If you intend to place ads on your blog, you can sign up for free with Google AdSense (the most common choice among bloggers) and then set up one or more ad units, as shown in Figure 26, Setting up a Google ad unit, on page 177. AdSense is the site owner (i.e., publisher) counterpart to the Google AdWords program, which is the interface used by advertisers to buy ads on search results and sites belonging to the Google AdSense program.
You will be provided with an embeddable snippet of JavaScript code for each ad unit you create, which you then place in strategic spots on your blog. You could, for example, select a full banner above each of your posts, a vertical skyscraper for your sidebar, and a box ad unit at the bottom of each post. Ads that are relevant to your content will automatically be displayed inside such spots on your blog, and your account will earn a variable amount of money each time a visitor clicks one of those ads. This is called contextual
advertising because the ads that are served vary depending on the content
of the page.
The amount of money you receive will be what the advertiser paid to have an ad displayed on your site minus a substantial cut that Google takes. Realisti- cally, this means putting anything between a few cents to a few dollars in your pocket for each click. Such numbers really depend on the competition level and niche you’re in, but for technical blogs the CPC (cost per click) you’ll earn tends to be well below a dollar.
Google will display a maximum of three ad units regardless of how many units you place on a given page. This means that you shouldn’t place more than three ad units on any page of your site. (Each unit may contain a multi- tude of ads, however, and this is handled automatically by Google.)
WordPress users can include ads in the sidebar by adding a Text widget containing the JavaScript ad code provided by AdSense. For other spots, such as below each post, users can choose their theme’s ad options (if provided by the theme) or use one of the many ad plugins available, or they can edit the theme’s files directly. Common theme files to edit are header.php, footer.php, and single.php (for adding content above or below each post).
Blogger users can take advantage of the AdSense gadget, which is available in the Page Elements pane within the Design tab.
Regardless of your blogging engine, you can add a search box powered by Google AdSense if you wish. When users search your site with it and end up clicking any ad that’s displayed on the results page, you get a cut. Google also enables you to include ads at the top and/or at the bottom of your feed. Using fonts and colors in your ad units that match your theme will increase your CTR (remember, click-through rate). Squares and rectangles also tend to have good CTRs. Likewise, choosing key positions in your template will help you achieve a higher CTR. In my experience, visitors are significantly more likely to ignore AdSense units that are located in the sidebar than those placed before (much more so) or after your posts, as shown in Figure 27, A
high CTR ad unit, on page 178.
To increase your revenue you can either bring in more visitors or up the number of clicks you get from the current volume of visitors you receive (your CTR). Ideally you’ll be able to do both.
Avoid positioning your ad units in a way that makes them appear to be actual content, such as horizontal ad units containing a few links that resemble a list of categories or pages for your blog. Such ads should not be placed where your navigation bar would normally be. Misleading your visitors is never acceptable, and Google will sometimes intervene in situations where such behavior is reported.
Detailed reports will allow you to figure out which ad units and products (e.g., AdSense for Content, Search, and Feed) are performing well. These reports include details such as the number of ad impressions/pageviews you served, the CTR, CPC, and RPM (revenue per mille; mille is Latin for “one thousand”). RPM is often called CPM elsewhere, where the C stands for cost.
Don’t try to game the system or you’ll be banned, and all of your unpaid earnings will be frozen. Avoid clicking your own ad units, and never invite your readers (or friends) to click them either.
In your account settings, you’ll be able to specify how and when you get paid, but by default you’ll receive one payment per month provided your account balance reaches at least $100 (if it hasn’t, then the balance will be carried forward until you reach $100 or more, after which you’ll receive a payment for the month in which that occurs).
Finally, it’s important to note that Google requires you to have a privacy pol- Make Money with Ads
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175searching Google for a privacy policy generator and then adding the text (customized for your domain and email address) to a Privacy Policy page that you link to from your blog’s menu bar or from the footer.