How To Make AdSense Work With Internet Communities

Making Bucks With Blogs

Writing blogs isn’t exactly effortless, but it is something a lot of people do for fun and because they’re updated regularly, Google loves them. If you’re going to write a blog anyway, then you should certainly be making money out of it.

The biggest challenge when writing a blog is getting ads that give you good revenues. Because your entries are going to be talking about all sorts of different things, there’s a chance that you’re going to get ads on all sorts of random topics.

That’s fine, unless your ads are barely giving you enough revenue to pay for the blog. If you find that you’re getting lots of ads related to “blogs” for example, instead of what you’re blogging about, you can try changing the meta name in your template. Delete the <$Metainfodata$> tag and replace it with your own keywords and description:

<meta name="robots" content="index,follow">

<meta name="keywords" Content="Your keywords">

<meta name="description" Content="Keyword-rich description">

Make sure that your blog has plenty of keywords and use lots of headlines containing key phrases, repeating them throughout the blog. Above all though, make sure that your blog has plenty of text. It might be fun to stuff your pages with pictures of friends, family and pets but Google can’t read them and you’ll end up with public service ads instead of revenue.

Adding AdSense To Your Blog

Not all blog sites use the same template so how you add AdSense to yourblog will depend on the company you’re using. For users of Blogspot.com, which is owned by Google, you can put the ads in the template section of the site:

<!-- Begin .post -->

<div class="post"><a name="<$BlogItemNumber$>"></a>

<BlogItemTitle>

<h3 class="post-title">

<BlogItemUrl><a href="<$BlogItemUrl$>" title="external

link"></BlogItemUrl>

<$BlogItemTitle$>

<BlogItemUrl></a></BlogItemUrl>

</h3>

</BlogItemTitle>

<!--Your AdSense code -->

The ads here are centered above the <div> tag and he’s added a <br> break tag to add a gap between the head and Google and help his ads to stand out.

To do the same thing to your blogspot blog, click “Change Settings” on the

Dashboard and then click “Template Tab.” Somewhere on the page, below the CSS material, you should find a section of code that begins”

<p id="description"><$BlogDescription$></p>

</div></div><br>

The code should then look like this:

<div align="center">

<script type="text/javascript"><!--

google_ad_client = "pub-xxxxx09818xxxxx";

google_ad_width = 728;

google_ad_height = 90;

google_ad_format = "728x90_as";

google_ad_channel ="117893460x";

google_ad_type = "text_image";

google_color_border = "336666";

google_color_bg = "669966";

google_color_link = "CCFF99";

google_color_url = "003333";

google_color_text = "FFFFFF";

//--></script>

<script type="text/javascript"

55

src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">

</script></center></div>

<!-- Begin #main — Contains main-column blog content -->

Before uploading, check the preview to make sure that the ads are where and how you want them, then “Save Template Changes” and “Republish” to refresh the blog. Of course, you don’t have to place AdSense directly above the text. Another option is to embed the ads within the text so that they appear after particular entries. That would limit you to three entries per page (if you wanted an ad unit after each entry) but it could increase your click-through.

But blogs certainly aren’t the only types of content online or the only types that can use AdSense. In an active Internet Community, users generate most of the content.

You cannot completely control the keywords or the topics, which means AdSense might spring some surprises with the ads that show up. (Just have some Alternate Ads handy, in case AdSense pulls up a series of non-paying public service ads.)

Unlike passive surfers who like to explore your website for relevant information, forum members are very focused on their messages and the responses they attract.

Many publishers that play host to Internet Communities complain of negligible CTRs, scattered keywords (low content relevance) and low cost per click. What they don't realize is that Internet Communities are a hidden goldmine which inspires fanatical loyalty, repeat visits, unique content and a high level of user involvement with the content. Mega-brands such as Apple and Harley Davidson were built on the same foundation — a deep sense of personal bonding, high involvement with the product and strong referrals. You can achieve the same result with your website!

While all Internet Communities are not the same, they do have the same key strengths. You just need to recognize them and find new ways to cash in on them — as some savvy web publishers are doing already! On the next page you'll find a few ideas to spark off your imagination:

1.  Forum Members are very focused on their topic of discussion. Ads that appear on the top, bottom or side margins of the page may not distract them from their main objective — which is to read and write the posts!

2.  The best way to capture their attention is to put your ads at the end of the top posting on each page. Posts that appear on top are read more often, and usually set the tone for the rest of the discussion. Many web publishers swear by Google's 728x90 leaderboard ad with two ads trailing top-of-the-page posts.

3. What gets the most clicks in any forum? The forum buttons of course! Put your ads close to these useful buttons, sought out by users to search threads, create a new thread or post a reply.  Impressive forum stats, such as the number of members, threads and posts appear alongside the ads, making them look more legitimate. The sheer number of users creates a sense of urgency to check them out before other members get their hands on the coveted deals!

4.  Make sure you apply the same text formatting as the user generated content. It's important to gain your users' attention first — then pitch your message when they're all ears!

5. Try putting the ads at the bottom of each post. If users spot the pattern and your click-through start to drop, try putting the ads at the bottom of every alternate post. The key is to keep them guessing!

6.  Don't break up a post by putting ads in the middle. Since forums have user-generated content, people are more sensitive to these intrusions and might be offended if you make it seem as if the ads are their personal recommendations.

7.  Don't lump a bunch of ads together in the middle of the page. It works well with 'passive' visitors, but your forum members will read right around them!

8.  Allow users to pull up targeted ads with a Google Search Box! How often has a forum posting piqued your interest enough to launch a Google search? Once? Twice? All the time? If you're anything like me, the Google Search Box is an added convenience, welcomed by most users. It makes your visitors stay! And if they click an ad from the results page, you make money!