My articles on Google AdSense on Blogger blogs are among the most popular I have written so far. In this post I am going to I discuss the 6 most common myths concerning Google AdSense that, hopefully, will help you get real about monetizing your Blogger blog with AdSense.
Google AdSense Myths Every Bloggers Needs to Know About
There are countless myths concerningGoogle AdSense which may lead new bloggers in particular into believing that all they need to do to become instant internet millionaires is to place a few Google dd units on their blog or website. Unfortunately, the reality is quite different – especially when you consider that 95% of all blogs receive less than 100 visitors per day. Adding Google AdSense to your blog can and will generate some income, but you need to be realistic about what to expect. In the following paragraphs I am going to expose the 6 most common myths about Google AdSense:
False. Only a small percentage of bloggers manage to make a living from their blogs. While it is possible to make at least a bit of money from Google AdSense ad units, you have to bear in mind that making money from your blog is dependent on many factors such as types of advertising, placement of ads, quality of blog content, regular posting, number of articles, SEO, backlinks to your site, number of visitors to your blog,… The more articles you write, the more posts will be indexed in search engines like Google,Yahoo and Bing, which may lead to increased traffic and, in turn, to higher income. The bottom line is that for your ads to be effective your blog needs to receive a lot of traffic. Therefore you should concentrate your efforts in this area and make sure that your blog is worth visiting because building a loyal readership is of utmost importance.
Do Your Maths
Google AdSense itself says it is difficult to predict earnings, but there are some general rules to guide you. For instance, if your blog receives 100 visits per day your likely revenue from Google AdSense will probably be about 10 cents per day, assuming that 1 in 100 people click on some form of Google advertising on your site and the page CTR (click-through-rate) is about 0.20%. Over a year that equates to about $36.50. Not a fortune in anyone's book. Likewise, if your blog is fortunate enough to receive 1000 visitors per day you are looking at an annual income from Google AdSense of about $365.00.
100 Visitors per day = Earnings $36.50 per year
1000 Visitors per day = Earnings $365.00 per year
5000 Visitors per day = Earnings $1825.00 per year
10000 Visitors per day = Earnings $3650.00 per year
But be warned - the above figures are an optimistic view. You have to keep in mind that quite a lot of your visitors will be repeats, and the likelihood of a repeat visitor clicking on an ad unit is less than that of a new visitor. Considering this, your earnings could be much less.
Google AdSense and Affiliate Marketing
As stated above, roughly 95% of all bloggers have less than 100 visitors to their blog a day. If your blog falls into this category then Google AdSense alone is not enough for you to quit your job and become a full-time blogger. You will need to display other forms of advertising on your blog as well before your blog work will start to pay off. Check out my article on other forms of advertising that may be suitable for your Blogger blog, including displaying Affiliate Marketing banners.
Affiliate marketing banners are another form of advertising. Consider that if 1 site visitor in 100 actually buys something worth $50.00 you will immediately earn $5.00, assuming you receive a sale commission of 10%. Even if only one in 500 clicks through to the merchant and buys something you will still be ahead of the revenue earned from Google ads for the same number of visitors. ($5.00 from Affiliate Marketing versus 50 cents from Google AdSense.) In many ways Affiliate Marketing is a more profitable marketing strategy than having heaps of Google ads on your blog. However, in my experience a good mix of both is the way to go.
2. Displaying More Ads on a Blog Will Earn More Money
False. Some bloggers mistakenly believe that placing as many Google AdSense units as possible on their blog will yield higher earnings. Sadly, this is NOT the case at all. By putting more ad units on your blog you may actually reduce your earnings. There is a risk that the highest performing Ad units will shift to positions that are less frequently clicked on. For instance, while the top right hand corner is a prime place for an advertising banner because it gets viewed by the most people it is also a spot that tends to get disregarded by savvy visitors who recognise it as an advertising zone and therefore avoid it. At the same time a 336x280 ad unit with a higher CTR is likely to display Google ad units which pay less because the highest CTR has been transferred to the 468x60 or 728x90 ad unit.
Not necessarily. Depending on the content of your blog it might not always be possible to drive a lot of new visitors to your site and you might have to rely more heavily on repeat traffic. However, due to the familiarity of the ad placement on your blog repeat visitors are less likely to click on your ad units than new visitors. While you can expect more clicks on your ad units as traffic increases there is no guarantee that Google AdSense on your blog will deliver the kind of earnings you might expect.
4. The Format of Google AdSense Ads is Not Important
False. The format of the ads you display on your blog is very important. You can earn more from some ad formats than others. For instance, it is generally considered that the wide Google AdSense ads (336x280, 300x250 or 250x250) perform best. I like to position one of these directly above or inside my first post.
Link units can be profitable too – if strategically placed. One of the best locations for link units is in or just below your blog header, as many people are used to looking there for a navigation menu. A 728x15 linked ad unit just below your horizontal navigation menu will very likely yield good results.
5. The Placement of Google AdSense Ad Units Does Not Matter
On the contrary - where you place your Google AdSense ads can be critical to making money from your blog. One of the best places to position AdSense is above what is known as the fold. The fold is the top area of your blog visible to your visitors without them having to scroll down. A 336x280 ad unit in this space works well because on arrival at your blog visitors immediately see what they are looking for and click on it. If your blog is about mountain biking, for instance, then Google AdSense, being the content based advertising program it is, will very likely serve up ads about cycling equipment, cycling tours etc. For your visitors seeing exactly what they are interested in on arrival is a definite bonus which may lead them to click on your ad unit.
6. To Make Money from a Blog You Need to Add Google AdSense
False. While Google AdSense is by far the most popular Advertising Network around it is not the only advertising option. There are some good alternatives like AdBrite and Chitika. Let the type of blog you have govern your decisions about which advertising mix you employ rather than just going for Google AdSense because its the easiest.
In this posts I have discussed 6 common myths about Google AdSense that every Blogger (Blogspot.com) blogger should be aware of when placing Google AdSense on their blog. This article will hopefully help you do a reality check and make you realize that while you may be one of the 5% of bloggers sitting on a goldmine Google AdSense will not transform you into a millionaire overnight.
Good luck!
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