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8/13/11

So you blog to make money, eh?

If so, you have probably heard of (or used) Google's Adsense Program.

Well, there are good and bad experiences with it, if you ask the blogging masses...

If you're new to the whole "I'm gonna use ADSENSE and blog to make MILLIONS!  YAAAY!" I have news for you.  If you don't do your homework, you're not going to make any money.

And if you are too good, and make too much too soon, google will END YOU, like they did me (more on that below).

Here is an awesome infographic I found from Wordstream:

Source
If you're going to do it, do it right.  Optimize your site for maximum search traffic.  Advertise on blogs (like mine) to gain more viewers and followers.  And if you're blogging purely for the money, pick a topic that will yield a high cost-per-click (see above graphic).  Use social media to your advantage (remember my Stumbleupon post??  Yeah, like that) and keep growing as much as you can.

If you blog about everything, your ads are going to be about everything.  Google has tools that let you focus your ad material on more relevant topics, but be careful:  If they think you're playing their system, they can shut you off without notice.

I started blogging in January.  By the end of February, I had enough traffic to net me $10-20 a day via adsense.  About 1.5% of my viewers were clicking ads, and I was making roughly $0.78 per click.  It added up, and my first check from Google was almost $200.  They eventually cut me off (without reason, just "we decided to end your account") but it was fun while it lasted.

Most other advertising sites don't have the same monetary yield as google, so focus on adsense if you can.  Blogher's ads look like they may be decent, but I'm not going to go down that pathway again.  (and I hear Blogher is very VERY picky about who they let in...)

For those of you with adsense success stories, feel free to share them by commenting below.  I'm sure newer people to the game would appreciate it...

...oh, and have I mentioned you can advertise on my blog?  You know, just in case I hadn't already...

13 comments:

  1. mamtc8/13/11, 7:14 AM

    They cancelled my account one morning simply with a mail "Invalid activity". You cant do anything. You have no live person to talk to and you keep yelling is anyone there? Nothing,nothing at all.
    Their tool analytics is the worst tool and it doesnt give any useful info and they dont suggest you to use statcounter and if you dont find any suspicious activity how the hell do you know who is clicking what?
    No warning nothing.
    Actually a while before simply just like that all of my account (gmail,analytics,blogger,adsense,picasa every single thing )was blocked on a long weekend. But tuesday it came all back up but no apology mail or nothing confirming the mistake in their part.
    I even blogged about it.
    Google horror story

    I was pissed off for a day or too but I have heard horror stories before so didnt surprise me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. kitkat8/13/11, 8:39 AM

    but what's the point when Adsense wld cut me off after my huge efforts at making millions huh? :p

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sharon Day8/13/11, 9:57 AM

    So far, Google has not bent me over and done me, but they probably will some time. Definitely not a big moneymaker, but enough that I can have giveaways on the blog and not lose any of my own money doing it. Since my traffic has increased on the blog, my payouts are faster, but I have to wonder since I added adsense to my YouTube acct, if they will get me that way. We'll see. I am hoping to expand that channel with a lot of vids that might draw more traffic, but I will watch them and see. I've heard horror stories of them not accepting people for adsense and I wonder "are they fucking insane--these people are a sure thing?" Hmm... I wonder if they know something we don't know about ourselves.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pickleope8/13/11, 10:06 AM

    Very interesting post. I wondered about Adsense. I like your idea of generating income through self-advertising. It seems like the best, most communal DIY way of doing things.
    For now, I do it all for the love y'all.

    ReplyDelete
  5. LoneIslander8/13/11, 12:57 PM

    The only issue I ever had with Adsense was when the took over half my earnings. I had joined up with a second site to expand my posting and general base. The site had a feature to host your adsense on his site with a 75/25 cut for the maintenance of the site and such. I can't remember the exact reason but I know it was a reasonable cut, I wasn't looking for big bucks or followers on that site, just for people to come to my main blog and read some of my other work. I had thought that it would only affect the earnings I got for that site. Turns out it affected my entire account and all the sites I had ad space in. My 150 check turned into 50 bucks, and I flipped the fuck out.

    Since then I stopped becoming so serious with the adsense thing. If I get some money out of it, it's a bonus. But now I actually blog for the love of blogging.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Shutterbug8/13/11, 1:05 PM

    thanks for the helpful post. I would like to make some extra money, but making money isn't the reason that i am still blogging til this day. it can be fun, if you blog about what you like! :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. BuenoBaby8/13/11, 3:11 PM

    Adsense owed me over $400 dollars but instead of sending me a check they disabled my account and sent me an email explaining that there had been "invalid activity" on my account. No other explanation. They also kept my money. So no, I did not have a good experience with Adsense.

    ReplyDelete
  8. klahanie8/13/11, 5:07 PM

    I reckon with Adsense, after one month, I might have enough money for a pack of chewing gum.
    Of course, I blog as a therapeutic and cathartic, positive resource. Of course I do. And nice touch using 'eh', eh. At this rate, we might make you an honorary Canadian, eh :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lady Estrogen8/13/11, 7:39 PM

    I quit that crap.

    I think it's a scam. They don't appreciate it if you make over $5.

    I know that Scary Mommy was "cancelled" a few days before she was due a check. Knowing her traffic, it was probably a BIG CHUNK of change that Google didn't want to cough up.

    Gross.

    ReplyDelete
  10. themajessty8/13/11, 9:11 PM

    Interesting. I've always wondered if I should start promoting baby diapers or online dating sites on my blog, although I doubt I will because it sounds exactly like a Google scam.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Heather Reese8/13/11, 9:35 PM

    I never signed up for adsense. I have infolinks, and quite frankly, I kind of forgot about it and haven't checked it in a while to see what my earnings are, but last I knew I was up to about $20. I'll never get rich, but $20 is a Saturday full of garage saleing :D

    ReplyDelete
  12. Electric Addict8/14/11, 11:16 AM

    The more i read about adsense the less I am liking :(

    ReplyDelete
  13. in bed with married women8/14/11, 2:58 PM

    what creeps me out about all things google is that there is NEVER a person to contact. instead of answering your questions, they just direct you to some message board where people who may or may not (i honestly don't know) be affiliated with the company.

    creepy and kafka-esque.

    and this right now is probably creating some "invalid activity" for me.

    eep.

    ReplyDelete

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