Google Adsense - Perfect for the lazy blogger
With the latest Google PageRank just round the corner my thoughts for Blogging Tips are starting to turn towards how I can start making money from this blog. Apart from Google Adsense, there are currently no advertisements on Blogging Tips.
Whats so special about adsense you might ask? Well, adsense was added to the site because I am lazy. Pure and simple. I didn’t want to spend too much time looking at ways to make money from this blog a few months ago as the site did not have a page rank and traffic was low. However, it’s so easy to add adsense to a blog. It’s inoffensive to readers, you can easily blend it in with your blogs colour scheme and it only takes two minutes to add it to your blog. It’s the perfect advertising solution for lazy bloggers!!!
Poor conversion rates
John Chow yesterday made the decision to remove his 300×250 Google Adsense spot from his posts due to it’s poor conversion rate. When I read his post I decided to check my stats and they were much lower than I thought they would be, between June 23rd and August 12th 2007 adsense has made me $34.98 on Blogging Tips. This is a terrible return in my opinion (this shouldn’t really surprise me, adsense has performed poorly for me for years).
I may keep the adsense ads on the home page however I am going to remove the adsense links which are currently attached to the top right of blog posts. I was planning on placing text links from TLA in this area but I am unable to do so at the moment because I am still testing out their inlinks advertising solution.
Looking for an alternative
I am not suggesting that you completely remove adsense from your blog. However, if adsense is not performing well you should consider removing it from your premium ad spots eg. ad area in your posts, your header etc.
Some suggestions :
- Sell your premium ad spots directly to advertisers. This should be the first thing you try in my opinion, if you struggling to sell your best ad positions you can then look at your other options.
- Look for suitable affiliate programs. You can leave adsense on your blog until you find a good affiliate program. Don’t look for the affiliate program which offers the biggest commissions, look for the affiliate program that offers something your readers will be interested in.
- Promote your own blog. If your really struggling to get a return from your ad positions then it might be worth putting some links up to your best posts until traffic picks up.
Adsense is one of the best solutions for filling your ad inventory but it isn’t the be all and end all. If your conversion rates are poor you should look at what your alternatives are. 
Joey | August 12th, 2007 at 10:33 am #
Great points about Adsense. I have made more money from Auction Ads than Adsense but Adsense has been on the uptick for me over the last two weeks. I have Bidvertiser on another blog and it earns more per click but less than adsense overall. I have a new Azoogle affiliate banner that is getting a good click through rate but if it doesn’t start converting soon I am going to replace it.
45n5 | August 12th, 2007 at 10:49 am #
i think text link ads dot com is a nice steady earner
Michael from Pro Blog Design | August 12th, 2007 at 2:01 pm #
I use Adsense for the exact same reason. I’m thinking about removing it now because it can be downright ugly.
The annoying thing about it is the high minimum-payout. I have $25 with Adsense from another site I used it on at one point. It would be a shame to abandon Adsense and just give Google that money…
Tom O'Leary | August 12th, 2007 at 9:00 pm #
Your last point about using the space on your own pages to promote your site, is very wise. Especially for a site that is relatively new, most monetization strategies will suck early on.
Promoting the features on your site to whoever does find you will give a lot better long term return. Too many of us are worried about our $1 of revenue today, when we should be worried about securing long term readers.
That’s my opinion anyway
Thanks
Tom
cooliojones | August 12th, 2007 at 9:57 pm #
I was accepted for Yahoo Publisher Network, but haven’t tried it out yet. Maybe this is a good reason to try.
Kevin | August 12th, 2007 at 11:45 pm #
Michael - Wioth regards to minimum payout, adsense is not too bad compared to other advertising networks. I checked a poker affiliate account last week and saw that I have over $100 just sitting there. I emailed them asking why It wasn’t being paid out and I was told the min payout was $150!
Tom - If I had known adsense would have converted so badly for me, I wouldn’t have added adsense to blogging tips. $35 in 2 months is a slap in the face as far as I’m concerned. Your 100% right, our goal should be securing long term readers
Leroy Brown | August 13th, 2007 at 7:01 am #
Adsense is all about your blog’s topics. Blogging tips is right up there with hamster mating as far as low-paying adsense niches. So for you, on this site, I’d say go private ads / text links all day long.
Once the PR update hits ( Your Alexa rating is already fantastic ) you’ll be able to pull in some very solid cash in those Areas. Adsense has nothing for you.
Michael from Pro Blog Design | August 13th, 2007 at 8:59 am #
Kevin - Yikes! Although, I suppose that was almost to be expected. Poker sites aren’t a massive step away from casinos, and casinos sure do know how to make their money…
Kevin | August 13th, 2007 at 12:04 pm #
Leroy - Yeah, my hamster mating blog is performing poorly too
Once the pagerank update is complete I can look at my options
Michael - yeah poker is still big business
Dave Starr --- ROI Guy | August 14th, 2007 at 9:30 pm #
Certainly some good advice. For years selling ads yourself and/or individual ad brokers were the only way to go. AdSense has two advantages: It’s easy and, in topics that people want to buy ads for, it does pay well. But for many unfocused blogs or blogs focuse don low-pay subjects it is less than worthless.
There is absolutely no reason the average blog could not sell their own ads … _if_ there is content that attracts businesses who wnat to advertise for customers.