If you’ve been dabbling with Google Adsense and wanted to know how to maximize your participation, this might just help. You don’t simply have to paste Adsense code in and hope for the best…you have more control than that.

Here are 9 things you can do to improve your Adsense income, but let’s start with the most important thing first…

Your Subject Area Matters

A lot of people start a website on a topic they’re excited about and hope to monetize it with Adsense, but then are disappointed to find out the payout per click isn’t very high. Well since your payout is determined by CPC (cost per click ) in Adwords, you know that your payout is directly related to how much the advertisers are spending on the ads. And how much they are paying is directly related to the subject of the ads. Different niches command higher ad prices than others, so if you’re starting a knitting blog and expecting a high payout on each click, it’s probably not going to happen.

Here is an infographic from 2011 that claims to show the “Top 20 Most Expensive Keywords in Google Adwords”. This will help you, as a rough guide, find subject areas that will command a higher payout on each click.

Once you have your subject area down, here are some other methods to try. By the way, the content below includes excerpts from our “Ad Networks – Boosting Your Income” PLR bundle (only 13 licenses remain and it is retiring on April 30, so use coupon code aprilretirees to get it nice and cheap).

1. Block Unrelated Advertisers

Browse your site regularly and see what kind of ads are appearing. If you see ads that are unrelated to your site appearing or ads that detract from the user experience, take them out using the “block ads” feature.

2. Blue Links

People are used to seeing links in blue. They’re used to seeing links underlined. These two in combination can tap into existing user psychology to make it more likely that people will click.

Some people say that it’s better to use your site’s main colors in the ad rather than use the traditional blue. It really depends on the site. Sometimes traditional blue will outpull a blending strategy, while at other times blue links are what works.

Test it both ways.

3. Use Custom Channels

Channels can be a rather difficult concept to understand in the beginning. In most split testing systems, you have a Variable A and a Variable B, you test them against one another and see who wins. Channels don’t work like that.

An ad can have any number of properties – It can be square, it can be red, it can have Times New Roman as its font and it can be placed in the main content area. Another box might have a completely different set of properties.

By tagging your ads with all their various properties, you’ll be able to see exactly which properties work better than others.

For example, you might find that all red ads perform better than blue ads. However, you wouldn’t know that if you simply tested Ad A versus Ad B. Instead, you might have ads A, B and C running concurrently, and after several tests you find that all ad versions tagged with color Red outperform those tagged with color Blue.

In other words, channels allow you to spot patterns across a wide range of different variables, instead of forcing you to test one ad against another.

Learn the channels system as well as you can and split test often. The more you test, the better your chances of finding a winning system.

4. Test Ads in Prominent Places

The highest CTR ad for most people is to place a large block ad above the fold, right inside the text of the content. For example:

5. Google Heat Map

Google has provided us with a heat map of where people’s eyes tend to go when they’re on a content site. Using this heat map can help you figure out where the best places to put your ad units are.

The darker the area, the more attention it gets.

Just because an area is lighter doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put ads there. Just expect to earn less than an ad unit in the center. For strategic reasons, many sites choose to put ads on the sides rather than in the middle, where it would get more clickthroughs.

6. It’s Not All About Squeezing out Adsense Dollars

The sites that earn the most from ad networks are also the sites that pay the most attention to long term customer value. Rather than trying to squeeze every last drop of revenue out of every visitor, it’s also important to make sure that everyone who visits your site has a good experience, so they’ll come back again, tell others and link to your website.

Placing ads in prominent spots will help you get more clicks; but try not to sacrifice too much of your design aesthetics.

7. Use Google In-Page Analytics

One way to figure out both what’s working right now and what could be improved is to use click tracking technology.

Click tracking technology shows you exactly where people are clicking right now with their mouse. This allows you to see where people are not clicking, as well as places where they’re clicking that you might be able to place ads.

Sometimes people click on the strangest places. Places that you simply wouldn’t expect if you didn’t have click tracking installed. By figuring out where these places are, you can monetize them. If you go into your Google Analytics account, you can use this feature and it will show which links are being clicked on most.

8. Test Different Media

AdSense allows you to choose between just text ads, just image and flash ads or a combination.

You never know what will really work for your site until you try them. Some people find that image ads vastly outpull text ads for them, while others find the exact opposite.

9. Blend vs. Contrast

There are two main approaches you can take with your ads. You can try to make them blend in as much as possible into the rest of your site’s design, or you can make them stand out.

Some sites work better with the first approach, others with the second. Again, you really won’t know which works better than the other without testing it.

Avoid “Just Set It and Forget It”

Many people approach Adsense as something they can just paste into their site and forget about. Certainly can do it this way and earn some cash. However, there are plenty of simple things you can do and test to improve your earnings immensely. It’s your business and it’s worth the time.

Here are some further thoughts if you’re struggling to get things rolling…

Technology is the Least of Your Problems

Don’t get me wrong, technology is important. A good system will make it easier for you and ensure that your website is just the way you’d like it.

But technology does not MAKE your website. It’s the content you put into it, that’s important. It’s the offers that you make and the mailing list that you build that ensures your website is profitable. The technology by itself CANNOT make you profitable.

So with that in mind, think less about the tool you use and think more about what you’re going to do to make that website grow and earn you money.

Hire Someone When You Need Customization or Extra Help

If you don’t know how to do something, hire someone who does. If you’re on a budget, try to barter for the services you’re looking for. Or if you can’t barter, dig in and start learning how to do these things yourself. It will take you longer to learn to do it yourself, but most of this stuff isn’t rocket science and once you break through one hurdle, the rest becomes easier. Personally, I prefer the hiring method. It’s much quicker and I can focus on the stuff I’m good at.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect

If you think you need the perfect design and things have to be just right before you launch, I have some terrible news for you. It will never be perfect and if you are someone who seeks out perfection, you’ll never be satisfied for long.

I know people who change their WordPress themes almost monthly. Some people do it even more frequently, but to what end? Does changing a theme grow your business? With the exception of very few cases, I’d say most people are setting themselves back by doing this. They are messing with the branding they’ve already built up and are using up their time that should be used on more profitable activities.

The way to work toward getting a site that you are really happy with is to launch it, use it and grow it. What you think you need today may not be what you need in 6 months or a year. Make adjustments as you need them, rather than to satisfy your fancy.

So What Are Your Options?

There are too many options to list here and it is not my goal to overwhelm anyone with too many options, so let’s break it down into a few categories for you. Again, don’t get hung up on technology. You can make any changes you need later. You can’t learn what works for you until you start working, right?

• Free Ready-to-Go Blogs: This is probably the easiest and cheapest way to get things started, but is probably not your best bet for a long-term business. I’m talk about services like Blogger, where you can simply set up an account and get your website online. The thing with these types of sites is that you don’t really own your site and you do lose control when it comes to full customization of everything.

• Free Blogs to Install: Now you can move to something like WordPress and install it on your own server. You will own your site and you have access to a variety of customizations, plugins and you can even have your own plugins created. Using something like WordPress is more technical and needs to be upgraded frequently, so some people do get bogged down in the technology as they go along. When I started using WordPress, I always got help with the technology part of it and while I can do a lot of stuff myself now, it does take time, so I prefer not to do it all myself.

• Ready-to-Go Site Builders: There are also a variety of site builders that are more geared to selling products and making money online than simple blogging sites. For example, we have Internet Based Family (free trial available – includes your shopping cart, mailing list, etc.) or you might be familiar with Dr. Ken Evoy’s SiteBuildIt. These are great because they contain everything you need to really get an online business started. However, realize that you are creating files on their servers and while you do own your domain, moving files later can be a bit of a pain if you change your mind. Still, these are viable options because they do all the upgrades and keep the technology up-to-date for you.

• HTML Websites: It seems like fewer people go this route these days, but I still love HTML and use it for all my sales pages because it gives me complete control over everything. You can use an editor like Microsoft Expression Web or Dreamweaver to create your site. Both use WYSWYG editors that are very much like a word processor and really aren’t that difficult to use. The problem comes when you are managing hundreds or even thousands of pages as it can be more of a challenge to categorize and manage them manually.

• Other Content Management Systems: There are plenty of options for scripts you can install on your server that will manage your content besides WordPress and other blog platforms. Things like Drupal or Joomla might suit your needs.

So now that I’ve gone through all those options, I worry a bit that I may have overwhelmed some people who are hung up on technology. If that’s you, I challenge you to just get started. Have a look at your options one afternoon and then go with the one that seems to be the best fit. Work at it, set up your site and launch it. Work to grow your audience and list for a few months and then evaluate how it’s going.

Checklists to Get Your Website Going

Here are some checklists that might come in handy for starting your website. They come from one of our many PLR bundles at DIYplr…but you can use the ones below for your own personal use.

• Choosing a Domain Checklist (PDF)
• Target Market  Research Checklist (PDF)
• What to Include in Your Website Checklist (PDF)
• Website Traffic Checklist (PDF)
• Email Marketing Checklist (PDF)

No more excuses, okay? Start building, learning and growing!

Technology is something that never should hold you back because you have so many options. And maybe, for some people, too many options is part of the problem.

To help understand the issue a bit better, I am hoping you could answer this question.

What is the number one reason why you haven’t started building a website?

Post it in the comments area. I’ll be available to answer the comments below, but my bigger plan is to come up with a comprehensive post that will help you overcome the issues facing website-owner-hopefuls today.

Thanks for your help!

These days, when we say the word “media”, it can mean a variety of different things. People often use the phrase “new media” to describe what the media has evolved into with blogs and other digital media.

In fact, your own website IS the “new media” and you can use it to reach your audience directly and completely bypass traditional media if you prefer. Certainly, this rise of digital media has caused  traditional media’s power to wane, but the important thing to remember is that traditional media is still a great source for establishing credibility for your business. These are long standing institutions that people still turn to as reputable sources of information.

And hey, when it comes to new media, the traditional media aren’t doing to shabbily either as you can see:

The good news is, you don’t have to write endless press releases, go on publicity tours or make hundreds of phone calls to get decent credibility-boosting coverage from newspapers, radio programs, TV shows and more.

Here are 6 ways to facilitate traditional media coverage:

• Press / News Releases: Despite what others might say about press releases going the way of the dodo bird, the press release (or often modernly called “news release”). Traditional media still uses press releases, but always do your homework for each publication to see how they like to receive their new stories and adjust accordingly. The bonus to creating press or news releases is that you can also publish them online and reach your target audience of customers directly too.

(Note: You can download press release instructions, topic ideas and a template here.)

• Go local: If you want media coverage, it’s easiest to go local. Local media publications like local stories, so be proud of your roots and get known in your community. Larger and broader-reaching publications look for bigger stories and people with more media experience. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t reach for the stars, but work it locally and then go wider.

(Note: You can download a press release distribution checklist here.)

• Showcase your expertise: Today’s reporters are web-savvy, so make sure you stand out as an expert in your field. Use your website, print books and other self-published media as an opportunity to get that expertise out there.

(By the way, if you’re looking for a way to find out what your expertise or special knowledge is, our free Monetize Your Knowledge course can help you do that.)

• Be searchable: One of the easiest ways to be approached by the media for a quote or interview is to be found for important keyword phrases for your niche. This means doing basic SEO on all that expert content you’re publishing.

(Lesson 12 of our free Better Content Marketing course at Contentrix covers SEO for you…and everything leading up to that lesson will certainly come in handy too.)

• Easy to contact: Don’t hide behind private domain registrations and web forms. Make sure you have a phone number and mailing address so the media can see you as a legitimate source and  can contact you for an interview, an opinion or quote at anytime.

• Get to Know Reporters: Just like with anything else in business, you need to get to know people and expand your connections. Ask for introductions and referrals readily. You can also use services like HARO (Help a Reporter Out) to help you reach traditional and new media contacts.

It’s probably quite clear by now, working to reach the traditional media is something you can incorporate into what you’re already doing. It all translates into creating valuable content and getting it out there.

If you haven’t tried to use Facebook Ads yet…I strongly encourage you to get your feet wet. Facebook offers such an incredibly targeted advertising opportunity, it has a straightforward interface (unlike the intimidating one Google Adwords has developed over the years) and it’s relatively inexpensive.

First, You Need to Decide: Page or Offer

Facebook allows you to create ads the either promote your Facebook Page or an external website.

Keep in mind that if you advertise your Facebook Page, it only takes one click of the “Like” button on an ad before you’ve got an “action”. On the other hand, if you link to another page, users have to click through to that page and then they have to decide whether or not they will take action. Considering this, it’s likely you’ll get a higher conversion percentage by promoting your Facebook Page.

HOWEVER, you need to decide what is more valuable to you….a Facebook follower, a new subscriber (if you promote a free offer) or a sale (if you promote a product). Of course, you can and should try to promote various offers to see what gives you the best results.

Targeting Options

Facebook has a TON of information about its users. They know their age, gender, interests, where they work and all kinds of information we just don’t have access to with most advertising opportunities. As result of that intelligence, Facebook makes it possible for you to target your advertising very finely.

You can exclude people you don’t think are a good target, you can set up multiple ads for specific groups and more. The one drawback though is that you cannot easily split test ad text, like you can with Google Adwords. One would hope that is something Facebook will eventually implement.

You can target by the following:

• Geographic location, right down to the city.
• Age
• Gender
• Interests (select broad categories or type in specific interests)
• Education Level
• Workplace

How much do Facebook ads cost?

It varies and it depends on the competition for ad space to the audience you select, but the minimum required bid is $0.01 per click (your cost per click is abbreviated as CPC). Facebook also provides a suggested bid, so you get maximum views. But as a tip, if you want a low ad price, target your ads as much as possible…you’ll have less competition.

You can choose to pay per impression (CPM) instead. This means that you pay a certain amount per 1000 impressions and the minimum CPM is $0.02. Generally speaking, CPM campaigns work best for branding campaigns and local businesses whose names are recognizable to Facebook users. For example, it makes sense for Walgreens in Tacoma, Washington to advertise a sale on a CPC basis since many Facebook users will already be familiar with the name and likely the location of the store. If you’re not a household name, you probably don’t want to choose this route.

But how much will you end up spending on your campaign overall? You can set a daily budget to ensure you spend only a certain daily amount. You can also set your ads to run only for a specified period of time, so you do have ways to control your spending.

How to Set up  an Effective Campaign and Write Great Ads

Before you launch an ad campaign, make sure to read through Facebook’s free guide on  optimizing your Facebook ads. It talks about understanding your statistics, targeting your campaigns and creating ads.

We also have a quick slide show below  that includes 7 ad examples and tips for writing your own ads (This slide show from the Facebook Mega Pack, if you want to brand and publish it yourself)