If you’re looking to make money online, you’ve probably considered trying Adsense. The world’s largest ad network, which is owned by Google, pays huge dividends to those who know how to correctly use it. If you’ve never made any money with Adsense before, it can be a little bit overwhelming getting started. That’s why we’ve put together this guide to teach you everything you need to know about making money with Adsense. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Choosing The Right Niche
The first step to making money online is to decide what you’ll specialize in. You’ll have to pick a niche (i.e., a segment of the population or a group of customers) and build a website or online store around it. The most popular niches in the U.S. are health and fitness, money, real estate, food, drink, and travel. If you’d like to choose your own niche, visit [the Entrepreneur Workbench](https://workbench.google.com/) for a list of industries and choose the one that you feel most passionate about. If you are looking to make money off of a physical product, consider choosing a niche in the physical products industry (e.g., cosmetology, dermatology, or plastic surgery).
The Incredible Power Of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Although it’s not always practical to hand-optimize your site for search engines (i.e., using search engine optimization tools), it’s extremely important to do so. Why? Well, as Google keeps rolling out new algorithms and changing its search engine interface over time, you’ll need to keep optimizing your site so it continues to pull in the revenue you’re looking for. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a digital marketing expert to do so. You just have to be willing to put in the time to learn a few simple SEO tricks.
One of the simplest yet most effective SEO tips you can follow is to make sure the words you use in your titles and descriptions for your articles are relevant to the content of those articles. For example, if you’re writing about fitness, make sure your titles and descriptions for your articles include the word “fitness” or “workout plan” to make the most of your SEO. Another example would be if you’re writing about real estate, make sure your title and description contain the words “real estate” or “realty” to attract the right audience.
Make Sure Your Website Is Mobile-friendly
Just because you have a laptop doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to using only that device to surf the web. With the advancement of technology, you now have the option of creating a mobile version of your site. Fortunately, most modern browsers, including Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, make it rather easy to do so. Simply follow these steps to get a mobile-friendly version of your site:
- Visit your site on a laptop or desktop computer.
- Click the “Mobile Friendly” button at the top of your browser
- Complete the setup process to create a mobile version of your site
- Explore the mobile-friendly website and learn how to maneuver around it
- Once you’ve mastered that, start generating some revenue by advertising and marketing on mobile devices.
Get A PayPal Account
Although you can use your credit card to make purchases on affiliate websites, most people prefer to use their PayPal accounts when doing so. That’s why we’ll often see suggestions to create an account with PayPal or Dwolla (formerly known as Draw Something). PayPal and Dwolla are two of the most popular crowdfunding platforms where you can raise money for your projects. So if you’re looking to make some quick cash, consider trying one of these platforms. Just remember, many banks and credit cards now prohibit donations or purchases made with them.
Get A Professional Email Address
It’s not enough just to have a website or blog. You also need a professional-looking email address to go along with it. One of the simplest ways to get a professional email address is to register for a free Gmail account. When you sign up for a Gmail account, you’ll see a “Contact Us” button right under your inbox. Simply click on that button and fill out the form to receive a welcome email from Google.
Once you have a Gmail account, you can use one of the many free email marketing tools to easily create and send professional-looking email newsletters to your customers and subscribers. Don’t worry–you don’t have to be a genius to utilize these tools. Anyone can do so with a little bit of patience.
Avoid The Dreaded SPAM
You’ll often read articles and see videos about how to make money online that discuss the importance of “building a list” and the benefits of “spaming” (i.e., sending out huge amounts of un-targeted email to people who don’t want to hear from you). While getting overly aggressive with your email marketing might help you earn a few extra bucks, it will undoubtedly ruin your relationship with your customers. So, whenever possible, avoid sending out spammy emails to people who have not expressed an interest in receiving them.
To help you avoid harming your relationship with your customers, here are a few tips:
- Use a tool like Mailchimp to automate the process of sending emails. With Mailchimp, you can set up automated campaigns that will send out emails based on the information you provide. So, if you have a list of email addresses, you can use Mailchimp to send out a series of emails (e.g., welcome, reminder, or follow-up emails) based on the individual’s interaction with your product or service.
- Use a tool like Google Analytics to track the effectiveness of your campaigns. With Google Analytics, you’ll be able to see detailed stats about the interactions (e.g., opens, clicks, and unsubscribes) of your campaign emails. This way, you can easily determine which emails are doing well and which need to be altered or deleted.
- Takeaway: Before you bombard your customers with unsolicited emails, test out your pitches by emailing potential customers who have signed up to receive communications from you.
Advertise On Social Media
Besides creating a website or blog, you can also earn money with Adsense by using social media platforms to advertise. In 2017, there were over a billion active users on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If you want to choose your own niche, these are the places you’ll have to focus on to attract potential customers to your products or services. If you can get enough people to follow you, you can use social media to promote your blog or website by showing off your work and attracting potential customers to your page.
Make Money With Affiliate Marketing
One of the most popular ways to make money online is with affiliate marketing. Essentially, affiliate marketing is where you’ll find products (e.g., affiliate links) that others have created and sold with the help of an affiliate program. When a shopper clicks a link or buys a product that’s been recommended online, the affiliate receives a commission. When you promote or recommend a product or service through blogging, social media, or any other channel, you’ll earn a commission when someone clicks the link or makes the purchase. You can use affiliate marketing to promote your own products or services, and many companies allow you to do so through their affiliate program.
Raising Money On Kickstarter
You can also earn money with Kickstarter, an online funding platform that allows individuals, teams, and businesses to create products and projects and seek financial support from the public. To create a Kickstarter project, you’ll need to choose a niche and choose a desired amount to raise. For example, if you’re creating a board game, you might want to target $500 to $1,000 to get the ball rolling. You can provide your Kickstarter project with a pitch video to explain your concept and make it more appealing to potential backers. When you reach your goal, you’ll need to create stretch goals to continue receiving money.
Once you’ve reached your goal, you can use the funds to create your product or service, get the word out, and grow your list.