Beginner Blogger

I definitely think that there is a place for Adsense in blogs. However, I will qualify that statement by adding that the majority of technically focused, MMO users will not click adsense. But, if your niche is in an area that is outside the Internet Marketing or Make Money Online niche, there is most likely a place for adsense in your blog.

Personally, I use adsense on a couple of my blogs, and a great example of one that Adsense is working on is http://www.franchisebuzz.com.au. I make on average $2-10 a day from about 60-80 visitors (according to Google Analytics).

I think it is just about finding what works for your individual blog, whether it is affiliate sales, private ad sales, adsense or product creation.

I think the only real way to make anything work as far as making money including AdSense is to do just as you said, Sarge, which is build a relationship and communicate your plans with your readers. Include them in what you’re going to be doing and find out what they want. Talk with them and keep talking with them.

Trust is huge and in one second you can ruin that. Is ruining trust worth that first dollar?

I’ve been using Adsense pretty heavily over at FM-Britain for the past few months and racking up about $2-$3 a day. (woo hoo!) – but as others have said, this is a very niche blog and can understand why it doesn’t work well on the “tech” based blogs.

Even so, it takes a lot of experimenting to find the most effective ad placements, using keyword density to make sure the contextual ads are most relevant… and then at the end of the day, it still doesn’t really provide the best of income. To steal a quote from David Risley, “it’s the welfare program for bloggers”.

Is it worth it? It could be… but only for “pocket money” if done well. If you’re in a niche that would click on such ads and can place just 1-2 Adsense blocks tastefully & minimally around your content, then go for it. Cluttering your whole blog with it, though… I think there’s more beneficial ways to use that space.

@Eric – Exactly, is it worth breaking trust with your readers over your first $1? No. Build trust and communicate.

@Koneck – The problem I have with it is that you don’t have any control over what is potentially selling on your site. Yes your readers can be smart enough not to click on them but they’re coming to your site because of your content (usually). I think far too many beginner bloggers hear they can monetize their blogs with adsense, hear the success stories and go bonkers with that thought process. Provide to your readers, not to yourself.

@Jordan Cooper – Awesome quote by David Risley “it’s the welfare program for bloggers”. Sure you could gain a bit of pocket money with adsense if done correctly. If it’s not a bother to your readers then go ahead. Just don’t clutter your blog with it as you said. Focus on other ways you can help your readers and still make money yourself – other than adsense.

@Rhys – Haha no worries Rhys. I am planning on doing something a little similar like ‘buy us a beer’ at a footy site I’m about to run with a couple of mates (footyhigh.com).

I think once people realise how easy it is to use paypal and pay for things online I think people would be more inclined to donate others that have put in a good effort producing free content. It has taken me years to get to a comfortable to paying things online and only just now really getting the hang of using paypal. I made my first donation last night with it and I’ve been using the internet for years. I think as bloggers we really need to educate others on how to use services like paypal if we would like to receive a donation (in a subtle way so it’s not like DO THIS SO YOU CAN PAY ME!)

There have been many times where I would like to thank someone by donation or the like but not really comfortable of transferring dollars over the internet in the past. If it were as simple as passing real money through the computer monitor to someone at the other end for helping me out I would have donated a lot of money to people!

Look forward to your post, it seems you’ve been working hard on your wordpress opt-in form.

@Lee – Your last point makes great sense. Do you think that’s why people with ‘personable’ blogs that are building a brand and pleasing others don’t like sharing other blogs they may run which are purely for SEO and using aggressive marketing tactics that may harm their personal brand?

Like Rhys mentioned in his comment, he has blog(s) running adsense that are doing quite well but won’t share with us the link. Do you feel bad about the fact that you’re running adsense? Do you think it will harm your reputation? (maybe it’s x rated, heh )

Kind of echoing what everyone else is saying, but yes it depends in niche. I once ran Adsense on Mike’s Life and because the audience is “net savvy” it was a waste of effort. But we run some Adsense on my wife’s travel blog and manage to hit three figures every month. We won’t get rich, but it’s a decent meal out on Google once a month.

I have mixed feelings about ad sense, it has made me a few bucks but some of my blogs that were done in the early days were two dimensional, take lowcarb golfer for example: adsense doesnt know whether to advertise diet plans or golf courses. And as far as I know there is no one at Google who I can talk to to say, hey guys, I want these types of ads on my site and no others.

I really havnt worried too much about it because my traffic stats still suck but I think one of these days I might bag the adsense. But donations still feel kinda tacky to me.

As it’s been said before. Really depends what niche you’re in. Personally I have nothing against adsense on blogs, they are usually not intrusive. I run adsense on my blogs and while I don’t make big money from them, it does generate enough to cover hosting costs, which is cool.

My main problem with AdSense is that it takes people away from my site, therefore I only use it on sites that don’t offer products. It works on my fitness blogs, and although I don’t make a ton of bank using it, a few hundy a month ain’t bad.

I use Adsense, and I am getting my first check later next month. It isn’t a whole lot…but it is good enough for a week of groceries. Hopefully things will get better if my traffic continues to build. However, I hear if you really want to monetize your blog you need to try selling some sort of product – like an ebook or membership service.

Yes I am suing adesene on Meditation Rocks! and it earns $5 a week on average which is not much. But it’s worth it in experimentation mode. You know when you haven’t put together all the pieces of your blog enterprise.

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