How to Add Advertising to Your Website

Author: Jim Personius, SmallBiz123.com

Do you ever wonder about all those ads on websites? Do they really work? Do they really pay? Do you want to try to make some extra money with ads on your website? It’s really pretty easy, particularly if you have a website that attracts many visitors because you have good, unique content. Why not give it a try? It’s free and you might make a few bucks.

Do Ads Really Work?

However, you need to be aware of a few facts up front:

1. Because the topical content on your site uses the same key words and terms as your competitors, you may get advertising from competitors. Google helps you limit and prevent that, but you need to keep a close eye on the advertising on your site until you are comfortable that your exclusion criteria work for you.
2. When visitors click on an ad on your site, their web browser should open a new browser to the linked ad site. But, visitors will have to click a browser tab to return to your website.
3. No matter how strong the temptation, do not click on ads on your own site. Do not click to test the ads; if you see them, they work. Do not click to see the advertised site no matter how interesting the ad, instead type in the web address directly into the browser address line. Do not tell your friends and relatives to click ads. Do not click ads to increase revenue. Why? Because Google (and the other ad companies) will determine that your clicks are invalid and will suspend/cancel your ad account.

So, how do you make money with ads? There are several ways. But, the easiest is with Google AdSense. With AdSense, you make money whenever somebody clicks an ad on your site. Or, you get a little money on a per-thousand-views basis as ads appear to site visitors. With AdSense, you can add Google Analytics and see statistics and reports for site visitors, page visits, clicks, and more.

First, a little background to get started. Ad sizes are based on pixels. Pixels are the dots that make up the ad image on the computer screen. Computer screen resolution is generally based on 72 pixels per inch.

Different ads are different sizes. Google AdSense offers banner ads, tall ads, and squares and rectangles of various sizes. For example:

• Banners – 728 x 90, 468 x 60, 234 x 60
• Tall (Skyscrapers) – 120 x 600, 160 x 600, 120 x 240
• Squares and Rectangles – 200 x 200, 250 x 250, 125 x 125, 300 x 250, 336 x 280

Examine your website to determine where ads fit and where they would receive attention. Do not let them distract from your website, but ads should be in prominent positions for visitors to notice and click them.

Create boxes or spaces in your website where the ads will appear. If you use WordPress or similar blogging software, you can add the ad in the sidebars or banner/header areas.

Go to Google.com and click Advertising Programs in the lower left. Select Google AdSense Sign Up Now on the right or bottom of the screen. Google will ask you questions about your website URL and its primary language. You will also need to complete some personal information about your account type, country of residence, and contact information. We strongly recommend that you carefully read the Google agreement. After all, you are signing a contract with Google and it is a good idea to understand their terms and requirements. Google will verify your site and then you will be ready to start the ad program. Make sure your website has a privacy statement that conforms to Google’s wording about cookies.

Within Google AdSense, find AdSense for Content. The most important decision on the first page is to select the ad size(s) in the Format box. For the rest of the options, you can select Google default values to get started. At the bottom, you can select Show Public Service ads if no ads are available. At least this way, you will know the ad links are working. Then, click Continue.

If you have only one site, you can skip the channels for now. You can go back later and add channels to track how different ad locations perform for you if you have multiple websites or different style pages. Click Continue.

At Save and Get Ad Code, Google will generate a few lines of code for your ad program. Highlight and copy (Control+C) the ad code and in another browser window, paste into the box or location you created. With WordPress, you will paste it into the sidebar or header widget or the sidebar/header area of the editor—depending on your theme and location.

Visit your website in another browser window. You may need to refresh the browser once or twice. Ads should appear in a minute or two. It will take Google up to 24 hours to determine the content of your site and make the ads site appropriate. Remember, do not click on the ads on your site.

You can track performance any time by signing into Google AdSense on the front page of Google.com.

If your ad program is working fine, you may want to consider signing up for free Google Analytics in the AdSense area. Once again, Google will give you some code to add to your website. Paste this code into your website before the </body> line. In WordPress, you can search your editor to find this line. It will place your tracking code on every page where only Google can see it, but where Google can track visits to your website for the Analytics reports.

Good luck. Make some money!