11 AdSense Tips And Tricks to Maximize Your Earning Potential

AdSense is a great tool for monetizing your website. Unfortunately, a large number of users fall prey to some common mistakes and never even realize that they’re functioning way below their maximum earning potential.

Here are a few AdSense tips that will help you optimize your website for both higher revenue and an enhanced user experience.

1. A/B test your ad units

Experimenting allows you to pit one variation of ad settings against another variation and select the one that performs the best. You can compare the performance of text-only ad units to ad units that have both text and display enabled, or analyze the effect of changing the color of ad text on ad performance, or determine the impact on your revenue by serving ads in the sensitive and/or general categories.

Although you need a little tech-savvy to navigate your way through the entire process of preparing your experiment, creating your experiment, monitoring your experiment, and finally choosing your winner—it’s all well worth the effort.

(Note: If you’re looking for a smarter, automated solution for this, you could try out our advanced A/B testing software, which automatically creates ad multiple variations for you and then selects the combination that performs the best.)

2. Use multiple ad units to maximize conversion

A simple way to bump up your AdSense click rate and revenue is to place ad units of more than one type (AdSense for content, link, and search) and in different sizes on your pages. This way, your users are served more ads from Google’s large ad inventory, increasing the probability that they will end up clicking on one of them.

Make sure that the best-located ad on your web page shows up first in your HTML code. This will ensure that your most visible ad real-estate is taken by ads that place the highest in the auction—increasing your revenue.

And remember to adhere to the AdSense maximum ad policy, which is up to three AdSense for content units, up to three link units, and up to two search units on each page, to avoid having your account banned.

3. Limit the number of ads above the fold

In web design terminology, “above the fold” refers to the portions of a web page that are visible without scrolling. When too many ad units are placed above the fold, users get turned off because finding the content that they came in for, gets difficult, and the tendency to exit the page increases. As a result of this, Google now penalizes such pages. 

Here’s an excerpt from the Google Webmaster Central blog:

“As we’ve mentioned previously, we’ve heard complaints from users that if they click on a result and it’s difficult to find the actual content, they aren’t happy with the experience. Rather than scrolling down the page past a slew of ads, users want to see content right away. So sites that don’t have much content “above-the-fold” can be affected by this change. If you click on a website and the part of the website you see first either doesn’t have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site’s initial screen real estate to ads, that’s not a very good user experience. Such sites may not rank as highly going forward.

We understand that placing ads above-the-fold is quite common for many websites; these ads often perform well and help publishers monetize online content. This algorithmic change does not affect sites that place ads above-the-fold to a normal degree, but affects sites that go much further to load the top of the page with ads to an excessive degree or that make it hard to find the actual original content on the page. This new algorithmic improvement tends to impact sites where there is only a small amount of visible content above-the-fold or relevant content is persistently pushed down by large blocks of ads.“

4. Optimize the color impact of text ad units

Experimenting with the color of text ad units is essential to increasing their visibility. An ad style that work on a light website theme may look too bright and distracting on a darker one, turning users away not only from the ad but from the web page.

For the most unobtrusive user experience, match the background and border color of the ad unit to the background of the page where the ad will be placed.

For a more distinct ad, match background and border colors to your website, but don’t match them exactly to where the ads are placed. Try out different styles and measure ad performance over time to settle on the best performing format.

5. Create and implement responsive ads

This ties into a larger point of implementing a responsive design on your website (which is something you really need to do if you’re running a website in 2015). Wikipedia explains responsive design as follows:

“Responsive web design (RWD) is an approach to web design aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience—easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, mobile phones).”

Last year, Comscore reported that mobile platforms — smartphones and tablets — combined account for 60% of total digital media time spent, up from 50% a year ago. If your website is not optimized for these devices, you’re missing out on a big opportunity to capture this audience.

So what does this have to do with AdSense, you ask? Well, AdSense plays well with responsive design, and allows you to generate codes for responsive ad units, which automatically resize themselves to offer the best viewing experience to the mobile audience. Do this now because that 60% is a number that’s only going to go north.

6. Link your AdSense and Analytics accounts

Linking your AdSense and Google Analytics accounts gives you access to AdSense metrics such as revenue, clicks, and impressions which you can add to your favorite analytics reports to get a better understanding of how well your pages or content is monetizing.

This data can assist in optimizing your site such as the optimal ad load or what type of content to focus on.

Once you’ve linked your properties, you can use insights from Analytics to refine and optimize your AdSense ad units, improving the overall performance of your website.

7. Keep your design and content user-focusedIn the mad race to increase ad revenues, it’s easy to lose sight of the real goal of why your website or business exists in the first place—to provide value to users.

Use a judicial mix of ads and content so that users are not overwhelmed by the former. Sometimes ads are placed haphazardly on the web page and in between content without any thought to usability or aesthetics.

Even Google says that to get the most of your account, you should first consider the user and then think about anything else. Doing it the other way around is like putting the horse before the cart, it’s never going to work.

8. Publish high-quality content on a regular basisThis really is the big one, the other points are all just tweaks in one way or another—but when it comes to AdSense earnings, content really is the king.

Simply put: No traffic, no money; more traffic, more money.

But this is always easier said than done. It helps to publish content about a topic that you’re both interested in and have some level of expertise in, as people will then be more likely to view you as an influencer on your topic.

Google’s algorithm rewards websites that publish content on a regular basis with a higher ranking, and consequently, higher traffic—so make sure your publishing is more predictable than erratic.

Finally, going the extra mile to optimize your content for search engines can yield great results in terms of organic traffic, especially, in the long run.

9. Build an audience before setting up AdSenseThough it may be tempting to set up AdSense on your website right after you’ve published the first piece of content—the temptation is best avoided.

Cluttering your website with ads before anybody really knows about it will likely put visitors off, and consequently, they’ll be less likely to share or link to it. This limits your ability to emerge as an authority in your niche.

Focus instead, on winning a sizable audience in terms of email subscribers, RSS readers, and monthly visitors before you start displaying ads.

10. Go easy with the blocking and filteringEach ad that you block by URL will be one more ad that won’t be bidding for space on your website in the auction—effectively reducing the earning potential of that ad space.

Furthermore, advertisers whose ads you block may decide that they don’t want to advertize with you in the future. The same thing happens when you filter out entire categories, but on a larger scale. Don’t block ads unless it’s absolutely necessary.

11. Keep yourself updatedSubscribe to the official Google Inside AdSense blog, so that you’re always up-to-date with the latest news about the platform from the creators themselves.

Apart from this, the Google help center has this brilliant AdSense optimization overview that you could look at and take ideas from to get more mileage out of your AdSense account.

There’s also a free online course that Google runs, which aims help publishers earn more money from their website.

If you just follow the links mentioned here and treat them as your guide to AdSense, you’d do better than 90% of the people using the system.

What are some of the things you do to optimize your earnings from AdSense? Share in the comments and let us know.

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TIPS for using the INTERNET

The INTERNET is a big place, and navigating it can be daunting. Try out our top tips for not getting lost in cyber-space.

1. Use INTERNET search engines

Internet search engines are amongst the most useful tools at your disposal for finding information on line, so use them. Rather than guessing the full addresses of websites, simply type the information into a search engine such as Google or Bing. Not only will this lead you to the information that you require, it will also broaden your search to include other relevant sites.

2. Bookmark pages

Found an amazing site the other day? Can’t remember the URL now? Always bookmark websites that you find interesting. Bookmarking creates a handy little shortcut in your tool-bar to help you return to the site of interest with just a click of the mouse.

Different browsers have different ways of bookmarking pages, but they’re all usually accessed near the top of your browser. If you’re using Internet Explorer, look for the Favorites menu, if you’re using Chrome or Firefox look for the star symbol by the address bar. A simple click will do the rest. Alternatively, pressing CTRL and D on your keyboard, will bring up the bookmark menu whichever browser you are using.

Bookmark menu

When you want to revisit the page, simply go to your bookmark / favorite menu and you will find the page saved.

3. Upgrade your browser

Whilst there are merits to each of the main browsers, there’s no point in setting yourself at a disadvantage by operating a browser which is not up to date. If, for example, you’re operating Mozilla Firefox 8.0, check for any messages that pop up when you’re next using your browser. These messages will probably be offering you a free download to update you to the slicker, faster and more efficient Firefox 9. Keep an eye on these messages, they can mean the difference between operating a top of the range browser and a sluggish has-been.

READ: AMAZING GOOGLE SEARCH TRICKS, TIPS & HACKS YOU SHOULD KNOW

4. User browser shortcuts

Browser shortcuts can save you a lot of time. Instead of finding and navigating the correct menu with your mouse, you could use a few simple keyboard shortcuts. Here are Simplifydigital’s top ten shortcuts that you should know about:

1.     CTRL  F: brings up a search box allowing you to search for a specific word on a page
2.     CTRL  D: bookmarks a page
3.     CTRL  P: prints whatever you have selected
4.     CTRL T: opens a new tab
5.     CTRL W: closes window
6.     CTRL +: zooms in
7.     CTRL -: zooms out
8.     Alt  Home: returns you to your homepage
9.     F5: refreshes or reloads the page that you are on
10.     F11: lets you toggle between full and regular screen mode, a particularly useful shortcut if you are using multiple windows

Get to know your browser shortcuts and surf the web more effectively.

5. Keep browser plugins updated

Browser plugins are handy pieces of downloadable software that help you to use various applications in conjunction with your browser. Watching a YouTube video? You’ll need a Flash plugin. Streaming some music? You’ll need a plugin for that too. Be sure to download the latest version whenever you are required to, failing to do so could hamper your browsing experience.

6. Use tabbed browsing

If your desktop is overflowing with browsing windows and you can’t remember which one contained the vital piece of information that you were searching for, maybe it’s time to use tabbed browsing. Tabbed browsing allows you to open various different websites in one browser window simply by using tabs. You can open a new tab by either clicking the symbol to the right of the last tab (see image) or by pressing CTRL T.
New tabs

7. Update your antivirus

Often overlooked until it’s too late, a good antivirus program can make the difference between a nice, healthy computer and one which is overflowing with all sorts of computer nasties. Always keep an eye on your antivirus software and ensure that all its components are in good working order. If not; download an update, it will be more than worth it. If you don’t have antivirus software, Simplifydigital recommends the free antivirus program Avast!.

8. Use ‘Tab’ to jump between fields

Whilst a mouse is an undeniably useful device, it’s not always necessary. In fact, not using a mouse can save you a great deal of time. If you’re filling in fields on a web page, rather than clicking on each field in order, simply press ‘Tab’; this will jump between the fields for you. Clicking tab enough times will cycle back to the beginning of the web-page. You can also use the up and down arrows to select things in drop down menus, saving you even more time.

9. Drop the http:// and www. prefixes

Whilst explaining to people that http stands for hyper text transfer protocol is undoubtedly a great way to win yourself some friends, putting it at the front of a web address is just an exercise in wasting time. Drop the http:// and www prefixes as they are simply not necessary. Instead, just type the remainder of the address and press enter. It will work, trust me.

10. Search direct from your browser

We’ve already covered search engines and how useful they can be to the modern Internet browser, but typing in the address of a search engine can really eat up a lot of time. To create a truly streamlined browsing experience, why not access the search engine of your choice directly from your browser. You can do this in two ways; the first way is through a customizable home screen, like the one offered by Google, which gives you the option of having a search engine on your homepage. The other is by customizing your browser to give you a search bar of your choice.

Drop down list of search engines

Use the browser options menu to do this. More advanced browsers will allow you to search eBay, YouTube, Amazon and a variety of other sites simply by selecting the appropriate search option in a drop down menu.

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How To Earn $100 Per Day With Google AdSense,

Earning $100, $200 or even $300 per day with Google AdSense is not an impossible job.

Many bloggers and website owners are doing it, and you are not an exception. The only thing you need is better planning and execution, hard work, determination and passion for blogging about your topic or niche.

Before diving into the exact process, let’s know some terminology for better understanding of Google AdSense and how you can generate more revenue by selling your ad inventories on your blog.

What Is AdSense: It’s a monetization program by Google for online content from websites, mobile sites, and site search results with relevant and engaging ads.

CTR : Your ad Click-through Rate is the number of ad clicks divided by the number of individual ad impressions. Suppose you are showing 3 AdSense ads on every page, your 1 page view is equal to 3 ad impressions.

CTR = Clicks / Ad Impressions X 100

Suppose, you get 5 clicks out of 500 ad impressions, your CTR would be 1% (5/500X100).

CPC : Cost-Per-Click is the revenue you earn each time a visitor clicks on your ad. CPC is usually determined by the advertisers. In some competitive niches like finance, marketing, online products etc. advertisers may be willing to pay more per click than others.

CPM: CPM means “Cost Per 1000 Impressions.”

Sometimes advertisers opt for CPM ads instead of CPC and set their price for 1000 ad impressions. And they pay each time their ads appear on any website.

Let’s Make $100 Everyday With Google AdSense, Right?

For the convenience of calculation we assume that – You serve your AdSense ads on your blog or website, irrespective of showing your ads on your mobile site and added the site search results with AdSense.

Your CTR is 1% and your average CPC is $0.25. It’s quite achievable and lots of bloggers usually get it. We also assume that Page View = Ad Impression for easy calculation. You can manipulate the parameters on your own for desired results.

• To make $100 everyday you need 40,000 Page Views/day Or, 400 Clicks a day @ 1% CTR and $0.25 CPC. For 40,000 Page Views you have to produce 500 awesome articles or blog posts which attract at least 80 or more page views/article everyday.

• Apart from CPC, you will also earn from your CPM ad impressions. Irrespective of any niche, the average CPM earning is $1 to $1.5 per 1,000 impressions. You can make $40 to $60 per day easily from 40,000 page views.

• You can also sell your Ad space directly or via BuySellAds.com and generate $6,000 Per Month on an average from 40,000 page views. Check out how webmasters and bloggers are making $6,000 to $8,000 Per Month fromBuySellAds with forty thousand page views per day. So your daily earning will be $200 (6000/30=200).

• A niche blog with high quality articles converts very well withaffiliate marketing. You can easily earn $40 to $80/day from affiliate selling with correct implementation and execution.

Now your total earning per day is $100 + $40 + $200 +$40 = $380 from CPC, CPM, Direct Ad Sell, Affiliate Marketing for 40,000 page views per day. I’ve taken the lowest possible earnings from all the 4 sources.

$380 per day means $11,400 per month (380X30= 11,400) Or,$136,800 per year (11,400X12=136,800). Isn’t it a whooping amount to lead a lavish life?

Which is well above your desired earning of $100 per day from Google AdSense, right? 1000s of bloggers are making money this way, and you can also do it. The only thing I want to say is “Be Focused!”

P.S. The above results can be possible if you produce at least 200 to 250 great articles or blog posts per year for 2 years. So how much traffic you actually need to make $100 per day from Google AdSense – It’s way less than 40,000 Page Views Per Day!

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R.I.P. Dr. Abdul Kalam: Here are the lesser known facts about the late former President of India

Mumbai, July 27: Today will be marked as a dark day in the history of the country. One of the foremost scientists of India, a Bharat Ratna, the Missile Man of India and the true ‘People’s President’, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, the 11th President of the biggest democracy of the world, passed away due to cardiac arrest, while he was delivering a speech at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong. Also Read: APJ Abdul Kalam Dead: Most Inspiring Speech EVER by Missile Man of India

While his success story is known by many and has inspired scores of Indians and will continue to do so, here are some lesser known facts about India’s most loved President’s life and work, that every Indian must know:

1.) Kalam came from a poor family background

Mr.Kalam’s father Jainulabudeen was not formally educated and was into the boat building business, he used to ferry people between Dhanuskodi and his hometown of, Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. He came from a poor background and started working at an early age to supplement his family’s income. Kalam himself used to sell newspapers at the age of eight to supplement the family income.

2.) He struggled to pay his education fees

At the time of admission into MIT (Madras Institute of Technology), he did not have the money to pay thousand rupees as fee, his father could not afford that amount of money. His sister mortgaged her gold bangles, to get the money for admission.

3.) Kalam as a scientist in DRDO

Kalam joined Aeronautical Development Establishment of Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) as a scientist. His first achievement in his career was designing a small helicopter for the Indian Army, though he remained unconvinced and dissatisfied with the choice of his job at DRDO.

4.) Kalam was a part of country’s first nuclear test

Kalam without participating in its development, test site preparation and weapon designing was invited by Raja Ramanna to witness the country’s first nuclear test Smiling Buddha as the representative of TBRL.

5.) Mr.Kalam took great care of his colleagues

A co worker had promised his kids that he would take them to the local carnival after returning from work, the co-worker had also obtained the prior permission of Mr.Kalam to leave early. The colleague was so engrossed in his work that it was well into the evening when he realised that he had made a promise to his kids. On rushing back home, he came to know through his wife that Mr.Kalam had come earlier and taken his kids to the carnival. Also Read: APJ Abdul Kalam dead: 7 Most Famous Quotes of India’s most popular President

6.) The awards and honors

The Government of India has honoured him with the Padma Bhushanin 1981 and the Padma Vibhushanin 1990 for his work with ISRO and DRDO and his role as a scientific advisor to the Government. APJ Abdul Kalam has received India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, for his immensely precious contribution to the scientific research and modernization of defense technology in India.

7.) The Youth Icon

In 2003 and in 2006 he was nominated for the MTV Youth Icon of the Year award.

8.) A global Icon

The former president who was simplicity personified, was even recognized by Switzerland government for his scientific prowess. The day he visited Switzerland was comemorated at the Science Day in the country.

9.) Kalam was criticized for lackadaisical approach towards his Presidential post

Kalam was judged for inaction as a President in deciding the fate of 20 out of the 21 mercy petitions. According to the Article 72, of the Constitution of India, the President of India has the power to grant pardon, suspend and remit death sentences and commute the death sentence of convicts on death row. But he didn’t apply those powers on the mercy petitions of the 20 convicts.

10.) Kalam the stalwart

In his book India 2020, Kalam strongly advocated an action plan to develop India into a knowledge superpower and a developed nation by the year 2020. He regards his work on India’s nuclear weapons programme as a way to assert India’s place as a future superpower. Other books authored by him are Envisioning an Empowered Nation, Ignited Minds, My Journey, Developments in Fluid Mechanics and Space Technology, The Luminous Sparks, The Life Tree, Mission India, Children Ask Kalam, Guiding Souls, Indomitable Spirit and Inspiring Thoughts. These books are treasure for every Indians. there was a considerable demand in South Korea for translated versions of books authored by him.

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Windows 10: All You Wanted To Know…Free Upgrades, Availability, Price & More.

Windows 10 is the most anticipated Windows OS after the infamous Windows 8. We all have been waiting for it for quite a few months and many of us have even tried its official Insider Preview. I must say that the Windows 10 looks very promising indeed and the fact that all computers running Windows 7 SP1 and above will get a free upgrade to Windows 10 is the icing on the cake.

Microsoft also announced that Windows Phone 8.1 running devices will also get free upgrade to Windows 10, but the computers running on Windows 7/8/8.1 Enterprise, and Windows RT/RT8.1 running devices will get no free upgrade.

What Exactly Is Microsoft Offering?

Do you really think that Microsoft will give you all features of Windows 10 for free?

While Microsoft will let you upgrade to Windows 10 for free, you won’t get the most advanced version as you will be upgraded to Windows 10 Home. This version of Windows 10 is stripped of many features that you are used to on Windows 7 and Windows 8.

And if you are excited about Cortana, then know that it will be available only in U.S., Canada, China, France, U.K., Italy, Germany, and Spain during its initial launch. People living in other regions will get Cortana at some point later on.

Say Goodbye to Windows Media Centre & Your Control Over Windows Updates

One more issue that users on limited data plans will face once they upgrade to Windows 10 Home is automatic Windows Update.

Windows will install new updates whenever they are available without any user permission and intervention. While this might be good news for many, it certainly is not a good news for those like me who like to stay in control of their computer.

Windows 10 Home also doesn’t support Windows Media Center, Hearts (card game), Desktop gadgets (in Windows 7), Floppy disks (who uses it, anyway), andnative DVD playback functionality. The lack of support for native DVD playback is not an issue as most of us already use some 3^rd party video playback software and never play DVDs using the stock media player.

So, if you want control over Windows Update and want more features, then pay a few bucks and upgrade to either Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise.

How To Claim Your Free Windows 10 Upgrade?

Microsoft will allow all qualified devices to get free Windows 10 upgrade till one year from its official launch. The upgrade will be delivered to the devices via the Windows Update, but if you’re like me and don’t download every update for your devices then you should look for KB3035583 update and install it.

This update will let you reserve your free Windows 10 upgrade in a few simple steps.

This update will download the required files for the Windows 10 upgrade a few days ahead of its public launch so that you can experience your new version of Windows without any hassle.

Note: The whole upgrade will be download over the internet, so make sure that you’re on an unlimited internet plan.

Is It Only An Upgrade Or A Full Windows 10 OS?

If you are wondering whether you would be able to do a fresh install of Windows 10 at some point of time in near future, then you would be delighted to know that Microsoft will let you download an ISO of the full Windows 10 OS. You can burn that ISO file to a DVD or make a bootable flash drive for installing Windows quickly.

You can use the ISO file to either upgrade your existing Windows OS or do a clean reinstall on the computer in future.

Which Windows Version Will  Get What Upgrade?

Here is what various versions of Windows will get as an upgrade. For Windows 7 and 8 Professional and Ultimate versions will get Windows 10 Pro, while the home, basic and starter editions will get Windows 10 Home!. Check the chart below!

Launch Date & Price

Windows 10 will be officially launched on July 29 2015.

While the Home Users of Windows 7/8.1 will get a free upgrade to Windows 10 Home, Windows 7/8.1 Pro users will be able to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for free as long as they claim their free upgrade within a year of the launch of Windows 10. However, if you want to upgrade from ‘Home’ version of Windows 10 to ‘Pro’, then you can do so by paying $99.

According to Neowin, if want to upgrade your Windows OS post the free 1-year upgrade window, then you will be charged $119 for Windows 10 Home and $199 for Windows 10 Pro.

Windows 10 free upgrade is one of the biggest tech bargain that we have ever seen. We are expecting millions of people to upgrade to Windows 10 Home right after its launch. This is in line with Microsoft’s goal to achieve 1 billion Windows 10 devices in the next few years. If this happens, then it would break the records of fastest OS adoption rate.

We’ll see how this free OS upgrade scheme turns out for Microsoft in near future

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