Welcome to the Mom Blog Money Blog Series! For 30 days we are following the Mom Blog Money Blog Workshop (affiliate link) sharing some tips so that we can work through the steps and grow together. Grab your coffee, have a seat, and join us.
In Day 10 of the series we were on the topic of blogging smarter, not harder. Today we are going to focus on Adsense!
As I have always said (and as Laurie Turk clearly states within the program) the way to make actual money is to work smarter not harder! So, you should set up a system that makes money for you even when you aren’t working. Part of that system is a CPC ad network that you only have to mess with once.
Google Adsense is my favorite, though many others may say something different. It is my favorite because I understand it and it works well for me.
Here is a screen capture from inside my Google Adsense dashboard at 7:30 am on the day that I am writing this post.
No, I don’t make what Laurie makes (she says she makes around $12,000 per month on Google Adsense) but I am working on it! The $500-ish that I make each month certainly helps my family out. We have been able to do a bit extra including redoing the house a room at a time.
How?
By understanding Google Adsense and growing my traffic!
Obviously, I can’t get too into Google Adsense because it is covered pretty well in the Mom Blog to Money Blog Workshop, but I want to give you one little hint that really made a different in what I started making – REALLY! How I went to less traffic and more money.
Google allows 3 ads to be seen at one time. What does that mean? That means you need to maximize the exposure of your ads to get all 3 seen by every person that visits your site!
Change them up and put them in different places. If you have a a page that you got rid of the sidebars for, don’t forget to go in and put a special ad within it!
Then, once you get 3 ads in there you need to keep your eye on them! Which ones are making you money and which ones aren’t?
Here’s what Laurie Says:
There are many different standard ad sizes that you can add to your blog or website. But here are the most common, because they have the best pay-out.
- Leaderboard ~ 728 x 90
- Banner ~ 468 x 60
- Medium Rectangle ~ 300 x 250
- Button ~ 125 x 125
- Wide Skyscraper ~ 160 x 600
To maximize your ad network space on your blog, I would suggest having two Google Adsense ads ‘above the fold’. Specifically a leaderboard or banner as well as a 300×250 ad. Google only pays for up to three ads on a page at a time ~ so don’t add a fourth one! If you have any more than three ads on your page they will need to be with a different ad network otherwise you’re serving ads for free.
Pretty straight forward, right? You would think. LOL! Do the math and then work out how to get those ads on there to generate clicks. Are you writing about hot topics? Are you using the keywords? Is your layout good?
What are your experiences with Google Adsense?
Don’t miss Day 12 which focuses on getting paid for every page view.
Kelli gives you hints and tips on how you can save money homeschooling and homemaking! At Deals_3BD she posts coupon/ad matchups, the best homeschooling freebies, printable coupons, and kid friendly recipes.
So what do you do when Google kicks you out of Adsense?
I’m loving this info and I’d love to take the full class, but since I can’t work with Adsense, I’m afraid it’d be a waste of time. I was so bummed when Google booted me after only 6 weeks – with absolutely no information on why. I have found another ad agency to work with, but the Google thing still bugs me! 
Hi Camille-
At least you got on before you got booted. I’ve been trying for months to get accepted. What ad agency do you work with?
Thanks for the confession. I thought I was the only one.
Hi Mindi! I’m working with Glam now, but there are others. You most certainly are not alone.
There are a lot of us in “Adsense Jail” out there!
Mindi- I know many bloggers who have been kicked out of Google Adsense with no explanation and it is just baout impossible to get back in.
Email me and I can give you a contact person for media.net.
Also check out Burst Media and Rivit- they pay by the pageview not by the click like Google Adsense and Media.net
Just know there are other options out there.
I wasn’t accepted to Google Adsense for either of my blogs but I am still finding the Mom Blog Money Blog workshop very helpful. There is a lot more information in there than just Adsense and there are other ad networks out there that you can work with.
Thanks, Jessica! That’s what I wanted to know. I was hoping the info was easily transferable to individual situations.
Camille0
Use media.net. They do contextual ads for Yahoo and Bing instead of Google.
Email me and I can give you the name of a person who can get you going as long as your blog is a good fit. (crystalandcomp@yahoo.com)
Media.net is very comparable to Google Adsense.
Holly, idiot question and I should probably hop on over to Tip Junkie…but thought I’d ask here first. I am in the process of taking her course by the way! Love it! My question is specifically on Google DFP. Do I have to add the code in the Header.php file for EACH ad I want to place on my site? Thanks!
I can’t get approved on Adsense either and I can’t seem to figure out the reason – for those of you that have had success – do you have any suggestions?
I’m slowly building up my blog and working on my networking and would love to make a little extra cash from it – even a few dollars a month – every little bit helps!
There are other ad networks you could apply to if you don’t get accepted to Google Adsense. Some other options are Burst Media, Lijit and Media.net.
Google AdSense is definitely something I have been wanting to learn! I haven’t read anything that has really made me comfortable in knowing AdSense. Hopefully I can save up money soon for the workshop. I’m excited to learn!