It\’s been a long time since I optimized my first AdSense ad. Many things have changed since then. Some things have stayed the same.
The principles of AdSense optimization have stayed the same. You still have to blend your ads into your site. You still have to produce good quality content. And you still have to bring in traffic to look at that content.
The content itself has changed though. Videos are now an important part of most websites, as are video ads.
Blogs are more popular than they were when I started and much easier to build.
And even commercial websites can be launched without knowing that Java isn\’t just another word for \”coffee.\”
Many of my income-generating strategies have changed too. AdSense is still the heart of my business. It\’s still the advertising system around which everything else revolves but it\’s not the only system I use.
I want my sites to have systems that pay per click, systems that pay commissions and systems that pay per thousand impressions. I also use my sites to sell products that I\’ve created.
That lets me make the most out of all my users and generate as much income as possible from each site.
I wouldn\’t be able to do any of this though without AdSense, and there\’s an important lesson there, I think.
AdSense is crucial to the success of any online publishing venture. But it should also be just the start of your success as an online publisher.
Once you\’ve got AdSense up, running and optimized, you should be looking for additional ways to monetize your website.
Once you\’ve got those systems in place, you should be thinking about what other websites you could launch.
And once you\’ve got those sites running, you should be thinking about what sort of products you can create and what sort of joint ventures you could form with other publishers.
And of course, you should be going to conferences to grab some really special opportunities.
Start with AdSense and who knows where you could end up…