If you want to find out what AdSense is, check out Chapter 1. (Too busy to read Chapter 1? Here’s the barebones definition AdSense is ad space on your Web page or blog that you lease to advertisers.) Now, I think definitions are all well and good, but it’s time to get started using AdSense to generate a little income from your Web site, don’t you know? Before I get too deep into the hows, though, I need to address a few whys. Probably one of the greatest reasons to use AdSense is to tap into the growing Web advertising market, a market expected to reach about $18.9 billion dollars by 2010 if you can believe the folks at Jupiter Research.(You can read all about it at www.jupitermedia.com/corporate/ releases/05.08.15-newjupresearch2.html.) And if you could have a fraction of a percent of that market, wouldn’t it be worth a few minutes of your time to set up an AdSense account? Of course, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Self, if that much advertising revenue is available on the Web, why don’t I just go straight to the source and cut out the middle man?”You could. After all, why in the world would you want to give Google a portion of the income that you can generate selling advertising space on your Web site?
Okay, okay. I give. The question was a setup. The truth is I can think of a few (very good) reasons that it might be worth losing a small portion of your advertising revenue to allow Google to handle the logistics:
- Ease of advertising sales: You could find out which advertisers are putting their ads on your site and go straight to them to cut a deal for advertising that would cut Google right out of the picture. But would you know who to contact? And would you know how to go about convincing the advertiser to put his ads on your site? Probably not. Instead, Google handles those sales issues for you, and that alone justifies the premium that Google gets from connecting advertisers with ad publishers.
- Availability of time: Think of it like this: You can make and bake homemade bread to go along with your dinner every single night, but it’s timeconsuming and bread’s available on the grocery store shelves that you don’t have to knead, let rise, or bake. And that bread is just as good as anything most people could make at home (and in a lot of cases, much better!). AdSense is the same. You could track down the sales, negotiate the deals, design the ads, and then connect your site to the advertiser’s site. But why would you spend time on that when you could let Google do it, place a couple lines of code in the design of your Web site, and then sit back and wait for the clicks to happen? Time is at a premium, and you have better ways to spend that premium than on the time-consuming activities that go along with selling, designing, and implementing advertising on your Web site.
- Avoidance of technological frustrations: Those ads that are placed on your Web site when you sign up for AdSense are created by someone.Usually that someone is a tech geek of some kind who not only knows what works in online advertising but also knows how to program pages or sections of pages to see, display, and update advertisements regularly. Are you that someone? Most of the time, the answer to that question is no, you’re not the tech guru. If you were, you’d be in advertising and wouldn’t need this book. It just makes more sense to allow someone who knows how to handle the situation to handle it. That frees you up to do tasks that are more essential to making money.
Setting Up for AdSense
One misconception that I had when I wanted to start using AdSense was that it would be difficult and time-consuming to set up. Boy, was I wrong! Setting up the account doesn’t require your first born child or your signature in blood. Setting up the account takes only a few minutes and a minimum of information. But how you set up the account is determined by whether you already have a Google account. Having a Google account isn’t a requirement, but it can be useful. If you don’t have a Google account, you’re missing out on other Google applications, like Gmail (Google’s Web mail program), possibly AdWords (the other side of AdSense; it’s a pay-per-click advertising program in which you only pay for ads that users click), and Google Analytics (a Web site traffic measurement program that tells you all kinds of cool information about who visits your site and what they do while they’re there). A Google account makes connecting all these applications considerably easier, too.
If you’re going to use AdSense, you most definitely want to have some kind of Web site analytics program. A Web site analytics program tracks the number of visitors to your site and some of their behaviors while they’re on your site.You can use a program like AWStats or ClickTracks, but those programs are nowhere near as easy to use as Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is free, and it integrates with AdWords and AdSense, so it makes it easy to track your efforts in those programs. You may also want a program that’s easy to understand and use. Google Analytics fits that bill,too. And did I mention the program is free? But I digress.One reason that many people choose not to have a Google account is because they don’t like the way that Google collects personal information. People fear that because Google’s claim to fame is its ability to analyze the heck out of online information, it’ll use its expertise to dredge up all the personal information that it can about them. To some people it just feels far too much like Big Brother is watching
AdSense only Web sites :
You need to know one more detail before you even start to set up your AdSense account. Many people set up AdSense strictly to build Web pages with the singular purpose of enticing
users to click the ads. You’ve seen these pages on the Web; they’re all similar to the one shown below. The pages contain a small amount of text and lots of links, ads, and search boxes all of which are usually linked to AdSense or a service like it.
users to click the ads. You’ve seen these pages on the Web; they’re all similar to the one shown below. The pages contain a small amount of text and lots of links, ads, and search boxes all of which are usually linked to AdSense or a service like it.
If this is the type of page that you’re planning to construct and connect to your AdSense account,don’t bother. The page may stay up for a few weeks or even a couple of months, but Google will find it, and when they do, that’s it. Google will ban you from the AdSense program.
If you’re truly interested in making a little money with AdSense, don’t try to cheat the system.Working within Google’s guidelines is a perfectly profitable way to make some extra cash that you can depend on for a long time to come.It’s also not as difficult as it might seem when you first read through the guidelines and program policies.
In my experience, however, Google hasn’t used my personal information for anything more than what I want it used for. I have a Google account, multiple Gmail accounts, a Google Analytics account, and accounts with Google AdWords and AdSense (and a couple dozen other Google applications and accounts that I won’t list here). Not once in the past decade has Google used my information inappropriately. And I’m pretty careful about who I give my information out to. If you’re still not convinced, Google has a pretty rigorous Privacy policy in place to protect you. You can find that policy at www.google.com/privacy.html.
If, after reading that document, you still don’t want to register with Google,you can jump to the instructions for opening an AdSense account if you don’t have a Google account. Otherwise, you can set up a Google account while you’re setting up your AdSense account. And if you already have a Google account, you’re one step ahead of everyone else.
One more note about setting up a Google AdSense account: Some experts suggest that you should have an AdSense account that’s separate from your other Google accounts. The purpose behind having them separate is so that there are no repercussions should you accidentally end up in Google’s bad graces with your AdSense efforts. I think that caution is unfounded.
Unless you plan to use your AdSense account in a manner that’s prohibited by Google, you should run into no problems at all. And I find that it’s much easier to have an AdSense account that’s as easy to access as all the other Google applications that you use. One difficulty that I’ve discovered is the frustration of not having your AdSense account connected to other accounts, especially Google Analytics and AdWords.
You have to decide what you’re most comfortable doing: using your existing Google account, creating a new Google account, or not using one at all. But no matter what your preferences are, you can still get started with AdSense (even if not effectively) as soon as you get the approval from Google.
Taking the Plunge :
If you have a Google account that you want to use when you set up your AdSense account, here are the steps for setting up the account:
1. Point your browser to the AdSense Web site at www.adsense.com.
2. Click the Sign Up Now button, as shown in Figure 2-1.
The information you’ll be requested to enter includes
• Your Web site URL: Google will check the site to ensure it’s appropriate for ads to be displayed.
• Your Web site language: To ensure that AdSense is available to your site visitors and that any ads placed are properly targeted to the main language of your site.
• Type of account: Use this drop-down menu to select whether you’re creating a personal account or a business account. (If the account is for you, it’s personal, and if you plan to use it as part of a business that you own, it’s a business account.)
• Country or territory: You do know where you live, don’t you?
• The payee name: This is the name under which you want your payments issued. If you’re creating a personal account, it should be your personal name. If you’re creating a business account, it’s best to use the business name, but you can also use your personal name if you prefer.Payments are made electronically or by check, but you set that information up after you’ve created your AdSense account, so for now all you need to know is to whom and where payments should be sent.
• Address and telephone number: Use the address where you would like to have your payments sent, and be sure to include a working telephone number in case the good people at AdSense need to contact you concerning payments. You also need to select the I Agree that I Can Receive Checks Made Out to the Payee Name I Have Listed Above check box. This just ensures that you’re aware that the name you have selected in the Payee Name portion of the form is the name your checks will be made out to.
• Email preferences: If you want to receive the AdSense newsletter and surveys about AdSense, place a check mark in the In Addition,Send Me Periodic Newsletters with Tips and Best Practices and Occasional Surveys To Help Google Improve AdSense check box.
• Who referred you: Use the drop-down menu provided to tell Google how you heard about AdSense. This information is likely used to help them effectively market the AdSense service.
• Agree to AdSense program policies: The last part of the form is where you register your agreement or disagreement with the AdSense program policies. Be sure to read these policies completely (a link to them is provided on the form). If you don’t agree to the program’s policies, you will not be approved for an AdSense account. Two of the four check boxes on this list are the most important points in the program policies. The third check box is your agreement (if you agree) and the fourth check box is just confirmation that you don’t already have an AdSense account. (You’re only allowed to have one, so don’t try registering another because it will be refused.) All four of these check boxes must be selected.
Don’t blow off the Policies section. You need to read the policies and make sure you understand them because Google strictly requires that publishers (AdSense users) adhere to these policies. Slip up, and Google will strip your AdSense capabilities so fast you’ll wonder if there’s some capability-stripping super power out there that you’ve never heard of.
4. In the new page that appears, confirm your payment information, and then choose either the I Have an Email Address and Password (Google Account) option or the I Do Not Use These Other Services option. If you select the first option, you can jump right to the next section. If you select the second option, a new form appears, as shown in Figure 2-3.
5a. If you select the second option, choose a new e-mail address for the account, designate and confirm a password for the account, and then enter the verification word. When you’re finished, click Continue.A Gmail account will be created for you, using the e-mail address you
select.
6. Wait.First you have to wait for an e-mail confirmation from AdSense.That should arrive in your e-mail Inbox within a matter of minutes. After you’ve confirmed your e-mail address, you have to wait a little longer for approval of your account. But don’t wait too long. Google should only take a few days to approve or deny your application for an AdSense account.
One question you may have is whether you really need a Gmail address to complete the AdSense application. The answer is no. I can sing the praises of Gmail — Google’s Web mail program. I’ve had an account since the program was in beta testing, and it’s the best Web-based e-mail program you’ll find. But it’s not necessary to have one. Any e-mail address will suffice. Just be sure it’s an e-mail address that you have access to because that’s where Google sends your communications from AdSense, and you must be able to access those communications to verify your account.
Enough for today, tomorrow spliced again .. thx
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