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Monetising Your WordPress site with Google AdSense
With a website up and running, the primary goal of most people is to monetise its use in one way or another.
The most obvious option is selling some type of product or service. Whether this is feasible or not, the second option is selling advertising space.
In 2019, $299bn was spent globally in the digital advertising market (source: VisualCaptialist) and though that market dipped during 2020 due to the global pandemic, market analysts project that 2021 will see it bounce back just as strong as before. So even as a supplementary source of revenue to the site, Ad Space can be a lucrative business.
The most profitable route can come from direct selling – either approaching a client or having them approach you and directly negotiate pricing. This isn’t as straightforward as it sounds, especially for relatively new sites that are still building their audience. Thankfully Google has a program to simplify this – AdSense. This streamlines the process of getting advertisements on your site and gives you a large degree of control over the whole process as well.
What are the benefits to AdSense?
Google does several things to make it as easy as possible. Starting with curating. They tailor your list of ads to display to keep them as relevant to your platform and audience as possible so, for example, visitors to a Gaming News website are more likely to see an image for the new FIFA title instead of something irrelevant like gardening tools. You can also filter the ads personally and block ads you deem unnecessary to your site. They also give you full control on their placement and optimise them for mobile devices on your behalf too so no extra work is required.
Is it difficult to get AdSense?
Signing up for AdSense is as simple as the program itself. You need a gmail account, some contact details and a little patience. Google takes time to review your application and the time can vary, but once approved you can dive straight into using AdSense!
Is setting it up on my website hard?
Once again, Google has taken the steps to keep the process as easy as possible for all users. They now have a service they call ‘SiteKit’ which connects your WordPress directly to Google Products and services like AdSense or their Analytics system. You can find Google’s own instructions on installing this plugin here. With this plugin, you can automatically place ads on your site as soon as your AdSense account is approved to make sure you can start earning revenue as soon as possible!
What is the best way to use AdSense?
AdSense can run perfectly fine by itself with very little interference from the site owner. But to truly make the most of AdSense, you want to opt to use the customisation and control it offers you.
Test various placements. The best performing ads are those seen fastest – that is, seen with little to no scrolling on a page required. These can be along the header of your site, or down the side bar. But you need to be careful, making them too big and obnoxious can be off putting to visitors. Along with that, Google doesn’t want users filling the top halves of their sites (Above The Fold) with too many adverts and it could impact your ability to monetise with those ads.
Google offers analytics on the performance of your Ads too. It is worth checking them regularly and adjusting accordingly. Do ads perform better when placed in some spots but not others? Move them. Are you getting less clicks from a centre category? Block it! Analytics are powerful tools and should be checked regularly to keep on top of the best performance for your ads.
Lastly, don’t neglect the rest of your website. Once you start seeing revenue from advertising come in, even if it’s only nickels and dimes, it’s very hard not to get excited and start trying to go all in and focus on the best way to squeeze every penny out of your ads. But the adverts aren’t what bring visitors. It’s your content. You have to remember to keep the quality of your website up and importantly, update it regularly and post often. Your visitors need continuing reasons to come back to your site to be able to interact with the adverts in the first place.
With how easy it is to set up and maintain using AdSense, there are very few reasons that you shouldn’t opt to make use of it to boost the revenue generated by your website. As long as it’s monitored and adjusted regularly, you can expect to gain a lot from the use of AdSense and selling advertising space on your website.
