So you’re finally in! You’re site has been approved & you have an AdSense account and are ready to start making some money with your site.
Before you dive in and start putting up links, it’s important to take the time to read through the adsense policies and guidelines before you delve into installing the ads on your site.
Understanding the do’s & don’ts of ad placement, terms of use and program policies are extremely important. Adsense has a zero-tolerance policy, and ignorance of the rules won’t make any difference in their assessment. Even accidental missteps can get your account banned for life — as in you can never get it back.
Don’t …
- Don’t ask users, friends or family to click on your links.
- Click on your own AdSense links, even just to test them. Google made them, trust me, they work.
- Place ads in places where they trick users into clicking on them (making them look like part of the internal navigation for the website)
- Style text ads to look like part of the websites navigation.
- Putting deceptive headings over the add module like “My Favorite Links”, “Our Sponsors”, “Suggested Sites”, etc.
- Position pictures directly above the ads to make it look like the links are related to the picture.
- Buy traffic for your site from an unreliable source.
- Change or alter the provided ad code in any way. This includes changing the size of the ad manually to fit the space you want it to go in, or making it open links in a new window.
- Place ads in e-mails, pop-ups or iFrames.
- Place more than 3 ad units on any one page.
- Be deceptive & try to trick users in any way.
Click here for the complete AdSense TOS & Policy Guidelines.
Do…
- Create quality content that is helpful & valuable to users.
- Create websites that are easy to navigate and primarily for users, not search engines.
- Make sure your ads look like ads & don’t match the rest of the navigation on the website.
- Place your ads above the fold but not too close to navigation.
- Monitor your AdSense account closely and report any suspicious click activity as soon.
Adsense offers a very comprehensive course for new marketers called Adsense Academy. I strongly suggest you take full advantage of this tool, the information could help you be more successful with adsense & keep your account in good standing.