Adsense - Should I Use It?

Katherine Huether · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 21

I am working on my first affiliate site. As explained in the meet and greet section of the forum, I have about four pages. I am slowly chipping away...

My question is... is Adsense worth it? I am afraid it will detract from my other, more lucrative affiliate programs. I am building my blog/site around a certain theme and am careful to join affiliate programs for things I can stand behind and have had experience with. I am afraid that Adsense will hurt that.

jkeifer · Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 34 Location: Coudersport, PA

Katherine,
I would have to agree with you there. In my opinion, AdSense is probably a decent passive revenue generator on a site with tons of traffic and likely wouldn't hurt you a bit. But on a new site with a handful of daily visitors, maybe not so great. I never liked the idea of selling off your visitors for a nickel while someone else turns them into a high dollar profit.

It seems to me that if you can get your visitors to stick around longer by offering them content with real value, then you are more likely to capture that e-mail address, make a sale at some point and most of all have a loyal following (which equals repeat customers too). Very Happy

I just wrote a rant on AdSense in my blog last week on this very subject. Razz

If you do use AdSense on your site, don't use the default layouts. Integrate your ads into the site so that they blend nicely without looking so "in your face". This will give a more complimentary appeal to the ads and should increase your click-thrus. Layout makes a huge difference in your earnings.

-Jack

Griff Grumbein · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 1:36 am Post subject:

You might consider creating your own Google Adwords ads for the products you are trying to promote. Optimize the ads to match your page content & keywords. That way YOUR OWN ads show up on your pages. It's win-win!

Katherine Huether · Joined: 24 Apr 2007 Posts: 21

Griff, that is a great idea and something to consider!

So, I will trust my instinct for now and not put it on my site. But when I am ready to start my Adsense campaign, I'll put the code and see what happens. Smile

Griff Grumbein · Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 1:56 am Post subject:

Thanx Katherine, I wish I could take the credit for the idea, but I am just passing on what I consider a pearl that was given to me by a professional. (Kind of a 'DOH!' moment actually, so simple, yet it never dawned on me until he said it!)