Make Money With Google AdSense

Interested in making money with Google?
Here's your complete guide to getting started along with some info on how to maximize your earnings, why some accounts are disabled and even alternatives to AdSense.
If you want to jump to the various sections, use the table of contents on the right.
Below is an AdSense check I scanned from 2006. At the time, it was the largest check I had received in the three years I had been in the program.
I blurred out my address, account number and bank info for privacy reasons, of course.

Note: Google now pays me by direct deposit, so I no longer have paper checks to show. That is why the screenshot is so old.
Here's a more recent screenshot. It's important to note that this is from 6 websites.

What is Google AdSense?

AdSense is a nice way to monetize your traffic, and very easy to implement. It's one of my top earners and has been since 2003. (See the video about my earnings further down.)
Google.com earns most of its revenue by allowing other website owners to advertise on their search results pages.
All this is managed through a program they call AdWords (pay per click marketing).
You see these ads displayed above the free/organic results and along the right side of the page on Google.com.
These are called Sponsored Results, and the advertisers are paying a certain amount of money per click for these ads.
It's an auction-based system that allows advertisers to compete for those spots. Whomever has the highest bid and most "quality" ad, gets the top spot and so forth.
Now you can earn a share of the revenue that Google earns from AdWords by displaying these same text or image ads on your site. When someone clicks, you earn roughly 68% of the click and Google gets the rest.
This program is called AdSense.
It's a great program that can help you drive additional income to your website -- especially if it's mostly content based.
So if you are one of those people that doesn't like the idea of paying for a site, this is an excellent way to earn your money back and then some.
Please make sure you read this entire article. AdSense is not a get-rich-quick scheme and it takes a lot of work to make money. Don't think that just because you join, you are guaranteed to make big money.

How Does AdSense Work?

Here's a video I did some years back. The reason I still show it here is the concept is still exactly the same.
The biggest difference is it takes more work to build up traffic. Nevertheless, AdSense still works just as well as it did back when I created this video.

How Much Can You Earn With AdSense?

The commission you receive per click depends on how much advertisers are paying Google for the particular ad. You will earn a share of that amount.  I've heard of earnings anywhere from 2 cents to $15 per click.
Getting over $1 is probably very rare, although it does happen from time to time. However, you will find that most of your earnings will be on the lower end of the spectrum.
It's important to note that I cannot estimate how much you will earn based on your traffic. People always want to know what the average amount is per click.
No one knows the answer to this except Google, so don't let anyone try to tell you any different. It would be impossible for myself or any AdSense publisher to give this information because the ads all cost different prices and we have no idea what advertisers are paying.
However, there are some niches that obviously pay more. So it is logical to believe that keyword phrases like sex, make money, etc. may earn you more per click since these are highly competitive keywords that are searched for quite a bit on
The more competitive the search term, the more the advertisers pay and the more you earn as a publisher.
Even though Google will not reveal how much you are earning for each ad that is clicked from your site, you can still login to your account at any time and see the total amount of revenue you've generated that day, week, month, year, etc.
For example, if you see that you've made $12.60 today from 9 clicks then you can calculate that your average click-thru commission was $1.40 per click.  That's as detailed as their stats will get.  Also remember, that's only an average.  You won't know how much each specific ad brought in.
The amount you'll earn also depends largely on the amount of targeted traffic you receive to your own site, how well the ads match your audience's interests, the placement of the ads on your pages, and of course the amount you receive per click.
Ideally, you should create a site on a topic you know a lot about.  That way you'll have a much easier time creating a generous amount of content on that subject.

My Google AdSense Earnings

I have been receiving monthly checks from Google since 2003 (yes that's me holding the same check from above), and I've read numerous success stories of websites earning 5 digit incomes per month with AdSense. 

Now, I will admit, a 5-digit commission in a single month is probably not the norm for most participants. 
I promote AdSense on 6 of my websites (2 blogs, a forum and 4 static sites). My earnings vary greatly between $5K and $8K per month. A lot depends on traffic and how much the advertisers are spending on ads.

My sites have been around for a long time and I have a great deal of traffic so that's a big reason why I earn so much. I promote my sites on social media, create YouTube videos etc. Making a lot of money with AdSense is all about numbers. The more traffic you have, the greater the earning potential.
My checks weren't always this large.  I think my first month's earnings in 2003 totaled less than $20. However, as my traffic increased, so did my checks.
I cannot emphasize this enough. AdSense is NOT an overnight get-rich-quick opportunity. Even though this may look easy, please don't underestimate the amount of work I've put into my sites over the years.

Creating Your Website for AdSense

Before you even begin your site, make sure you've come up with a topic that you feel you know plenty about.  That way it will be easiest to write a lot of content. 
The more content you have, the better chance you have getting accepted into the program.  Also, the more content and traffic, the greater the earning potential. 
If you want to make a lot of money, prepare to write a lot of content and learn how to market your site. Don't expect to throw up a 10 page site and make $1,000 per month. That's unrealistic.
Now let's talk about building your website.  There are two ways you can approach this:
1) Do it Yourself (DIY) from scratch
2) Use Site Build It! (SBI!)

The Do It Yourself Method

I've actually used both methods for building my site and there are advantages and disadvantages to both. So the option you choose, depends on what you're comfortable with.
If you use the DIY method, you will have to go and get a domain (yoursite.com) and then sign up for a web host and build your pages.
Decide if you want a static website like this or a blog. If you don't know the difference, this article will help you out.
Averaging between $3 and $10 per month, the DIY method is usually the most cost friendly of the two but you are mostly on your own in terms of learning how to create your web pages and adding the AdSense code to your site. 
Web hosts are generally there to house your site.  They don't specialize in helping you market and optimize your site for the search engines to help you get traffic.  So don't expect a lot from them in terms of helping you market your site and making money with Google AdSense.
This is not necessarily a bad thing.  I had to learn how to build this site on my own and it wasn't very difficult. 
I now manage all of my static sites with Dreamweaver. My blogs use WordPress.

Consider Using Site Build It! (SBI!)

I don't make a ton of money because it's not my primary site, but the site definitely pays for itself and then some! I actually just created this website to test the website building system out.
The reason SBI! is different from the other do-it-yourself hosts is that first it provides all the web page building and marketing help all in one place.  Your domain registration, web hosting, website builder, and marketing help come with the price.
They provide you with a brainstorming tool so you can research and select a "profitable" niche based on monthly keyword searches/demand. Then they guide you to building your website using their Video Action Guide.
Now, it's important to note that SBI! does not build your site for you. That's up to you. They simply provide the guidance so you can optimize your site for AdSense or other programs.

How to Join AdSense

Once you have 20-30 pages on your site, go to http://adsense.google.com to apply.
When you are accepted, simply copy and paste the provided HTML code into any page that you'd like to show the ads. You can opt to display text ads, image ads, or a combination of both. It's up to you.
You can either display the ads vertically along side the page like Google does or in a banner-like formation horizontally across your pages.  You can even customize the colors to match your site's theme.

Tips on Succeeding With AdSense

Here are some tips for achieving success with Google AdSense.
Build Traffic
You're not going to make anything with AdSense if you don't have enough traffic. Please don't think this is some easy, get-rich-quick program. This takes work and it all starts with getting visitors.