Custom and advanced reports start out just like any other report that you
run from AdSense Quick Reports except no data is preset for display.
When you select the Advanced Reports link on the Reports tab — remember,
that’s where you land when you log in to your AdSense account — a page
loads displaying your options when it comes to creating reports, . These options allow you to define custom reports that feature
the information that you actually need at the moment, rather than information
that someone else decides you might need.
By picking and choosing among the various options, you can tailor a report
to your precise needs. Your options are as follows:
1. Product: With the Choose Product drop-down menu, you can specify
which AdSense product you want to use as the basis for your report.
Products here include AdSense for Search, AdSense for Content, Video
Units, Referral Programs, and any other type of AdSense ads that you’ve
allowed.
Only those products you’ve enabled in your AdSense account show up
as options in the drop-down menu. Your Choose Product drop-down
menu, therefore, may be different from mine.
2. Date range: If you use this section’s first radio button, you get to choose
from preset date ranges that mirror those available in the quick reports
(Today, Yesterday, Last 7 Days, This Month, Last Month, and All Time).
But hey, why go with the standard date range? I don’t run my weeks
according to Google’s schedule, so I take advantage of the customized
date ranges associated with the second radio button. The drop-down
menus there allow you to specify the exact date range you want to use.
If you need a report for a three-day period or a three-week period, or if
you just want a report from Monday through Sunday, you can create it.
View options: Another feature of the advanced reporting capabilities that
you might find useful is the ability to change the way your data is shown.
By default, the Show Data By drop-down menu is set to Page, which means
that your data is sorted according to page impressions — the number of
times your page is viewed, whether users click links on the page or not.
Only there’s a catch — isn’t there always? It doesn’t matter how many different
ads or types of ads are shown on your page; each page counts as
only one impression. If you’re thinking about your impression figures in
terms of having multiple ads on your page, they may seem low.
Another choice here is to show data by Ad Unit. This data display shows
your page impressions according to the number of ads that are on your
page. So, if one visitor comes to your site and clicks all the 15 ads that
you have on your page, you’ll see 15 page views for that single visitor.
Now you have the opposite problem from the Page option. Instead of
having page impressions that appear low because each visit counts only
for one impression — no matter how many ads you have — now only
one visit can create multiple impressions.
Using both of these Show Data By measurements can be useful in that
you can see how many visitors have seen your ads as well as how many
ads your visitors have seen. If, for some reason, AdSense is displaying
a single ad in the place of a large rectangle, for example, you can see
immediately what’s happening. And it does happen from time to time
when AdSense doesn’t have enough matching ads to fill the rectangle,
which can usually hold several ads.
A final option in the Show Data By drop-down menu — the Individual
Ad option — changes your view of the data even more. When you use
this display, you see how many impressions your site gets according
to the number of actual ads that are displayed. Some ad displays show
only a single ad — banners are one; you get one ad in a banner, nothing
else — but others, like rectangles or link units, show more than one ad.
When you view your report data with the Individual Ad option, you see
multiples of impressions, based on the number of actual ads that are on
your site.
At the Individual Ad level, you can see your ads by what type of ad targeting
is used: contextual or placement targeting. Contextual ad placement
is when ads are placed within your content because the ad jibes
in some way with the subject of the content. Placement targeted ads are
those ads that are placed on your site because the advertiser chooses to
have its ads shown on your page. This is an additional detail you don’t
see in any other view.
You also have the option to show aggregate data or channel data.
Aggregate data is just a collection of the tracking information for all
your ads. Channel data is a collection of the tracking information for ads
broken down into the channels that you have selected to use to track
individual ads or groups of ads
When you’ve finished selecting the options that you would like to display for
your ads, then all you have to do to see the report is click the Display Report
button. The page reloads, and your desired information is displayed.
Each different data display shows the impressions on your site slightly differently.
Because the data is considered differently in each view, you see
changes in your eCPM measurements as well. The fewer impressions shown,
the higher your eCPM is.
Page impressions, clicks, and other report data, along with these different
data views, allow you to compare ads and see which ones perform better
than others. It takes some time to gather enough stats to be able to make any
real determinations — if you have plenty of people visiting your site, a week
might be enough; low traffic requires a little longer. With this data readily
available to you, you can test different ad placements and types to discover
what works best on your Web site
The Overview
Google makes it easy for you to automatically know how much you’re earning
on any given day, just by signing in to your AdSense account — you know,
that little gold mine you keep at www.adsense.com. When you log in to the
account, the first page you see is the Overview report, which provides you
with a quick look at your daily earnings. In fact, right there in bold print (and
it’s probably the very first thing you see) is the Today’s Earnings heading. In
green, next to the heading, you see the amount of money that you’ve earned
that day.
A little farther down the page, you see a table with details about how you’ve
earned that money. The table lists the different types of AdSense ads you’re
showing as well as the following statistics, all designed to help you understand
quickly what’s working and what’s not:
1. Page Impressions: This is the number of people who have viewed your
ads on a given day. This number represents all the visitors to your site,
whether they stayed on the site or bounced right back off.
2. Clicks: This column adds the number of times folks have clicked one of
your ads.
3. Page CTR: Short for Page Click-Thru-Rate, Page CTR shows the percentage
of people who came to your site and then clicked through your
AdSense ads to the advertiser’s page. The higher your percentage, the
better your ads are performing.
4. Page eCPM: Don’t ask me how they get Effect Clicks Per Thousand out
of eCPM. (The acronym has something to do with the metric version of
measurement, which really doesn’t matter to you one bit.) What you do
need to know is that this figure is arrived at by dividing your total earnings
by the number of impressions in thousands. For example, if your
site earns $100 from 10,000 impressions, your eCPM is $100/10 or $10.
This represents the amount that you’re making per thousand impressions,
however, and doesn’t represent exactly how much you’re making.
Instead, it’s a measurement that you can use to compare results across
channels or advertising programs.
5. Earnings: The actual amount that you’ve earned over a given timeframe
is shown in this column. Specify the timeframe you want to examine with
the View drop-down menu, . You can view results
by Today, Yesterday, Last 7 Days, This Month, Last Month, and All Time.
The Overview page shows more than just how much money you’re making.
This page also contains notes from the AdSense team, messages that you
can view — stuff like the monthly optimization report that’s sent to AdSense
advertisers — as well as links to quick reports. “What are they?” you ask. Read
on and become enlightened.
on any given day, just by signing in to your AdSense account — you know,
that little gold mine you keep at www.adsense.com. When you log in to the
account, the first page you see is the Overview report, which provides you
with a quick look at your daily earnings. In fact, right there in bold print (and
it’s probably the very first thing you see) is the Today’s Earnings heading. In
green, next to the heading, you see the amount of money that you’ve earned
that day.
A little farther down the page, you see a table with details about how you’ve
earned that money. The table lists the different types of AdSense ads you’re
showing as well as the following statistics, all designed to help you understand
quickly what’s working and what’s not:
1. Page Impressions: This is the number of people who have viewed your
ads on a given day. This number represents all the visitors to your site,
whether they stayed on the site or bounced right back off.
2. Clicks: This column adds the number of times folks have clicked one of
your ads.
3. Page CTR: Short for Page Click-Thru-Rate, Page CTR shows the percentage
of people who came to your site and then clicked through your
AdSense ads to the advertiser’s page. The higher your percentage, the
better your ads are performing.
4. Page eCPM: Don’t ask me how they get Effect Clicks Per Thousand out
of eCPM. (The acronym has something to do with the metric version of
measurement, which really doesn’t matter to you one bit.) What you do
need to know is that this figure is arrived at by dividing your total earnings
by the number of impressions in thousands. For example, if your
site earns $100 from 10,000 impressions, your eCPM is $100/10 or $10.
This represents the amount that you’re making per thousand impressions,
however, and doesn’t represent exactly how much you’re making.
Instead, it’s a measurement that you can use to compare results across
channels or advertising programs.
5. Earnings: The actual amount that you’ve earned over a given timeframe
is shown in this column. Specify the timeframe you want to examine with
the View drop-down menu, . You can view results
by Today, Yesterday, Last 7 Days, This Month, Last Month, and All Time.
The Overview page shows more than just how much money you’re making.
This page also contains notes from the AdSense team, messages that you
can view — stuff like the monthly optimization report that’s sent to AdSense
advertisers — as well as links to quick reports. “What are they?” you ask. Read
on and become enlightened.
Understanding Quick Reports
AdSense calls reports that you’ve preset certain variables for — dates, for
example — Quick Reports. These reports are easy to get to. When you log
in to your AdSense account, the page that you land on is the Main Report
page. You’ll find the Quick Reports section at the bottom of that page.
These reports are already set up for you — basically —, so all you need to
do is click the link for the report, and a new page loads with those variables
already in place.
When a new report loads, notice the customization options shown at the top
of the page. (They’re above the fold; you actually have to scroll down the page
to see the report data.) These customization options allow you to change
dates, products, and even ad unit information to further customize your
report view. I give you more information on how to use custom and advanced
reports a little later
your Quick Report options for AdSense for Content ads.
Here’s what each report entails:
1. This Month, By Day: If you select the This Month, By Day report, you
get pretty much the same information as shown in the Overview report,
such as page impressions, clicks, and earnings, but you get that info for
each day of the current month.
2. Last Month, By Day: Instead of displaying the current month’s data,
this report lets you look a bit deeper into the historical data to see what
trends might be emerging. (Okay, deep here is a relative term; I’m only
talking last month.) For example, are certain days better for generating
AdSense income? If you can see those patterns and use them to develop
useful theories and scenarios, you can test those theories in an effort to
further increase your AdSense earnings.
If you use AdSense for Search on your site, additional reports may provide further
statistics about your AdSense revenues. Even though AdSense for Search
is a little different than AdSense for Content, the reports should have the same
outward appearance. The functions of ads are different than the functions
example — Quick Reports. These reports are easy to get to. When you log
in to your AdSense account, the page that you land on is the Main Report
page. You’ll find the Quick Reports section at the bottom of that page.
These reports are already set up for you — basically —, so all you need to
do is click the link for the report, and a new page loads with those variables
already in place.
When a new report loads, notice the customization options shown at the top
of the page. (They’re above the fold; you actually have to scroll down the page
to see the report data.) These customization options allow you to change
dates, products, and even ad unit information to further customize your
report view. I give you more information on how to use custom and advanced
reports a little later
your Quick Report options for AdSense for Content ads.
Here’s what each report entails:
1. This Month, By Day: If you select the This Month, By Day report, you
get pretty much the same information as shown in the Overview report,
such as page impressions, clicks, and earnings, but you get that info for
each day of the current month.
2. Last Month, By Day: Instead of displaying the current month’s data,
this report lets you look a bit deeper into the historical data to see what
trends might be emerging. (Okay, deep here is a relative term; I’m only
talking last month.) For example, are certain days better for generating
AdSense income? If you can see those patterns and use them to develop
useful theories and scenarios, you can test those theories in an effort to
further increase your AdSense earnings.
If you use AdSense for Search on your site, additional reports may provide further
statistics about your AdSense revenues. Even though AdSense for Search
is a little different than AdSense for Content, the reports should have the same
outward appearance. The functions of ads are different than the functions
Using Report Templates
The basic reports AdSense provides are useful enough for most purposes,
but at times — recurring times — you need a report with a specific set of
information and you don’t want to have to re-create it every time you want
to run that report. No sense in reinventing the wheel, right?
Report templates allow you to set up reports, based on your specific needs.
Each time you want to run that specific report, all you have to do is select the
template, rather than re-creating the report each time that you need it.
Here’s the rub: You can’t create reports that are any more sophisticated than
what you can do with the advanced reporting capabilities I talk about in the
previous section. What you can do, however, is create the report once, fashion
a template based on that report, save the template, and reuse it whenever
you want. (The idea here is to keep the template on hand so you don’t have
to go through setting up the report every time you need it.) Here’s how you
save a report as a template:
1. Log on to your AdSense account.
The Reports page appears, with your Today’s Earnings prominently displayed.
2. On the Reports tab, select the Advanced Reports link.
Your report options appear. 3. Create the report that you want to use as a template.
Set date ranges, choose the type of report — aggregate or channel data
display — and choose the product (AdSense for Content, AdSense for
Search, Referrals, and so on).
4. Click the Display Report button to run the report.
When the report has processed, you see a Save as Report Template text
box at the top of the report,
5. Enter a name in the Save as Report Template text box and then click
Save.
You see an orange confirmation box displayed if the report was successfully
saved. If the confirmation box doesn’t appear, go through the creation
process again in case you’ve forgotten steps or there’s a problem
with the service.
That’s really all there is to it. After you create an advanced report, it’s saved
as a template in case you want to run it again in the future. When you’re
ready to run the same report again, select it from the Advanced Reports section
on the Quick Reports screen. You still have to change the date range, but
your other selections are automatic
but at times — recurring times — you need a report with a specific set of
information and you don’t want to have to re-create it every time you want
to run that report. No sense in reinventing the wheel, right?
Report templates allow you to set up reports, based on your specific needs.
Each time you want to run that specific report, all you have to do is select the
template, rather than re-creating the report each time that you need it.
Here’s the rub: You can’t create reports that are any more sophisticated than
what you can do with the advanced reporting capabilities I talk about in the
previous section. What you can do, however, is create the report once, fashion
a template based on that report, save the template, and reuse it whenever
you want. (The idea here is to keep the template on hand so you don’t have
to go through setting up the report every time you need it.) Here’s how you
save a report as a template:
1. Log on to your AdSense account.
The Reports page appears, with your Today’s Earnings prominently displayed.
2. On the Reports tab, select the Advanced Reports link.
Your report options appear. 3. Create the report that you want to use as a template.
Set date ranges, choose the type of report — aggregate or channel data
display — and choose the product (AdSense for Content, AdSense for
Search, Referrals, and so on).
4. Click the Display Report button to run the report.
When the report has processed, you see a Save as Report Template text
box at the top of the report,
5. Enter a name in the Save as Report Template text box and then click
Save.
You see an orange confirmation box displayed if the report was successfully
saved. If the confirmation box doesn’t appear, go through the creation
process again in case you’ve forgotten steps or there’s a problem
with the service.
That’s really all there is to it. After you create an advanced report, it’s saved
as a template in case you want to run it again in the future. When you’re
ready to run the same report again, select it from the Advanced Reports section
on the Quick Reports screen. You still have to change the date range, but
your other selections are automatic
Working with the Report Manager
Each time you generate a report, it’s automatically saved to a little corner
of the AdSense world — the Report Manager. To get your hands on reports
saved to the Report Manager, click the Reports Manager link on the Reports
tab. Reports are collected here so that you can view them online or download
them in CSV (Comma Separated Value) format, the standard used by most
spreadsheet programs. To download the report, just click the CSV link, and
use the Save As dialog box that appears to choose the location you want the
report saved to and to choose a name for the report. When you’ve entered
this information, click Save.
After you download a report and save the file to your hard drive, you can
open it in Microsoft Excel or any other spreadsheet program that opens CSV
files — Google Docs & Spreadsheets, for example.
For example, here’s how to open the file in Microsoft Excel:
1. Launch Excel and then choose File➪Open.
The Open dialog box appears.
2. In the Open dialog box, browse to the file you saved to your hard
drive, select the file, and then click Open.
Excel’s Text Import Wizard appears,
The file that’s provided by AdSense is a delimited file — the columns of
data are literally separated. On the first screen of the wizard, you don’t
need to change anything.
3. Click Next.
The second page of the wizard appears.
4. In Step 2 of the wizard, select the delimiter — what separates each
column of the spreadsheet you’re importing — and then click Next.
In this case, the delimiter is a tab (because you usually tab from one
column to the next). That’s probably already selected in the wizard.
5. (Optional) In the final page of the wizard, feel free to change the formatting
of the columns that you’re importing by clicking anywhere in
the column and then selecting the proper formatting from the options
in the upper-left corner of the wizard.
For this file, the formatting for all the columns should be General.
You can see your formatting without clicking each column by looking at
the very first cell at the top of each column. This cell doesn’t appear on
the spreadsheet, but in this wizard view, it shows you what type of formatting
is already in place.
6. After you check or adjust the formatting, click Finish to complete the
importing process.
The Excel spreadsheet opens. If you want to keep it in Excel format, you
have to resave the file as an Excel workbook.
If you really don’t want an offline copy of the report, you don’t have to save
the file to your hard drive. Truth is, you can access your reports from the
AdSense Web site for quite a while — about a year, in fact. After that period of
time, reports get deleted from the site.
of the AdSense world — the Report Manager. To get your hands on reports
saved to the Report Manager, click the Reports Manager link on the Reports
tab. Reports are collected here so that you can view them online or download
them in CSV (Comma Separated Value) format, the standard used by most
spreadsheet programs. To download the report, just click the CSV link, and
use the Save As dialog box that appears to choose the location you want the
report saved to and to choose a name for the report. When you’ve entered
this information, click Save.
After you download a report and save the file to your hard drive, you can
open it in Microsoft Excel or any other spreadsheet program that opens CSV
files — Google Docs & Spreadsheets, for example.
For example, here’s how to open the file in Microsoft Excel:
1. Launch Excel and then choose File➪Open.
The Open dialog box appears.
2. In the Open dialog box, browse to the file you saved to your hard
drive, select the file, and then click Open.
Excel’s Text Import Wizard appears,
The file that’s provided by AdSense is a delimited file — the columns of
data are literally separated. On the first screen of the wizard, you don’t
need to change anything.
3. Click Next.
The second page of the wizard appears.
4. In Step 2 of the wizard, select the delimiter — what separates each
column of the spreadsheet you’re importing — and then click Next.
In this case, the delimiter is a tab (because you usually tab from one
column to the next). That’s probably already selected in the wizard.
5. (Optional) In the final page of the wizard, feel free to change the formatting
of the columns that you’re importing by clicking anywhere in
the column and then selecting the proper formatting from the options
in the upper-left corner of the wizard.
For this file, the formatting for all the columns should be General.
You can see your formatting without clicking each column by looking at
the very first cell at the top of each column. This cell doesn’t appear on
the spreadsheet, but in this wizard view, it shows you what type of formatting
is already in place.
6. After you check or adjust the formatting, click Finish to complete the
importing process.
The Excel spreadsheet opens. If you want to keep it in Excel format, you
have to resave the file as an Excel workbook.
If you really don’t want an offline copy of the report, you don’t have to save
the file to your hard drive. Truth is, you can access your reports from the
AdSense Web site for quite a while — about a year, in fact. After that period of
time, reports get deleted from the site.
Scheduling Automatic Reports
One real timesaving feature of AdSense reports is the ability to schedule
said reports to run automatically, rather than having to manually set up the
report and run it on the site each time you need it. To take advantage of
automatic scheduling of reports, though, you have to create a report template
before you can schedule it to run automatically. (If the whole idea of
templates sounds a bit fuzzy to you,
After you create a report template, you should see it as an option in your
Report Manager. (If it’s not there, then the template wasn’t successfully created
and you need to go through the creation process outlined earlier again.)
Follow these steps to schedule the report to run automatically:
1. Log on to your AdSense account.
The Reports page appears.
2. On the Reports tab, click the Report Manager link.
3. On the Reports Manager page, scroll down until you see the Saved
Report Templates section.
The Saved Report Templates section shows you all the reports that
you’ve saved as templates. Next to each report is a Frequency column,
a Send To column, and a Format column,
4. Using the Frequency drop-down menu, select how often you want the
report to run.
Your choices are Never, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly.
After you select a frequency, the default e-mail address is displayed for
your account in the Send To column. That’s where the report will be
sent unless you change it.
5. To change the default e-mail address, select an address from the Send
To drop-down menu.
If the address you want to send the report to isn’t listed in the dropdown
menu, do the following:
a. Click Edit Addresses.
You’re prompted to save your changes before you continue.
b. Save the changes or click OK.
A form opens into which you can type new addresses.
c. Add the new e-mail address.
You can add multiple addresses, too. Enter the addresses one per
line.
d. Click Save Addresses.
The new e-mail address(es) appear in the Send To drop-down
menu.
6. From the Format drop-down menu, select the format for the report
that you want to send.
Your choices here are CSV or CSV-Excel. (CSV Excel is just a report
format that’s specifically set for Microsoft Excel.)
7. Click Save Changes.
You’re done!
said reports to run automatically, rather than having to manually set up the
report and run it on the site each time you need it. To take advantage of
automatic scheduling of reports, though, you have to create a report template
before you can schedule it to run automatically. (If the whole idea of
templates sounds a bit fuzzy to you,
After you create a report template, you should see it as an option in your
Report Manager. (If it’s not there, then the template wasn’t successfully created
and you need to go through the creation process outlined earlier again.)
Follow these steps to schedule the report to run automatically:
1. Log on to your AdSense account.
The Reports page appears.
2. On the Reports tab, click the Report Manager link.
3. On the Reports Manager page, scroll down until you see the Saved
Report Templates section.
The Saved Report Templates section shows you all the reports that
you’ve saved as templates. Next to each report is a Frequency column,
a Send To column, and a Format column,
4. Using the Frequency drop-down menu, select how often you want the
report to run.
Your choices are Never, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly.
After you select a frequency, the default e-mail address is displayed for
your account in the Send To column. That’s where the report will be
sent unless you change it.
5. To change the default e-mail address, select an address from the Send
To drop-down menu.
If the address you want to send the report to isn’t listed in the dropdown
menu, do the following:
a. Click Edit Addresses.
You’re prompted to save your changes before you continue.
b. Save the changes or click OK.
A form opens into which you can type new addresses.
c. Add the new e-mail address.
You can add multiple addresses, too. Enter the addresses one per
line.
d. Click Save Addresses.
The new e-mail address(es) appear in the Send To drop-down
menu.
6. From the Format drop-down menu, select the format for the report
that you want to send.
Your choices here are CSV or CSV-Excel. (CSV Excel is just a report
format that’s specifically set for Microsoft Excel.)
7. Click Save Changes.
You’re done!
Using Site Diagnostics
In order to track down all the data needed for ad placement — as well as tracking
down all the data that goes into the reports I talk about in this chapter —
AdSense needs to be able to crawl your Web site. The crawler — not the same
crawler that Google uses to include your site in search results, by the way —
visits your site once each week to check for content, design, and usage information.
I cover how this works in a lot of detail in Chapters 2–4, so if you need a
refresher, you can flip there. I’ll wait.
Done? Good. The AdSense crawler visits your site once each week. During
that visit, the crawler looks at all the pages on your Web site to ensure that
your ads are properly targeted. If the crawler encounters a problem, such as
a page that’s redirecting unexpectedly (and without the proper redirect information
in place), or if the crawler is denied access to the site, it flags that
issue in the Site Diagnostic area of your AdSense account.
To get to the Site Diagnostic area, do the following:
1. Sign in to your AdSense account.
2. From the Reports tab, choose the Site Diagnostics link.
When that page opens, a list of problems that were encountered with
your site is displayed.
If the crawler didn’t encounter any problems, the list is mostly blank,
displaying only the You Currently Have No Blocked URLs message in
light gray.
If you do have issues — if the crawler can’t get to your site for some
reason — the reason is displayed in the table provided along with the
date of the last crawl attempt on your Web site.
It’s possible (though highly unlikely) that when you updated your site, Google
was trying to crawl your site at the exact same time. Sometimes, if you’re
uploading files, the crawler can’t access the site at the same time. If that’s the
case, the date of the last crawl reflects that.
Far more likely, however, is that a flaw in the site design or some other problem
is keeping the crawler off your site. If that’s the case, the error displayed
helps you to figure out what needs to be done to allow the crawler to have
access.
In a lot of cases, the problem is simply that you have a robots.txt file that
denies access to certain portions of your page. (Remember this little bugger?
I tell you all about him in Chapter 3.)
Sometimes, you deny a crawler access to a page on your Web site for good
reason. For example, if you have several pages that are essentially the same,
you might not want a crawler to look at all the pages. The redundancy could
cause your search result rankings to drop. Usually, if you’ve designed your
site well and with the Google Webmaster Guidelines in mind, you have no
reason to keep the crawler off any pages of your site.
Sometimes, though, the errors that the crawler encounters aren’t directly
related to that robots.txt file. If that’s the case, you see the exact error
listed on this diagnostics form. You can then repair the error. After you do,
however, it might take up to a week for the crawler to hit your site again.
You may have to be patient to see the results of your repair.
A good example here is when a crawler can’t navigate your site because
of broken links. If the crawler can’t follow the site navigational links, it
will leave your site and come back at another time. If you fix the broken
links, the next time the crawler comes through you shouldn’t have any
problems.
down all the data that goes into the reports I talk about in this chapter —
AdSense needs to be able to crawl your Web site. The crawler — not the same
crawler that Google uses to include your site in search results, by the way —
visits your site once each week to check for content, design, and usage information.
I cover how this works in a lot of detail in Chapters 2–4, so if you need a
refresher, you can flip there. I’ll wait.
Done? Good. The AdSense crawler visits your site once each week. During
that visit, the crawler looks at all the pages on your Web site to ensure that
your ads are properly targeted. If the crawler encounters a problem, such as
a page that’s redirecting unexpectedly (and without the proper redirect information
in place), or if the crawler is denied access to the site, it flags that
issue in the Site Diagnostic area of your AdSense account.
To get to the Site Diagnostic area, do the following:
1. Sign in to your AdSense account.
2. From the Reports tab, choose the Site Diagnostics link.
When that page opens, a list of problems that were encountered with
your site is displayed.
If the crawler didn’t encounter any problems, the list is mostly blank,
displaying only the You Currently Have No Blocked URLs message in
light gray.
If you do have issues — if the crawler can’t get to your site for some
reason — the reason is displayed in the table provided along with the
date of the last crawl attempt on your Web site.
It’s possible (though highly unlikely) that when you updated your site, Google
was trying to crawl your site at the exact same time. Sometimes, if you’re
uploading files, the crawler can’t access the site at the same time. If that’s the
case, the date of the last crawl reflects that.
Far more likely, however, is that a flaw in the site design or some other problem
is keeping the crawler off your site. If that’s the case, the error displayed
helps you to figure out what needs to be done to allow the crawler to have
access.
In a lot of cases, the problem is simply that you have a robots.txt file that
denies access to certain portions of your page. (Remember this little bugger?
I tell you all about him in Chapter 3.)
Sometimes, you deny a crawler access to a page on your Web site for good
reason. For example, if you have several pages that are essentially the same,
you might not want a crawler to look at all the pages. The redundancy could
cause your search result rankings to drop. Usually, if you’ve designed your
site well and with the Google Webmaster Guidelines in mind, you have no
reason to keep the crawler off any pages of your site.
Sometimes, though, the errors that the crawler encounters aren’t directly
related to that robots.txt file. If that’s the case, you see the exact error
listed on this diagnostics form. You can then repair the error. After you do,
however, it might take up to a week for the crawler to hit your site again.
You may have to be patient to see the results of your repair.
A good example here is when a crawler can’t navigate your site because
of broken links. If the crawler can’t follow the site navigational links, it
will leave your site and come back at another time. If you fix the broken
links, the next time the crawler comes through you shouldn’t have any
problems.
Managing Your Account
No two ways about: Part of your day-to-day site administration involves managing
your AdSense account. Now, with any Google application out there,
managing the application or program is pretty straightforward. AdSense is no
exception.
To manage your account, log in to AdSense and then select the My Account
tab. From this tab, you have several options for account maintenance,
including: Account Settings, Account Access, Payment History, and Tax
Information, . I cover each option in greater detail in
the next sections.
Your account settings
The Account Settings section of the My Account tab lets you add or change
e-mail addresses and passwords, update your address and payment information,
and/or change your ad type preference.
To change any of the settings here, click the blue Edit link next to the header
for that section. When you click this link, a new page opens from which you
can change the information that’s pertinent to that segment of the Account
Settings section. After you make whatever changes you want to make, click
Save to update your account settings.
your AdSense account. Now, with any Google application out there,
managing the application or program is pretty straightforward. AdSense is no
exception.
To manage your account, log in to AdSense and then select the My Account
tab. From this tab, you have several options for account maintenance,
including: Account Settings, Account Access, Payment History, and Tax
Information, . I cover each option in greater detail in
the next sections.
Your account settings
The Account Settings section of the My Account tab lets you add or change
e-mail addresses and passwords, update your address and payment information,
and/or change your ad type preference.
To change any of the settings here, click the blue Edit link next to the header
for that section. When you click this link, a new page opens from which you
can change the information that’s pertinent to that segment of the Account
Settings section. After you make whatever changes you want to make, click
Save to update your account settings.
Setting Up AdSense Payments
Setting up your AdSense payments is easier now than it used to be. In the
bad old days, you couldn’t effectively set up your AdSense payments until
you reached $50 or $100 in revenues. Now, you can set up your payment
account and payment type almost immediately after you create your AdSense
account.
Everything you need to do is found on the My Account tab in your AdSense
account. The first thing you need to do is set up your payment account, so
follow these steps:
1. Point your browser to the AdSense Web site at www.adsense.com.
2. Sign in to your AdSense account and then click the My Account tab.
The tab should open to Account Settings, but if it doesn’t, select
Account Settings from the links below the tab.
3. In the third section of the Account Settings page — the Payee
Information section — as shown in Figure 16-1, click the Edit link next
to the Payee Information title.
You’re taken to a page where you can change or update account information,
such as your name and address
4. Enter your information or make changes to the existing information.
You’re asked to provide your name, address, phone, and fax information.
You can also choose the best time for someone from AdSense to
call you. AdSense employees don’t usually call, but this information is
requested in case a situation develops where the company needs to contact
you fast.
5. When you’re finished entering your contact information, click the
Save Changes button.
After you set up your payment account, you still have to verify the account.
For that, you need a PIN (personal identification number) from AdSense,
which isn’t sent out to you until you have at least $10 in AdSense revenue.
(AdSense used to send the PIN out when an account reached $50, but the
process struck AdSense users as a tad slow — hmm . . . maybe AdSense
wanted to keep the money for as long as possible? — so the company
reduced the amount to $10.) When you reach the $100 level, use the PIN to
authorize a payment to you.
I hear the grumbles already. You have to wait until you make $100 to get
paid? Yep. The cost of processing payments is pretty high, and in an effort
to make it less costly, AdSense doesn’t process smaller payments. Think of
it this way: If they were sending out checks to everyone who made under
$100 each month, the cost of issuing those checks would explode exponentially.
To cover the cost, AdSense would have to cut the percentage that you
receive for showing their ads, which means you’d make less money.
Rather than being aggravated because you aren’t getting paid immediately,
work to optimize your site and your AdSense income so that you’re generating
enough revenue to actually get paid as quickly as possible. If you’re not sure
what you need to do to optimize your Web site to gain the most traffic, flip to
I provide a thorough explanation of optimization there.
bad old days, you couldn’t effectively set up your AdSense payments until
you reached $50 or $100 in revenues. Now, you can set up your payment
account and payment type almost immediately after you create your AdSense
account.
Everything you need to do is found on the My Account tab in your AdSense
account. The first thing you need to do is set up your payment account, so
follow these steps:
1. Point your browser to the AdSense Web site at www.adsense.com.
2. Sign in to your AdSense account and then click the My Account tab.
The tab should open to Account Settings, but if it doesn’t, select
Account Settings from the links below the tab.
3. In the third section of the Account Settings page — the Payee
Information section — as shown in Figure 16-1, click the Edit link next
to the Payee Information title.
You’re taken to a page where you can change or update account information,
such as your name and address
4. Enter your information or make changes to the existing information.
You’re asked to provide your name, address, phone, and fax information.
You can also choose the best time for someone from AdSense to
call you. AdSense employees don’t usually call, but this information is
requested in case a situation develops where the company needs to contact
you fast.
5. When you’re finished entering your contact information, click the
Save Changes button.
After you set up your payment account, you still have to verify the account.
For that, you need a PIN (personal identification number) from AdSense,
which isn’t sent out to you until you have at least $10 in AdSense revenue.
(AdSense used to send the PIN out when an account reached $50, but the
process struck AdSense users as a tad slow — hmm . . . maybe AdSense
wanted to keep the money for as long as possible? — so the company
reduced the amount to $10.) When you reach the $100 level, use the PIN to
authorize a payment to you.
I hear the grumbles already. You have to wait until you make $100 to get
paid? Yep. The cost of processing payments is pretty high, and in an effort
to make it less costly, AdSense doesn’t process smaller payments. Think of
it this way: If they were sending out checks to everyone who made under
$100 each month, the cost of issuing those checks would explode exponentially.
To cover the cost, AdSense would have to cut the percentage that you
receive for showing their ads, which means you’d make less money.
Rather than being aggravated because you aren’t getting paid immediately,
work to optimize your site and your AdSense income so that you’re generating
enough revenue to actually get paid as quickly as possible. If you’re not sure
what you need to do to optimize your Web site to gain the most traffic, flip to
I provide a thorough explanation of optimization there.
Adding Sites to Your AdSense Account
As uptight as Google can be about the sites that display AdSense ads, you’ll
find this next little bit hard to believe — I did.
Many people (myself included) have more than one Web site or blog.
Because AdSense only allows you to have one account, if you want ads on all
your sites, you need to have multiple sites listed on your AdSense account,
right? Wrong. You only need to have the one site that you listed when you
first created your AdSense account.
Then, all you have to do is create your ads and copy and paste the code
onto whatever Web site you choose. Really. Of course, that makes it a little
confusing if you want to track your earnings by site, but AdSense even has an
answer to that conundrum.
Use channels. (If you read Chapter 15, you might remember the details I gave
you about channels.) Well, this is where channels are really the most useful.
When you have multiple Web sites that you want to place AdSense ads on —
but you want to be able to track them all separately — use different channels
for each site.
Creating channels is easy:
1. Log in to your AdSense account and go to the AdSense Setup tab.
2. Select Channels and then select the type of ad that you want to create
a channel for (AdSense for Content, Search, Referrals, and so on).
3. Click the Add New Custom Channels link, type the desired name for
your channel, and click Add Channel.
See? I told you it’s easy.
After you have channels set up and you create an ad, choose the channel that
you want to use to track it, and then that linkage is built into the code. When
you’re ready to track your ads, you can view reports by channel.
Don’t feel compelled to add multiple Web sites to your AdSense account to
keep your revenues separate. All you have to do is create channels that let
you track which site generates which revenue. To make it a little easier, you
can also track everything together so you have a consolidated view of how
much you’re making.
find this next little bit hard to believe — I did.
Many people (myself included) have more than one Web site or blog.
Because AdSense only allows you to have one account, if you want ads on all
your sites, you need to have multiple sites listed on your AdSense account,
right? Wrong. You only need to have the one site that you listed when you
first created your AdSense account.
Then, all you have to do is create your ads and copy and paste the code
onto whatever Web site you choose. Really. Of course, that makes it a little
confusing if you want to track your earnings by site, but AdSense even has an
answer to that conundrum.
Use channels. (If you read Chapter 15, you might remember the details I gave
you about channels.) Well, this is where channels are really the most useful.
When you have multiple Web sites that you want to place AdSense ads on —
but you want to be able to track them all separately — use different channels
for each site.
Creating channels is easy:
1. Log in to your AdSense account and go to the AdSense Setup tab.
2. Select Channels and then select the type of ad that you want to create
a channel for (AdSense for Content, Search, Referrals, and so on).
3. Click the Add New Custom Channels link, type the desired name for
your channel, and click Add Channel.
See? I told you it’s easy.
After you have channels set up and you create an ad, choose the channel that
you want to use to track it, and then that linkage is built into the code. When
you’re ready to track your ads, you can view reports by channel.
Don’t feel compelled to add multiple Web sites to your AdSense account to
keep your revenues separate. All you have to do is create channels that let
you track which site generates which revenue. To make it a little easier, you
can also track everything together so you have a consolidated view of how
much you’re making.
Changing your payment account
Changing your EFT payment account, unlike changing your underwear, isn’t
something that you’ll do every day. However, you will have situations (like
getting a new account or getting married) when you’ll need to change the
account that your deposits are made to. Changing the account is easy:
1. Log in to your AdSense account and go to the My Account tab to be
taken to the Account Settings page.
2. Scroll down to Payment Details.
3. Click the Edit link, enter the details for your new account, and then
click the Save Changes button.
You’re good to go.
You have to go through the same verification process — waiting for a deposit
from AdSense and then entering the deposit amount on the verification page —
but then your account will be active, and you can delete the old account. Just
like setting up your first account, though, the process can take four to ten days.
To delete an account:
1. Log in to your AdSense account and click the My Account tab to be
taken to the Account Settings page.
2. On the Account Setting page, scroll down to Payment Details and click
the Edit link.
This will take you to the Choose Form of Payment page.
3. Select the radio button next to the account that you want to delete and
click the Continue button.
Doing so takes you to the Account Editing page.
4. On the Account Editing page, click the Delete this account button.
You may be prompted to confirm your desire to delete the account.
Then the page reloads and you see a confirmation message.
That’s all there is to it. Just remember that if you delete an account that you
don’t really want to delete, you have to go through the confirmation process
all over again.
something that you’ll do every day. However, you will have situations (like
getting a new account or getting married) when you’ll need to change the
account that your deposits are made to. Changing the account is easy:
1. Log in to your AdSense account and go to the My Account tab to be
taken to the Account Settings page.
2. Scroll down to Payment Details.
3. Click the Edit link, enter the details for your new account, and then
click the Save Changes button.
You’re good to go.
You have to go through the same verification process — waiting for a deposit
from AdSense and then entering the deposit amount on the verification page —
but then your account will be active, and you can delete the old account. Just
like setting up your first account, though, the process can take four to ten days.
To delete an account:
1. Log in to your AdSense account and click the My Account tab to be
taken to the Account Settings page.
2. On the Account Setting page, scroll down to Payment Details and click
the Edit link.
This will take you to the Choose Form of Payment page.
3. Select the radio button next to the account that you want to delete and
click the Continue button.
Doing so takes you to the Account Editing page.
4. On the Account Editing page, click the Delete this account button.
You may be prompted to confirm your desire to delete the account.
Then the page reloads and you see a confirmation message.
That’s all there is to it. Just remember that if you delete an account that you
don’t really want to delete, you have to go through the confirmation process
all over again.
Selecting how you get paid
Setting up your account for payment is only half of what needs to be done.
You also have to choose how you want to get paid. With AdSense, you have
three choices:
1. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): Your AdSense payments can be
directly deposited into your (U.S.) bank account — after you’re set up to
receive electronic payments, of course.
2. Check-Standard Delivery: Standard delivery checks go out around the
15th of the month and could take two to three weeks to arrive in your
mailbox.
3. Check-Secured Express Delivery: Checks sent Secured Express Delivery
go out about the 15th of the month, but they’re guaranteed to arrive at
your doorstep within a week. The rub? It costs you $30 for the privilege.
No matter which form of payment you receive, you still have to make $100 in
revenues before the payment’s sent to you. If you select EFT, however, you
can set that up before you reach the $100 cut-off point.
If you’re an International user, you may have two options for payment.
AdSense will send checks to all supported countries — if you’re not in the
U.S. and you can use AdSense, then you’re in a supported country — or in
some countries you can receive an EFT payment. The countries in which EFT
is available are
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Mexico
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United States
United Kingdom
In all of the countries, payment is available in that country’s national currency.
Setting up the EFT account is pretty simple. Follow these steps:
1. Point your browser to the AdSense Web site at www.adsense.com.
2. Log in to your AdSense account and go to the My Account tab.
If you’re not automatically taken to the Account Settings page, select
that link below the My Account tab.
3. Scroll down to the Payment Details section of the page and click the
Edit link.
4. In the new page that appears, choose the Add a New Bank radio
button and click Continue.
You are taken to the Bank Account Information page, as shown in
5. In the Bank Account Information page, enter your bank account information
and then click Continue.
Your account information is checked automatically to ensure that it’s
accurate. If everything is correct, you receive a confirmation message.
6. Wait.
You have to wait a few days — four to ten days to be exact — for
AdSense to make a small deposit — the amount varies, but it could be
anything up to about $1 — into your account.
7. After you receive your initial deposit, log back in to your account and
return to the Payment Details section of the Account Settings page.
8. Enter the deposit amount in the Deposit Amount field and then click
the Confirm button.
That last click does it; you’re set up for direct deposits.
If you prefer to have your payments made the old-fashioned way — by
check — all you have to do is log on to the Payment Details section of the
Account Settings page and select one of the check options. If you happen to
live outside the U.S., you don’t have any choice but to receive your payment
by check.
You also have to choose how you want to get paid. With AdSense, you have
three choices:
1. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT): Your AdSense payments can be
directly deposited into your (U.S.) bank account — after you’re set up to
receive electronic payments, of course.
2. Check-Standard Delivery: Standard delivery checks go out around the
15th of the month and could take two to three weeks to arrive in your
mailbox.
3. Check-Secured Express Delivery: Checks sent Secured Express Delivery
go out about the 15th of the month, but they’re guaranteed to arrive at
your doorstep within a week. The rub? It costs you $30 for the privilege.
No matter which form of payment you receive, you still have to make $100 in
revenues before the payment’s sent to you. If you select EFT, however, you
can set that up before you reach the $100 cut-off point.
If you’re an International user, you may have two options for payment.
AdSense will send checks to all supported countries — if you’re not in the
U.S. and you can use AdSense, then you’re in a supported country — or in
some countries you can receive an EFT payment. The countries in which EFT
is available are
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Mexico
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United States
United Kingdom
In all of the countries, payment is available in that country’s national currency.
Setting up the EFT account is pretty simple. Follow these steps:
1. Point your browser to the AdSense Web site at www.adsense.com.
2. Log in to your AdSense account and go to the My Account tab.
If you’re not automatically taken to the Account Settings page, select
that link below the My Account tab.
3. Scroll down to the Payment Details section of the page and click the
Edit link.
4. In the new page that appears, choose the Add a New Bank radio
button and click Continue.
You are taken to the Bank Account Information page, as shown in
5. In the Bank Account Information page, enter your bank account information
and then click Continue.
Your account information is checked automatically to ensure that it’s
accurate. If everything is correct, you receive a confirmation message.
6. Wait.
You have to wait a few days — four to ten days to be exact — for
AdSense to make a small deposit — the amount varies, but it could be
anything up to about $1 — into your account.
7. After you receive your initial deposit, log back in to your account and
return to the Payment Details section of the Account Settings page.
8. Enter the deposit amount in the Deposit Amount field and then click
the Confirm button.
That last click does it; you’re set up for direct deposits.
If you prefer to have your payments made the old-fashioned way — by
check — all you have to do is log on to the Payment Details section of the
Account Settings page and select one of the check options. If you happen to
live outside the U.S., you don’t have any choice but to receive your payment
by check.
Hold, please . . .
My life is nuts. I’ve moved every couple years for most of my life, and even as
an adult, I still find myself moving more often than anyone I know. We’re not
talking little moves, either. If I’m moving, it’s across state lines.
Moving across state lines means things have to change — addresses, telephone
numbers, and even bank accounts. When it’s time for me to make
these kinds of moves, I have to put direct payments on hold. My agency is
accustomed to it, but sometimes I have to juggle other payments (or bills).
AdSense isn’t one of those companies that I have to worry about.
AdSense gives you the ability to place your payments on hold indefinitely.
“Indefinitely” could mean a lot of different things to you, but during that time
you don’t have to worry about your payments bouncing around cyberspace
while you’re getting your banking details under control (or while you’re on
vacation or whatever).
To put your payments on hold, do the following:
1. Log in to your Account Settings page.
2. Click the Edit link next to the Payment Holding section of the page.
3. On the new page that appears, select the Hold Payment check box.
4. Click the Save Changes button.
Now your payments are on hold until you return to the page and deselect the
Hold Payment check box.
Your money doesn’t disappear into no-man’s land, either. While on hold, payments
simply accrue. Then, when you reactivate payments, you’re paid the
full amount during the next regular billing cycle.
The exception to how these holds and payments work (there’s always an
exception, isn’t there?) is around the 15th of the month. If you make changes
to your payment status, payment account, or payment type around the 15th
of the month, everything gets a little squirrelly.
According to the AdSense Web site, holds placed or released around the 15th
of the month may or may not process that month. The best thing you can do
is try to make adjustments to your payment details around the beginning or
end of the month. If you have to make adjustments after about the 10th or
before the 20th, watch your account to make sure the changes take effect.
an adult, I still find myself moving more often than anyone I know. We’re not
talking little moves, either. If I’m moving, it’s across state lines.
Moving across state lines means things have to change — addresses, telephone
numbers, and even bank accounts. When it’s time for me to make
these kinds of moves, I have to put direct payments on hold. My agency is
accustomed to it, but sometimes I have to juggle other payments (or bills).
AdSense isn’t one of those companies that I have to worry about.
AdSense gives you the ability to place your payments on hold indefinitely.
“Indefinitely” could mean a lot of different things to you, but during that time
you don’t have to worry about your payments bouncing around cyberspace
while you’re getting your banking details under control (or while you’re on
vacation or whatever).
To put your payments on hold, do the following:
1. Log in to your Account Settings page.
2. Click the Edit link next to the Payment Holding section of the page.
3. On the new page that appears, select the Hold Payment check box.
4. Click the Save Changes button.
Now your payments are on hold until you return to the page and deselect the
Hold Payment check box.
Your money doesn’t disappear into no-man’s land, either. While on hold, payments
simply accrue. Then, when you reactivate payments, you’re paid the
full amount during the next regular billing cycle.
The exception to how these holds and payments work (there’s always an
exception, isn’t there?) is around the 15th of the month. If you make changes
to your payment status, payment account, or payment type around the 15th
of the month, everything gets a little squirrelly.
According to the AdSense Web site, holds placed or released around the 15th
of the month may or may not process that month. The best thing you can do
is try to make adjustments to your payment details around the beginning or
end of the month. If you have to make adjustments after about the 10th or
before the 20th, watch your account to make sure the changes take effect.
Sharing AdSense Revenues
People who publish AdSense ads on their Web sites are always working to
find new ways to increase their earnings from AdSense ads. Usually, that
means creating new Web sites and blogs and then populating them with content.
That’s followed by upkeep on those sites, and over time it becomes a
full-time j-o-b.
Not everyone has time to keep up with all that, so some people who publish
AdSense ads on their Web sites have come up with an innovative way to
show AdSense ads without investing so much time and effort. This innovative
way is AdSense Revenue Sharing, and it’s just this side of legal, according to
the AdSense Program Policy.
AdSense Revenue Sharing is usually accomplished by setting up a forum in
which different people from around the world can contribute. Forums are
the message board systems you find all over the Web, and they tend to rank
pretty well in Google search results because they’re usually very narrowly
focused, and they change their content often, which is why so many sites
now have them.
The forum owners set up the forums so that users who also publish AdSense ads
can enter their AdSense account number to show their AdSense ads — based on
the number of times that the person wanting to publish their AdSense ads starts
and responds to threads within the forum.
For example, if you were to sign up to participate in the forum on Flixya.
com — a video-, photo-, and blog-sharing service — you could include your
AdSense Publisher ID during the sign-up process. Then, each time you post
on the site, AdSense ads could potentially be shown in association with your
post. The percentage of times your ads are shown is usually determined by
the forum owner and is dependent upon how you post — meaning how relevant
your posts are to the topic that you’re posting in — how often you post,
and what your status is — or how much you contribute to the community.
When your ads are shown on these sites, and other site visitors click through
them, you receive either a percentage of the earnings or all the earnings,
depending on how the site is set up. Flixya.com actually allows AdSense publishers
to keep all their AdSense revenues.
Of course, if you’re using this method to show your AdSense ads, you’re also
showing them against the site owner’s ads. The site owner will most certainly
run her own ads the majority of the time. If you’re looking for a way to boost
your income though, this might help — a little.
Your earnings from these types of AdSense Revenue Sharing schemes aren’t
high. The earnings might be enough to buy you a sandwich from the Dollar
Menu now and again, but you certainly won’t get rich with ad-sharing programs.
For starters, posting often enough to keep your ads in front of visitors
is a full-time job. Second, you’re not the only person showing ads at any given
time, so the competition for visitors’ clicks is pretty high.
find new ways to increase their earnings from AdSense ads. Usually, that
means creating new Web sites and blogs and then populating them with content.
That’s followed by upkeep on those sites, and over time it becomes a
full-time j-o-b.
Not everyone has time to keep up with all that, so some people who publish
AdSense ads on their Web sites have come up with an innovative way to
show AdSense ads without investing so much time and effort. This innovative
way is AdSense Revenue Sharing, and it’s just this side of legal, according to
the AdSense Program Policy.
AdSense Revenue Sharing is usually accomplished by setting up a forum in
which different people from around the world can contribute. Forums are
the message board systems you find all over the Web, and they tend to rank
pretty well in Google search results because they’re usually very narrowly
focused, and they change their content often, which is why so many sites
now have them.
The forum owners set up the forums so that users who also publish AdSense ads
can enter their AdSense account number to show their AdSense ads — based on
the number of times that the person wanting to publish their AdSense ads starts
and responds to threads within the forum.
For example, if you were to sign up to participate in the forum on Flixya.
com — a video-, photo-, and blog-sharing service — you could include your
AdSense Publisher ID during the sign-up process. Then, each time you post
on the site, AdSense ads could potentially be shown in association with your
post. The percentage of times your ads are shown is usually determined by
the forum owner and is dependent upon how you post — meaning how relevant
your posts are to the topic that you’re posting in — how often you post,
and what your status is — or how much you contribute to the community.
When your ads are shown on these sites, and other site visitors click through
them, you receive either a percentage of the earnings or all the earnings,
depending on how the site is set up. Flixya.com actually allows AdSense publishers
to keep all their AdSense revenues.
Of course, if you’re using this method to show your AdSense ads, you’re also
showing them against the site owner’s ads. The site owner will most certainly
run her own ads the majority of the time. If you’re looking for a way to boost
your income though, this might help — a little.
Your earnings from these types of AdSense Revenue Sharing schemes aren’t
high. The earnings might be enough to buy you a sandwich from the Dollar
Menu now and again, but you certainly won’t get rich with ad-sharing programs.
For starters, posting often enough to keep your ads in front of visitors
is a full-time job. Second, you’re not the only person showing ads at any given
time, so the competition for visitors’ clicks is pretty high.
AdSense Sandbox
www.labnol.org/google-adsense-sandbox
The AdSense Sandbox is a great preview tool. If you want to see what types of
Google AdSense ads will appear on a page — based on the type of content on
that page — this tool does a pretty good job of showing you, even if it’s not
100 percent accurate.
To get AdSense Sandbox to work for you, go to their Web site and enter the
URL of the page you want to see ads for. Alternatively, you could just enter
specific keywords that you have in mind.
The result is a list of up to 20 AdSense ads that relate to that URL or keyword.
The AdSense Sandbox is a great preview tool. If you want to see what types of
Google AdSense ads will appear on a page — based on the type of content on
that page — this tool does a pretty good job of showing you, even if it’s not
100 percent accurate.
To get AdSense Sandbox to work for you, go to their Web site and enter the
URL of the page you want to see ads for. Alternatively, you could just enter
specific keywords that you have in mind.
The result is a list of up to 20 AdSense ads that relate to that URL or keyword.
AdSense Preview Tool
www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.
py?answer=10005&topic=160
AdSense Sandbox (see the preceding section) is third-party software, unaffiliated
with Google AdSense. The AdSense preview tool, however, is an official
Google application that, like AdSense Sandbox, allows you to see what types
of ads might appear on new Web pages that you’ve created. You can then use
this information to decide whether you want to add AdSense to that page.
With the AdSense preview tool, you can also check the destination of ads
that are on any of your Web pages, view how the formats and colors of ads
will appear on your page, and see what ads users in other countries will see.
The preview tool requires that you install a registry file on your computer. To
do so, follow these steps:
1. Go to the Web page listed at the beginning of this section and find the
AdSense Preview Tool link.
2. Right-click the link and choose Save Target As from the menu that
appears.
3. Save the registry file to a location where you can find it on your hard
drive.
I suggest saving it to your My Document file or to your Desktop.
4. Double-click the file after the download completes.
A confirmation window appears.
5. Select Yes in the confirmation window to update the registry.
The registry file is a self-installing file, so you don’t have to search for
the correct place in the registry to place the file.
6. After the installation is complete, restart your Internet Explorer
window so the installation can take effect.
That’s all there is to installing the preview tool. After the tool’s installed, you
can use it by right-clicking in any Web page. From the menu that appears,
choose Google AdSense Preview Tool to launch the preview tool. When it’s
launched, you can see the ads in the new window and even click your own
ads without fear of inciting Google’s ire. As long as you’re in the Preview
window, clicks don’t count.
py?answer=10005&topic=160
AdSense Sandbox (see the preceding section) is third-party software, unaffiliated
with Google AdSense. The AdSense preview tool, however, is an official
Google application that, like AdSense Sandbox, allows you to see what types
of ads might appear on new Web pages that you’ve created. You can then use
this information to decide whether you want to add AdSense to that page.
With the AdSense preview tool, you can also check the destination of ads
that are on any of your Web pages, view how the formats and colors of ads
will appear on your page, and see what ads users in other countries will see.
The preview tool requires that you install a registry file on your computer. To
do so, follow these steps:
1. Go to the Web page listed at the beginning of this section and find the
AdSense Preview Tool link.
2. Right-click the link and choose Save Target As from the menu that
appears.
3. Save the registry file to a location where you can find it on your hard
drive.
I suggest saving it to your My Document file or to your Desktop.
4. Double-click the file after the download completes.
A confirmation window appears.
5. Select Yes in the confirmation window to update the registry.
The registry file is a self-installing file, so you don’t have to search for
the correct place in the registry to place the file.
6. After the installation is complete, restart your Internet Explorer
window so the installation can take effect.
That’s all there is to installing the preview tool. After the tool’s installed, you
can use it by right-clicking in any Web page. From the menu that appears,
choose Google AdSense Preview Tool to launch the preview tool. When it’s
launched, you can see the ads in the new window and even click your own
ads without fear of inciting Google’s ire. As long as you’re in the Preview
window, clicks don’t count.
AdSense Calculator
www.seochat.com/seo-tools/adsense-calculator
If you’ve ever wondered how statistics, such as daily page impressions,
click-through-rates (CTR), or cost-per-clicks (CPC), affect the amount of your
AdSense earnings, here’s a tool that helps you figure it all out.
To use the AdSense Calculator, enter any or all of the values and then click
Calculate. For example, I entered the following values:
Daily page impressions: 1000
Click-through-rate: 1.5%
Cost-per-click: $.06
These are numbers that I mostly pulled from the air for an example. The exception
is the 1.5 percent click-through-rate. Experts estimate that 1.5 percent is
the average CTR for AdSense ads.
My results are
Daily earnings: $.90
Monthly earnings: $27.00
Yearly earnings: $328.50
Daily clicks: 15
Monthly clicks: 450
Yearly clicks: 5,475
In other words, if I have an average of 1,000 daily impressions and an average
cost-per-click of $.06, I would see the results in this list as the average
amount of clicks and earnings that I could receive in the given amount of
time. Figuring this out isn’t an exact science, but it gives you a pretty good
idea of what you could earn on your Web site if certain conditions are met.
If you’ve ever wondered how statistics, such as daily page impressions,
click-through-rates (CTR), or cost-per-clicks (CPC), affect the amount of your
AdSense earnings, here’s a tool that helps you figure it all out.
To use the AdSense Calculator, enter any or all of the values and then click
Calculate. For example, I entered the following values:
Daily page impressions: 1000
Click-through-rate: 1.5%
Cost-per-click: $.06
These are numbers that I mostly pulled from the air for an example. The exception
is the 1.5 percent click-through-rate. Experts estimate that 1.5 percent is
the average CTR for AdSense ads.
My results are
Daily earnings: $.90
Monthly earnings: $27.00
Yearly earnings: $328.50
Daily clicks: 15
Monthly clicks: 450
Yearly clicks: 5,475
In other words, if I have an average of 1,000 daily impressions and an average
cost-per-click of $.06, I would see the results in this list as the average
amount of clicks and earnings that I could receive in the given amount of
time. Figuring this out isn’t an exact science, but it gives you a pretty good
idea of what you could earn on your Web site if certain conditions are met.
AdWords Traffic Estimator and Bid Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/trafficEstimatorSandbox
Remember AdWords? That’s the advertising side of AdSense. AdWords is
the program that advertisers use to place the ads that you show on your
Web site using the AdSense program. The AdWords Traffic Estimator and
Bid Tool is actually an AdWords tool, but because AdSense is the other side
of AdWords, you may find it useful to help determine which high-paying keywords
you should be targeting with your Web site.
It works simply enough. Enter a few bits of information into the form
provided — information like keywords, bid amount, and targeting location —
and then the program generates a report that shows you how much traffic can
be expected for an ad based around the keywords you provided. Here’s how
to use it:
1. Log in to the Web site listed at the beginning of this section.
2. Enter a list of keywords that you want to target in the text box provided,
as shown in Figure 17-2.
3. Enter a maximum cost-per-click in the Choose a Currency section.
You may have to use your imagination here, but don’t choose a costper-
click that’s too low or too high. Instead, think in terms of an average
cost. There are no averages for what users can expect to pay for the use
of a keyword, but my suggestion is to use a figure that’s no less than $1
per click and no more than $10 per click. You want to keep your options
as wide open as possible, but you can also experiment with the numbers
to see what you find.
4. (Optional) Enter a daily budget.
I don’t usually bother with this. I leave this blank so that I’m not limited
by the hypothetical budget because a daily budget is really only relevant
if you’re planning to use the AdWords service where you pay to have
your ads placed on Web sites.
5. Select your regional targeting — language, location, and countries —
and then click Continue.
A new page appears, displaying stats for the keywords that you selected.
You’ll see Average CPC, Estimated Clicks Per Day, and Estimated Cost
Per Day.
Use the statistics that are returned to get a feel for which keywords you have
under consideration that will pay the highest in terms of CPC and cost-perimpression.
Again, it’s not an exact science, but getting a feel for what advertisers
are paying helps you better understand what you can expect (very
roughly) as far as earnings are concerned.
Remember AdWords? That’s the advertising side of AdSense. AdWords is
the program that advertisers use to place the ads that you show on your
Web site using the AdSense program. The AdWords Traffic Estimator and
Bid Tool is actually an AdWords tool, but because AdSense is the other side
of AdWords, you may find it useful to help determine which high-paying keywords
you should be targeting with your Web site.
It works simply enough. Enter a few bits of information into the form
provided — information like keywords, bid amount, and targeting location —
and then the program generates a report that shows you how much traffic can
be expected for an ad based around the keywords you provided. Here’s how
to use it:
1. Log in to the Web site listed at the beginning of this section.
2. Enter a list of keywords that you want to target in the text box provided,
as shown in Figure 17-2.
3. Enter a maximum cost-per-click in the Choose a Currency section.
You may have to use your imagination here, but don’t choose a costper-
click that’s too low or too high. Instead, think in terms of an average
cost. There are no averages for what users can expect to pay for the use
of a keyword, but my suggestion is to use a figure that’s no less than $1
per click and no more than $10 per click. You want to keep your options
as wide open as possible, but you can also experiment with the numbers
to see what you find.
4. (Optional) Enter a daily budget.
I don’t usually bother with this. I leave this blank so that I’m not limited
by the hypothetical budget because a daily budget is really only relevant
if you’re planning to use the AdWords service where you pay to have
your ads placed on Web sites.
5. Select your regional targeting — language, location, and countries —
and then click Continue.
A new page appears, displaying stats for the keywords that you selected.
You’ll see Average CPC, Estimated Clicks Per Day, and Estimated Cost
Per Day.
Use the statistics that are returned to get a feel for which keywords you have
under consideration that will pay the highest in terms of CPC and cost-perimpression.
Again, it’s not an exact science, but getting a feel for what advertisers
are paying helps you better understand what you can expect (very
roughly) as far as earnings are concerned.
AdSense Notifier
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/500
The AdSense Notifier is for those who use the Firefox browser instead of
Internet Explorer. The Notifier is an add-on that shows your AdSense stats
on the status bar of your browser and updates those stats automatically.
To install the Notifier, go to the Web address in the beginning of this section
and click Install Now. A software installation dialog box pops up. Allow
the dialog box to load completely and then click Install Now. The installation
takes a few seconds and then you’re prompted to restart your Firefox
browser. Select Restart Now, and the browser closes and then re-opens.
You’re logged in automatically, and your stats display in the bottom-right
corner of the browser.
The AdSense Notifier is for those who use the Firefox browser instead of
Internet Explorer. The Notifier is an add-on that shows your AdSense stats
on the status bar of your browser and updates those stats automatically.
To install the Notifier, go to the Web address in the beginning of this section
and click Install Now. A software installation dialog box pops up. Allow
the dialog box to load completely and then click Install Now. The installation
takes a few seconds and then you’re prompted to restart your Firefox
browser. Select Restart Now, and the browser closes and then re-opens.
You’re logged in automatically, and your stats display in the bottom-right
corner of the browser.
AdSense Heat Maps
www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.
py?answer=17954&topic=8970
Heat maps, like the one shown in Figure 17-1, are maps that show the
best placement for your ads on a given Web site. The link here leads to
Google’s suggested best placement. However, it only takes certain factors
into consideration. For example, this site has no consideration for scrolling
Web pages.
Another resource for heat maps that might be more useful is
www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/internet/google-heatmap-2.htm
These heat maps show some of the different variations that you might need
to take into consideration due to the unique nature of your Web pages —
variations like scrolling pages and different navigational structures. Just
remember, this isn’t an exact science. Test everything before you make any
final decisions about what works best on your particular site for your particular
audience.
py?answer=17954&topic=8970
Heat maps, like the one shown in Figure 17-1, are maps that show the
best placement for your ads on a given Web site. The link here leads to
Google’s suggested best placement. However, it only takes certain factors
into consideration. For example, this site has no consideration for scrolling
Web pages.
Another resource for heat maps that might be more useful is
www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/internet/google-heatmap-2.htm
These heat maps show some of the different variations that you might need
to take into consideration due to the unique nature of your Web pages —
variations like scrolling pages and different navigational structures. Just
remember, this isn’t an exact science. Test everything before you make any
final decisions about what works best on your particular site for your particular
audience.
AdSense Accelerator
This is the first tool featured here that’s not free. At $47 a month, this may be
more than you’re ready to invest in if you’re just getting started in AdSense.
However, if you’re looking for ways to build a Web site based on high-paying
keywords, you may want to make the investment.
The AdSense Accelerator shows the bids for the top-ten placement ads on
Google. You can then use this information to ensure that you’re targeting the
right keywords — which aren’t necessarily the top ten. Keep this in mind:
Just because a keyword is in the top ten doesn’t mean that it’s the right keyword
for you to target.
Basing your Web pages on the highest-paying keywords is a constant frustration
because those keywords change daily. However, you can use the
AdSense Accelerator to figure out which keywords consistently pay out at
higher rates.
No contract’s involved, so I suggest trying it out for at least a month to discover
more about what you could do to improve keyword targeting for the
ads that you want to display on your Web pages.
more than you’re ready to invest in if you’re just getting started in AdSense.
However, if you’re looking for ways to build a Web site based on high-paying
keywords, you may want to make the investment.
The AdSense Accelerator shows the bids for the top-ten placement ads on
Google. You can then use this information to ensure that you’re targeting the
right keywords — which aren’t necessarily the top ten. Keep this in mind:
Just because a keyword is in the top ten doesn’t mean that it’s the right keyword
for you to target.
Basing your Web pages on the highest-paying keywords is a constant frustration
because those keywords change daily. However, you can use the
AdSense Accelerator to figure out which keywords consistently pay out at
higher rates.
No contract’s involved, so I suggest trying it out for at least a month to discover
more about what you could do to improve keyword targeting for the
ads that you want to display on your Web pages.
AdWords Traffic Estimator and Bid Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/trafficEstimatorSandbox
Remember AdWords? That’s the advertising side of AdSense. AdWords is
the program that advertisers use to place the ads that you show on your
Web site using the AdSense program. The AdWords Traffic Estimator and
Bid Tool is actually an AdWords tool, but because AdSense is the other side
of AdWords, you may find it useful to help determine which high-paying keywords
you should be targeting with your Web site.
It works simply enough. Enter a few bits of information into the form
provided — information like keywords, bid amount, and targeting location —
and then the program generates a report that shows you how much traffic can
be expected for an ad based around the keywords you provided. Here’s how
to use it:
1. Log in to the Web site listed at the beginning of this section.
2. Enter a list of keywords that you want to target in the text box provided,
as shown in Figure 17-2.
3. Enter a maximum cost-per-click in the Choose a Currency section.
You may have to use your imagination here, but don’t choose a costper-
click that’s too low or too high. Instead, think in terms of an average
cost. There are no averages for what users can expect to pay for the use
of a keyword, but my suggestion is to use a figure that’s no less than $1
per click and no more than $10 per click. You want to keep your options
as wide open as possible, but you can also experiment with the numbers
to see what you find.
4. (Optional) Enter a daily budget.
I don’t usually bother with this. I leave this blank so that I’m not limited
by the hypothetical budget because a daily budget is really only relevant
if you’re planning to use the AdWords service where you pay to have
your ads placed on Web sites.
5. Select your regional targeting — language, location, and countries —
and then click Continue.
A new page appears, displaying stats for the keywords that you selected.
You’ll see Average CPC, Estimated Clicks Per Day, and Estimated Cost
Per Day.
Use the statistics that are returned to get a feel for which keywords you have
under consideration that will pay the highest in terms of CPC and cost-perimpression.
Again, it’s not an exact science, but getting a feel for what advertisers
are paying helps you better understand what you can expect (very
roughly) as far as earnings are concerned.
Remember AdWords? That’s the advertising side of AdSense. AdWords is
the program that advertisers use to place the ads that you show on your
Web site using the AdSense program. The AdWords Traffic Estimator and
Bid Tool is actually an AdWords tool, but because AdSense is the other side
of AdWords, you may find it useful to help determine which high-paying keywords
you should be targeting with your Web site.
It works simply enough. Enter a few bits of information into the form
provided — information like keywords, bid amount, and targeting location —
and then the program generates a report that shows you how much traffic can
be expected for an ad based around the keywords you provided. Here’s how
to use it:
1. Log in to the Web site listed at the beginning of this section.
2. Enter a list of keywords that you want to target in the text box provided,
as shown in Figure 17-2.
3. Enter a maximum cost-per-click in the Choose a Currency section.
You may have to use your imagination here, but don’t choose a costper-
click that’s too low or too high. Instead, think in terms of an average
cost. There are no averages for what users can expect to pay for the use
of a keyword, but my suggestion is to use a figure that’s no less than $1
per click and no more than $10 per click. You want to keep your options
as wide open as possible, but you can also experiment with the numbers
to see what you find.
4. (Optional) Enter a daily budget.
I don’t usually bother with this. I leave this blank so that I’m not limited
by the hypothetical budget because a daily budget is really only relevant
if you’re planning to use the AdWords service where you pay to have
your ads placed on Web sites.
5. Select your regional targeting — language, location, and countries —
and then click Continue.
A new page appears, displaying stats for the keywords that you selected.
You’ll see Average CPC, Estimated Clicks Per Day, and Estimated Cost
Per Day.
Use the statistics that are returned to get a feel for which keywords you have
under consideration that will pay the highest in terms of CPC and cost-perimpression.
Again, it’s not an exact science, but getting a feel for what advertisers
are paying helps you better understand what you can expect (very
roughly) as far as earnings are concerned.
Keyword-Ranking Tools
http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com
If you’re looking for something to complement the Google AdWords Keyword
Tool, try the keyword-ranking tool from WordTracker. This keyword-ranking
tool works much like the Google tool with a few minor differences.
The most noticeable difference between the WordTracker version and the
AdWords Keyword Tool are that WordTracker only lets you generate keywords
by plugging in a word or phrase — it doesn’t allow you to generate
keywords based on a Web site URL, in other words. WordTracker does, however,
show you the estimated daily search volume for the keywords shown.
Oh, WordTracker also doesn’t offer a cool progress meter. WordTracker
makes up for this, though, by knowing how many times each day a certain
keyword is searched for because the number of daily searches is a clear indicator
of what’s popular. If your site’s based on a set of keywords that ranks
low in the results, a simple change of keywords might bring more success for
your AdSense ads.
If you’re looking for something to complement the Google AdWords Keyword
Tool, try the keyword-ranking tool from WordTracker. This keyword-ranking
tool works much like the Google tool with a few minor differences.
The most noticeable difference between the WordTracker version and the
AdWords Keyword Tool are that WordTracker only lets you generate keywords
by plugging in a word or phrase — it doesn’t allow you to generate
keywords based on a Web site URL, in other words. WordTracker does, however,
show you the estimated daily search volume for the keywords shown.
Oh, WordTracker also doesn’t offer a cool progress meter. WordTracker
makes up for this, though, by knowing how many times each day a certain
keyword is searched for because the number of daily searches is a clear indicator
of what’s popular. If your site’s based on a set of keywords that ranks
low in the results, a simple change of keywords might bring more success for
your AdSense ads.
Keyword Tools
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
The AdWords Keyword Tool is designed to help you generate new keywords,
based on the words or phrases that you enter into the keyword generator.
This is another of those tools that, although it was built specifically with
AdWords in mind, might also prove useful for AdSense types as well.
One particularly useful feature of the Keyword Tool is that it lets you enter
the URL of a specific Web site to see what keywords are generated, according
to the content of the site. With it, you can enter the URL of the page you’re
optimizing for AdSense ads to see what keywords are being recognized on
that page.
The Keyword Tool is a great way to make sure that your page is being recognized
for the keyword ads you’re targeting. As an added bonus, it has a neat
little progress meter at the bottom that processes while it’s examining the
page that you entered. I know . . . small things for small minds, which mine
definitely is at times!
The results that are returned when the page is finished processing are pretty
comprehensive. You’ll probably see the keywords you’re targeting as well as
some that you hadn’t thought of. All in all, a very useful tool.
The AdWords Keyword Tool is designed to help you generate new keywords,
based on the words or phrases that you enter into the keyword generator.
This is another of those tools that, although it was built specifically with
AdWords in mind, might also prove useful for AdSense types as well.
One particularly useful feature of the Keyword Tool is that it lets you enter
the URL of a specific Web site to see what keywords are generated, according
to the content of the site. With it, you can enter the URL of the page you’re
optimizing for AdSense ads to see what keywords are being recognized on
that page.
The Keyword Tool is a great way to make sure that your page is being recognized
for the keyword ads you’re targeting. As an added bonus, it has a neat
little progress meter at the bottom that processes while it’s examining the
page that you entered. I know . . . small things for small minds, which mine
definitely is at times!
The results that are returned when the page is finished processing are pretty
comprehensive. You’ll probably see the keywords you’re targeting as well as
some that you hadn’t thought of. All in all, a very useful tool.
Sitemaps
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/docs/en/
sitemapgenerator.html
The Google sitemap generator is an application that examines your Web site
and creates a sitemap based on the structure of the site. “But why do I need a
sitemap?” you ask.
Simple. A sitemap is the easiest way to get Google to crawl all the nooks and
crannies of your site. The problem is that the sitemap generator is a little difficult
to use.
First, you have to download the sitemap generator from the Web site listed
at the top of this section, and then you have to create a configuration file for
the sitemap. After that, you need to upload specific files to your Web site, run
the sitemap generator program, add the sitemap to your Google Webmaster
account, and set the process up to be repeated.
Those steps are a tough process to get through. If you’re really relying on
Google when it comes to your search engine ranking, though, this sitemap
generator is worth the time and effort.
If you’re okay with using a different sitemap generator, however, you might find
the XML Sitemap Generator (www.xml-sitemaps.com) a little easier to use.
All you have to do with the XML Sitemap Generator is enter the URL, wait for
the program to process, and then download the resulting file to your computer.
After that’s done, log in to your Google Webmaster account, add the
sitemap URL, and you’re good to go.
The sitemap is a tool — not a requirement. If you have a large site, you may
find that your AdSense results for deep pages are much better if you have a
sitemap in place to lead search engines to the pages.
sitemapgenerator.html
The Google sitemap generator is an application that examines your Web site
and creates a sitemap based on the structure of the site. “But why do I need a
sitemap?” you ask.
Simple. A sitemap is the easiest way to get Google to crawl all the nooks and
crannies of your site. The problem is that the sitemap generator is a little difficult
to use.
First, you have to download the sitemap generator from the Web site listed
at the top of this section, and then you have to create a configuration file for
the sitemap. After that, you need to upload specific files to your Web site, run
the sitemap generator program, add the sitemap to your Google Webmaster
account, and set the process up to be repeated.
Those steps are a tough process to get through. If you’re really relying on
Google when it comes to your search engine ranking, though, this sitemap
generator is worth the time and effort.
If you’re okay with using a different sitemap generator, however, you might find
the XML Sitemap Generator (www.xml-sitemaps.com) a little easier to use.
All you have to do with the XML Sitemap Generator is enter the URL, wait for
the program to process, and then download the resulting file to your computer.
After that’s done, log in to your Google Webmaster account, add the
sitemap URL, and you’re good to go.
The sitemap is a tool — not a requirement. If you have a large site, you may
find that your AdSense results for deep pages are much better if you have a
sitemap in place to lead search engines to the pages.
AdSense Blog
http://adsense.blogspot.com
If you want to stay on top of what’s happening with AdSense, the AdSense
blog is the place to do it. This blog is updated a couple times a week (sometimes
more) with tips about using AdSense smarter or with news about
AdSense that might affect you.
Several people from the AdSense team work on the blog, so the voices are as
varied as the information that you get.
Add it to your RSS — this usually requires adding the blog URL to your RSS
reader, but the steps vary depending on the reader that you’re using —
because it’s always nice to know what’s going on in AdSense Land.
If you want to stay on top of what’s happening with AdSense, the AdSense
blog is the place to do it. This blog is updated a couple times a week (sometimes
more) with tips about using AdSense smarter or with news about
AdSense that might affect you.
Several people from the AdSense team work on the blog, so the voices are as
varied as the information that you get.
Add it to your RSS — this usually requires adding the blog URL to your RSS
reader, but the steps vary depending on the reader that you’re using —
because it’s always nice to know what’s going on in AdSense Land.
AdSense Help Group
http://groups.google.com/group/adsense-help
The AdSense Help files add up to a pretty comprehensive document. Like
other aspects of Google Help, the Help files can be a little circular at times,
and it’s certain that it won’t answer all your questions. When you need
an answer that you can’t find, the AdSense Help Group — through Google
Groups — is a useful list to be involved in.
Post your questions to the list, and other listers — or sometimes the moderators
themselves — provide answers if they’re out there to be had. Don’t be
discouraged if it takes a little time to get an answer, though. Everyone on the
list seems a little busy, so answers can occasionally take days or even weeks
to come by. Most of the time, though, you’ll have your answer in a much
shorter time.
The AdSense Help files add up to a pretty comprehensive document. Like
other aspects of Google Help, the Help files can be a little circular at times,
and it’s certain that it won’t answer all your questions. When you need
an answer that you can’t find, the AdSense Help Group — through Google
Groups — is a useful list to be involved in.
Post your questions to the list, and other listers — or sometimes the moderators
themselves — provide answers if they’re out there to be had. Don’t be
discouraged if it takes a little time to get an answer, though. Everyone on the
list seems a little busy, so answers can occasionally take days or even weeks
to come by. Most of the time, though, you’ll have your answer in a much
shorter time.
AdSense Don’ts
The list of activities that you can use to improve your AdSense revenues is
long and involved, but so is the list of strategies that you should avoid. In
that list, however, some stand out far more than others.
What follows is a list of the top-ten practices that you should avoid when creating
your Web site and implementing your AdSense ads. Somewhere along
the line someone likely told you that you should try one of the practices
listed here.
Don’t do it. The results might be nice for a while. You could temporarily
bump up your AdSense revenues. However, over time, the risks become
much higher, and ultimately, you’ll probably end up getting caught by
Google, which results in losing the privilege to show AdSense ads — and the
right to earn AdSense revenues.
Ultimately, it’s just not worth the risk.
long and involved, but so is the list of strategies that you should avoid. In
that list, however, some stand out far more than others.
What follows is a list of the top-ten practices that you should avoid when creating
your Web site and implementing your AdSense ads. Somewhere along
the line someone likely told you that you should try one of the practices
listed here.
Don’t do it. The results might be nice for a while. You could temporarily
bump up your AdSense revenues. However, over time, the risks become
much higher, and ultimately, you’ll probably end up getting caught by
Google, which results in losing the privilege to show AdSense ads — and the
right to earn AdSense revenues.
Ultimately, it’s just not worth the risk.
Don’t Build Your Web Site for AdSense
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a dozen times in this book: Don’t build your
Web site for AdSense. AdSense is about getting advertisements in front of
users. Google has to get those ads out there because the advertisers that are
using AdWords — the advertising arm of Google, where advertisers can place
their ads to be shown on Web sites like yours — are paying the company to
do so. If you build your Web site exclusively for AdSense, the only thing that
sees the ads is the crawler that periodically takes stock of your pages.
Build your site for actual, real, live visitors instead. You know, those people
sitting on the other side of the computer screen? They play with the keyboard
and mouse, and they’re looking for something that they hope to find
on your Web site. They’re visitors, and they’re your site’s target. The more
specific the type of visitor, the better.
When you build your site for visitors, you have to put serious thought into
how the visitor will use the site. Think about what draws him to your site
first. If he’s searching for information or products, what keywords will he use
to search? If he’s randomly typing in a Web address, what address will he
use? (Don’t laugh. It happens. I usually try the direct URL method of searching
before I go to a search engine.)
After you get the user to your site, the next consideration is what he’ll do
while he’s there. This is where your AdSense considerations come into play,
because when the user’s on the site, you want AdSense to be a natural part of
the site for him. Only when you build a site this way — for the visitor first
and foremost — will you find that you have success with AdSense.
When you build the site exclusively for AdSense, you’re also in the position of
being banned from the AdSense program. Google wants visitors to click ads.
Your job, as someone who publishes AdSense ads, is to ensure that AdSense
ads are displayed to as many potential clicks — that would be visitors — as
possible. That means putting visitors first, always.
Web site for AdSense. AdSense is about getting advertisements in front of
users. Google has to get those ads out there because the advertisers that are
using AdWords — the advertising arm of Google, where advertisers can place
their ads to be shown on Web sites like yours — are paying the company to
do so. If you build your Web site exclusively for AdSense, the only thing that
sees the ads is the crawler that periodically takes stock of your pages.
Build your site for actual, real, live visitors instead. You know, those people
sitting on the other side of the computer screen? They play with the keyboard
and mouse, and they’re looking for something that they hope to find
on your Web site. They’re visitors, and they’re your site’s target. The more
specific the type of visitor, the better.
When you build your site for visitors, you have to put serious thought into
how the visitor will use the site. Think about what draws him to your site
first. If he’s searching for information or products, what keywords will he use
to search? If he’s randomly typing in a Web address, what address will he
use? (Don’t laugh. It happens. I usually try the direct URL method of searching
before I go to a search engine.)
After you get the user to your site, the next consideration is what he’ll do
while he’s there. This is where your AdSense considerations come into play,
because when the user’s on the site, you want AdSense to be a natural part of
the site for him. Only when you build a site this way — for the visitor first
and foremost — will you find that you have success with AdSense.
When you build the site exclusively for AdSense, you’re also in the position of
being banned from the AdSense program. Google wants visitors to click ads.
Your job, as someone who publishes AdSense ads, is to ensure that AdSense
ads are displayed to as many potential clicks — that would be visitors — as
possible. That means putting visitors first, always.
Don’t Cut Corners
This rule is sort of a fall-back to don’t build your site for AdSense. When you
cut corners on your site, you take out all the elements that make people want
to visit the site. For example, cutting a corner would be using the same tired
articles that many other Web site owners are also using. Don’t do it. Users
quickly figure out that your site doesn’t contain quality content, and they’ll
move on to the next site.
Instead, take your time to create the best possible Web site to meet the need
your site was designed to meet. If you’re peddling information about kangaroo
farms, be the most comprehensive site on the Web about the topic. If
you’re selling pogo sticks, not only should you include a variety of different
models, but you should also include information that’s of value to your customers,
including how to care for the pogo stick, what types of tournaments
there might be, what associations there are, and what kind of creative activities
involve pogo sticks.
Give your visitors everything they’re looking for. This creates return visitors and
great word-of-mouth traffic (or buzz), which work together to increase the
amount of exposure for your AdSense ads. The more times people look at those
ads, the more likely they are to click them and increase your revenue stream.
cut corners on your site, you take out all the elements that make people want
to visit the site. For example, cutting a corner would be using the same tired
articles that many other Web site owners are also using. Don’t do it. Users
quickly figure out that your site doesn’t contain quality content, and they’ll
move on to the next site.
Instead, take your time to create the best possible Web site to meet the need
your site was designed to meet. If you’re peddling information about kangaroo
farms, be the most comprehensive site on the Web about the topic. If
you’re selling pogo sticks, not only should you include a variety of different
models, but you should also include information that’s of value to your customers,
including how to care for the pogo stick, what types of tournaments
there might be, what associations there are, and what kind of creative activities
involve pogo sticks.
Give your visitors everything they’re looking for. This creates return visitors and
great word-of-mouth traffic (or buzz), which work together to increase the
amount of exposure for your AdSense ads. The more times people look at those
ads, the more likely they are to click them and increase your revenue stream.
Don’t Hide Your Ads
I know it sounds crazy, but some people do hide their ads. What they do is
hide the text of the ad, leaving only the URL visible in an attempt to make visitors
think that the URL is part of a list of links or a blog roll — the list of links
to other blogs that you (as a blog owner) recommend. Do I need to tell you
that Google frowns on this practice?
You might think hiding the nature of your links sounds like a great idea, especially
in the context of blending your ads into your Web pages as much as
possible, but it’s not. Don’t be fooled if someone tells you she’s done this and
it worked well for her.
If you try it and Google catches any indications that you’re doing something
deceptive like this, you’ll be banned from the AdSense program. What’s
more, you could also be excluded from search results generated by the
Google search engine.
If you intend to show AdSense ads on your Web site, let them be seen. You
can blend them with the other text on the page or even make the backgrounds
the same color as your page background. Don’t hide the text leaving
only the link visible. It might garner you a few clicks in the beginning, but the
end results could be disastrous.
hide the text of the ad, leaving only the URL visible in an attempt to make visitors
think that the URL is part of a list of links or a blog roll — the list of links
to other blogs that you (as a blog owner) recommend. Do I need to tell you
that Google frowns on this practice?
You might think hiding the nature of your links sounds like a great idea, especially
in the context of blending your ads into your Web pages as much as
possible, but it’s not. Don’t be fooled if someone tells you she’s done this and
it worked well for her.
If you try it and Google catches any indications that you’re doing something
deceptive like this, you’ll be banned from the AdSense program. What’s
more, you could also be excluded from search results generated by the
Google search engine.
If you intend to show AdSense ads on your Web site, let them be seen. You
can blend them with the other text on the page or even make the backgrounds
the same color as your page background. Don’t hide the text leaving
only the link visible. It might garner you a few clicks in the beginning, but the
end results could be disastrous.
Don’t Change the AdSense Code
This one is right up there with the AdSense Don’t in the preceding section.
Don’t change the AdSense code. Google takes creating AdSense code very
seriously. Although a program generates the code for your Web site, that
program is constantly tweaked and improved (just like everything Google).
The code AdSense generates for you is exactly what Google needs to provide
the ads that will appear on your Web page as well as to track the results to
those ads, which are important factors.
Keep in mind that AdSense works only because AdWords works (or it could be
that AdWords works because AdSense works; which came first, the chicken or
the egg?). The only way to prove that either one of them works is in the tracking
that Google does. For that tracking to be accurate, the code provided to
make ads appear on your Web site must remain intact, as written.
The only exceptions to this are changing style elements of the code, such as
colors, and that should be done only with the AdSense code generator. If you
create an ad and then re-design your site to have different colors, you can
always go back to AdSense and edit the ad that you’ve created. If you’re
thinking of messing with anything that’s not style related, however, don’t —
it’s just not worth the grief that you get.
What is that grief? Say it with me: Getting banned from the AdSense program.
Don’t change the AdSense code. Google takes creating AdSense code very
seriously. Although a program generates the code for your Web site, that
program is constantly tweaked and improved (just like everything Google).
The code AdSense generates for you is exactly what Google needs to provide
the ads that will appear on your Web page as well as to track the results to
those ads, which are important factors.
Keep in mind that AdSense works only because AdWords works (or it could be
that AdWords works because AdSense works; which came first, the chicken or
the egg?). The only way to prove that either one of them works is in the tracking
that Google does. For that tracking to be accurate, the code provided to
make ads appear on your Web site must remain intact, as written.
The only exceptions to this are changing style elements of the code, such as
colors, and that should be done only with the AdSense code generator. If you
create an ad and then re-design your site to have different colors, you can
always go back to AdSense and edit the ad that you’ve created. If you’re
thinking of messing with anything that’s not style related, however, don’t —
it’s just not worth the grief that you get.
What is that grief? Say it with me: Getting banned from the AdSense program.
Don’t Use Clickbots
Remember click fraud from a few paragraphs ago? Clickbots are another way
to commit click fraud. A clickbot is a script or program that’s designed to
click the ads on your page, and they’re readily available on the Web, usually
inexpensively.
Just because clickbots are there doesn’t mean you should use them, though.
Clickbots do the same thing that you’d do if you were clicking your own ads,
except on a much larger scale. They inflate the revenue that’s generated without
increasing the interest in the product or service that’s being advertised.
Now, a common misconception is that people only use clickbots to click their
own ads — not true. Some people have been caught using clickbots to click
other people’s ads, too. These people are usually AdWords advertisers who
are trying to push their competition out of the way.
See, each time someone clicks an ad, it costs the advertiser a set amount of
money. A clickbot can click an ad dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of
times, driving up the cost of the ad. This can affect how many times an ad is
shown in a given period of time, and it can also cost an advertiser a large
amount of money. After the budget limit is reached, that advertiser is out of
the way until the next billing cycle, allowing the next highest bidders to have
their ads shown more often.
Clickbots form a vicious cycle that can be very costly for the person or company
that falls victim to this type of click fraud. If you’re the one committing
it, both AdSense and AdWords will ban you from their programs.
to commit click fraud. A clickbot is a script or program that’s designed to
click the ads on your page, and they’re readily available on the Web, usually
inexpensively.
Just because clickbots are there doesn’t mean you should use them, though.
Clickbots do the same thing that you’d do if you were clicking your own ads,
except on a much larger scale. They inflate the revenue that’s generated without
increasing the interest in the product or service that’s being advertised.
Now, a common misconception is that people only use clickbots to click their
own ads — not true. Some people have been caught using clickbots to click
other people’s ads, too. These people are usually AdWords advertisers who
are trying to push their competition out of the way.
See, each time someone clicks an ad, it costs the advertiser a set amount of
money. A clickbot can click an ad dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of
times, driving up the cost of the ad. This can affect how many times an ad is
shown in a given period of time, and it can also cost an advertiser a large
amount of money. After the budget limit is reached, that advertiser is out of
the way until the next billing cycle, allowing the next highest bidders to have
their ads shown more often.
Clickbots form a vicious cycle that can be very costly for the person or company
that falls victim to this type of click fraud. If you’re the one committing
it, both AdSense and AdWords will ban you from their programs.
Don’t Get Banned for Taboo Content
Taboo content — content that Google’s deemed inappropriate for all
audiences — is another way to end up on the bad side of AdSense.
Examples include content that refers to
1. Certain weapons, including guns
2. Illegal drugs
3. Alcohol
4. Tobacco
5. Pornography
6. Designer knock-offs
If your Web site contains these types of content, AdSense doesn’t want ads
displayed on it for one simple reason — image. Google, AdWords, AdSense,
and all the other arms of Google have an image to uphold. Placing ads for
goods or services on inappropriate sites isn’t the way to do that.
Google has to screen some of the Web sites on which AdSense ads will
appear. If you have a site that’s likely to be offensive to a large number of
people because it contains any of the content listed earlier, AdSense denies
your request to put ads there.
Some folks think it’s smart to put the ads on their site and then later change
the site and add disagreeable content to it — bad move. If you’re using
AdSense and the crawler finds this type of content on your site, you’re asked to
remove the content, and if you don’t, you can be banned from the program.
If your site contains any of the topics listed in this section, you might want to
look to other affiliate and advertising programs for ways to generate a revenue
stream.
audiences — is another way to end up on the bad side of AdSense.
Examples include content that refers to
1. Certain weapons, including guns
2. Illegal drugs
3. Alcohol
4. Tobacco
5. Pornography
6. Designer knock-offs
If your Web site contains these types of content, AdSense doesn’t want ads
displayed on it for one simple reason — image. Google, AdWords, AdSense,
and all the other arms of Google have an image to uphold. Placing ads for
goods or services on inappropriate sites isn’t the way to do that.
Google has to screen some of the Web sites on which AdSense ads will
appear. If you have a site that’s likely to be offensive to a large number of
people because it contains any of the content listed earlier, AdSense denies
your request to put ads there.
Some folks think it’s smart to put the ads on their site and then later change
the site and add disagreeable content to it — bad move. If you’re using
AdSense and the crawler finds this type of content on your site, you’re asked to
remove the content, and if you don’t, you can be banned from the program.
If your site contains any of the topics listed in this section, you might want to
look to other affiliate and advertising programs for ways to generate a revenue
stream.
Don’t Hold Clicking Contests
Here’s another facet of click fraud. Clicking contests are conducted when
someone who publishes AdSense ads creates a contest for which site visitors
must click an ad to qualify. The contest is usually monitored with a secondary
script that the Web site owner creates.
This artificially inflates the number of clicks that you receive on your
AdSense ads, driving up the revenues that your site generates. This is bad for
two reasons.
First, you’re creating an artificial bump in revenues. That means to maintain
that level of revenue, you have to come up with increasingly creative ways to
get people to click your AdSense ads until you’ve reached the point of outright
fraud. Never good.
Second, artificially inflating the number of times that someone clicks one of
your ads causes the system to be skewed on the Google side, too. The advertisers
have to pay more for advertising. Even more troublesome though is
that your site could be taken as a site that generates a lot of traffic and so
might benefit from a cost-per-impression ad.
Great news for you if you have a ton of traffic, but if you don’t, you could end
up on the losing end of that proposition. Being limited to cost-per-impression
ads also means that the advertisers that are specifically targeting your site
lose out. In turn, Google loses out on potential revenues.
someone who publishes AdSense ads creates a contest for which site visitors
must click an ad to qualify. The contest is usually monitored with a secondary
script that the Web site owner creates.
This artificially inflates the number of clicks that you receive on your
AdSense ads, driving up the revenues that your site generates. This is bad for
two reasons.
First, you’re creating an artificial bump in revenues. That means to maintain
that level of revenue, you have to come up with increasingly creative ways to
get people to click your AdSense ads until you’ve reached the point of outright
fraud. Never good.
Second, artificially inflating the number of times that someone clicks one of
your ads causes the system to be skewed on the Google side, too. The advertisers
have to pay more for advertising. Even more troublesome though is
that your site could be taken as a site that generates a lot of traffic and so
might benefit from a cost-per-impression ad.
Great news for you if you have a ton of traffic, but if you don’t, you could end
up on the losing end of that proposition. Being limited to cost-per-impression
ads also means that the advertisers that are specifically targeting your site
lose out. In turn, Google loses out on potential revenues.
Don’t Pay Others to Click Your Ads
Here’s another one that falls into the same category as not using clickbots or
holding clicking contests. Don’t pay other people to click your ads.
These kinds of programs are sometimes billed as affiliate programs. People
who put them together offer a portion of their revenues to a person or group
of people who in turn click their AdSense ads. That’s all great, and it might
even work for a little while, but eventually someone will squeal or Google will
catch on.
The penalties for falsely inflating your AdSense revenues can be stiff. You can
(of course) possibly lose your AdSense privileges, but there’s a darker side to
click fraud if you get caught with your hand deep enough in the cookie jar.
Google has been known to prosecute people who commit click fraud, especially
in cases that are considered extreme.
The best strategy for increasing your AdSense revenue and maintaining that
revenue long-term is to do it by-the-book. Use the strategies I talk about in
this book — all the chapters include some kind of strategy that should help
you increase your revenues — and avoid anything that can get you into hot
water with Google. Because you’ve gone about building your AdSense business
the right way, you’ll continue to see returns on your AdSense efforts for
a long time to come.
holding clicking contests. Don’t pay other people to click your ads.
These kinds of programs are sometimes billed as affiliate programs. People
who put them together offer a portion of their revenues to a person or group
of people who in turn click their AdSense ads. That’s all great, and it might
even work for a little while, but eventually someone will squeal or Google will
catch on.
The penalties for falsely inflating your AdSense revenues can be stiff. You can
(of course) possibly lose your AdSense privileges, but there’s a darker side to
click fraud if you get caught with your hand deep enough in the cookie jar.
Google has been known to prosecute people who commit click fraud, especially
in cases that are considered extreme.
The best strategy for increasing your AdSense revenue and maintaining that
revenue long-term is to do it by-the-book. Use the strategies I talk about in
this book — all the chapters include some kind of strategy that should help
you increase your revenues — and avoid anything that can get you into hot
water with Google. Because you’ve gone about building your AdSense business
the right way, you’ll continue to see returns on your AdSense efforts for
a long time to come.
Don’t Use Any Other Underhanded Methods
Click fraud is just one of the underhanded methods that some people use to
increase their AdSense revenues. Whether you’re using click fraud or some
other deceptive practice doesn’t matter though. If you’re trying to get the
upper-hand on Google, you’ll probably fail.
That doesn’t keep some people from recommending the wrong methods of
increasing Web site traffic and therefore increasing AdSense revenues. What
do these people care if you’re kicked out of the AdSense program? You getting
kicked out doesn’t affect them at all.
It’s much smarter to avoid anything that seems less than honest. I talk about
some of the methods that you might see recommended — but that you
should never try — in the list here:
1. Cloaking: By putting one set of content in front of a search engine
crawler and then presenting users with another set of content, cloaking
deceives potential site visitors into believing they’re entering one type
of site when in fact they’re entering another.
Cloaking can apply to AdSense, too. If you’re using cloaking techniques,
you could be baiting AdSense ads for extremely high-paying keywords,
but the content on your site doesn’t relate to those keywords at all. Site
visitors click into your site, but because they don’t find what they’re
looking for, they often click the ads that are displayed instead.
Cloaking is a bad practice that Google figures out very quickly. When
they do, you pay the price for your deception — as in, kiss your membership
in the AdSense program goodbye.
2. Duplicate content: No one wants to see the same boring stuff all over
again — just like no one wants to watch reruns on TV — which is why
I’m always recommending that you use as much unique, fresh content as
you can generate, rather than loading up your site with content found
elsewhere.
What makes duplicate content so troublesome for AdSense is that if
dozens of sites all carry the same content, a limited number of relevant
ads can be shown on those sites. Duplicate content can also indicate
that a Web site isn’t regularly updated, meaning that it won’t have as
much traffic as a site that maintains dynamic content.
Google wants AdSense (and AdWords) to be successful. So, naturally, the
more diverse the sites are within a topic, the more ads that can be shown.
Although duplicate content probably won’t get you banned from AdSense,
it certainly reduces the effectiveness of your site and value of the ads that
are shown on the site. You know what that means: less revenue.
3. Hidden text: This is yet another “helpful hint” you may have suggested
to you in the context of improving the AdSense ads that appear on your
site. Hidden text involves text that, while present on your site, is colored
the same as the background so that it blends into the site and isn’t seen
by site visitors — only Web crawlers can read the text.
Most of the time, hidden text is used to target a specific keyword that’s
unrelated to the actual content of the site. People use this tactic to draw
ads for higher-paying keywords because these ads are likely to pay
better than the ads that appear based on the actual content that the visitor
sees.
increase their AdSense revenues. Whether you’re using click fraud or some
other deceptive practice doesn’t matter though. If you’re trying to get the
upper-hand on Google, you’ll probably fail.
That doesn’t keep some people from recommending the wrong methods of
increasing Web site traffic and therefore increasing AdSense revenues. What
do these people care if you’re kicked out of the AdSense program? You getting
kicked out doesn’t affect them at all.
It’s much smarter to avoid anything that seems less than honest. I talk about
some of the methods that you might see recommended — but that you
should never try — in the list here:
1. Cloaking: By putting one set of content in front of a search engine
crawler and then presenting users with another set of content, cloaking
deceives potential site visitors into believing they’re entering one type
of site when in fact they’re entering another.
Cloaking can apply to AdSense, too. If you’re using cloaking techniques,
you could be baiting AdSense ads for extremely high-paying keywords,
but the content on your site doesn’t relate to those keywords at all. Site
visitors click into your site, but because they don’t find what they’re
looking for, they often click the ads that are displayed instead.
Cloaking is a bad practice that Google figures out very quickly. When
they do, you pay the price for your deception — as in, kiss your membership
in the AdSense program goodbye.
2. Duplicate content: No one wants to see the same boring stuff all over
again — just like no one wants to watch reruns on TV — which is why
I’m always recommending that you use as much unique, fresh content as
you can generate, rather than loading up your site with content found
elsewhere.
What makes duplicate content so troublesome for AdSense is that if
dozens of sites all carry the same content, a limited number of relevant
ads can be shown on those sites. Duplicate content can also indicate
that a Web site isn’t regularly updated, meaning that it won’t have as
much traffic as a site that maintains dynamic content.
Google wants AdSense (and AdWords) to be successful. So, naturally, the
more diverse the sites are within a topic, the more ads that can be shown.
Although duplicate content probably won’t get you banned from AdSense,
it certainly reduces the effectiveness of your site and value of the ads that
are shown on the site. You know what that means: less revenue.
3. Hidden text: This is yet another “helpful hint” you may have suggested
to you in the context of improving the AdSense ads that appear on your
site. Hidden text involves text that, while present on your site, is colored
the same as the background so that it blends into the site and isn’t seen
by site visitors — only Web crawlers can read the text.
Most of the time, hidden text is used to target a specific keyword that’s
unrelated to the actual content of the site. People use this tactic to draw
ads for higher-paying keywords because these ads are likely to pay
better than the ads that appear based on the actual content that the visitor
sees.
Improve Web Site Traffic
Improving your Web site traffic is a tricky business. You can take advantage
of quite a few different strategies — many won’t cost you much
whereas some won’t even cost you a dime. The trick is to find the right balance
of strategies and then be consistent in your efforts to draw people to
your Web site.
Consistency is also a very important factor in improving the traffic to your
Web site. Every day you should be plugging away at your marketing efforts,
in whatever form works best for your site. Web site marketing does require
constant attention, however. Pushing for a short period of time to improve
your traffic but then letting the efforts fall by the wayside does no good.
Doing so might get you a temporary increase in traffic, but as soon as you
stop your efforts to bring people to your site, you’ll see your traffic statistics
begin to fall again.
What follows are some of the strategies that you can use to improve your
Web site traffic. No single strategy works by itself, but a combination of those
shown here — and others that you figure out on your own along the way —
gets you moving in the right direction.
of quite a few different strategies — many won’t cost you much
whereas some won’t even cost you a dime. The trick is to find the right balance
of strategies and then be consistent in your efforts to draw people to
your Web site.
Consistency is also a very important factor in improving the traffic to your
Web site. Every day you should be plugging away at your marketing efforts,
in whatever form works best for your site. Web site marketing does require
constant attention, however. Pushing for a short period of time to improve
your traffic but then letting the efforts fall by the wayside does no good.
Doing so might get you a temporary increase in traffic, but as soon as you
stop your efforts to bring people to your site, you’ll see your traffic statistics
begin to fall again.
What follows are some of the strategies that you can use to improve your
Web site traffic. No single strategy works by itself, but a combination of those
shown here — and others that you figure out on your own along the way —
gets you moving in the right direction.
Great, Dynamic Content
Everyone seems to be seeking the key to more Web site content. In today’s
information-driven society, great, dynamic content is the key. People are usually
online because they’re looking for something — relationships, information,
products, or services. Content is the way they find what they’re looking for.
Think about it. A decade or so ago, if you wanted to find information on anything,
you had to go to the library or the bookstore to find that information.
Today, finding what you seek is as close as your computer. Just open a Web
browser, type a few words, and what you’re looking for is sitting right in front
of you. Very little information can’t be found online these days.
Here’s what makes one site better than another though. When I’m looking for
information online, I click into and out of a site in the time it takes most
people to take a sip of coffee. That’s because I know exactly what I’m looking
for, and when I don’t see it, I move on to the next search result.
When I do find what I’m looking for, though, I tend to stick around. I’ll read
the article that brought me to the site and then I’ll click through all the articles
that are linked to it, and I might even click some of the ads shown on the
page if they seem interesting. When I’m done, I bookmark the page to come
back later and see what’s new.
That is what good content does for a Web site — it buys you time with your site
visitors and it buys you return visits. If you don’t have content with that kind of
stickiness, the first thing you can do to improve your Web site is to create that
content. Just remember, don’t try buying it from a content broker — someone
who commissions content from writers and then resells it to Web site or publication
owners — if you really want something fresh and new because everyone
else in your area is using the same content broker.
information-driven society, great, dynamic content is the key. People are usually
online because they’re looking for something — relationships, information,
products, or services. Content is the way they find what they’re looking for.
Think about it. A decade or so ago, if you wanted to find information on anything,
you had to go to the library or the bookstore to find that information.
Today, finding what you seek is as close as your computer. Just open a Web
browser, type a few words, and what you’re looking for is sitting right in front
of you. Very little information can’t be found online these days.
Here’s what makes one site better than another though. When I’m looking for
information online, I click into and out of a site in the time it takes most
people to take a sip of coffee. That’s because I know exactly what I’m looking
for, and when I don’t see it, I move on to the next search result.
When I do find what I’m looking for, though, I tend to stick around. I’ll read
the article that brought me to the site and then I’ll click through all the articles
that are linked to it, and I might even click some of the ads shown on the
page if they seem interesting. When I’m done, I bookmark the page to come
back later and see what’s new.
That is what good content does for a Web site — it buys you time with your site
visitors and it buys you return visits. If you don’t have content with that kind of
stickiness, the first thing you can do to improve your Web site is to create that
content. Just remember, don’t try buying it from a content broker — someone
who commissions content from writers and then resells it to Web site or publication
owners — if you really want something fresh and new because everyone
else in your area is using the same content broker.
Referral Programs
Referral programs have a couple different sides. One side of a referral program
is the side on which you make money. That’s for putting referral buttons
on your Web site.
What if you flip that around and create your own referral program where you
pay visitors to share your site with others? You can do that — and should —
if you really want to build a sizable flow of traffic to your site.
Creating a referral program isn’t too difficult. The first thing you need to do is
determine what you can afford to invest in the program. Typically, those who
refer your site are paid anywhere from about a penny-a-click to as much as $5
per click or more. Some referral programs promise a flat fee for any referral
that results in a purchase.
Your budget is the determining factor here, but remember this: The more
you pay, the more likely others will want to refer your site to their site visitors.
They’re sending traffic away from their site to yours, so you must make
it worth the referrers’ efforts.
Remember that for a referral program to be effective, it should also be
simple. If you’re telling people you’ll only pay them a referral fee if they send
someone to your site who then makes two purchases over a 60-day period,
unless your site is truly amazing or the products that you offer are completely
unique, not too many people will refer their visitors to you. It’s just
too hard for them to earn a reward for that referral.
A referral program also has to make it easy for referrers to be connected to
the people that they refer. A simple form that includes a Referred By box is
okay, but it’s only as effective as the memory of the person filling out the
form. A link that connects referrers to your referral program so that you can
track who they refer is much more effective for the people who are spreading
your name around.
Setting up an easy-to-use referral program might be more difficult on your
end, but it’s worth the investment. The less work that someone has to do to
refer people to you and collect a reward for that referral, the more likely he’ll
use your referral program.
Amazon.com has a referral program that’s an excellent example of what
really works. They provide all the tools that users need to refer others to
Amazon products. All the user has to do is plug a piece of code into her blog
or Web site. Amazon and the visitors clicking through the referrals do the
rest of the work.
Now, I know you don’t have the budget that Amazon has, but you should be
able to get the technology you need without having to break the bank. A
quick search on Google turns up referral marketing systems that are fairly
cost effective. For example, ReferralBlast (www.referralblast.com) is an
easy to use program that offers four different levels of referral programs —
from a basic program to a highly customized program — that range from $99
per year to $999 per year. Another program that’s available, and that is fairly
easy to use, is ReferralSoftware.com (www.referralsoftware.com). This
software — unlike ReferralBlast — allows you to set up referral programs for
a one-time fee of $299, after which you never pay another fee.
is the side on which you make money. That’s for putting referral buttons
on your Web site.
What if you flip that around and create your own referral program where you
pay visitors to share your site with others? You can do that — and should —
if you really want to build a sizable flow of traffic to your site.
Creating a referral program isn’t too difficult. The first thing you need to do is
determine what you can afford to invest in the program. Typically, those who
refer your site are paid anywhere from about a penny-a-click to as much as $5
per click or more. Some referral programs promise a flat fee for any referral
that results in a purchase.
Your budget is the determining factor here, but remember this: The more
you pay, the more likely others will want to refer your site to their site visitors.
They’re sending traffic away from their site to yours, so you must make
it worth the referrers’ efforts.
Remember that for a referral program to be effective, it should also be
simple. If you’re telling people you’ll only pay them a referral fee if they send
someone to your site who then makes two purchases over a 60-day period,
unless your site is truly amazing or the products that you offer are completely
unique, not too many people will refer their visitors to you. It’s just
too hard for them to earn a reward for that referral.
A referral program also has to make it easy for referrers to be connected to
the people that they refer. A simple form that includes a Referred By box is
okay, but it’s only as effective as the memory of the person filling out the
form. A link that connects referrers to your referral program so that you can
track who they refer is much more effective for the people who are spreading
your name around.
Setting up an easy-to-use referral program might be more difficult on your
end, but it’s worth the investment. The less work that someone has to do to
refer people to you and collect a reward for that referral, the more likely he’ll
use your referral program.
Amazon.com has a referral program that’s an excellent example of what
really works. They provide all the tools that users need to refer others to
Amazon products. All the user has to do is plug a piece of code into her blog
or Web site. Amazon and the visitors clicking through the referrals do the
rest of the work.
Now, I know you don’t have the budget that Amazon has, but you should be
able to get the technology you need without having to break the bank. A
quick search on Google turns up referral marketing systems that are fairly
cost effective. For example, ReferralBlast (www.referralblast.com) is an
easy to use program that offers four different levels of referral programs —
from a basic program to a highly customized program — that range from $99
per year to $999 per year. Another program that’s available, and that is fairly
easy to use, is ReferralSoftware.com (www.referralsoftware.com). This
software — unlike ReferralBlast — allows you to set up referral programs for
a one-time fee of $299, after which you never pay another fee.
Links and Linking Strategies
You wouldn’t think that the links on your site would make too much difference
to the traffic on your site, but they do. The Web is an interconnected
group of pages. The connection from one page to another comes in the form
of a link. So, both on your site and from others’ sites, links are an essential
part of drawing people in.
One of the easiest ways to begin building a linking strategy is to contact the
owners of Web sites that you like and ask them for a reciprocal link. Reciprocal
links are when you put a link to that site on your page in exchange for a link
back to your Web site. Reciprocal linking strategies are very common on
the Web.
Another way to get people to link to you is to offer something completely
unique on your Web site. For some, that means adding a special download
to the site that’s not available anywhere; for others, it means adding videos,
podcasts, or some other element that’s completely unique. Whatever your
draw is, keep it unique and fresh. A podcast or video can be effective for a
few days, but after a while, it loses its effectiveness and needs to be replaced
with something new.
When you have an intricate linking strategy in place (one that leads to other
sites of interest and back to you from other sites), you start seeing the
results of the strategy — more traffic. The linking strategy takes a little time
to create, but it’s well worth the effort.
to the traffic on your site, but they do. The Web is an interconnected
group of pages. The connection from one page to another comes in the form
of a link. So, both on your site and from others’ sites, links are an essential
part of drawing people in.
One of the easiest ways to begin building a linking strategy is to contact the
owners of Web sites that you like and ask them for a reciprocal link. Reciprocal
links are when you put a link to that site on your page in exchange for a link
back to your Web site. Reciprocal linking strategies are very common on
the Web.
Another way to get people to link to you is to offer something completely
unique on your Web site. For some, that means adding a special download
to the site that’s not available anywhere; for others, it means adding videos,
podcasts, or some other element that’s completely unique. Whatever your
draw is, keep it unique and fresh. A podcast or video can be effective for a
few days, but after a while, it loses its effectiveness and needs to be replaced
with something new.
When you have an intricate linking strategy in place (one that leads to other
sites of interest and back to you from other sites), you start seeing the
results of the strategy — more traffic. The linking strategy takes a little time
to create, but it’s well worth the effort.
Advertisements
If you haven’t already done it, check out AdWords. AdWords is the advertiser’s
arm of AdSense. With AdWords, you can bid to show your advertisements
based on keywords that you select. Remember: Although AdWords
is an advertising program, it’s not good just for products. You can use
AdWords with your services or even content Web sites, too. The point of
using AdWords is to advertise your site to users who might not otherwise
find you. What you sell or provide on that site is up to you.
The cool thing about AdWords is that you can set a budget that keeps you
from spending way more than you have available to spend on advertising
your site.
Of course, AdWords isn’t the only game in the advertising world. You can
also consider banner ads or even other pay-per-click advertising options.
What’s important is that you get your Web site in front of as many people
as possible.
Advertising probably isn’t the most effective method of getting your name
out there — positive word of mouth and great content are your best shot —
but if you have some cash to spend on getting your name known, it’s definitely
a strategy that you should consider.
arm of AdSense. With AdWords, you can bid to show your advertisements
based on keywords that you select. Remember: Although AdWords
is an advertising program, it’s not good just for products. You can use
AdWords with your services or even content Web sites, too. The point of
using AdWords is to advertise your site to users who might not otherwise
find you. What you sell or provide on that site is up to you.
The cool thing about AdWords is that you can set a budget that keeps you
from spending way more than you have available to spend on advertising
your site.
Of course, AdWords isn’t the only game in the advertising world. You can
also consider banner ads or even other pay-per-click advertising options.
What’s important is that you get your Web site in front of as many people
as possible.
Advertising probably isn’t the most effective method of getting your name
out there — positive word of mouth and great content are your best shot —
but if you have some cash to spend on getting your name known, it’s definitely
a strategy that you should consider.
Blog Promotions
If you have a blog, you simply have to have a blog promotion (or 12). Really.
Blogs are cool, but if you’re not out there promoting your blog every single
day, your numbers will suck pond scum. One of the most effective types of
blog promotion is simply to read and post on other people’s blogs. When you
post on other people’s blogs, their readers see your post. They can click
through any links that you have connected to your display name or within
your comments to see your blog — in fact, you have the opportunity to
include your blog URL when you post on most blogs, and you should always
include it. Including your blog address gives you free exposure, just for sharing
your opinion.
Blogs have become so popular that even corporations now use them to
advertise products, services, and events or just to keep readers updated on
what’s happening with the company. The downside though is that blogs have
become so popular that every person who even thinks they might possibly
have something of interest to say has a blog.
Making your blog stand out from the rest of the pack is a very difficult process.
Start with a truly interesting blog — will it captivate every person on
the Web? No. If you can make your blog fresh though, you can potentially
gain a huge mindshare in the area in which you specialize.
After you come up with that perfect blog, you have to get the word out. Start
by posting comments on other blogs, but don’t stop there. Spread the word
through your friends and ask them to spread the word, too. Join mailing lists
and make sure your blog address appears in the signature line for every post
that you make to the list (and you do have to post to the list — preferably
interesting, useful posts).
Consider other promotions, such as blog tours (where a blog author appears
on several different blogs as a guest blogger), giveaways, and other contests.
Be creative, but also think in terms of what appeals to potential blog readers.
If your blog is about a group of teens that are band groupies, a contest where
the giveaway is a copy of War and Peace might not be the best idea. If the
prize in your contest is a $25 iTunes card, the response could be much more
than you even dare to hope for.
As with all types of promotions, think outside the box. Better yet, think of a
way to create a whole new box.
Blogs are cool, but if you’re not out there promoting your blog every single
day, your numbers will suck pond scum. One of the most effective types of
blog promotion is simply to read and post on other people’s blogs. When you
post on other people’s blogs, their readers see your post. They can click
through any links that you have connected to your display name or within
your comments to see your blog — in fact, you have the opportunity to
include your blog URL when you post on most blogs, and you should always
include it. Including your blog address gives you free exposure, just for sharing
your opinion.
Blogs have become so popular that even corporations now use them to
advertise products, services, and events or just to keep readers updated on
what’s happening with the company. The downside though is that blogs have
become so popular that every person who even thinks they might possibly
have something of interest to say has a blog.
Making your blog stand out from the rest of the pack is a very difficult process.
Start with a truly interesting blog — will it captivate every person on
the Web? No. If you can make your blog fresh though, you can potentially
gain a huge mindshare in the area in which you specialize.
After you come up with that perfect blog, you have to get the word out. Start
by posting comments on other blogs, but don’t stop there. Spread the word
through your friends and ask them to spread the word, too. Join mailing lists
and make sure your blog address appears in the signature line for every post
that you make to the list (and you do have to post to the list — preferably
interesting, useful posts).
Consider other promotions, such as blog tours (where a blog author appears
on several different blogs as a guest blogger), giveaways, and other contests.
Be creative, but also think in terms of what appeals to potential blog readers.
If your blog is about a group of teens that are band groupies, a contest where
the giveaway is a copy of War and Peace might not be the best idea. If the
prize in your contest is a $25 iTunes card, the response could be much more
than you even dare to hope for.
As with all types of promotions, think outside the box. Better yet, think of a
way to create a whole new box.
Publicity and Public Relations
All too often, publicity and public relations are all lumped into the same category
of advertising. From where I sit, publicity and public relations are two
different things. Publicity is free, and it includes coverage from other media
sources, including newsletters, newspapers, radio stations, television, or
whoever else may pick up word of what you’re doing.
On the Web, publicity usually takes the form of word-of-mouth type publicity.
Someone sees your Web site and then tells someone else who happens to
have a blog, so that person writes a blog post about it, which is then picked
up by other bloggers, and it then catches the eye of some radio host or newspaper
journalist who then runs a brief article or makes mention of your site
to their audience.
You get the picture — and that’s really a best-case scenario.
Did you know that you can influence publicity, too? You can — by getting the
name of your Web site in front of as many people as possible. One way to do
that is to write articles that are complete and ready to run, and then distribute
them to news outlets, newsletter owners, other Web site owners, or
anyone else who has a publication and might be interested in your site. The
catch is that to run the article you provide (for free), the publication must
also run a short blurb about you, including your Web site address.
That takes care of publicity. Public relations, on the other hand, deals with
how you handle people, especially in a public setting. You can put that to
work for your Web site, too. Public relations can be the donations that you
make (in the name of your Web site) to charity organizations, or it can be you
taking the time to teach about your topic within your community. Guess
what? Just putting your knowledge to use by answering questions posed by
folks in search of answers can count as public relations.
Creating a relationship with the public is what public relations is all about.
When you use public relations — along with publicity — to get your Web site
in front of people, you’re building your traffic levels (which in turn helps
build your AdSense revenues). Creating public relations and publicity is a
time-consuming process, though, so don’t make the mistake of thinking that
you can spend ten minutes here and there and immediately see results.
Professionals set aside several hours each week to devote to public relations
and publicity efforts. You should do the same if you’re truly serious about
creating a real brand with your Web site that people will think of and recognize
when they consider topics related to your site and products. (Creating a
brand simply means making your Web site or blog immediately recognizable,
just like other products [Pepsi, Kleenex, Saran Wrap] are immediately recognizable.
The goal is to be the first site or blog that comes to mind when your
topic or product is considered.)
of advertising. From where I sit, publicity and public relations are two
different things. Publicity is free, and it includes coverage from other media
sources, including newsletters, newspapers, radio stations, television, or
whoever else may pick up word of what you’re doing.
On the Web, publicity usually takes the form of word-of-mouth type publicity.
Someone sees your Web site and then tells someone else who happens to
have a blog, so that person writes a blog post about it, which is then picked
up by other bloggers, and it then catches the eye of some radio host or newspaper
journalist who then runs a brief article or makes mention of your site
to their audience.
You get the picture — and that’s really a best-case scenario.
Did you know that you can influence publicity, too? You can — by getting the
name of your Web site in front of as many people as possible. One way to do
that is to write articles that are complete and ready to run, and then distribute
them to news outlets, newsletter owners, other Web site owners, or
anyone else who has a publication and might be interested in your site. The
catch is that to run the article you provide (for free), the publication must
also run a short blurb about you, including your Web site address.
That takes care of publicity. Public relations, on the other hand, deals with
how you handle people, especially in a public setting. You can put that to
work for your Web site, too. Public relations can be the donations that you
make (in the name of your Web site) to charity organizations, or it can be you
taking the time to teach about your topic within your community. Guess
what? Just putting your knowledge to use by answering questions posed by
folks in search of answers can count as public relations.
Creating a relationship with the public is what public relations is all about.
When you use public relations — along with publicity — to get your Web site
in front of people, you’re building your traffic levels (which in turn helps
build your AdSense revenues). Creating public relations and publicity is a
time-consuming process, though, so don’t make the mistake of thinking that
you can spend ten minutes here and there and immediately see results.
Professionals set aside several hours each week to devote to public relations
and publicity efforts. You should do the same if you’re truly serious about
creating a real brand with your Web site that people will think of and recognize
when they consider topics related to your site and products. (Creating a
brand simply means making your Web site or blog immediately recognizable,
just like other products [Pepsi, Kleenex, Saran Wrap] are immediately recognizable.
The goal is to be the first site or blog that comes to mind when your
topic or product is considered.)
Lead Generation and Follow-Up
One thing that Web site owners don’t often think of in terms of driving traffic
to their sites is lead generation. Lead generation in this context is nothing
more than the process by which you gather the names and e-mail addresses
of people who may be interested in your Web site or blog — these are all
potential visitors. And following up on those leads is how you convert those
potential visitors into actual visitors. Lead generation takes place in several
different ways. For some sites, it’s a newsletter sign-up, but for others, it’s a
contest or promotion that you e-mail to a mailing list you purchased from a
marketing company.
How can generating leads help you build traffic on your site? It’s easy, really.
If you’re collecting leads, you can keep your site in front of potential visitors
more often.
That does require follow-up, though. Although some Web site owners are
great at collecting leads, they don’t do much with them — you should. If you
have a collection of people who have willingly given you their e-mail address,
you should be using that address as often as you can to keep in touch with
those potential visitors.
Many Web site owners do collect e-mail addresses (which in this case are
your leads). Having folks sign up for a newsletter is one of the most popular
harvesting methods out there. You can also collect the e-mail addresses of
visitors when they register for your site or when they purchase goods or
services from you.
However you collect the addresses, they’re no good to you if they just sit on
a list doing nothing. After you have your e-mail addresses, use them to put
your name in front of those people — and the more helpful you can be in the
process, the better it is for your Web site.
Here’s an example: One Web site owner collects people’s e-mail addresses
for a newsletter. The newsletter goes out without fail (consistency is key
with newsletters) every two weeks. That same Web site owner also sends
out a message about once a month that contains tips that the readers can
use immediately to improve their business.
This type of extra information — service above and beyond the call of duty —
is what helps build traffic for the Web site. When potential visitors turn to the
area that the site addresses, that site is of course the first site to come to mind
because the Web site owner has kept the site’s name in front of them as often
as possible.
Keep in mind this fact though: It’s absolutely essential that the communications
you have with your potential visitors be useful. Sales, extra information,
even contest announcements are useful. Just sending a note to say hello?
Nothing useful about that at all, and users won’t appreciate it.
The idea is to create a feeling of appreciation so that you’re first in the visitor’s
mind when she thinks of the area that you serve. Being first means more
Web site traffic for you.
to their sites is lead generation. Lead generation in this context is nothing
more than the process by which you gather the names and e-mail addresses
of people who may be interested in your Web site or blog — these are all
potential visitors. And following up on those leads is how you convert those
potential visitors into actual visitors. Lead generation takes place in several
different ways. For some sites, it’s a newsletter sign-up, but for others, it’s a
contest or promotion that you e-mail to a mailing list you purchased from a
marketing company.
How can generating leads help you build traffic on your site? It’s easy, really.
If you’re collecting leads, you can keep your site in front of potential visitors
more often.
That does require follow-up, though. Although some Web site owners are
great at collecting leads, they don’t do much with them — you should. If you
have a collection of people who have willingly given you their e-mail address,
you should be using that address as often as you can to keep in touch with
those potential visitors.
Many Web site owners do collect e-mail addresses (which in this case are
your leads). Having folks sign up for a newsletter is one of the most popular
harvesting methods out there. You can also collect the e-mail addresses of
visitors when they register for your site or when they purchase goods or
services from you.
However you collect the addresses, they’re no good to you if they just sit on
a list doing nothing. After you have your e-mail addresses, use them to put
your name in front of those people — and the more helpful you can be in the
process, the better it is for your Web site.
Here’s an example: One Web site owner collects people’s e-mail addresses
for a newsletter. The newsletter goes out without fail (consistency is key
with newsletters) every two weeks. That same Web site owner also sends
out a message about once a month that contains tips that the readers can
use immediately to improve their business.
This type of extra information — service above and beyond the call of duty —
is what helps build traffic for the Web site. When potential visitors turn to the
area that the site addresses, that site is of course the first site to come to mind
because the Web site owner has kept the site’s name in front of them as often
as possible.
Keep in mind this fact though: It’s absolutely essential that the communications
you have with your potential visitors be useful. Sales, extra information,
even contest announcements are useful. Just sending a note to say hello?
Nothing useful about that at all, and users won’t appreciate it.
The idea is to create a feeling of appreciation so that you’re first in the visitor’s
mind when she thinks of the area that you serve. Being first means more
Web site traffic for you.
Contests
I briefly mention contests a little earlier in this chapter. I bring them up here
because contests are a great way to bring traffic to your Web site. Everyone
loves a good contest, especially when the prizes are neat.
Deciding what the prizes are for your contest is very important. Think of
what appeals to people who would be interested in your site. I mention earlier
in the chapter that if your site’s about music, giving away copies of War
and Peace just won’t cut it because such a contest wouldn’t target the specific
people that you want to see your site.
When you’re considering the prizes that you should give away, consider what
type of prize would draw the kind of person that would be interested in your
site. If the purpose of the contest is to draw visitors to your site, the wrong
prizes won’t help you at all.
Devising the type of contest to have is the next step. What is it people need
to do to get the prize? One thing that many Web site owners do is require
that users register for a newsletter, and then the winner is drawn from those
who signed up for the newsletter. Bloggers often run contests where visitors
are required to leave a comment on the blog.
After you create your contest, all you have to do is get the word out.
Announce the contest on your Web site, blog, and any mailing lists that you
have. Tell your friends and ask them to tell their friends. If the contest’s
good, word gets around quickly.
You’ll see a spike in the amount of traffic that you have to your site during
the contest period, but if you conduct it right, an overall increase will remain
after the contest is over. Take the time to design your contest to meet the
specific goal of creating traffic (especially return traffic) to your site, and
you’ll see the benefits of this strategy the first time you try it.
because contests are a great way to bring traffic to your Web site. Everyone
loves a good contest, especially when the prizes are neat.
Deciding what the prizes are for your contest is very important. Think of
what appeals to people who would be interested in your site. I mention earlier
in the chapter that if your site’s about music, giving away copies of War
and Peace just won’t cut it because such a contest wouldn’t target the specific
people that you want to see your site.
When you’re considering the prizes that you should give away, consider what
type of prize would draw the kind of person that would be interested in your
site. If the purpose of the contest is to draw visitors to your site, the wrong
prizes won’t help you at all.
Devising the type of contest to have is the next step. What is it people need
to do to get the prize? One thing that many Web site owners do is require
that users register for a newsletter, and then the winner is drawn from those
who signed up for the newsletter. Bloggers often run contests where visitors
are required to leave a comment on the blog.
After you create your contest, all you have to do is get the word out.
Announce the contest on your Web site, blog, and any mailing lists that you
have. Tell your friends and ask them to tell their friends. If the contest’s
good, word gets around quickly.
You’ll see a spike in the amount of traffic that you have to your site during
the contest period, but if you conduct it right, an overall increase will remain
after the contest is over. Take the time to design your contest to meet the
specific goal of creating traffic (especially return traffic) to your site, and
you’ll see the benefits of this strategy the first time you try it.
Offline Marketing Strategies
Offline marketing strategies are probably the last type of marketing you’d
expect me to address when it comes to Web sites, but sometimes the offline
strategies can really work — it does depend on how you go about it, though.
Offline marketing strategies can be anything from press releases to T-shirts
to direct mailings. Think about all the commercials that you see during the
Super Bowl. How many of those commercials had Web site addresses
attached to them? Did you know that those companies paid millions of dollars
to have those commercials shown?
You may not be in a position to pay millions of dollars to have your Web
address plastered all over the television, but that doesn’t mean you should
avoid offline advertising methods. Some of the things that you can do on a
very small budget include putting magnetic signs on the side of your car,
wearing T-shirts with your Web address on them, doing radio interviews,
sending out press releases, sponsoring a little-league sports team, and the
list goes on nearly forever.
The trick with making offline advertising work is to make sure that you’re not
investing too much into it, and that it appears in front of the widest audience
possible. I wouldn’t suggest that you spend thousands of dollars on offline
advertisements, but spending a few hundred here and there could increase
your traffic in small, but valuable increments.
Ultimately, the best way to draw more traffic to your Web site isn’t a single
way but is more a combination of all the ways listed here. You have to work
to find the right balance of what works, but with enough time and effort, you
can get the word out there and draw in visitors.
expect me to address when it comes to Web sites, but sometimes the offline
strategies can really work — it does depend on how you go about it, though.
Offline marketing strategies can be anything from press releases to T-shirts
to direct mailings. Think about all the commercials that you see during the
Super Bowl. How many of those commercials had Web site addresses
attached to them? Did you know that those companies paid millions of dollars
to have those commercials shown?
You may not be in a position to pay millions of dollars to have your Web
address plastered all over the television, but that doesn’t mean you should
avoid offline advertising methods. Some of the things that you can do on a
very small budget include putting magnetic signs on the side of your car,
wearing T-shirts with your Web address on them, doing radio interviews,
sending out press releases, sponsoring a little-league sports team, and the
list goes on nearly forever.
The trick with making offline advertising work is to make sure that you’re not
investing too much into it, and that it appears in front of the widest audience
possible. I wouldn’t suggest that you spend thousands of dollars on offline
advertisements, but spending a few hundred here and there could increase
your traffic in small, but valuable increments.
Ultimately, the best way to draw more traffic to your Web site isn’t a single
way but is more a combination of all the ways listed here. You have to work
to find the right balance of what works, but with enough time and effort, you
can get the word out there and draw in visitors.
How to Install Windows XP using USB Flash Disk
You will badly need this if your computer has no CD-ROM drive, especially for ASUS EEE-PC and Red fox Wizbook 800. What you need: - USB thumb drive with at least 1 GB of capacity. High speed is not necessary but preferred. - usb_prep8 (download it here) and bootsect (download it here) - a personal computer or laptop with Windows XP or Vista installed and with CD-ROM (DaemonTools and an iso file will do just fine at this point) - A genuine copy of Windows XP or Vista. *** Procedure 1 – copying XP to USB and configuring USB for Windows installation
1. extract usb_prep8 and bootsect.
2. In usb_prep8 folder. Double click usb_prep8.cmd. A command prompt will open.
3. Press any key to continue. A PeToUSB window will open –>
4. Don’t change anything in the PeToUSB window, just click “Start”. Formatting of your USB will then start. It will only take a few seconds.
5. DO NOT close the two windows (PetoUSB and usb_prep8). Now open a new command prompt by typing “cmd” in the Start->Run box. In this NEW command prompt, go to the directory where bootsect.exe is saved. Now type “bootsect.exe /nt52 R:“. Change “R” with the letter drive directory of your USB drive. NOTE: When running the bootsect.exe command you cannot have any windows open displaying the content of your USB stick. If all went well you should see “Bootcode was successfully updated on all targeted volumes.” Now close this command prompt (Still, Do not close usb_prep8).
6. Now close PeToUSB window. You should see the usb_prep8 command
7. Now you need to enter the correct information for numbers 1-3. Press 1 and then Enter. A folder browse window will open for you to browse to the location of you XP setup files (aka your cdrom drive with xp cd in it)
Press 2 and enter a letter NOT currently assigned to a drive on your PC, say T
Press 3 and enter the drive letter of your USB stick
Press 4 to start the process.
8. The script will ask you if its ok to format drive T: . This is just a temp drive the program creates to cache the windows installation files. Press Y then enter.
9. Once it’s done formatting, press enter to continue again, you will now see the program copying Windows XP files from your CD to the temp drive it created. This will take around 3-5 minutes. Once this is done press enter to continue again.
10. Next you will see a box pop up asking you to copy the files from temp drive to USB drive. Of course, click “Yes”. This will take around 15 minutes, depending on the speed of your USB. In my case, it took around 30 Minutes.
11. Once the program has completed copy files a popup window asking if you would like to USB drive to be preferred boot drive U: select “YES” on this window
12. You’re done with this part. Now select “YES” to unmount the virtual drive. *** Procedure 2 – Installing XP on your PC without CD-ROM, using USB thumb drive
1. Insert your USB then start your PC, then go to BIOS set-up. Set USB as your primary boot device. For EEE PC, if it did not boot on the USB after doing this, there is an option in the BIOS where you can change the primary and secondary memory, set USB as the primary. When doing this, I also changed the OS installation from “finished” to “start” just to make sure that the installation will work.
2. On the startup menu you have two options, select option number for text mode setup.
3. From this point on, it is just like any other windows XP installation. When prompt, delete all the partition, including the one with labeled “BIOS” for EEE-PC. Recreate the primary partition on your EEE pc and format it using NTFS.
4. Once the text mode portion of setup is complete, the computer will reboot. This time, boot into the GUI mode.
5. Once the GUI portion of setup is complete you will again have to boot into GUI mode to complete the XP installation until you end up at your XP desktop. It is very important that you DO NOT REMOVE THE USB STICK before this point. Once you can see your start menu it is safe to remove the usb stick and reboot your pc to make sure everything worked.
That is all, I didn’t encounter a problem during my installation of XP for my Asus EEE-PC 4G. Just strictly follow the procedures discussed above. All of these were derived from http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/11/installing-windows-xp-from-usb-thumb.html
1. extract usb_prep8 and bootsect.
2. In usb_prep8 folder. Double click usb_prep8.cmd. A command prompt will open.
3. Press any key to continue. A PeToUSB window will open –>
4. Don’t change anything in the PeToUSB window, just click “Start”. Formatting of your USB will then start. It will only take a few seconds.
5. DO NOT close the two windows (PetoUSB and usb_prep8). Now open a new command prompt by typing “cmd” in the Start->Run box. In this NEW command prompt, go to the directory where bootsect.exe is saved. Now type “bootsect.exe /nt52 R:“. Change “R” with the letter drive directory of your USB drive. NOTE: When running the bootsect.exe command you cannot have any windows open displaying the content of your USB stick. If all went well you should see “Bootcode was successfully updated on all targeted volumes.” Now close this command prompt (Still, Do not close usb_prep8).
6. Now close PeToUSB window. You should see the usb_prep8 command
7. Now you need to enter the correct information for numbers 1-3. Press 1 and then Enter. A folder browse window will open for you to browse to the location of you XP setup files (aka your cdrom drive with xp cd in it)
Press 2 and enter a letter NOT currently assigned to a drive on your PC, say T
Press 3 and enter the drive letter of your USB stick
Press 4 to start the process.
8. The script will ask you if its ok to format drive T: . This is just a temp drive the program creates to cache the windows installation files. Press Y then enter.
9. Once it’s done formatting, press enter to continue again, you will now see the program copying Windows XP files from your CD to the temp drive it created. This will take around 3-5 minutes. Once this is done press enter to continue again.
10. Next you will see a box pop up asking you to copy the files from temp drive to USB drive. Of course, click “Yes”. This will take around 15 minutes, depending on the speed of your USB. In my case, it took around 30 Minutes.
11. Once the program has completed copy files a popup window asking if you would like to USB drive to be preferred boot drive U: select “YES” on this window
12. You’re done with this part. Now select “YES” to unmount the virtual drive. *** Procedure 2 – Installing XP on your PC without CD-ROM, using USB thumb drive
1. Insert your USB then start your PC, then go to BIOS set-up. Set USB as your primary boot device. For EEE PC, if it did not boot on the USB after doing this, there is an option in the BIOS where you can change the primary and secondary memory, set USB as the primary. When doing this, I also changed the OS installation from “finished” to “start” just to make sure that the installation will work.
2. On the startup menu you have two options, select option number for text mode setup.
3. From this point on, it is just like any other windows XP installation. When prompt, delete all the partition, including the one with labeled “BIOS” for EEE-PC. Recreate the primary partition on your EEE pc and format it using NTFS.
4. Once the text mode portion of setup is complete, the computer will reboot. This time, boot into the GUI mode.
5. Once the GUI portion of setup is complete you will again have to boot into GUI mode to complete the XP installation until you end up at your XP desktop. It is very important that you DO NOT REMOVE THE USB STICK before this point. Once you can see your start menu it is safe to remove the usb stick and reboot your pc to make sure everything worked.
That is all, I didn’t encounter a problem during my installation of XP for my Asus EEE-PC 4G. Just strictly follow the procedures discussed above. All of these were derived from http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/11/installing-windows-xp-from-usb-thumb.html
WinRar Tutorial Compression profiles, passwords and more
FIRST - Set Yer options correctly
Open WInRar
OPTIONS | SETTINGS | COMPRESSSION | CREATE DEFAULT
GENERAL | (ok now that we're there, here's what U do next)
But 1st -> realize that everything U set on the default profile will occur everytime U rar files. So if U only need a password occasionally, or other special settings, then create another profile for those purposes. U can change which profile U need to use when WinRar is open. The Default profile is used otherwise, such as when using WinRar from the context menus in explorer.
General tab:
Archive format RAR
Compression method BEST
size (enter in BYTES the size you want as the max single Rar file). I use 51,200,000 (50,000 KB x 1024). But chose yer max size as U wish.
Update method ADD AND REPLACE FILES
Archiving options: check > PUT RECOVERY RECORD
Archiving options: check > TEST ARCHIVED FILES.
Archiving options: check > DELETE FILES AFTER ARCHIVING ( unless U want yer HDD to fill up with the rars & the original files for some reason)
Archiving options: do NOT check > Put authenticy verification, as this can be a source of Error Messages being generated upon extraction.
Archiving options: check > Create SFX ONLY if U don't expect the person getting the filez to have WinRar. Otherwise leave it UNCHECKED.
Archiving options: do NOT check > Create Solid Archive. This can cause problems in certain cases.
Archiving options: do NOT check > Lock Arhive. This has NOTHING to do with a password.
Advanced tab:
Recovery Record -> U can leave it at 1%. Only set it higher if U expect the rar files to have a high risk of corruption. (very bad internet connections, or use on floppy disks, etc)
All else can be left alone. Don't bother with the Compression button.
Files Tab
File Paths -> STORE RELATIVE PATHS. (unless U have a specific folder U want the files to be extracted to. Such as c:\program files\No Name Appz\link catcher).
The rest leave alone
Backup Tab
No need to change anything.
Time Tab
Files to Process -> OF ANY TIME
Comment Tab
Whatever comment U enter there will be shown on the right hand pane when WinRar opens yer Rar files. Think of something fun, catchy,interesting. I always mention that the files have recovery record set, so if they are corrupted in transfer, the person knows to use REPAIR function.
Click OK, U have now created yer default profile.
==============================================
HOW TO CREATE a PASSWORDED PROFILE, which will NOT be the default:
open WInRar
Click the ADD Icon
ADVANCED | Push the SET PASSWORD Button
Check the SHOW PASSWORD box, so U can see what U typed and also copy/paste it to wherever U need it, such as on yer post. Now only one box will be open to enter the password. COPY/PASTE it to a txt file. I call mine WinRAR_Password.txt. Do this IMMEDIATELY afer entering it, before closing that window, or U may be very sorry later.
Enter the password. It is CASE SENSITIVE. If the password is 8 or more alpha-numeric characters, no one will be able to hack it. Unless they own a super-computer. Avoid using words that are found in dictionaries.
Check the encrypt file names box. That way, even if some nasty person obtains yer Rar file, they won't know what is in it, especially if the name U give the rar file is "Grandma_pix.rar" or whatever.
Back to GENERAL tab | PROFILES button | Save Current Settings to a New Profile
Enter the name of this profile. For example if the passwd is ht*p://www.superforum.com, U might name the profile Superforum. Only U will see this profile name. It does not go into the rar files made from it.
Do NOTHING more, do NOT set this as default profile.
Click OK | Click OK again.
Now U have a Passworded Profile.
================================================
HOW TO USE the PASSWORD PROFILE
Note -> Everything U set on the default profile will occur everytime U rar files. So when U need the password profile, follow these instructions. The Default profile is used otherwise, such as when using WinRar from the contest menus in explorer.
Open WinRar
Browse to the filez/folderz U want to Rar with Password.
Highlight all filez/folderz to be included.
Press the ADD button.
GENERAL tab | PROFILES button
Scoll down to the profile whcih has the password set. In my example Superforum
Click OK
The filez are Rar'd. U can check if U did all correctly by opening the rar filez, and seeing if a password is required.
Until U change back to DEFAULT profile in this same method, or close WinRar, all Rar'z U create after this will have a password.
================================================
HOW TO REPAIR A CORRUPTED RAR FILE:
With Win Explorer create a sub folder REPAIRED
Open WinRar, browse to the folder with the damaged Rar file(z). U can find which one is bad by selecting the 1st RAR file and using TEST button.
Select the damaged file, press REPAIR button.
In dialogue box, enter the path to the REPAIR subfolder, or browse to it.
As long as there is a RECOVERY record in that Rar, it will be repaired.
Copy all the NON-DAMAGED rars to your repair folder and rename the REPAIRED file back to it's original name.
Proceed with extraction in the REPAIR folder as normal.
===============================================
MISC TIPS:
If U select a folder to Rar, later when U extract it inside that folder, U end up with nested folders of same name. (We've all seen this often when extracting rars.
So Instead, go inside the folder, select all the filez & sub-folderz. Now U have a rar inside just one folder.
Note to w***z Groups, how about using WinRar Recovery option finally, and avoiding problems with corrupt DL's ?
Open WInRar
OPTIONS | SETTINGS | COMPRESSSION | CREATE DEFAULT
GENERAL | (ok now that we're there, here's what U do next)
But 1st -> realize that everything U set on the default profile will occur everytime U rar files. So if U only need a password occasionally, or other special settings, then create another profile for those purposes. U can change which profile U need to use when WinRar is open. The Default profile is used otherwise, such as when using WinRar from the context menus in explorer.
General tab:
Archive format RAR
Compression method BEST
size (enter in BYTES the size you want as the max single Rar file). I use 51,200,000 (50,000 KB x 1024). But chose yer max size as U wish.
Update method ADD AND REPLACE FILES
Archiving options: check > PUT RECOVERY RECORD
Archiving options: check > TEST ARCHIVED FILES.
Archiving options: check > DELETE FILES AFTER ARCHIVING ( unless U want yer HDD to fill up with the rars & the original files for some reason)
Archiving options: do NOT check > Put authenticy verification, as this can be a source of Error Messages being generated upon extraction.
Archiving options: check > Create SFX ONLY if U don't expect the person getting the filez to have WinRar. Otherwise leave it UNCHECKED.
Archiving options: do NOT check > Create Solid Archive. This can cause problems in certain cases.
Archiving options: do NOT check > Lock Arhive. This has NOTHING to do with a password.
Advanced tab:
Recovery Record -> U can leave it at 1%. Only set it higher if U expect the rar files to have a high risk of corruption. (very bad internet connections, or use on floppy disks, etc)
All else can be left alone. Don't bother with the Compression button.
Files Tab
File Paths -> STORE RELATIVE PATHS. (unless U have a specific folder U want the files to be extracted to. Such as c:\program files\No Name Appz\link catcher).
The rest leave alone
Backup Tab
No need to change anything.
Time Tab
Files to Process -> OF ANY TIME
Comment Tab
Whatever comment U enter there will be shown on the right hand pane when WinRar opens yer Rar files. Think of something fun, catchy,interesting. I always mention that the files have recovery record set, so if they are corrupted in transfer, the person knows to use REPAIR function.
Click OK, U have now created yer default profile.
==============================================
HOW TO CREATE a PASSWORDED PROFILE, which will NOT be the default:
open WInRar
Click the ADD Icon
ADVANCED | Push the SET PASSWORD Button
Check the SHOW PASSWORD box, so U can see what U typed and also copy/paste it to wherever U need it, such as on yer post. Now only one box will be open to enter the password. COPY/PASTE it to a txt file. I call mine WinRAR_Password.txt. Do this IMMEDIATELY afer entering it, before closing that window, or U may be very sorry later.
Enter the password. It is CASE SENSITIVE. If the password is 8 or more alpha-numeric characters, no one will be able to hack it. Unless they own a super-computer. Avoid using words that are found in dictionaries.
Check the encrypt file names box. That way, even if some nasty person obtains yer Rar file, they won't know what is in it, especially if the name U give the rar file is "Grandma_pix.rar" or whatever.
Back to GENERAL tab | PROFILES button | Save Current Settings to a New Profile
Enter the name of this profile. For example if the passwd is ht*p://www.superforum.com, U might name the profile Superforum. Only U will see this profile name. It does not go into the rar files made from it.
Do NOTHING more, do NOT set this as default profile.
Click OK | Click OK again.
Now U have a Passworded Profile.
================================================
HOW TO USE the PASSWORD PROFILE
Note -> Everything U set on the default profile will occur everytime U rar files. So when U need the password profile, follow these instructions. The Default profile is used otherwise, such as when using WinRar from the contest menus in explorer.
Open WinRar
Browse to the filez/folderz U want to Rar with Password.
Highlight all filez/folderz to be included.
Press the ADD button.
GENERAL tab | PROFILES button
Scoll down to the profile whcih has the password set. In my example Superforum
Click OK
The filez are Rar'd. U can check if U did all correctly by opening the rar filez, and seeing if a password is required.
Until U change back to DEFAULT profile in this same method, or close WinRar, all Rar'z U create after this will have a password.
================================================
HOW TO REPAIR A CORRUPTED RAR FILE:
With Win Explorer create a sub folder REPAIRED
Open WinRar, browse to the folder with the damaged Rar file(z). U can find which one is bad by selecting the 1st RAR file and using TEST button.
Select the damaged file, press REPAIR button.
In dialogue box, enter the path to the REPAIR subfolder, or browse to it.
As long as there is a RECOVERY record in that Rar, it will be repaired.
Copy all the NON-DAMAGED rars to your repair folder and rename the REPAIRED file back to it's original name.
Proceed with extraction in the REPAIR folder as normal.
===============================================
MISC TIPS:
If U select a folder to Rar, later when U extract it inside that folder, U end up with nested folders of same name. (We've all seen this often when extracting rars.
So Instead, go inside the folder, select all the filez & sub-folderz. Now U have a rar inside just one folder.
Note to w***z Groups, how about using WinRar Recovery option finally, and avoiding problems with corrupt DL's ?