There’s lots of gimmicky “make a quick buck” packages, scams, or whatever you want to call them, floating around on the internet. It sums up the dream really, to sit at home and earn money, whilst merely sitting on the couch, or for the responsible people, spending time with their family.
A good friend of mine once bought into one, and was kind enough to send me the content she received upon doing so. For a small sum of ~$30-50, you received a bunch of how to guides, covering the use of Google AdWords, generally promoting your content, and how to make money from it.
The content instructed the customer to create an account with a website called PayDotCom (who’s URL is not pay.com, but paydotcom.com – lame huh). I went along and created an account – yes the site is actually legitimate. From there, you pick products to “sell”. Essentially, what you are then meant to do is create content to promote that product. PayDotCom will then pay you a commission for selling it.
Sounds simple. I had a bit of time on my hands and thought I’d try it out. Nope. No luck. Not only is it time consuming, but you also need to have resources – GOOD domain names, webhosting, an endless Google AdWords budget – and then you are competing with every other housewife in the world who’s thought they could sit at home with the kids and earn a few bucks. It’s a very competitive “market”, if you can call it that. What do you think are your chances?
It’s pretty difficult to just jump onto the internet and become an overnight success story. Not everyone has the time, knowledge, or passion to go and create the “new Facebook”. So that’s where I started – finding something I am passionate about. For me, that happens to be cars and information technology. I’m the lucky owner of an online car community, as well as this here blog, both of which are now “established” on the internet through a lot of hard work.
You have to have content. Content is what the internet is made up of. Pictures, videos, and most importantly, text. It’s incredibly hard to find a niche on the internet anymore, so if you have an idea that isn’t so unique, just aim to be better then your competition.
If you are just beginning, you will also want to establish a user base. This means readers, members, posters, contributors, whatever you want to call them. If you run a forum, or a blog, ideally you will have a large number of users or visitors (let’s say, 1000 visitors per week). The more interactive your users/readers are, the better.
Learn SEO (search engine optimisation). Google will reward you for it, by pushing your pages higher up the results page. This means you get more clicks. More clicks = more chances of people clicking on your Google Ads…
Constantly update your material. This fits in with SEO. Newer content not only give Google more reason to check your site often, but it also broadens your chances of getting visitors. By constantly posting content, especially if the content relates to your existing content, you enhance the image that your site is the “source” for whatever topic it is you write about.
Use a good CMS (content management system). Again, an SEO thing. CMS systems such as WordPress and Joomla cut the mustard. They allow you to manage your entire website from a simple web interface, and the entire site (ideally) will flow and feel consistent. This not only helps your visitors, but Google will probably like it too.
Promote your content. Post links on forums, social media (Facebook, Twitter etc). Allow users to “Like” your pages, or to post them on Reddit, Digg, and other such sites.
Ensure Google can index your site properly. If Google can’t index your site, you may notice the ads being shown are completely irrelevant to your site… Unless you run a secret government agency of some sort, you REALLY want Google to be able to see your site, don’t you?
In my opinion, when you can honestly say you have 1000 visitors per week, you will start to reap some benefits from your site – not alot, but some.
A technique I use to get more users to read my blog is to analyse the search queries which brought people to my page. As a technology minded person, people come to my blog to solve problems. We all know Google results don’t always take you to the information you want, and this shows up in your web stats. If you see a search query for “fix problem xxx” and you know you haven’t written an article about it, but know it’s something your site should offer, find the answer and write an article.
Make sure the “ad code” generate by Google is placed in a good location. It can be rather difficult trying to fit ad code at the top of the page, especially with the 728×90 banners. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and make a sacrifice to make it fit.
Earnings. Don’t expect thousands of dollars from Google. I only make around $30 a month for around 20000 visitors across two websites. Results may/will vary.
Under no circumstances encourage your visitors to click on the ads… Not only is this unfair to ad publishers, Google WILL disable your AdSense account, and seize your earnings. You won’t get these back. And it’s highly unlikely that appealing the decision will result in a positive outcome.
Constantly (read: obsessively) review your stats and react. Review your AdSense account, and any other insightful information you have access to on a regular basis, and make necessary changes to your site to optimise your earnings.
I’ve been using AdSense for around 8 months now. Initially generating about $5 worth a month, and now generating between $30 and $50 a month, it’s clear that the optimisation techniques I have learnt and used have improved the earnings of my sites.
These guidelines / techniques also apply to any other website. You don’t have to be running Google AdSense to increase your earnings from the internet. Online retail stores and other websites can all benefit from my tips. Everything I have said here is basic SEO after all – it’s a universal art. It just so happens that good SEO will also increase your earnings by virtue of bringing more visitors to your site – which is a great thing, isn’t it?