More on AdSense and SEO

This is a follow up to the article I wrote on Making Sense of AdSense, Content and SEO. I recently received my first AdSense check from Google a few months ago for $100. That took me nearly 2 years to get to the $100 for payout. Now just 2 months after that payout I'm only $20 shy of getting my 2nd $100 payment from Google.

The Stats

Why the change you ask? SEO and good content on my website has drawn new traffic to my site and kept visitors there longer resulting in more clicks on the ads. I recently reviewed the website statistics provided by my hosting company 1and1.com. The trend was that visits to the site had increased each year and then took off this spring. I used the website tool Google Analytic installed on my site and checked the period of 6/01/2008-9/20/2008 vs. the same period last year for my sites statistics and showed 1660 vs. 651 visits for an increase of 154.99 percent. Page visits for the same period grew from 997 to 3739 for an increase of 275 percent. My studies of Search Engine Optimization started earlier this year by reading the book Search Engine Optimization - An Hour a Day by Jennifer Grappone and Gradiva Couzin.

Organic Search Results

There are 2 types of results when doing a search on sites like Google, Yahoo, Live and other search engines. PPC or Pay per Click allows you to bid on keywords and have more control where your site ranks. When someone clicks on your sponsored ad you pay depending on the value of the keyword that produced your search results. Depending on the amount of clicks this can be quite costly for those with a limited budget. That's why I've taken the time to learn about SEO because there's no expense involved in landing on the top of an organic search result. By reading the book I mentioned above and researching online I can now see the benefits.

Research

Do some footwork and check out what your competitors are doing online. Do a search using keywords related to your product or service to see who ranks near the top. I took the keywords "Volunteer Software" and searched Google and found out my site ranks 19th out of 411,000 results. Not bad considering that you want to land on page 3 or less on a search engine search result. Most lookers aren't going to go much further than that when looking for a product or service online. When searching for "Volunteer Management Software" the results are even better and the site lands on page one and ranks 4th out of 332,000 results. Not bad when you consider that I didn't have to pay anyone to get my website ranked high. There are several places to check your keywords for popularity.

Wordtracker

Wordtracker Free Keyword Tool

Google Keyword Tool

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Try. Try. Try and Try again

With your research behind you try and apply what you've learned to your website. Keep in mind that changes in ranking don't happen overnight and can sometimes take months. But it's your job to consistently be refining your site until you get the right results. It's a good idea to review your site daily even after you start ranking higher because a good ranking is never guaranteed.

I would suggest that besides your home page that you try creating a few landing pages with different keywords. Then monitor your visitor trends using something like Google Analytic to see which page draws the most visits to your site. Keep in mind that you want to use powerful keywords and repeat them on your page in a logical pattern. I have used the keywords "Volunteer Management Software" in several different areas of the home page of my site. Make sure you don't overdo it otherwise you might risk getting penalized by the search engines.

Final Thoughts

SEO doesn't mean your site will move to the first page of a search results overnight but eventually you might be there. I suggest check a local community college for possible classes in Internet Marketing and SEO. I've always learned web development by reading books, studying online and reading forms on the subject. Please feel free to comment if you have any thoughts or would like to contribute what has worked best for you.

Best wishes,
Dennis J. Smith

Making Sense Of AdSense, Content and SEO

The Land Of AdSense, Content and SEO
Written By DJ Smith

January 28, 2008

I was reading some of the postings on the Google AdSense forum recently. It's funny how people think they can toss AdSense advertisements on a web page and expect for the money to roll in. People have this notion that the money will come without doing any leg work.

Click Me

Before AdSense will even work, you have to have a site with traffic. Chance are you aren't going to get many clicks on your ads if you only have a few visitors a day. So how do you create traffic? Well there's several ways you can create and build traffic on your site. It really depends on what kind of content you are providing and how well you've optimized your pages. Boring content or content that you rarely update isn't going to bring visitors in droves. Updating your content, optimizing your site and creating content that keeps people coming back. So what is good content?

Content Is King

Writing good content depends on your knowledge of the subject matter. You won't find me writing articles about how to tune-up a car. Write about stuff that you are knowledgeable in so you can enlighten others. Make sure to use good grammar and spell check before you post your article. I've seen so many postings out there with poor grammar and numerous spelling errors. Use your resources! Most blogs have built in spell checking and the same goes for word processing programs such as Microsoft Word. When writing content think about how search engines will view your site. Keyword are relevant to how well your site will rank with the search engines. Don't overdo it when writing content but keep it in mind as you create. By writing good content you gain the respect of your peers and your visitors. This generates repeat traffic, links to your website and a host of other benefits.

Queen SEO

You have your website and you have content written so where are the visitors? Well have you notified the search engines? You don't move without informing the Post Office of your new address do you? The search engines might eventually find you but you really need to let them know about your website. I use a program called Simple SEO which is offered by my web hosting company 1&1.com. Simple SEO lets me submit my websites to all the major search engines and lots of the other players you don't hear about often. You can go to each search engine and request to add your site. In Google just type in "Add My Site" and you'll see a link that will allow you to submit your website. One of the books I've read that you might want to check out is
Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day by Jennifer Grappone and Gradiva Couzin. I bought mine through Amazon.com along with a few other books on AdSense, SEO and Internet Marketing. Besides the books there's a lot of great websites and online resources to learn more about AdSense, SEO and writing good content.

Part II - Updated information is coming soon.

More Resources:

Check out these great resources for more information on AdSense, Content, Search Engine Optimization(SEO) and Internet Marketing.

What Google Never Told You About Making Money with AdSense e-book
The web's best-selling e-book helps people make more money with AdSense and pays great commissions!

Learn more...

KillerAffiliateMarketing.com - KAM features e-books from some of the best in the industry. Joel Comm (author of the Adsense Code), Mark Joyner and more.

SpreadViralVideo.com - Showcases the best video on the internet along with videos on Internet Marketing. Sometimes people find it easier to learn from a video rather than read about a topic. Personally I like a mix of both formats depending on my mood.

Learn how to make your on viral videos
Learn the secrets to making viral videos with Charles Trippy's Viral Video Fever!

Thanks for reading!

Keywords, Keywords, Keywords

The Key To Search Engine Rankings

Getting tired of building a website that can't seem to attract visitors? SEO or Search Engine Optimization is key when building a website for the masses. Keywords are what get sites like Google, Live Search and Yahoo Search to rank your site higher. My website MyVolunteer.com took several months before ranking higher in the search engines. Now certain keywords generate a page one ranking and traffic continues to grow. One of the things I did was check out the keywords of those sites already ranking at the #1 spot. I also made sure that those keywords were located in the copy on my home page. However for those just starting out there's a powerful tool that helps you find the keywords that people are using while searching.

Finding Great Keywords


WordTracker Keywords from WordTracker does all the work for you and is simple to use. There's even a free trial keyword tool but you'll get more out of the full version. I recommend the trial so you can check it out before you buy. The full version gives you a myriad of tools to find profitable keywords. One week subscriptions start off for as little as $30 US, $59 US for a month or less than .82 cents a day for a full year at just $299 US. Wow! Well worth it when you think about the benefits from generating more traffic for your sites. Here's 10 Great Reasons to Subscribe to Wordtracker-Risk-Free!