Web Owner Tools

The first of the articles on making money with your website should probably begin with the #1 advertising network: Google AdSense - especially given their recent purchase of DoubleClick, one of the leading banner advertising networks.

I have used Google AdSense with great success for almost three years now. It has been one of our steadiest (and most lucrative) revenue streams since almost the day their ads went up on our network.

Google uses contextual ads - meaning that it looks at the page on which you place the code and places either text or image ads (your choice) on that page which conform to the content of that page. For example, if you have a page about puppies, you’re likely to see ads which advertise products like dog food or pet toys…

Although primarily a CPC - pay per click - network, they also have CPM - pay per ad view - ads, and their system will automatically display whichever type of ad that makes the most money.

A few notes:

1) There are tons of ebooks and posts on webmaster forums which will tell you a thousand different ways to game AdSense. My advice? Stay far, far away from any advice which professes to offer you extraordinary returns using AdSense. Those policies inevitably end up getting you banned from their system, and you will have forever cut yourself off from one of the best revenue sources available.

2) Because of Google’s international reach, it is one of the best ways to monetize your international (non-U.S.) traffic. Most advertising networks offer very limited revenues for international visitors, so if you’re receiving (or planning to receive) more than 20-25% of your traffic from overseas, then AdSense is pretty much a must.

3) Because Google places contextual ads based on your page content, make sure you’re constructing pages for which the main topic is plainly evident. By using appropriate titles, headers and keywords throughout the page you’ll be able to maximize your earning potential.

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