One of the main benefits to blogging and reasons people get into blogging is to make money. If you have ever searched for “how to make money blogging” or “how to make money online” the option that typically comes up again and again and the money making option that most bloggers use is Google Adsense.
It’s true, Google Adsense is a massive network, sadly thanks to how popular it’s become it has gotten a bit more restrictive in who they take in. Typical questions most new bloggers ask is how do they apply for Google Adsense? What are the terms and conditions? Are they eligible for Google Adsense? Why you were rejected after applying for Google Adsense? And what is the best way to get accepted?
If you are wondering any of these questions then continue reading.
What is Google Adsense and why is it so popular?
Google Adsense is an incredibly old PPC (Pay Per Click) program by Google that allows people who own a website to start making money from it through ads provided by Google. Simply put, you will add code provided by the Adsense program onto your blog, ads will show up where you added that code and once your visitors click on one of those ads you make a certain amount through the program.
So why is Adsense so popular? Well, any program from Google tends to be popular among bloggers. Whether that be Google Webmaster tools, Google Analytics and Google Adsense. And since it’s a program by Google bloggers tend to trust it more when it comes to things like paying on time (which Google Adsense does).
There are some bloggers who are able to make a pretty penny off of Google Adsense, even make a living off it. They payout rates also tend to be a bit better than most of the other PPC networks which is another reason people choose it over some of the competitors. As I mentioned above, it’s a very popular program and since it’s so popular the system to get approved has gotten stricter. Pay attention to these reasons why you may get rejected by Adsense.
1. Not enough and/or low quality content – If your blog has a lot of low quality content then don’t plan on getting accepted by Adsense. It’s not enough to just have high quality content though…you need enough high quality content.
In other words, a few dozen 300 or 400 word blog posts isn’t going to cut it since the Google Adsense team gives a lot of attention to looking at the quantity and quality of your blog content before accepting you to the program.
You can count on them rejecting you if your blog posts are low quality and/or have lots of grammar errors. Your content should also be unique and should definitely not be copied and pasted from another blog.
2. Not compliant with Google – This can mean a variety of things. You may not have any organic (search engine) traffic coming to your blog, little or zero original content, or your blog theme may just be a mess. Whether that be horrible design, messy navigation, bad user experience, etc.
3. Messy theme design – This is a great reason to purchase a premium WordPress theme. If your blog theme is poorly designed, isn’t pretty to look at, or is just too basic in design then Google may reject your application.
Not only should you have an organized navigation but your blog should also look nice.
4. Not having the correct pages on your blog – There are some pages that you need to have on your blog before Google considers you for their Adsense program. These pages are a Contact page, an About Us page and a Privacy Policy page.
10 Things you Need to do Before Trying to get Accepted to Google Adsense
1. Contact Page
As I mentioned above, there are certain pages on your blog that you must have if you want to get accepted to the Adsense program. A contact page is one of them.
Not only is it needed if you want to get your application accepted, a contact page also adds some professionalism to your blog and really is important since you may get people interested in things that may be beneficial to your blog (such as a guest posting opportunity).
Creating a contact page will inform the Google employee who is reviewing your blog that you have a way for your customers/readership to contact you about any problems. This step is also easy to complete, simply install a contact plugin via the WordPress.org plugin directory and you’re good to go.
2. Privacy Page
This is a page that Google states you need to have in order to get accepted. If you don’t have a privacy policy page then your blog has zero chance of getting approved. Simply put, a privacy policy page details what you blog gathers from visitors, what your blog uses and what it discloses when it comes to customer/reader data.
It’s also not that difficult to create since there are a wealth of privacy policy generators online.
3. About Us Page
The last page you should have on your blog to get approved by AdSense is an about page. Your about us page is simply the page where you describe you and/or your blog. This is a great way to establish a relationship with your visitors and adds a bit of professionalism to your blog.
4. Have enough content on your blog
As already stated above, having a few dozen blog posts on your website probably won’t cut it and will earn you a rejection from the Google Adsense team. So how many posts/pages should you have on your blog? Honestly that is a difficult question to answer, but Adsense prefers you have a decent flow of organic traffic before applying so figure your website should be 6 or 7 months old (at least) with 40~ posts.
This varies of course. Some web owners have hundreds of pages on their blog and get rejected while others have a few dozen and get accepted. The safe bet would be to have a good 40 or more, apply for Adsense and if you get rejected post another few dozen articles and try again. Rinse and repeat until they accept you.
5. Wrong type of content
This goes without saying but if your blog has pornographic, pirated or other illegal content then don’t expect to ever be accepted. Also you should have somewhat long posts as well. Having dozens of 200 – 400 word articles on your blog will probably earn you a rejection from Google. The longer the better, not only are you more likely to be accepted from Adsense but your blog posts tend to do better when it comes to social shares and search engine listings when you have longer articles.
I personally strive for at least 850 words per article, usually going well beyond that minimum.
6. Have a professional WordPress Theme
The design or theme of your blog has a big impact on whether you get accepted or not. In other words, you should have a professional looking blog. Having a nice looking and responsive design will increase your chances of getting accepted by quite a bit.
You don’t need to spend hundreds on a professional theme but you should have one. Many free themes don’t look at that great and are not responsive. This theme for example, is created via MyThemeShop but another very popular theme outlet for bloggers is Elegant Themes, both of which are known for their responsive designs.
7. Make sure you have your own domain name
It’s already a wise idea to have your own domain rather than a .blogspot or .wordpress.com domain. But if you do not have your own domain don’t plan on getting your blog accepted from Google Adsense. It doesn’t cost that much money to host your website on your own Top Level Domain and you are able to transfer to a TLD even if you are on a Sub Domain.
First, in case you don’t know, what is a Top Level Domain? A TLD is simply your own domain name without any extensions. For example, my blog name is tomakeawebsite.net. If my website was hosted with a Sub Domain it would look something like this: tomakeawebsite.wordpress.com or tomakeawebsite.blogspot.com.
If you don’t have your own webhost and/or domain you can choose a webhost plan with Greengeeks and they will give you a free domain name for life to go with your hosting package.
8. Domain name age
Sadly Google has an age restriction placed on their program. Because they want the blogs they accept to have a bit of organic traffic coming their way, Adsense has an age restriction policy: they won’t accept any blogs that are under 6 months old.
So just be sure to have a 6 month old website before applying to their program.
9. Have organic traffic coming to your blog
If you are getting your traffic mostly or exclusively from Pay Per Click networks then you probably won’t ever have your blog accepted by the Adsense team. I’ve said it above, Google wants their Adsense approved blogs to have a decent amount of organic traffic. If your blog doesn’t then it most likely will be rejected.
Where to go if Google Adsense keeps rejecting your application?
You may find yourself constantly rejected by Google. This may be for a variety of reasons or just plane bad luck, but if it happens to you don’t panic.
There are multiple other great, yet not as popular, Ad networks that you can turn to. Best of all, many of them are far easier to get approval since they aren’t nearly as popular.
If you find yourself backed into a corner thanks to constant Google Adsense rejection then give one of these Ad networks a try.
Media.net
This is a great alternative to Google Adsense since it is run by Yahoo and Bing. Another big thing Media has going for it is that the amount you get per click is far better than many of the other Google Adsense alternatives. The ads are also almost identical to Adsenses, only difference is that Media.net isn’t as strict when it comes to applicants, so you have a much better chance of getting accepted.
Chitika
Chitika is another popular Ad program that can be a great alternative to Adsense. It, like with Google Adsense, shows only relevant ads based on your webpage content. You are also able to customize your ads a bit and choose from the three ad types they have available, which are Targeted Ads, Local and they even have Ads that are optimized for mobile devices.
Infolinks
Infolinks is the last Google Adsense alternative on this list. It is a bit unique of a network since it focuses on keyword specific ads. What Infolinks does is indexes all of your webpages and will then automatically ad hyperlink ads to some of your text. It doesn’t have the same click rate as your typical CPM does but it is still a suitable alternative to Adsense.
Final thoughts on Adsense
Truth be told, Google Adsense is a bit of an overrated program. If you are able to get approved then start putting ads on your blog. But if you get rejected multiple times (or just once) then there are a variety of great alternatives to turn to. They may not payout as much, but they make up for it by not being as strict when it comes to who they approve.