Here's another easy 'autopilot' way to start generating revenue with your web site - takes just a few minutes to set up, costs nothing to get started. If you have a web site, regardless of the subject matter, regardless of the number of visitors, you can probably start generating some extra revenue by getting involved in the Google AdSense program. Google AdSense? You've probably noticed that more and more web sites are displaying small adds very similar to the ads you see on Google. Generally the ads look something like this:

The Google AdSense program works this way:

You register to join Google AdSense.

After your registration is approved, you log into your Google AdSense account, and select the type and size of ads you want to display on your web pages (you can choose from several different ad display formats, as well as ad color schemes).

As soon as you select a Google AdSense ad format, Google creates the javascript code to place on your web pages. It will look something like:

You place the Google AdSense javascript to pages where you want the ads to appear.

When the pages are viewed by visitors, Google automatically places the ads, and gives you a payment whenever a Google ad on your site is clicked on. (payment is not dependent on whether a purchase is made like a standard affilaite program, you get paid if they "click" whether the customers buys the product or not.)

Each month Google sends you a cheque or direct payment for you AdSense earnings (if your earnings reach the minimum payout amount).
Google AdSense is simple to set up, simple to operate and can be profitable - in the right circumstances.

My real world test

Three weeks ago I decided to test the revenue generation potential of the Google AdSense program by adding Google ads to my site at http://www.flashaudiowizard.com

It took me about 20 minutes to add the Google supplied AdSense javascript to all the main pages on the site (if you visit http://www.FlashAudioWizard.com you'll see the ads at the bottom of the sales page).

After adding and testing the javascripts, I pretty much forgot about it.

Today, when I checked my AdSense Performance reports at Google, I discovered that not only had the ads appeared on the site, they actually generated more revenue in the past 3 weeks than had been generated by product sales from the site!

This was both good and bad news.

The good news is that the Google adwords did generate revenue.

The bad news is that since almost all the ads displayed were for products that directly competed with the products being sold on the site (see why in the segment below), not many customers ordered products from the site - and instead visited the sites being advertised in the ad words.

The test proved that adwords do work - but can also hurt sales of your own products.

(By the way, if everyone reading this article went to http://www.FlashAudioWizard.com and clicked on all the Google ad word ads on the main page, I might make a few hundred dollars in click revenues . . .)

Ads in Context

As I mentioned above, all the Google ads displayed at http://www.sitebank.com were for products that were related to what Sitebank is all about - products with resell rights.

This matching the ads with the content on the page is an automatic feature of Google AdSense ads. For example, if the page is about photography, the ads will be related to photography.

Because Google automatically adjusts the ads to match the content on the page - it increases the likelihood of the ad being clicked (and you getting paid for the click).

But if your site is selling products, it also means that any Google AdSense ads shown on the page will probably be for competitors selling similar products.

Tips for Optimising Google Ad Sense Revenues

Here are a few tips for optimizing Google Ad Sense revenues:

• Determine if running ads on your site is a good match - if your site sells products or if people pay to subscribe to your site, including ads -- especially for competing products -- may not be a good idea. But if your site is free, and if you regularly review products and write how-to articles, running ads can help pay the bills.
• Position the ads carefully - When deciding where on the page to place the ads, you want to be sure that the ads don't detract from the content and don't cause visitors to leave your site. In most cases, placing the ads in a far right column or at the bottom of the page works best.
• Review the ads - Since you really can't predict what kinds of ads might appear on your pages, it is a good idea to review the ads to make sure they are not for products or services that you don't want advertised on your site. If you find objectionable ads, go to your Google AdSense control panel and adjust your ad settings.
• Review the Google AdSense Reports - Google provides comprehensive tracking and reporting of your ad performance through various reports on the AdSense control panel. You will want to review these reports regularly to see if the ads are performing well. If the ads are not pulling clicks, you might want to try moving the ads to different location on the page.
• Create a site (or sites) specifically to capitalize on Google AdSense - It makes sense to create a content rich web site with an active discussion forum and then populate all the pages on the site with Google AdSense. If done well, a site like this could generate several thousand pounds/dollars in AdSense revenues each month.

Placing Google AdSense ads is not for all sites. But if you have under performing sites where you do not sell products, and where you do not charge a subscription fee, including Google AdSense ads might just make . . . sense.

Find out more about Google AdSense at https://www.google.com/adsense