Google AdSense has become a favorite money-making tool for many bloggers, due to it’s ease of use, attractive, non-intrusive display, and the simple fact that even little-known bloggers can make a few bucks from it. AdSense accepts almost any website, unlike many larger advertising networks, so it’s instantly a favorite.

Even though just about anybody can see some results, there are plenty of ways to increase the amount you earn with AdSense.

1. Test!

This is the most important thing you should do to ensure you’re earning as much as possible with AdSense. Called A/B Testing, this is Google’s little-known technique for maximizing your earning potential.

Let’s say you have a 468×60 banner with a light gray background and dark blue text on your page. Perhaps the same banner would blend better if you changed the background to white, but would it convert better? Don’t just change the code to the new format; what if there are other reasons that would influence the click-through rate like a holiday, season change, recent post, etc? Implement A/B Testing and send 50% of visitors to the gray background and 50% to the white background. Give each one a different channel (you are using channels, right?) and you’ll see which one gets a better click-through rate.

To implement is simple:

<script type=”text/javascript”>
var random_number = Math.random();
if (random_number < .5){
//your first ad unit code goes here
} else {
//your second ad unit code goes here
}
</script>
<script type=”text/javascript”
src=”http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js”>
</script>

Simply place the first part of each code block where it says to above, and you’re in business. Remember to assign a unique channel name to each block to ensure you get accurate results. After a week or so of testing, just look to see which one made you more money. It’s that simple!

Read The ABCs of A/B Testing for more information.

2. Get familiar with your code

Specifically, I’m going to talk about Wordpress here, but this applies to all blogging, forum, and CMS software. A great way to earn more with AdSense with minimal effort is to have your software automatically insert your ad code for you. To do this, you should be at least partially familiar with the coding of your CMS or blogging software (such as PHP.)

There are many ways to have your AdSense displayed automatically, such as before each post, under only your first post on the front page, under only the second post, only on single pages, etc. Check out this quick write-up on how to place Adsense in your Wordpress blog automatically. I recommend going through and implementing each technique, and keeping the ones you like the most. This will get you more familiar with the Wordpress code, and with some experimenting (be careful,) there are plenty of other custom techniques you can apply.

3. Use Plugins

For Wordpress, there are many free plugins available to help you display your AdSense code. AdSense Deluxe is a popular favorite for it’s amazing flexibility and ease of use. AdSense Deluxe lets you place your customized ad code anywhere you choose by simply inserting “<–adsense–>” into your post. This allows you to place the code quickly and painlessly, without adding the ugly code itself by hand.

It also lets you specify multiple ad networks such as Yahoo Publisher Network, as well as different ad layouts. For example, if you want “<–adsense–>” to display a 468×60 Banner ad, set it up in the options menu for AdSense Deluxe. But what if you also want to place a 300×250 Rectangle ad in with your posts? You can specify it as “<–adsense#rectangle–>” and it will display that ad instead.

It’s a very flexible, highly recommended plugin for those who are looking to make more money with AdSense.

4. Read!

If you’re serious about blogging and making money on the internet, you have to read other blogs; especially those who specialize in helping others succeed in blogging. There are very good articles written about blogging, and many of them have attributed to each other’s success. If you haven’t already, sign up for an RSS reader (I recommend Netvibes,) and subscribe to some good feeds. Here are a few recommended websites that I frequent:

Dosh Dosh
Daily Blog Tips
ProBlogger
Daily Web Ideas
PureBlogging
John Chow
Blogging Tips
CopyBlogger
Blogging Experiment
Performancing
Chris Garrett
and of course… Egonitron.com

There are many more great blogs out there to help you out. Read through the archives of these blogs to find more. Each offers AdSense tips and other great tips to help you out.

This was a quick write-up. I could have written an article on each on of tips individually (and I plan to in the future,) but for now start implementing some of these if you haven’t already. Be sure to keep me updated if any of these tips help you out, and feel free to offer your own suggestions!

This post has been part of Daily Blog Tips Blog Writing Project