why am i not making money with adsense?

by thedog
38 replies
  • SEO
  • |
Hi guys. I've read peoples success stories with adsense, and I'm just a bit baffled as how to make decent money with this.

I'm averaging around $11 per month.

I have 3 sites with the following average visits per month, 2000, 700, 700

Is it a case that I just need a hell of a lot more traffic... or are my sites optimized wrong for adsense?
#adsense #making #money
  • Profile picture of the author fernandoraymundo
    Huge traffic to your site is useless if they won't click on your ads. Try to focus on one topic so Google can give a more related ads to your site. Position your ads where the readers can easily see them.
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    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Originally Posted by fernandoraymundo View Post

      Huge traffic to your site is useless if they won't click on your ads. Try to focus on one topic so Google can give a more related ads to your site. Position your ads where the readers can easily see them.
      I've studied quite a few blogs showing sites that convert... so, I'm mimicking them...

      Do you think it's best to concentrate on a few sites... or have many sites?

      My adsense dissapeard for a while... back now since i entered my pin... so I think I may give it another go.

      I'm doing pretty good with amazon, up to $700 this month... but they take so long to pay out... over 60 days, could be around 80 until I receive a cheque.

      Adsense pays right into your account, so would be nice to earn a few hundred a month.
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      • Profile picture of the author bitriot
        Originally Posted by thedog View Post

        I've studied quite a few blogs showing sites that convert... so, I'm mimicking them...

        Do you think it's best to concentrate on a few sites... or have many sites?

        My adsense dissapeard for a while... back now since i entered my pin... so I think I may give it another go.

        I'm doing pretty good with amazon, up to $700 this month... but they take so long to pay out... over 60 days, could be around 80 until I receive a cheque.

        Adsense pays right into your account, so would be nice to earn a few hundred a month.
        Amazon pays me out direct to my bank account every month be it $20 or $200. Most of the time it is $20.
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        • Profile picture of the author thedog
          Originally Posted by bitriot View Post

          Amazon pays me out direct to my bank account every month be it $20 or $200. Most of the time it is $20.
          I'm not in the USA, so, have to wait for a cheque.... they only pay, 60 days after the end of the month, when you reach your threshold.

          I'm in China... so could be an extra 2 weeks before I get the cheque too.
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          • Profile picture of the author allnitelong
            it's all about good content and good Google editing,most marketers don't follow Google rules.

            First read all about what they want and how they want it,this is your starting point.
            Just so you all know I had #1 and #3 first page a few months back and hardly any backlinks,just saying.

            I know there are some of you that are loyal to the backlink effect,I respect that.

            Apparently I didn't need it because of the cheap keyword,1500 mo.average hits.
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            • Profile picture of the author thedog
              Originally Posted by allnitelong View Post

              it's all about good content and good Google editing,most marketers don't follow Google rules.

              First read all about what they want and how they want it,this is your starting point.
              Just so you all know I had #1 and #3 first page a few months back and hardly any backlinks,just saying.

              I know there are some of you that are loyal to the backlink effect,I respect that.

              Apparently I didn't need it because of the cheap keyword,1500 mo.average hits.
              Why assume my sites don't have good content?

              My main one is in the top 2 on google for my main keyword, which gets over 4k exact monthly searches.

              Do I need to be getting over 10k visits per month to make at least $100 per month?

              Adsense seems like a lot of work....
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              • Profile picture of the author InternetJon
                Originally Posted by thedog View Post

                Why assume my sites don't have good content?

                My main one is in the top 2 on google for my main keyword, which gets over 4k exact monthly searches.

                Do I need to be getting over 10k visits per month to make at least $100 per month?

                Adsense seems like a lot of work....
                Is your site based around keywords that pay well? Is your CTR extremely low? There are a number of reasons as to why your earnings are so low, and it is clearly not traffic.

                Let's take your site with 2000 visits per month, for example. You have 2000 visitors with a 5% CTR. You average $1.50 CPC and you wind up with $150/month.

                The traffic isn't your problem. What kind of clickthroughs or cpc are you getting?
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                • Profile picture of the author thedog
                  Originally Posted by InternetJon View Post

                  Is your site based around keywords that pay well? Is your CTR extremely low? There are a number of reasons as to why your earnings are so low, and it is clearly not traffic.

                  Let's take your site with 2000 visits per month, for example. You have 2000 visitors with a 5% CTR. You average $1.50 CPC and you wind up with $150/month.

                  The traffic isn't your problem. What kind of clickthroughs or cpc are you getting?
                  Thanks for the feedback. I am aware of all this, and yes, this site, was one of my later efforts, where I knew more about adsense.

                  The CPC, acording to google keyword tool is over $1... hard to say exactly, as it's in euro.

                  I know to expect only around half of this however... that said, I'm only averaging around 25c.

                  My CTR is not 5%... more like around 2%... guess I need to work on this.

                  BTW, I can't find the CTR stats on adsense anymore?
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  • Profile picture of the author Richmark
    Wow, $11 per month, I'm not above $3 per month yet, although I do think I made a few mistakes with my first few adsense sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author phans
    well it's obv not a lot of traffic...
    but to ask this w/o knowing the CPC you are getting and an estimation of you CTR (don't tell the exact CTR because it's against the google TOS) it's hard to answer
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  • Profile picture of the author brianboyer
    I mean traffic is definitely a factor when it comes to earning from Adsense but it is not really the #1 factor. It is kind of a mixture of a few things. You need to create a website that is built around high paying keywords if you are looking to make money every month from a website that receives little traffic. 2,000 visitors a month is little traffic and you may definitely see small earnings, especially if your keywords are low paying.

    So you want to focus on :
    - Creating a website that is built around high paying keywords.
    - Tweak your layout so that your ads are placed strategically in "hotspots".
    - Gain more traffic to your websites.
    - Work on getting a high CTR (2%-5%) by testing different ad placements every week or month.

    So really it is all about testing the right websites until you find the one that works best for you. If you need Adsense placement reviews, please contact me via PM and I will look at your sites that are not paying out well and help you out to improve your earnings. Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author Giani
    Most of the Adsense earnings are dependent on many factors, but in my opinion, layout and colors are very important.

    I have tried Adsense for about 2 years now and it is only recently I have seen success with my websites averaging close to $100 a month.

    Keep tweaking your layout and colors and you will see improved results. 2,000 views a month is not bad. One of my website gets 2,000 - 2,500 views per month with average cpc 0.14 cents but it pays me $100 a month.


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  • Profile picture of the author honyflights
    If you are getting 2000 visitors then you should think to increase CTR value by focusing your ad in front of your visitor. Use Google analytics and see what is your visitors are doing at your website. What is problem to have a click for your site? You should also work for high traffic paying keywords that will give you much traffic because I hear some of bloggers are having 1000 visitors per day and what to say about revenue. Either I am not expert as I haven’t practical experience but i really read a lot on this
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  • Profile picture of the author Chrismiksen
    Tweaking your layout and then studying what ensues is the best way to increase your AdSense earnings. That's assuming you're targeting paying keywords, of course.

    Try this: change the layout of your ads and test the new design for two to three weeks. You'll likely see some sort of change in the CTR, whether that change is for the worse or for the better.
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    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Just checked with market samurai... which is now working after a reinstal.

      cpc is .92cEuro... so, I'm guessing around $1.25

      I let my other adsense sites dwindle... as my adsense dissapeard... now it's back, I'm going to try again... I do like the idea of earning cash on auto pilot, and the fact that I can get paid into my account.

      I know not to be spammy, and offer good content... I paid good money for my articles.

      So... I'm going to give adsence another shot, and try tweaking the ad placements.

      Thanks guys.
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  • Profile picture of the author jimgreenit
    from your conversations, i learn a lot. i will try my best to be a good businessman in this field.
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  • Profile picture of the author umarshehzad
    I'm averaging around $11 per month.

    I have 3 sites with the following average visits per month, 2000, 700, 700
    well am new in blogging too, but i make more than you do with a single website of mine. you better work on increasing ur traffic and start doing some SEO, or hire someone for that
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    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Originally Posted by umarshehzad View Post

      well am new in blogging too, but i make more than you do with a single website of mine. you better work on increasing ur traffic and start doing some SEO, or hire someone for that
      Ye... I kind of forgot about them for a while, as my adsense disspared for a while, and I concentrated on amazon.

      I guess I'm just trying to find out if it's worth all the effort with adsense.
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  • Profile picture of the author amithak50
    Keyword research is an important factor in earning from adsense you can try spyfu.com for that ..which are high paying keywords you will be able to know
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    • Profile picture of the author Incoan
      Many reasons.

      1)People that search for particular phrases that lead to your website aren't interested in the contextual ads that show up there.
      2)You don't have enough traffic.
      3)Your website's layout is weird and turns people off from clicking the ads.

      Watch your ctr. Worth putting more traffic into your niche or not?

      You can try tweaking the colors/placement of ads/theme, too, although if the niche was wrong to begin with, it probably won't help much.
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      • Profile picture of the author thedog
        Originally Posted by Incoan View Post

        Many reasons.

        1)People that search for particular phrases that lead to your website aren't interested in the contextual ads that show up there.
        2)You don't have enough traffic.
        3)Your website's layout is weird and turns people off from clicking the ads.

        Watch your ctr. Worth putting more traffic into your niche or not?

        You can try tweaking the colors/placement of ads/theme, too, although if the niche was wrong to begin with, it probably won't help much.
        It's in the addiction niche... but ye, you may have a point.

        I've changed things around, so I'll see how it goes.

        Cheers
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert Michael
    To be honest, Adsense is just a tease and also a complete waste of time.

    You should put CPA banners and affiliate banners in those ad spots in place of Adsense.

    Much more money to be made.

    I recommend PeerFly :: We Have an Offer for That for CPA, and RAP Bank*Instant Commissions Vault for affiliate products.

    Peerfly, they have to approve you. So just be honest with your application and give them a call to speed up the process.

    RAPBank is instant approval, you can sign up and start promoting their products in just a few minutes. Plus they pay you instant commission to your PayPal, no waiting for your payments. It's like they bought directly from you.
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    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Cheers, but I've tried peerfly for 6 weeks, nice big banner... and nada... nothing...

      Originally Posted by Whos That Guru View Post

      To be honest, Adsense is just a tease and also a complete waste of time.

      You should put CPA banners and affiliate banners in those ad spots in place of Adsense.

      Much more money to be made.

      I recommend PeerFly :: We Have an Offer for That for CPA, and RAP Bank*Instant Commissions Vault for affiliate products.

      Peerfly, they have to approve you. So just be honest with your application and give them a call to speed up the process.

      RAPBank is instant approval, you can sign up and start promoting their products in just a few minutes. Plus they pay you instant commission to your PayPal, no waiting for your payments. It's like they bought directly from you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert Michael
    Change the banner to a different offer.

    I've found that the banners that say "Details Apply" almost never convert.

    Also, the reason I recommended Peerfly is because I just figured you were new to CPA and Peerfly accepts pretty much everybody.

    Since you obviously are not new to CPA though, check out www.maxbounty.com

    Much better offers and they have a banner for EVERYTHING. Don't get me wrong, Peerfly is good too but they don't have banners for every offer like MB does.

    Oh and also - You should place more than just 1 or 2 CPA banners on your site, see which ones are earning $ and then change the ones that aren't making any money to a different offer.

    It's all trial & error. But anyway, yeah definitely try to break free of Adsense. Even if you DO start making money with them, they have a habit of banning people for no reason and without any warning, even if you haven't broken their rules.
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    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Originally Posted by Whos That Guru View Post

      Change the banner to a different offer.

      I've found that the banners that say "Details Apply" almost never convert.

      Also, the reason I recommended Peerfly is because I just figured you were new to CPA and Peerfly accepts pretty much everybody.

      Since you obviously are not new to CPA though, check out www.maxbounty.com

      Much better offers and they have a banner for EVERYTHING. Don't get me wrong, Peerfly is good too but they don't have banners for every offer like MB does.

      Oh and also - You should place more than just 1 or 2 CPA banners on your site, see which ones are earning $ and then change the ones that aren't making any money to a different offer.

      It's all trial & error. But anyway, yeah definitely try to break free of Adsense. Even if you DO start making money with them, they have a habit of banning people for no reason and without any warning, even if you haven't broken their rules.
      Well, I am pretty new to CPA... only with peerfly, and have to admit, they're pretty limited.

      Is it hard to get approved by max bounty... is it enough to tell them that I plan to replace my adsense with cpa to get approved?
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  • Profile picture of the author coronaborcalis
    Here is my suggestion if you have huge traffic but no conversion

    1. Your ads is not relevant with your website topic so your reader wouldn't interested to click your ads find Labnol Adsense Sandbox in google to discover your ads performance

    2. Template play an important role when it comes to Adsense, check school-grants.org for your reference or use Clickbumps Wordpress Theme

    3. Remove another affiliate or banner in your site because it would distract your visitor to click adsense

    Cheers

    Rian
    Signature
    BisnisOnlineZ - Indonesian Make Money Online Blog


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  • Profile picture of the author Robert Michael
    They denied me at first, so I called and spoke with Adam and he approved me instantly.

    I doubt telling them that you plan on replacing Adsense with CPA will do any good to get you accepted, but its worth a shot. lol

    Just be honest with your answers like you did with Peerfly.

    If they deny you, just bug the hell out of them (like I did) until you can schedule a time to speak with someone over the phone. I think you will do just fine.

    Also let them know that you are currently with Peerfly, so they know you at least have SOME experience in CPA.

    Good luck man!
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    • Profile picture of the author thedog
      Originally Posted by Whos That Guru View Post

      They denied me at first, so I called and spoke with Adam and he approved me instantly.

      I doubt telling them that you plan on replacing Adsense with CPA will do any good to get you accepted, but its worth a shot. lol

      Just be honest with your answers like you did with Peerfly.

      If they deny you, just bug the hell out of them (like I did) until you can schedule a time to speak with someone over the phone. I think you will do just fine.

      Also let them know that you are currently with Peerfly, so they know you at least have SOME experience in CPA.

      Good luck man!
      Cheers dude. Why do you think adsense is so popular?
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  • Profile picture of the author bestlinkbuilding
    Go for the money. I have several Google news websites and let me tell you the amount of traffic really doesn't matter always. Here is an example, there has been times where I would get over 50,000 visits from a news article about a celebrity and make about $25 in adsense that day which really sucks for the amount of traffic. There has been other days when I have been more selective about my keywords and written an article that has only received a few hundred visits and made well over $100 in adsense. So when they tell you that you need more traffic they are right but its far more important that your are focusing on high paying keywords with moderate traffic then just high traffic alone.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nathan2525
    Originally Posted by thedog View Post

    Hi guys. I've read peoples success stories with adsense, and I'm just a bit baffled as how to make decent money with this.

    I'm averaging around $11 per month.

    I have 3 sites with the following average visits per month, 2000, 700, 700

    Is it a case that I just need a hell of a lot more traffic... or are my sites optimized wrong for adsense?
    To make money from Adsence you will need to do
    2 things.

    1. Choose an Ultra competitive market. (as the clicks pay more)

    2. Put hundreds of blog post down. 2-3 per day.

    PS make sure you have some syndication plug ins to get
    you better ranking, more links and more traffic like:

    Wp Syndicator
    Web Traffic Genius

    Hope this helps
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    • Profile picture of the author ukcarl
      Originally Posted by Nathan2525 View Post

      To make money from Adsence you will need to do
      2 things.

      1. Choose an Ultra competitive market. (as the clicks pay more)

      2. Put hundreds of blog post down. 2-3 per day.

      PS make sure you have some syndication plug ins to get
      you better ranking, more links and more traffic like:

      Wp Syndicator
      Web Traffic Genius

      Hope this helps
      I dont agree with this at all Most of my adsense sites are 3 - 10 pages and I can have sites this size making $1/day in under a week.

      Competitive niches do pay well, but the whole thing about being successful with niche marketing is finding uncompetitive gaps in markets that pay well

      I would suggest to the OP try and work with you ad placement consider buying a premium theme like CTR theme, works really well for me.

      Also if you feel the niche is not working out for you try another and just leve that site making $11/month.

      Not every niche is going to be a winner.

      This is just my experience but hope it helps
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  • Profile picture of the author Will P
    In a nut shell aside from link building to gain top SERPs for the given key-phrases I think you need to start with applying a high end ctr theme such as xfactor, slick theme, or the ctr theme and if you are already content with your current theme based all your ad placements off the Google Heat map and see what that does.
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  • Profile picture of the author Eddie Titan
    Originally Posted by thedog View Post

    Hi guys. I've read peoples success stories with adsense, and I'm just a bit baffled as how to make decent money with this.

    I'm averaging around $11 per month.

    I have 3 sites with the following average visits per month, 2000, 700, 700

    Is it a case that I just need a hell of a lot more traffic... or are my sites optimized wrong for adsense?
    There are a lot of factors that can put your website at a disadvantage.

    - The type of niche, the design you are using, the type of traffic you are getting, the cost per click, and the placement of the ads have a great deal to do with the amount of money you can make every month.

    If you would like, send me a PM with your websites and I will see if I can give you some feedback.
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    New Members Challenge! Join me in 2012. Set an income goal for the New Year and achieve it!
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  • Profile picture of the author SalahStudios
    I've created several successful AdSense monetized sites and from what I can tell by the sites in your sig link I would:

    1. Try some product niches, they usually get a higher CTR. Your niche/keyword selection is one of the most critical parts of making it with AdSense, if the niche is a dud your doomed from the start.

    2. Test different layout, I always customize each one of my sites for the specific niche. A layout that works well for furniture may not work well with electronics. I actually have an AdSense site for sale that uses one of my high CTR layouts customized for the furniture niche. You can check out the site design and auction at http://Flippa.com/2656607 for some ideas.
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  • Profile picture of the author David Tan
    easy answer, you're not getting enough traffic and your site isn't providing enough value to get ppl talking about it and visiting it
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  • Profile picture of the author IceCreamTruck
    Hello everyone, what is the best tool to find out which KW have a high cpc?
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