Steps to Increasing Click-Thrus With Google AdSense

Step 1 - Apply and Comply
Having a website can generate revenue for you twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Google AdSense is a free program that has an advertising revenue especially designed to help websites like yours to increase their revenue simply by displaying AdWords ads.

Apply to Google to have your website reviewed. Each page on your website must be content rich on various topics. These pages should all be centered around a theme which Google will use to target relevant ads to your website. Once you have applied, Google will require you to reply to an email to confirm that you have actually applied. In about 2 -3 days, Google will inform you of the review of your website and whether or not it has been accepted or rejected. Google will set up an account for you and provide you with the HTML code you need for displaying ads. Insert the HTML code into the pages on your websites and you can start displaying ads immediately.

Google search and page-ranking technology will search for ads that are relevant to your content pages. This technology matches the primary language of your pages and ads are targeted to your specific geographic location. This means that ads that serve users from Canada, for example, will not be the same ads that appear on your website for users in Australia. This 'geotargeting' by Google makes the ads relevant to all the visitors to your website and it also means that you may not see all of the ads that are targeted to your website. You do not have to be technologically literate to display AdSense ads on your web pages. Google does it all for you. All you have to do is insert the HTML code and maintain the website. It may take a few hours before the ads do appear on your web pages. At first, you may see public service ads appearing and you do not get paid for these. If your website is accepted, Google requires you to comply with their program policies:

- AdSense accounts cannot be transferred, reassigned or sold in connection with your website.
- You can place multiple ads on each page, but these cannot be in common with each other. The content of the page must not obscure the ad and both the ad text and the URL must be visible.
- If you are using Alternate Ads, you cannot specify Google as your alternate ads.
- AdSense ads cannot be pasted into any software application.
- You cannot modify the AdSense ads or search boxes before pasting them into your web pages.
- Affiliate or limited text links are not permitted in areas such as MP3, Video , Newsgroups and Image Results cannot be shown because of copyright laws.
- Visitors cannot be required to download a dialer in order to view the content of your website. - You cannot use any incentives to get users to click on any ads.
- Ads cannot be used in any unsupported language.
- Fraudulent clicks or clicking on your own ads are prohibited.
- Your website cannot contain any profanity, prejudicial language, information about hacking, illicit drugs, pornography, gambling or any other material that infringes on the rights of others.
- Your website must not contain any broken links and must be easily navigable.
- You must respond adequately to requests for support and enquiries made through your website.

Step 2 - Create More Content Pages For Your Website
Content pages are the pages in your web site that Google will use to target ads to your website. These pages should be content-rich. In other words, you should have lots of content that the user will be interested in. Each page of your website should be centered around one keyword that is related to the whole theme of your website. A keyword is the focal point of the article. To find out which keywords are the most searched, you can do your own search using software like Ad Word Analyzer. When you decide on a theme, brainstorm list of suitable keywords for which you can write articles.

For example, keywords for a website dealing with lawn care could include the following keywords: Seeding your lawn Hedges Mowing the lawn Preventing insect infestation Flowers Flowering shrubs Then you proceed to write articles for each keyword which can be anywhere from 150 to 500 words. Each keyword article will have its own page where you can display ads. The more content pages you have, the more ads you can display and this, of course, leads to more revenue for you. Keyword articles can be of several kinds - keyword rich and informative. Keyword rich articles contain the keyword in virtually every sentence. The rate is typically 4 - 8 % of the total word count. Informative keyword articles have a more conversational style and are easier to read. If the content pages are clearly focused, Google will be able to serve highly relevant ads to your pages. This means your visitors will be interested in the ads, resulting in more click-thrus and more money for you.

Step 3 - Use higher paying keywords whenever possible
You will earn more if the average AdWord that Google displays pays more per click. You should not create pages on unrelated keywords just because they pay more. Some of the high paying keywords that users query on search engines are: Vacations Education Investing Money Medicine However, don't create a page on vacations on a lawn care page, just because the ads pay more. It takes away from the legitimacy of your website. If you are an AdWords advertiser, you can log into your account and Experiment. As you will be sharing the revenue with Google, you will receive a percentage of the amount each advertiser pays per click. For example you may find that if you type in "ladders", the maximum price per click is 15 cents. A percentage of this will not get generate a very high revenue. However, if you type in "valium", you may find that the price per click is $5.00. The bottom line is the keywords you use can increase the amount of money you earn.

Step 4 - Create new pages with higher paying keywords and at the same time maintain relevance to the theme of your website.
Selecting keywords related to the same topic, can make a difference in how much money you earn by users clicking on relevant ads on your pages. Check the theme of your website for higher paying keywords and create articles related to these words. The terminology you use can determine how effective your website will be in attracting visitors. For example if you are selling teeth bleaching products a query for toothpaste may or may not select your website in the search. If you are selling products on your website, ensure that you have keyword articles related to the competition as well as your own products. This does not mean that you will advertise for the competition. The article can be a comparison of your product with another demonstrating why the user should purchase your product.

Step 5 - Create a brand new website with higher paying keywords
You can create a brand new website to take advantage of Google's AdSense program. Therefore, you will need to select a topic with high paying keywords. Then provide great information about that topic. Now that you have the content pages and keywords you want, you need to place the ads where they can be seen, and clicked, by the visitors to your website. Most Internet users are so bombarded by ads that they automatically tune out the ads that appear on a website. Your goal is to make your ads more appealing to the users and less like ads. Any time that users click on an ad, they have an actual interest in what that ad is selling. To maximize the number of click-thru ads on your site receive, you have to make them less like traditional advertising.

Step 6 - Create different kinds of web pages
Different pages on your website serve different purposes. If the object of your website is to sell a particular product or service, create web pages specifically for that purpose. Then have other pages on your website that are geared towards high search engine traffic. Once you realize which pages you are creating for AdSense, select appropriate keywords. Try to select keywords that are the highest paying keywords on the topic.

Step 7 - Create high quality information pages
Give the visitors to your website the answers they need. The keyword articles should give information about the topic and not ramble on with a disjointed list of sentences. When writing keyword articles, do not copy and paste from other websites. This is illegal. It's much better to write something new and unique. The writing in the articles should be of a conversational tone using language that the ordinary person will understand. For example, it would be of no point to write this ebook in completely technical language that only a computer programmer would understand. You would not be able to understand it and therefore not apply the techniques. The same is true of keyword articles. If the user does not like the first few sentences, he/she will not continue reading and will move on. Do not create a page about a topic and save it with another to try to generate high paying ads to your page. If your page is relevant to the topic, visitors will click-thru to other pages and ads.

Step 8 - Use the Best Ad Format For Your Web Page
Ads can be placed on your web pages using several methods. Some examples are the following styles of ads: 1 Leaderboards (728 x 90) Displays 3 lines of text Shows up to 24 ads on a page, horizontally 2 Banner (468 x 60) Displays 3 lines of text Shows up to 4 ads on a page, horizontally 3 Skyscraper (120x 600) Displays 4 lines of text Shows up to 4 ads on a page, horizontally 4 Medium Rectangle (300 x 250) Displays 2 lines of text Shows up to 4 ads per page Research has shown the best format for ads to maximize click-thrus are 336 x 280 rectangles. The next best size is 300 x 250. Banner are the worst ads to show on a site and the tall thin ads don't fit well on a page because they are usually on the left or the right. The best placement of ads on a page is in the center - right in the users line of vision. You have to put the ads in their face to maximize the effect of click-thrus by users. The best size ad to use is the 336 x 280 rectangle or if space ia at a premium use the 300 x 250 rectangle.

Step 9 - Make Sure That the Ad Block is Positioned Properly
Where you have the ad located on your web page affects how often users will click on it. Ads should be as close to the top and the middle as possible. Internet users look to the center of the page to find information. If your ad is placed down the sides, it will often be overlooked. People who use your web page because of a keyword search are generally looking for specific information. Having the ad placed front and center will get their attention, whereas ads on the side will not. Place the large rectangle ads just above the content, not in the right or left hand columns.

Step 10 - Choose the Best Colors for Your Ads
Google AdSense offers advice for publishers as to the color of the ads on their web pages. They allow you to customize your ad colors. They have a variety of custom palettes or you can choose from over 21 predefined combinations. The recommendation from Google for using custom palettes is to: - Have the background of the ads the same color or a color similar to the background color of the page. - Have the border of the ad a color that is predominant on the page.

- Have the title of the ad a color that is similar to the color of the text on the page.
- Have the URL of the ad a color similar to other links on the page.

Four different color palettes can be rotated at a time to add freshness and variety to the ads. Statistics show that navy blue color works best as a link. The color of the URL should not stand out on the page. The top ranking color for URL's is dark gray. It does not mask the advertiser URL even though light grays do the same thing. For some reason, lighter grays do not work as well as dark gray. Avoid unconventional colors for URLs. Blue is actually considered a non-stimulating color, and some publishers say it can actually have a negative effect on purchasing or deciding to click-thru. Blue is considered by many to be sleep inducing, and is the worst choice if you are interested in a call to action. Sometimes if the effect you want is calming, blue can be integrated effectively. Some examples might be a Motel roadsign, a relaxing vacation ad, a funeral ad or dental office (for the calming effect to alleviate fear). These are not the effects you want to have on your web site if you want to generate revenue through the ads. Blue links, on the other hand, increase click-thrus especially on a white background. Contrast is of almost equal importance for effectiveness and readability.

Each color has a "Light Reflective Value", or LRV, which is easier to determine when converted to grayscale. Black = 0 LRV White = 100 LRV Your contrast is measured by subtracting one from the other so black letters on white have the theoretical best contrast with a score of 100. Red 20, on purple 10 would have a contrast value of only 10 making it nearly unreadable. The only true "Light colors" are shades of yellow, and shades of white (all pastels). All other colors should be considered "Darks" from a contrast perspective. When starting out with placing ads on your web pages, the best advice is to experiment until you find a combination that works for you. Research and statistics have shown the default layout provided by Google AdSense is not the best option. Following these guidelines will result in Google being able to place ads relevant to your website on all the web pages. If Google cannot crawl or understand the content on any of your pages, public service announcements may be placed there and you will not receive any money for click-thrus to these ads.

Step 11 - Don't try to cheat your way to a higher revenue
Many publishers have tried to increase their revenue from Google AdSense by clicking on ads on their own website or using software which automatically repeats clicks. Such attempts to gain more money from the ads displayed on your web pages is fraudulent and will result in the automatic cancellation of your account. Google has engineers who can detect this type of fraud. By trying to spam your way to extra money won't work out. You will get kicked out of the program and you won't make any money at all.

Prohibited methods of clicking include:

- Repeated manual clicks
- Use of robots
- Automated clicking tools
- Deceptive software
- Clicking on your own ads

Legitimate clicks are those that are generated as the result of a user to your site clicking on one or more ads on various pages. You do not need to click any ads on your site to see if they work. AdSense specialists review ads to verify that they are working and lead to valid websites.