6 Hot Tips For Using Google AdSense

What is AdSense? A program run by Google providing ads to be placed on your websites or blogs (you are called a publisher). When an AdSense ad is clicked by a visitor to your site, you get paid. AdSense is an easy way to monetize your blog. The ads are contextual, meaning they are relevant to the content of your site. The ads are provided by advertisers using Google's AdWords program.

Hot Tip Number 1 - Just Do It

All you need to get started is a website or blog with interesting content and a regular flow of traffic. Then you can get started. Google needs you. You have traffic coming to your site and they want a piece of your action. So, open an AdSense account with Google. It's free, easy to apply and essential to your business partnership with Google. You are only allowed to have one account. Go to:-
http://www.google.com/adsense and click on the big "Sign Up Now" button.

There is no complicated software to install. If you know how to cut and paste simple code into your website you can use AdSense.

Hot Tip Number 2 - Comply

Read the Google Terms of Service (TOS) carefully. It's important to understand the service guidelines and your responsibilities. Basically, the do's and don't's of using AdSense. Find Google's AdSense TOS (by country) here:-
http://www.google.com/adsense/localized-terms

Hot Tip Number 3 - Don't Get Banned

Your AdSense income could become very important to you, so be very careful not to do anything to get your account banned. Of course, when you have read the TOS you'll understand more, but put very simply here are some points to remember:-

- never click the ads on your own sites
- follow the guidelines about the number and type of ads you can have on your page
- follow the guidelines about placement of the ads, e.g., you can't place an Adsense ad on a page without content, like a registration page or a page under construction
- remember that you can't tell visitors to click on the ads
- you can't entice visitors to click on the ads
- you can't make any changes to the code generated by Google
- you can't use other contextual ad providers on the same page as AdSense
- any automated method of ad clicking is banned

The aim is for your real visitors to click on ads which genuinely interest them.

Hot Tip Number 4 - Use All The Options Google Provides

There is more to AdSense that you might think. The available formats are:-
- AdSense for Content
- Text Ads - various styles and shapes to fit the available "real estate" n your site. Ads "above the fold" (viewable without scrolling) often get more clicks.
- Image Ads - not as popular as text ads. You could try them out and see how they work for your site.
- Link units - like a list - in both vertical or horizontal formats.

- AdSense ads in RSS feeds - giving your subscribers another chance to click on an ad. Recently FeedBurner was acquired by Google. You must migrate your RSS feeds to Google to use this service.

- New - YouTube video with ads - providing both contextual content and ads in one go - you need to link your YouTube account with Google AdSense to use this service.

- AdSense for Search - you create a custom search engine - probably offering the most control over what your visitors can view.
- you decide how it looks (you can add your own logo and graphics)
- you decide what sites it searches
- you get paid when someone clicks on an ad

Use all the ad formats Google will allow. You can use 3 ad units, 2 AdSense for Search boxes and 1 link unit per page.

Hot Tip Number 5 - Use Channels

Google provides channels as a way of tracking your AdSense income ad by ad. When you create an ad you can assign it a channel name. This helps you to determine which ads are making you the most money and gives you the chance to "fine tune" your ads to increase their click through rate (CTR) by seeing which ad formats, placement and colors are being clicked on most often.

Hot Tip Number 6 - Ad Design

Match the colors of your ads to the colors of your site. This means you can get the ads to blend in with your other content, so it's not so obvious that it's an ad. The words "ads by Google" will still appear.

Select a background color to match your sites' background, make the ad border disappear by choosing the same color. Select the title and text colors to match the heading and text colors used in your web pages. You can get exact matches by using hexadecimal color codes. Though if you color choice doesn't provide enough contrast you may find Google will ignore your exact colors. What about the URL? The most recognized color for a clickable link is blue. So, don't fight the habits of millions of people, use blue.

While using these Hot Tips will improve your AdSense income, it's also vital to realize the quality of your sites content and the traffic volume are huge factors in establishing a viable AdSense income stream.