Content is the main draw to your Web site. I say this even though I’m the first to admit that pictures can be very cool and that you can do some pretty amazing (and some not-so-amazing) stuff with your pages using Flash animation. When I’m being charitable, I can even see the rationale for all kinds of other electronic bling some folks insist on adding to their pages.
All that’s beside the point, though; what brings users to your site and draws them deeper and deeper into your pages is content.
Admittedly, one could argue that content is more than merely words — it’s all the elements that make up your Web site, even the bling. But it’s the words that help visitors find your site because words can be strung together to form information — and finding the right information is the goal of nearly every person who surfs the Web.
So having the right kind of content is one key to AdSense success. There’s such a thing as having the wrong kind of content or even having too much content. Having the right amount and the right kind of content is a balancing act. With careful attention to detail, you can keep all your plates dancing on their assigned poles.
The Big Deal about Content
Content is king! Bet you’ve heard that a few times before, right? It’s an overused phrase that’s lost some of its impact. It’s still true though — content is king. And without enough content (and enough of the right kind of content) on your Web site, you might as well toss the keys to your Web domain down the nearest sewer drain because the domain will be worthless.
Think about what’s really motivating you when you surf the Internet. Go ahead — pay close attention to what you do the next few times you go online. To help you remember, keep a list of the Web sites you visit and what you do while you’re there. I bet the search for information is the unifying theme to all your Internet sessions. Information is content — words, pictures, audio,
and video — that relay the information you need when you’re online. That’s one of the reasons why search engines like Google have grown exponentially in size and popularity. People want information, and they want the best possible way to get to exactly what they need in the least amount of time. You can tap into that desire for information and use AdSense to generate a
decent income, but only if you have the content that draws visitors to your site in the first place. Your site visitors care about content (or information), and you should, too. Content draws visitors to your site, and keeps them on your site or causes them to return. Content equals traffic — but here’s the catch. Content only translates to traffic if the content is relevant and fresh. Old content or completely unrelated content doesn’t do you any more good than old fish — it
stinks up the place and makes people want to be somewhere else. Good content is a good thing — I think we can all agree on that. You may ask how good content ties in with AdSense and your desire to turn your Web site into a handy little income stream. It turns out that content is also what Google uses to target ads on your Web site. In fact, Google uses the same
technology to target AdSense ads that it uses to create search results. A software program — called a Web crawler, a spyder, or a bot — literally counts the number of times different words are used on your site and examines the words surrounding them (the so-called context). Then, using a mathematical equation that would probably take an entire ream of paper to write, the program determines the probability that the site is related to the words used most frequently
on the site — the site’s keywords. (Smaller, common words, such as a, an, the, and, nor, or, but, and etc., are completely ignored by the crawler.) Then the content on your site — broken down to the keyword level — is used to determine which ads are appropriate for your site. The keyword value — how much someone is willing to pay to have their related ad shown in your
ad space — determines how valuable the ads for your site are to you, how appropriate they are, and how valuable they can be to your site visitors. Run a site that’s largely graphical in nature — lots of images, in other words — and Google has a hard time placing the right ads on the site. What you end up with instead are public service announcements, which are nice enough,
I suppose — if you’re not interested in making money, because they take up space but generate no income My sense is that your interest in AdSense might be tied up with making a bit
of green on the side. If that’s so, keep the following mantra in mind: “Content is a big deal. Content is king. Content is site traffic. Content is money in your pocket if it’s done right.” Content done right starts with building the right type of Web site.
