Make$ Money$ Blog - Truth, no scam

Someone who hosted his own WordPress asked me how to add Google Adsense on his blog. So, this will be a short tutorial to somone who is already familiar with html, php, ftp and lingoes like that.  If this sounds confusing to you, don’t hesitate to ask.  I have been there, done that, groping and learning so I love sharing what I know.
Step One – Sign up with Google Adsense
You need a Google Adsense account. If you do not, do sign up one, using your real name and real mailing address. Your cheques will be issued to the name and address you registered. You cannot change your name later. There is a link to Google Adsense on my right side bar. :P

Step Two – Know what files are on your WordPress.
Familiarise with the files on your WordPress. You need to make your files editable by changing the CHMOD to 666 or you can edit the files on your PC and upload it. Whichever way. I am going to show how to change from your WP Dashboard.

Go to Presentation, Theme Editor. Over there, there is a list of files. You are going to paste the codes where you want your ads to appear. Usually, it is the sidebar, header and single.php. Different themes use different file names.

Step Three – Pick up Google Adsense codes
Get your Google Adsense codes.

Google has made it very easy for noobs like me to get the codes. There is a step-by-step method to do it.

Sign in to Google Adsense, choose Adsense Setup, get codes for Adsense for content. This is for the advertisements. The other two choices are a search box and a referral links. (more about that next time).

Next, choose the type of ads format you want. Google has made it a easy with a wizard. Remember that you can only put THREE ADS ON ONE PAGE. From my experiences the ads that get the most clicks are banner and skyscrapper. I experimented with various formats and though many probloggers recommend large rectangle, my clicks are so low, I remove them from some of my blogs.

Step Four – Paste your codes

After you choose the type of format, colours and channel (you can specify which ad on which page to help you with tracking the performance), you will come to the code like the above. Just copy the codes and then…paste it on to your php files. Whether, header, single, sidebar.php or anywhere you want your ads to appear.

On the photo above, I have pasted the Google Adsense codes into my php file. Click Update File. See that your ads is working on the page.

Step Five – See the money coming in

Of course, things are not as easy as said. It takes some work and patience. Remember that Google is super efficient in sniffing out any hanky-panky and will suspend and ban anyone who play dirty. Do not click on your own ads, ever. Not even accidentally. Do not ask your friends to click too.  Google can know.

You may have read about people earning USD10,000 or even USD100,000 per month through their sites.  Well, my friend, don’t dream.  But then, again, it is not impossible to earn RM10,000 per month.  So, it really depends on some hard and diligent work.