Google AdSense is a platform for Web publishers who want to include advertisements on their Internet properties. If you run a website or blog, perhaps for a business, you can serve Google adverts on it as a way to monetize it. If you want your adverts to be displayed through the AdSense network, you need to sign up to Google AdWords. When you use AdSense as a publisher, you have a range of options in terms of how the resulting adverts appear within your sites.
Publishers
You can use Google AdSense on any websites you have, including blogs. To become part of the program, you need to sign up for an AdSense account. Once you have signed up you will be able to access code that you can place on your sites. Wherever you place the code is where the adverts will appear. If you use the Blogger blogging platform, the process of adding adverts to your posts (and blog in general) is automated. Many sites use AdSense to monetize projects, however you do need a lot of website traffic to make significant amounts of income this way. It also helps if your website content is on topics that advertisers are looking to target.
Targeted Adverts
Advertisers use Google's platform to target potential customers. Rather than paying for adverts on any site, Google lets businesses target users who are more likely to be interested in their products and services. For example, if you run a blog about credit cards, companies advertising credit cards may like their adverts to be on your site as your readers are interested in their product area. Google AdSense adverts are therefore targeted, so the ads that appear on your site will be relevant to its content. For advertisers, this is key to the appeal of Google's model, as it means that their advertising investment is being used in a way that is more likely to have positive results. In some cases advertisers only pay Google when their adverts are actually clicked.
Revenue
Earnings from AdSense are calculated using two factors: impressions and clicks. Impressions are a measure of how many times the pages you have adverts on have been viewed. Clicks are your website users actually clicking on the adverts. The amount you earn varies depending on the price of the adverts on your pages. The advertisers do not pay set prices for every advert, as the price varies according to the targeted key words and phrases, among other factors. What you receive as a publisher is 68% of the revenue if you are on the AdSense for content program, 51% if you use AdSense for search.
Options
When you add AdSense to your sites, you can choose from a variety of advert sizes and styles. The area used for adverts is divided into units, so your site may include blocks of adverts rather than larger individual adverts occupying several units. You can set the colors within the ads to match your site design. In terms of requirements, there are a number of restrictions on your content if you want AdSense ads on your pages. Your content cannot be of an adult nature or contain copyrighted material. Your sites must also meet Google's Webmaster Quality Guidelines.
Related Links
Adsense Help: Adsense Academy
Google: Webmaster Guidelines
Monday, 3 September 2012
Twitter and Marketing
Twitter has quickly become a key element in the marketing strategies of many businesses, small and large. If you want to put Twitter to good use for your business, the vital elements fall into a few basic categories. Twitter offers traditional advertising opportunities in the form of promotions, but there are many other ways to use the service for marketing that don't cost anything. By seeing Twitter as a communication, networking and branding tool, you can use it to your advantage.
Communication
Twitter is of course primarily a communication tool. For this reason you can use it to communicate with existing clients and customers as well as press. With existing clients you can provide support and capture vital feedback from your customers or users. Many companies use Twitter to promote special offers or deals. This gives followers an incentive to keep themselves acquainted with what you are tweeting about. It goes without saying that Twitter is potentially most valuable when attracting new custom, but it is also an effective channel from which to manage your existing client base.
Branding
Twitter is a microblogging platform. This puts it in an excellent position to express a consistent message representing your business brand. Key strategies here include linking to any updates about your products, including media items such as videos, newsletters, blog posts and media coverage, as well as linking to the relevant sections of your company website. If you want your tweets to be noticed by Twitter users who are not already following you, you can do so by tweeting on trending topics. You can see the list of trending topics when you log into your Twitter account. Often, the trends involve tweeting using hashtags. Twitter users often view all tweets on a particular topic or hashtag, regardless of whether those tweets are from accounts they follow.
Network
Twitter is part of the world of social networking, so it naturally provides extensive networking opportunities. Many companies take the approach of seeking out Twitter users who appear to be potential customers and following them, in the hope that they will follow back. However, it is more valuable to have a small number of followers who are genuinely interested in your product than a large number who are paying little attention to it. To attract the attention of tweeters who are more valuable to your business, you can carry out searches on Twitter. Searching for a topic that is either specific to your business or related to it, then replying to those tweets, is a way to connect to users who are interested in your product area.
Promotion
In terms of traditional marketing, Twitter offers a range of promotion options. You can purchase promoted tweets, accounts and trends. This is akin to a mainstream advertising approach, with the promoted content appearing within user timelines even if the user does not follow your account. Twitter targets these tweets at relevant users, based on their own accounts. Promoted tweets also appear within search pages, profile pages and Twitter clients. Twitter clients are applications used on mobile and desktop platforms, used as an alternative to accessing Twitter through the Web browser.
Related Links
Twitter: What are Promoted Tweets?
GigaOM: 62 Ways to Use Twitter for Business
Entrepreneur.com: Five Ways to Use Twitter for Marketing That You Might Not Know About
Copyblogger: The Ultimate Guide to Twitter Marketing
Mashable: 5 Proven Twitter Marketing Strategies
Communication
Twitter is of course primarily a communication tool. For this reason you can use it to communicate with existing clients and customers as well as press. With existing clients you can provide support and capture vital feedback from your customers or users. Many companies use Twitter to promote special offers or deals. This gives followers an incentive to keep themselves acquainted with what you are tweeting about. It goes without saying that Twitter is potentially most valuable when attracting new custom, but it is also an effective channel from which to manage your existing client base.
Branding
Twitter is a microblogging platform. This puts it in an excellent position to express a consistent message representing your business brand. Key strategies here include linking to any updates about your products, including media items such as videos, newsletters, blog posts and media coverage, as well as linking to the relevant sections of your company website. If you want your tweets to be noticed by Twitter users who are not already following you, you can do so by tweeting on trending topics. You can see the list of trending topics when you log into your Twitter account. Often, the trends involve tweeting using hashtags. Twitter users often view all tweets on a particular topic or hashtag, regardless of whether those tweets are from accounts they follow.
Network
Twitter is part of the world of social networking, so it naturally provides extensive networking opportunities. Many companies take the approach of seeking out Twitter users who appear to be potential customers and following them, in the hope that they will follow back. However, it is more valuable to have a small number of followers who are genuinely interested in your product than a large number who are paying little attention to it. To attract the attention of tweeters who are more valuable to your business, you can carry out searches on Twitter. Searching for a topic that is either specific to your business or related to it, then replying to those tweets, is a way to connect to users who are interested in your product area.
Promotion
In terms of traditional marketing, Twitter offers a range of promotion options. You can purchase promoted tweets, accounts and trends. This is akin to a mainstream advertising approach, with the promoted content appearing within user timelines even if the user does not follow your account. Twitter targets these tweets at relevant users, based on their own accounts. Promoted tweets also appear within search pages, profile pages and Twitter clients. Twitter clients are applications used on mobile and desktop platforms, used as an alternative to accessing Twitter through the Web browser.
Related Links
Twitter: What are Promoted Tweets?
GigaOM: 62 Ways to Use Twitter for Business
Entrepreneur.com: Five Ways to Use Twitter for Marketing That You Might Not Know About
Copyblogger: The Ultimate Guide to Twitter Marketing
Mashable: 5 Proven Twitter Marketing Strategies
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)