Google ads - configuring adsense made easy
Everything you need is there
Set up your Google Adsense Account
- https://www.google.com/adsense/start/
- You need a google mail email account to set up an account (also easy and free)
- Add the web address (URL) of your website.
- You will need to verify your account via your email
Download Google Site Kit
Download Google Site Kit into your website where you want the ads.
This will connect your website to Google Ads.
- Plugins > Add new > type Site Kit > Install now > Activate
- In left hand navigation menu: Site Kit > Settings > Set up Adsense
- Sign in with Google
- Grant site permissions
- Leave all options ticked > Proceed
- Allow access to Google account data
- Add search console
- Your and now done! Congratulations.
- Click on go to my dashboard.
Go to your Adsense account
- Dashboard > Click Site Kit > under Adsense click “Connect Service”
- Your account is getting ready > Click Go to you Adsense account to check on your site’s status or to complete setting up
- Just tick the page at the bottom where it says “I’ve pasted the code into my site” (NB Google Site Kit will have done this for you)
- The Code was found > Click Got It.
After setting up a Google Ads account, then configure it.
How to configure your Google Adsense account
Log into Google Adsense account
- https://www.google.com/adsense/start/
- For future reference: this is your dashboard where it will show your earnings.
- Click Ads: you see your website added at the bottom. Might take 2-4 days – depends on Google.
Customise each website ad settings
- Turn on Auto ads
- It’s the easiest option
- Click Ads
- Click the pencil next to your website name
- Turn on Auto ads
- Turn on “optimise your existing ad units”
- Turn on in-page ads
- I turn off matched content because I run a teaching website, but if you were doing a golfing site, you would turn this on because the audience will want to buy golfing stuff.
- Anchor ads – turn off.
- Vignette ads turn on.
- Ad load – set to the middle. Too many ads and people will be put off your site.
- Page exclusion – add a page that you don’t want ads to show. Some people prefer their home pages to be clean. Like a honey trap… LOL
Add more websites
- You can add more than one website to Google Adsense.
- All your revenue generated from different websites can then be transferred to your one bank account.
- And the nice thing is – everything is under one place – your Google adsense home page.
- If you click Sites (under the Google adsense dashboard) – you will find a list of sites that are actively linked up.
- If you click Home > the dashboard page will display earnings from each site.
Add payment details
- You won’t get paid until you add your bank details.
- Payment happens every month.
- However, you cannot set up payment UNTIL your site has earnt £60 ($100) to pay you.
- When it does reach that threshold, Google will send you a passcode in the post.
- Then go back into Google Adsense dashboard. Click on Payments. Add your code and bank details.
- Google will (I think) send you something like 1 penny (or 1 cent) – you log into your bank account after a week or so and make sure it went through. There will be a reference number or identifier in your bank account statement next to that transaction that you will need to add back into Google Adsense payment settings to tell them it worked fine.
- All done.
But what if I don't want Auto-ads on? I want to customise it myself.
- Google can sometimes make your website look a bit spammy. So it is understandable that you want to choose where to put your ads.
- You can do this through Google adsense dashboard.
- Click Overview
- Click the pencil next to the website’s URL
- Turn off Auto Ads
- Then go back to Overview page. At the top you can see “By Site”, “By ad unit”, “Global Settings”
- Click “By adunit”
- Click on one of those options
- It will generate some HTML code which you copy and paste into a WordPress Guttenberg or Elementor or Beaver Builder HTML block which you place in the appropriate parts of your different webpages.
- This can be laborious if you have 100s of pages!
- Or, if you have a side bar, open the side bar and at a HTML widget there, and paste the code. In that way, all the pages with this side bar will show the ad, A much neater option.
- For the infeed ad, select the option “Let Google Suggest a Style”
What types of Ads will they see
Unless you have matched content turned on, the ads your users will see will be based on things that they were searching or looking up on the internet recently. Ads are displayed according to their recent search history. So, if I was interested in a new washing machine, ads for washing machines will come up.
If matched content is turned on (by going to Ads > Your website URL > Click the Edit Pencil > Ad formats), then your user will see ads that relate to the content of the webpage they are looking at. So, if you have written a page about video cameras, it will be video cameras. If it’s “how to teach”, it might be teacher training courses.
Types of Ads
Display Ad
Small square ad - great all-rounder. Works well in mobiles, desktops. Especially good in side bars..
In-feed ads
These are inserted into the top of a webpage.
Select the option "Let Google Suggest a Style".
In article ad
Displays an ad (usually full width) in between the blocks of information on your site
Matched content
Usually at the bottom of your page. matches the ad to the content of your webpage that it is on.
Anchor Ads
These are ads that stick to the edge of the users screen when someone scrolls. Usually found at the top or bottom of a page. They can be quite annoying and easily dismissible. And they may reduce the amount of information from your website that is visible as the user scrolls through - can be very annoying.
Vignette ads
Full screen ads that appear between pages when a user clicks to another page. usually on mobile browsing. Can be quite effective. In literature, a vignette (pronounced vin-yet) is a short scene that captures a single moment or a defining detail about a character, idea, or other element of the story.
How does the payment work?
You get paid every time a user visits your website and sees the ad. Doesn't matter if they read it or not. You get paid. Of course, the pay per ad is small, so you need a lot of users to make a good return. That's why content heavy websites with lots of users make a good amount of money.
But you get paid even more if a user clicks on an ad.
And even more if they buy something from that ad.
Some good videos
I love this video. Everything in a nutshell
This is from Google Adsense - about mobile ads. Also look at their YouTube channel for some great advice.
