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!
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