How Does Google Adsense Work?
For those that are not aware Adsense is a Google-based advertising program. If you have ever visited a webpage and seen a small row, or column, of textual adverts on the page, the chances are that they will be Adsense. This will be confirmed if you notice "sponsored by Google” either above or below the adverts. Basically, whenever a visitor clicks on one of these ads, the website owner will receive a small payment – usually a few cents per click. Here is what you need to know to get started with Adsense.
Can anyone place Adsense on their site?
No. Firstly, you have to sign up, and be approved for a Google Adsense account. This is far more complicated that it once was. The process itself is not complicated; the hard part is getting approved. Google has clamped down on who it accepts, due to increased cases of misuse and cheating. You must have a website, or blog that conforms to the Google Adsense Terms of Service (TOS). Once you have your account approved, you will not need to reapply if you want to place Adsense on another site, as long as the site is within the TOS.
Are the adverts random?
No. When you first install Adsense on a site, the adverts that appear will be random, and may not have anything in common with your site content. Once Google has searched your content and discovered what the site is all about, it will match the Adsense ads to the content, making them relevant to visitors.
How does Google match up the ads to the content?
Google checks your content and picks out the most popular keywords. This process is the same as if the search engine were crawling your site for indexing. It finds the most common words and phrases (not including words like: and, it, he, she, they etc) and uses these to determine the advert content. So if your content was all about cats and the term “cat”, “cat training” and “cat grooming” were used frequently within the site content, Google would determine your site was about cats and would populate your site with cat-related adverts.
So keywords are important?
Yes. If you want to influence what adverts are displayed, you must have content that uses keywords and synonyms. Do not just stuff random keywords into the content that form no sentence structure or make the content unreadable. Google is very adept at spotting this and it is known as “keyword stuffing”. This will probably get your account suspended and you will have received what is known as a “Google Slap”. If your content is about cats anyway, the chance is that you will not have to worry about keywords; the content will contain them naturally.
How is Adsense installed?
Log into your Adsense account and follow the instructions to create a new Adsense code. All you have to do is choose from the various options for size, dimension, color etc. Once you have done this you will receive a code, copy this code and install this within your websites HTML code – at the place where you want the adverts to display. Google will take care of the rest.
How does Adsense earn me money?
Each time a visitor clicks on one of the Adsense ads, you will be credited with a monetary payment. This is likely to be between 1-20 cents a click to start with; it depends on the advert subject. The more people click on the ads, the more money you earn. DO NOT click on your own ads, or try to instruct visitors to click on them – this is strictly prohibited and will definitely result in an account suspension.