Google AdSense Revenue Tips

by Kathy Burns-Millyard, Demand Media

Google AdSense is a contextual advertising system designed to allow small businesses and individuals to make money from their websites. Contextual advertising displays advertisements based on the surrounding content available on a given web page. If your small business website has an article about laptop computers, for example, ads related to that topic will display in the Google AdSense blocks on your page. Google AdSense revenue can vary dramatically based on a number of factors; by implementing a few optimization tips you can increase that revenue over time.

Website Traffic

Since AdSense earns money each time a website visitor clicks an ad, revenue will be low if website traffic is low. Increase your website traffic using online tools such as free classified websites, search engine listings and local directory listings to help increase the overall AdSense earnings on your website. Offline marketing tools help increase traffic too: Print your business website address on business cards and brochures, for example, and incorporate it into any of your newspaper, television and radio advertising campaigns.

Text Content

Google AdSense displays advertisements based on the type of content your business displays on its website, and the primary content of importance is text based. If your website has pages filled with images, video clips and other multi-media elements, AdSense may not be able to determine the topic of that page, and it won't be able to select the appropriate ads to display. Incorporate plenty of text-based material in the form of image alt tags, captions, video or multi-media summaries, and articles on the topic of what's being displayed to ensure AdSense is displaying relevant advertisements for your website.

Ad Placement

According to the AdSense optimization tips provided by Google, the placement of your AdSense blocks plays an important role in improving revenue generation. Internet users often scan a website page instead of reading it, so their eyes are naturally drawn to specific areas of a page. The top portion of a website page--the part that is seen without having to scroll down--is referred to as "above the fold." This location is a premium ad placement spot because a larger percentage of your website visitors are likely to see the ads in this area and click on them. Google provides several ad placement strategy recommendations based on the type of website on which your company displays AdSense. A blog, for example, can optimize revenue by placing advertisements in slightly different locations than a discussion forum.

Ad Design

Use the ad design tools provided by Google to customize the way your AdSense blocks look. In most cases, making the AdSense advertisements blend in with the look and feel of your website will produce the best revenue increases. Design the ads so they have the same background color as your website, and select text and URL colors that match the text and link colors of your site as well, so the ads look as if they're just additional related content.

Channel Tracking

Use the channel tracking features within your AdSense account to track ad performance. Google provides URL tracking and customized channel tracking. URL tracking helps you determine which specific pages or sections of your website are generating the highest revenue, as well as which are performing poorly. Custom channels are useful for determining which ad placements are performing best or worst on each page. Custom channels can be made to compare how an above the fold advertisement is performing versus another at the bottom of article pages, for example.

SOURCE:  smallbusiness.chron.com