Coping with the hard economic times that we are currently living in calls for one and all to step out of their comfort zones and find novel ways of making money. One of the ways through which virtually everyone can earn respectable sums of money in due time, is by building/owning a website and using it to generate revenue.
A website earns income in at least two ways - from advertising revenue and the selling of goods and services. It is the former aspect that forms the subject of this enterprising article.
1Building Your Website for AdSense and Other Advertising
Building the website can be done through either of two ways: the DIY method, aka ‘from scratch’, or via SBI (Site Build It). There are advantages and disadvantages involved for either method.
In the DIY method, which is the cheaper option, you will be required to register a domain name and find a suitable web host. Next you must build your pages and add the AdSense code to the site. This is certainly difficult for anyone who doesn’t have prior knowledge in HTML, Dreamweaver etc. Your host won’t help in optimizing or marketing your site; doing so also requires prior knowledge and as such this option is basically suited for skilled computer-savvy persons.
The SBI method is extremely AdSense friendly and although it comes at a price it certainly does justice for people who’d just like to get started without much prior website knowledge. The price covers all the necessary aspects of domain registration, web hosting, marketing, page building, free guides, brainstorming tools, etc. This is indeed the most convenient way to get into AdSense advertising.
2The Process of Joining AdSense
In 2008, Google introduced a set of application prerequisites that must be met prior to anyone being accepted into the AdSense program. AdSense is basically a program via which you get a share of the revenue Google makes from advertisements when text or image ads are displayed on your website. The prerequisites are:
- You must have a top-level domain i.e. one with a description like www.domain.com
- Your domain name must be registered and active at least six (6) months before you make an application
- The registration information provided on application must be similar to that provided during the domain name registration
- The website must contain a significant volume of original content
If all these are in order then you may make an application via http://adsense.google.com.
Not all applications are accepted; rejections may be caused for reasons such as these:
- That yours is a personal website and not one built around a specific theme or topic
- That your site is poorly organized in terms of problematic navigation, typos, non-working links, excessive number of colors etc.
- A low page count – at least 15 web pages are required
- Lack of solid content
- You have used someone else’s website i.e. yours is a carbon copy of another
3Tips on how to be successful with AdSense
There are quite a number of tips that you can employ to make income generation through AdSense revenues a success. However, it is prudent to know from the onset that you won’t make a fortune overnight – patience is of the essence.
- Don’t use a free web host to make your website – your application will be automatically rejected. Yours should have an address like http://www.yoursite.com.
- Ensure that your website is themed on a subject/topic that you can write lots of content about
- Ensure that your website is traffic-friendly. This means you have to get it optimized in the major search engines
- Find related websites that you can partner with in terms of link swaps. This is a great way to generate more traffic
4Earning Revenue From Affiliate Programs
This is the alternative to AdSense. The advertisements posted on your website will mostly be of the banner ad type. Prior to joining an affiliate program you must find out what the different payment structures used involve. These structures include:
- Pay Per Impression (CPM) – where you are paid according to how many times a given banner is displayed on your website
- Pay Per Click (PPC) – where payment is only subject to the number of clicks made on a banner displayed on your site
- Pay Per Sale or Lead – Earnings are only made if displayed banners are clicked on and then followed by the taking of a prescribed action or an item purchase
Affiliate programs can be selected from a list available at TheFreeCountry. Some programs and networks will reject applications made for websites that lack a domain name similar to what has been previously described for Google’s AdSense. The decision as to what affiliate program will be most suitable for you, will best be based on the type of target audience e.g. if you are targeting students you will do better having affiliates that relate to books, educational software, universities, etc.
