1. Integration
2. Traffic
3. Sector
4. Audience

There is a lot of focus on integration of Adsense ads and generating traffic, but often little focus on sector and audience, despite that these will be key for earnings.

1. Integration

There is already a lot written about this and Google certainly provide tips on blending Adsense into a site. It’s still surprising to see sites that fail to make basic attempts at blending and putting at least one main block above the fold, so here are a couple of fundamentals about integration:

- the 250×300 block is commonly the best performing. This is not least because it is optimised for image and video ads, which makes it easy to get high-end campaigns running on your site

- draw attention to the ads, but not at the expense of the site. In other words, place your Adsense around your content, rather than your content around your Adsense. It’s better to keep users on your site long enough to read, bookmark, and want to generate a conversation about it before they click out.

- more ad blocks means lower paying advertisers therefore lower paying clicks therefore lower revenues. So consider restricting the number of ad blocks you use. Personally I usually limit it to two: one in the content, and one at the foot of the content.

- make sure site colours are continued into the Adsense block so it looks a natural part of the site

TIP: Limit attempts to advertise on new sites, and instead push for developing traffic and return visitors through strong content and good presentation. Once you build up traffic, advertising will seem more acceptable to users.

2. Traffic

Theoretically, the higher the traffic, the higher your clickthrough rates.

However, the traffic needs to be targeted so that visitors to the page can have a need served by the Adsense.

So don’t think about traffic volume as much as volume quality traffic - ie, users who are more likely to be drawn to the topic in the page and therefore more easily engagement by the ads.

TIP: For high traffic pages with fewer clicks, consider running Image-only ads to run as a banner program by proxy.

3. Sector

The topic area of your pages and site are key to earnings - some industries pay a lot higher than others.

For some reason this is little discussed, but your target sector can mean the difference between running a high traffic site where Adsense barely pays for the server, and a high traffic site that could pay your server and mortgage bill.

For example, financial services ads are more likely to pay more per click than ads about self-publishing.

So try and put some effort into developing a site or pages which could attract better paying industries and advertisers to build traffic at.

TIP: Don’t try and tap into higher paying areas for the sake of it - instead, consider your interests and try and ensure you have enough passion in the sector you choose to keep your website fresh and interesting.

4. Audience

This bit is absolutely critical but remains little discussed, so remains something of a secret that I’m sharing with you now:

The less intelligent your audience, the more likely they are to click ads.

It sounds somehow nasty yet common sensical at the same time - after all, web savvy users learn to recognise ads - and how to avoid them.

It can be especially hard to monetise content where the target audience is industry professionals, because they have the intelligence enough to spot ad types quickly, and that includes Adsense, no matter how well integrated, and avoid clicking on them - unless there’s something that really pulls them in to click.

As you have no control over the ad content, it can therefore become pretty hard to earn

General consumers are much less likely to know the difference between a menu link and an Adsense link, and therefore click through.

TIP: In earnings terms, a niche can easily outperform generic sites. Just as advertisers will tend to avoid generic keywords in PPC bids, so niche sites with a tightly focused audience will often be more attractive to advertising.

Summary: Earning from Adsense

There’s no secret formula to earning well with Adsense that everyone can follow - each website and its audience are different.

However, the four factors above are ones I see as key.

Not every site will hit all four elements well, but a decent website will usually be able to hit a few of them together.

If you can find a way to connect general consumers with a high-paying vertical then you are probably onto a winner as you build up the traffic.

On saying that, though, do remember that Adsense earnings are only as good as the advertiser payments into Adwords.

When times are hard, advertisers tend to lower budgets, and content network targeting is often avoided because of too many people setting up junk sites in the past.

However, so long as you can develop a strong voice in your niche, keep content fresh and users engaged and returning, there is always a chance of attracting site advertisers who pay per impression rather than per click, which is one of the most lucrative areas of Adsense.

In the meantime, hope that helps, and enjoy. :)

Office Web is Microsoft’s big foray into internet-based services, providing a virtual desktop and storage online.

This is not least in response to other online services, such as Google Docs, Flickr, and other services that allow data to be used and saved online - rather than on a home PC.

It’s a pretty big move away from Microsoft’s walled garden of PC’s, but as users are moving more and move of their data to online services anyway, Microsoft are trying to play catch up by moving away from core ideas.

While you would expect online services to be limited only by browser compatibility, Microsoft have previously caused problems by being too focused on Internet Explorer.

In a Q&A on the Microsoft development site, both Firefox and Safari will be supported in Microsoft Office.

I’m just waited to try it and see the “Upgrade to IE 7″ notice when using it, though. :)

Interestingly enough, while Angus accuses Nominet - among other things - of not properly looking after uses, Angus, just happens to be a domainer.
If you don’t know, domaining is the process of buying nice sounding domain names, slapping a landing page filled with ads on, and then waiting to generate revenues from people clicking on the ads after typing the sites URL - or else from selling the domain at an inflated price when someone actually wants to develop a useful website on it.

You can see an example here. Familiar now?

While boardroom arguments are hardly a new thing, what really gets my eyeballs is the fact Nominet had a domainer advising on the board.

And according to The Register:

In the Nominet boardroom, Hanton has been most closely allied with Jim Davies, a solicitor elected in May 2008 who has frequently acted for domainers. On Monday this week Davies called on CEO Cowley and and Chairman Gilbert to face a vote of confidence from members. The Nominet executive counters that Davies has significant conflicts of interest and has refused to sign a declaration that he will act in the best interests of all Nominet members and the wider UK internet.

Now there’s a comforting thought - domainers and their lawyers were trying to encourage Nominet to a certain point of view, but were pushed back?

I can only hope the ordinary website building user remains very much a focus for Nominet.

After all, domainers have leeched enough internet real estate through sheer speculation, against the interests of ordinary web users. Heaven forbid that a registrar would ever sympathise with their business plan.

Often it’s automated, but sometimes it looks stolen by human users.

Either way, it’s not invited, it’s unwelcome, it’s illegal, and I’ll get you back for it.

Dealing with stolen content

Sure, I can run through the DNS records, contact the hosting company, and hope that resolves it.

With content spammers machine generating multitudes of pages, it rarely works - they try and cover their tracks with custom nameservers, hidden registration details, false emails, etc, and generally make themselves uncontactable.

I’m under the impression you can’t even file a DMCA because you don’t even know who you are contacting - they’ve hidden their own details well - and it’s a prerequisite in a DMCA that you state you have tried to contact the offender.

But a simpler, quicker, cleaner way - is to file a TOU violation via Adsense.

How to file a Google Adsense TOU Violation

Yep, everytime someone steals my content and pastes Adsense around it, I click that Google logo for the feedback form, and file a TOU violation on the site.

- When you see Adsense around your stolen content, click on the Google logo in the ads.

- Then at the bottom of the Adsense landing page, click on “Send Google your thoughts on the site or the ads you just saw”.

- This opens up a new section below: “Tell Google What You Think” - and ignore section 1: “How relevant were the ads to the page you saw them on?”.

- Instead, just go to section 2: “How useful was the site to you?” and check the first option: “Not useful at all”.

- Then click the link “Also Report a Violation?”.

A new selection box opens - just select “the website” and more options.

Don’t bother checking box 3, “The site is hosting/distributing my copyrighted content”, to state your content is being stolen - all Google will do is send you an automated reply about filing a DMCA.

It’s frustrating, but you can appreciate Google’s difficult position on content theft, determining rightful owner, etc.

Instead, just select section 5: “The site violates AdSense policies in other ways”.

Then add something in the box “Add additional information here:”

I usually type something to the effect that the site is machine generating content, usually by scraping or stealing material from other websites. I don’t claim it’s my own - I just state the obvious, hoping someone at least a little web savvy will read it.

Then click “Submit feedback to Google”.

What happens next?

I’ve tried this on a number of sites, many of which soon disappear. I’ve seen some stay up and running, but usually without their Adsense.

I can’t be sure that my reports are solely responsible - I’m sure where a single site is scraping content from multiple authors, then I won’t be the only one to complain.

However, it is kind of funny seeing a site running Adsense later to be running some crappy third-tier affiliate program - presumably because they were banned from Adsense - and are now trying their hardest to monetise the content with lowest paying ads.

I’ve been on different sides of the same fence - I’ve had material stolen, I’ve had one of my freelancers steal content and get me into a load of trouble, and I’ve had people threaten DMCA’s because they are stupid. I can really appreciate Google’s caution regarding DMCA filings.

Even still, I like to think that Google is looking after its users, and has the same disdain for machine-generated content that is just stealing from third-parties as those stolen from do - especially when these sites are usually pretty clear they are machine generated.

Despite all this, I don’t think trying to get people’s Adsense accounts banned will properly deter the thieves - but if acted upon, it can only make it feel far less worthwhile.

(As an aside, iMedia Connection is a site covering a range of wider marketing topics, and whether you’ve come to IB as a SEO or small business owner, it’s probably worth visiting their site a little more regularly for their in-depth marketing coverage.)

Adam lists the 6 stupid marketing mistakes as follows:

1. Failing to engage and follow conversion

Adam links to a list of brands using Twitter, and then notes that British Airways is one, but only has a cursory presence. It’s a typical failure of engagement.

From personal experience, I’ve seen too many large companies shy from digital assets outside of their control, prefering to just “dip their toe in”, and frightened as hell about publishing anything that hasn’t been run through legal and compliance.

From a marketing point of view, the modern web is a Social Web, and that means that you engage in positive brand-building conversations - and follow them.

Which brings us onto point 2:

2. Control your buzz

Adam refers to a viral campaign by Diesel, and how the company let the conversation run away from them.

While the campaign was successful, the company failed to push and exploit on organic and PPC presences on Google, meaning that when people tried to find the video, traffic went elsewhere.

In a way Adam is pretty focused on the brand protection aspect, but I’d also go further and make the point of continuing to engage people with viral campaigns, not simply on your own site, but also on other sites.

After all, how often were Diesel marketers involved in continuing the engagement in online conversations? That’s the key - conversations are a two-way process, and that means keep the message on track through engagement as well.

3. Be SEO-friendly from the ground up

I’m sure I’m not the only person to groan when I see some of the sites I’m asked to help.

Architecture, URLs, and content splashed all over the place as if the website were built by someone on acid.

The result is a confused mess from a marketing, administrative and development point of view.

To be fair, many of these results from multiple companies having worked on different parts of the site over the years, but the lack of overall management focus leads to a disjointed mess.

The bottom line remains - when building a new site, make sure it’s properly planned from the outset, and simple issues such as SEO are taken account of from the start - to avoid serious cost and management headaches later on.

4. Don’t be a walled garden

Adam’s next attack is on companies who identify their internet presence as just a website - rather than engaging in all the various internet assets available that can be used to improve overall online visibility.

This is something any of us who do engage in social marketing to any degree will recognise, as while it’s great to have a strong base, it’s so frustrating when a big company is frightened to step out from its website.

I’ve mentioned above about restrictions via Legal & Compliance, but even these issues should not restrict use of available and useful online assets, even where offered by a third-party.

On that note, use, but keep your main base strong, and ensure that the loss of any single third-party asset will not undermine your marketing campaigns.

5. Social media is a commitment, not a campaign

Adam quotes his boss Joe Jaffe on this, and it’s a really good comment.

While specialists in social media and linkbaiters spend all of their available time remaining engagement with their targeted communities, businesses seem to have this idea they can just pop in, shout their message, get a positive response - done.

Again, we’re talking about continued engagement of the Social Web - not simply looking to start conversations, but to carry them on, and engage in any other relevant conversations which can indicate people at a valid point of the sales funnel, whether in terms of simply branding, to making specific sales recommendations when invited.

6. Viral is not always good

Here Adam agrees with my friend Lee Odden from Top Rank Results, that just because you generate attention, doesn’t mean to say it’s welcome attention.

While Oscar Wilde may have said that “The only thing worse than being talked about, is not being talked about”, and the comment mantra “There’s no such thing as bad publicity”, the truth is that it takes a lot more effort to calm bad publicity and attempt to leverage.

And, if like me you’ve ever been called on for Online Reputation Management service, you can plainly see that there are some types of publicity that will kill sales outright, because of the negative brand associations.

After all, I’m sure if any major corporation made a video for viral marketing associating themselves with child porn, then I’m sure the media coverage would be immense - as would the brand damage.

One of the cornerstones of my background in SEO is that number of eyeballs simply does not matter - it’s ensuring the right message reaches the right people and remains targeted.

Big traffic is easy to get - just put a bit of adult content on your site with some celebrity keywords, and you’ll soon burn up your server. Benefits will be negligible to the costs, though.

Advertising needs to be focused, relevant, and targeted, and where advertising is for branding purposes, needs to remain positive. That’s why viral campaigns cannot be viral for viral’s sake - they need to be able to properly leverage positive brand associations, and help that brand be memorable with the ad.