. Otherwise, it's time to put AdSense on our blog and start making money (with some patience, of course)!

The great thing about Blogger is it makes it dead simple to get started. First, head over to Blogger and log into your account. When you do that, it should automatically bring you to your “Dashboard”. Here's a picture of my current dashboard:



To get started, simply click on the “Layout” link on the bottom right of your Dashboard summary and you'll see something similar to this:



What you're seeing here is a high level breakdown of your web design. Most sites (like my own) are composed of a header, menu, content, and a footer (not shown in my picture). To get AdSense up and running on your blog, click any of the dotted areas that are labeled: “Add a Page Element”.



Once you do that, you'll get a pop up (make sure any anti-pop up software is disabled) with many options to choose from. From here, click on the AdSense section button: “Add To Blog”. The icon is marked with dollar bills (Oh yeah!).



We're almost home...

Now you have a screen that let's you choose format options and colors. It even gives us a nice little preview to save us time later on! We'll dissect these options more in future articles, but for now keep the defaults.



Hit the “Save Changes” on the AdSense window - it should close automatically. At this point you are all set! You can click on the “Preview” button on the original page to view your changes or simply refresh your blog. You also have the ability to move the AdSense up or down - or move it to a completely different page element altogether! (Just make sure you preview your changes before you save)

I wasn't lying when I said you don't have to be a web guru to get this setup, was I? Now you have the tools setup to pull in some extra revenue (hopefully a steady stream). Well, not quite. This isn't a get-rich-quick-scheme. It's going to take some time, patience and hard work (I saw you roll your eyes). Nothing comes easy, but if you stick around we can get there together.

ADSENSE Choices WITH BLOGGER: PART 2

AdSense Choices for Blogger: Part 1, we learned that Blogger gives us AdSense for Content options: ad units (text only) and link units (yep, you guessed it - links). But just as important as the ads themselves are the colors.

If you're a fan of the Boston Red Sox (sorry Yankee fans) you're not going to Fenway Park dressed in hot pink. Chances are you'll show up in the team colors - white, red, and blue. Your AdSense ads are no different - They should seamlessly blend in with the rest of your site, and lucky for us, Blogger makes that really simple.

Ok, head back on over to your layout screen, click the trusty ol' Add a Page element and click on the AdSense section. You'll see the familiar Configure AdSense screen.



Have a look at the Colors section. You'll notice a drop down list of options and ways to customize the colors.



Right off the bat - I would suggest the “Blend Template” option.



In just seconds Blogger will help us blend our AdSense ads into our page. This nice option will get us 90% of the way there… we just need to do some tweaking to the colors.

Look closely at the colors presented and watch as you make changes - the preview will automatically update for you. This is a great way to fiddle around with the color scheme and get it just right. Off to the right there are a bunch of funky looking numbers and letters. Don't get scared - this hexadecimal, and is a color combination to tweak your ad just right.



So how do you know what hexadecimal values to put in there? I'm glad you asked. Head on over to: Hex colors where you can find every color imaginable (even hot pink!).

There you have it! Configuring AdSense color combinations with Blogger is easier than knocking the Yankees out of the playoffs (sorry, I couldn't resist).

That wraps up this two-part series on AdSense Options with Blogger. Now go earn yourself some money!

AdSense Choices for Blogger: Part 1

Blogger offers some simple “out of the box” solutions for placing AdSense on our sites. We'll learn eventually that these aren't the only options, and that's what makes Blogger so incredibly flexibile. Today though, we're going to look at some of the simple built in options that Blogger provides so we can start making money with AdSense.


After you log into your Blogger account, head on over to the Layout screen and select the “Add a Page Element”. If you have no idea what I'm talking about (I get that look sometimes), you can easily catch up by heading over to my prior article: Placing AdSense on Your Blog.

Once you have the layout options open, go ahead and click on the “Add to Blog” under the Adsense section.



You're presented with the all-mighty AdSense Configuration screen.



When you pull down the Format list, we're given many AdSense options with all sorts of size configurations.



Out of the box, Blogger gives us three main AdSense options. In the Google AdSense world these are better known as: AdSense for Content. In a nutshell - they're ads that are text and link driven (There are actually images too. Those don't come out of the box but we'll see how we can do that in the near future). They allow us to put ads on our site that will target the content we have written about. (Don't know much about AdSense? No problem, check out: What is AdSense?)

Here's what a sample ad unit (300 x 250) looks like:



And here is a sample link unit (160 x 90):



It's important to note that Google's Program and Policy states we can put up to three ad units and three link units on any page. Besides, we wouldn't want to bombard our audience with ads everywhere. We want to make money from our blog but we also want to create an enjoyable experience with quality content.

Play around with the different format options. Get a feel for the different shapes and sizes that Blogger AdSense options have to offer. We'll take a closer look at the color options for our AdSense in the next article.

GOOGLE ADSENSE FOR SEARCH ON BLOGGER

Earning money with Blogger is more fun than watching a Britney Spears meltdown (no really it is!). And today is no different as we learn how easy it is to add AdSense for Search on our Blogger blogs.

We learned in AdSense Choices for Blogger: Part 1 and ADSENSE Choices WITH BLOGGER: PART 2 that the Blogger service gives us some nice Google AdSense abilities right out of the box. In just minutes we can easily get up and running with ad and link units. But there's more to AdSense - a lot more.

Let's go to our Google AdSense accounts and login. Once you're there, click on the AdSense Setup tab.



We're presented with several Google AdSense options. You'll notice that the first choice (minus the images option - we'll talk about that in another article) is what we have on our Blogger blogs now: AdSense for Content. But today we're focused on AdSense for Search, so go ahead and click on that now.



AdSense for Search is a great option for our blogs. It gives our readers the ability to search the Internet from our site, as well as our content.

Ok, we're at the AdSense for Search screen now. Feel free to play around with the configuration options to best match your site. This is a judgment call on your part and should be tweaked, as you feel necessary. When you're done, click next and keep the defaults for now on the following page (you can always come back and play around) and hit next again. You should see the search box code that has your html ready for you to copy and paste!



The fine folks at Google do all the hard work for us - no messy HTML for us to write! Once you've copied the entire contents of the text box, log into your Blogger account and navigate to the Layout of your site. From here, choose the Add a Page Element and select the HTML/Javscript option.



Go ahead and paste the HTML that you copied from the Google AdSense page into your HTML/JavaScript form and save your changes.



That's all there is to it! In just a few minutes you were able to easily add Google's AdSense for Search onto your Blogger blog. That wasn't so painful now was it?

Now scram! It's time for you to earn some money!

WHERE SHOULD I PLACE MY GOOGLE ADSENSE?

In PLACING ADSENSE ON YOUR BLOG you learned how easy it was to get your Blogger blog up and running with Google AdSense. Assuming (you know what they say about that) you explored a little, you discovered that moving AdSense sections around your layout is like taking candy from a baby.

But where do you put AdSense!?! Can we just slap it in any old place we like?

Well, you could. And if you’re lucky you might get some clicks by blindly placing AdSense anywhere on your page. But our purpose is to make money from AdSense, so we need to optimize the best we can. Luckily for us, the nice folks at Google have given us a diagram that does just this – optimize.



Google has labeled this their “Heat Map”, and the darker the colors the better the placement. As you can see the best areas for ad placement happen above what’s known as “The Fold”. The fold is the viewing area that is first seen when a user visits your site. Typically this will include the header, navigation system, and some of your content. Therefore you DO NOT want to place your ads in the footer as it’s unlikely your audience will click on those. What you want to do is place the AdSense near rich content areas that readers are going to be drawn to. In most cases (as shown in the picture) this will be near the header, navigation, and content.

Think about it - If you were going to have a garage sale, would you put the garage sale signs in your backyard? Well not if you want to make some money off your 1980’s Prince albums. No, most likely you’re going to strategically place them around your neighborhood; in areas where you will get the most views. Google AdSense placement is no different. You need to carefully pick your spots in a way that will: 1.) Be viewable to the user and 2.) Not be overly distracting. In future articles I’ll talk about how you can further optimize your AdSense, but for now understanding the hot zones is crucial.

For more about AdSense placement, check out: Where should I place Google Ads on my pages?

TOP 10 SIGNS THAT YOU HAVE MONETIZED BLOGITIS

There’s a disease for everything today and apparently bloggers are not immune. Blogitis is very real:

Here you are, reading a blog. You're staying up to date with the latest news on fitness, health, food and nutrition. Maybe you also read other blogs to check up on current events, or celebrity gossip, or sports -- but does that mean you're addicted?

You might have blogitis, which, at least according to one public relations speaker, is a real disease.

At Earn Money to Blog, we can’t disagree – especially when you add the element of monetizing your blog; the disease is taken to a whole new level. Today I will give you my top 10 signs that you haveMonetized Blogitis – An addiction to earning money with your blog (of course I just made this up but humor me and play along).

10.) You have multiple blogs. One just isn’t enough is it? You need to create multiple sources of income.

9.) You are registered at any or all of the following sites: Technorati, StumbleUpon, Furl, del.icio.us, Digg.

8.) You create a new blog post every day because Google just loves new content (and so do your users!)

7.) Firefox is your choice of browser BECAUSE you need plugins like Digg, del.io.us, and Furl to easily bookmark your new blog posts.

6.) You Check your emails for responses to your blog posts several times an hour.

5.) You have blog monitoring tools like Google Analytics and HitTail to track your visitors.

4.) You worry obsessively that your Google AdSense ads are in violation of their Terms and Services.

3.) You check your Google AdSense several times an hour to keep tabs on impressions, click-through rate, and amounts earned.

2.) You put keywords into Google several times a day to see where your page ranks.

1.) You’ve convinced your spouse to start a blog to earn money.

If you answered yes to 7 out 10 of these signs – congratulations!You have Monetized Blogitis. It’s a completely made up disease by Earn Money to Blog! Hopefully your signs of this disease increase, because so to, will the odds of earning money with your blog

LINK YOUR STUMBLEUPON PROFILE TO YOUR BLOG

In Promoting Your Blog with StumbleUpon we learned how the StumbleUpon service can help drive traffic to our blogs. While the word traffic makes most of us cringe in our every day, offline lives. We know that traffic in the online world is our friend - and ultimately one of the most important keys to making money with our blogs.

Today I want to show you how easy it is to create a link on your Blogger blog that will direct your reader to your StumbleUpon profile. This will increase the value of your blog experience with your readers and will help promote, and generate more money from your blogs content down the road.

Navigate over to StumbleUpon and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click on the Tools & Buttons option in the footer menu.



The StumbleUpon Buttons & Tools page gives you access to some really nifty features. But today we're most interested in linking our blogs to our StumbleUpon profiles to help spread the word. Go ahead and click on the Link to Your Profile.



On the Link to Your Profile page, you're presented with several options. Choose one and copy and paste the HTML inside the text box directly to the right. Experiment with a few and see which one you like best -- You can always come back to this page and select another if your first choice isn't ideal.



Now that you have copied the HTML, log into Blogger and head to the Layout page. Here we're going to Add a Page Element and select the HTML/JavaScript option.



Simply paste the HTML you got from StumbleUpon into the form and save your changes. That's it!

From here you can easily move around the element in your layout until you're satisfied. My personal recommendation is that you keep the StumbleUpon link near the top so it's visible to your readers.

In just a matter of minutes we were able to link our Blogger blogs to our StumbleUpon profiles. This process is going to go a long way in helping us: 1.) Network with other bloggers, 2.) Drive traffic to our blog, and 3.) Help us make money from blogging by pulling in readers.

Hope you enjoyed this article. Until next time… go earn yourself some money with your blog!

TOP 3 FREE WEBSITE MONITORING TOOLS

When we set out to monetize our blogs we need to be equipped with the proper knowledge. Implementing ad services like Google AdSense and WidgetBucks helps generate money. Social networking sites likeStumbleUpon will help drive traffic to our site.
But how exactly do we monitor our progress? Are we supposed to rely on our good looks to get by?



I don’t think so.
 We need tools that we can rely on daily to monitor our blogs. It’s important for us to answer questions like: How many people viewed my site? What pages were they interested in? Is my traffic this month better than the last? Will Michael Jackson make another comeback?



Ok, so maybe we won't answer the last question.

Here are my top 3 FREE website monitoring tools:

3.) Google Webmaster

By registering with this service you can find out:

• When Google last indexed your blog for searching.
• What the top search queries are for your site.
• Details about who is linking to you from external sites.

The Webmaster tool suite (this is just one) is essential in identifying how Google sees your blog and what, if any adjustments need to be made.

2.) Google Analytics

Google Analytics is another free service that is provided with the tool suite. The reports displayed here are easily the most comprehensive set that you will see – especially for free. Here are just some of the statistics that you can monitor:

• Page visits by day, week, month, and year.
• Your traffic sources – what sites they came from.
• Visitor loyalty – how many repeat visitors do you have?
• Absolute unique visitors.
• Browsers that your visitors are using.

These statistics are really just the tip of iceberg. Anyone who is trying make money with their blog should have this page bookmarked.

1.) HiTail

There’s no question that Google Analytics is the king of blog monitoring. But personally, I find HitTail to be an absolute blast.

HitTail will actually show a chart of your visitors and how they got there – IN REAL TIME! So let’s say someone types “make money to blog” in Google and hits my site. If I have HitTail open, it will show that at 10:40am a visitor found my site by typing in “make money to blog” in Google search. How cool is that?

If you’re interested in a step-by-step tutorial to get started with HiTail, check out my article here.

So there you have it - Three excellent tools to help you monitor your blogs progress. By taking the time to understand these free services you can help generate more money from your blog. You’ll be able to see what’s popular and what’s not. And you can even start to make tweaks to your site by following real time stats! These tools are a must have if you’re serious about monetizing your content.