How to Make over $1000/month with Google Adsense-Interview with successful gurus

Interviews with Adsense publishers who make over $1000/month

***Adsense GURU***
Name: Will
Makes: $18,010.13 in September
Uses Adsense on: About a dozen sites

What steps did you take to make what you make today?
I built good web sites which help people.

How long did it take before you started turning over the big bucks?
About two years, part time.

What in your opinion is the most important part of becoming a success with Adsense?
Providing value to your site visitors.

What is the best way to turn in the highest CTR?
The 336×280 ad unit, with matching colors and no borders.

How important is content? Should the content be very targeted and helpful so the visitor finds everything they need or should it be slightly targeted so that the visitor is more apt to click an ad?
Content is king. Good content brings natural inbound links, which are absolutely the most important factor in building traffic and revenue.What steps should I take to start making $$$ with Adsense?
1. Decide what you want to say to the world.
2. Build a web site about that.
3. Put the AdSense JavaScript on the web site.Should I read an E-Book on making money with Adsense? Or should I hire a SEO/Adsense Professional to help me?
There’s no need to hire anyone.
Aaron Wall and Joel Comm both have decent e-books, but you can find most of what you need to know for free in The Internet Search Engines FAQ.
How do I get traffic to come to my site? Should I advertise using Adwords or use organic SEO?
Some people do well with AdWords/AdSense arbitrage. I’ve always prospered in my markets with organic SEO. AdWords seems more directly suited for web sites which make money directly from product sales.

Do you believe that Web Design and color schemes of a site have an effect on CTR?
Definitely. Design issues can double (or half) CTR.
Do you use Rotating Adsense Color Schemes?
No.
Do you use borders? And if not do you think it decreases CTR?
Borders definitely decrease CTR.
What should I focus most of my efforts on?
Building quality content — making your web site worth visiting.
Should I find the higher paying keywords and create a site targeted towards those so that I make more per click?
Definitely not. Build web sites about topics that you really care about. That’s the only way you will ever create a truly successful web site in the long run.
Which do you recommend using for an Adsense site a blog or a site assuming both are hosted by the user on its own domain.
Definitely a web site. Blogs are much harder to optimize for either SEO or CTR.
Are there any things you would warn against NOT doing?
Don’t build too many web sites — build 1-3 awesome web sites.
Any additional helpful comments???
Don’t give up. Don’t slack off. Slow and steady wins the race. Keep at it and you will succeed. Build new content every single day.
Don’t focus too much on CTR, CPC, CPM, or even your traffic stats. Focus on taking care of your site visitors and they will take care of you.
__________________
Name: Garve
Makes: Over $1000/month but growing at around 20% per month.
Uses Adsense on: about 6 main ones, but in total around 250
What steps did you take to make what you make today?
Created systems where visitors can add content – as they grew added Adsense to them.
How long did it take before you started turning over the big bucks?
About 18 months of doing it seriously. Don’t think of it as big bucks yet I’m afraid – covers the hosting costs but not all my time. The idea is that in 5 or ten years time we’ll have 1000 sites or more with hundreds of thousands of pages paying our pensions.
What in your opinion is the most important part of becoming a success with Adsense?
It might be creating loads of MFA sites, but that’s not what we’re interested in – we like creating useful interesting sites and the adverts come second.
What is the best way to turn in the highest CTR?
Biggest improvement I’ve made to date was blending the ads into a structured page with images beside the ads.
How important is content? Should the content be very targeted and helpful so the visitor finds everything they need or should it be slightly targeted so that the visitor is more apt to click an ad?
For the long term I think Content which will remain relevant for years ahead is the only important thing. If you’re looking to make quick money then I wouldn’t know the best way to do that.
What steps should I take to start making $$$ with Adsense?
I think you need an income from somewhere else and be able to treat the Adsense side of things as a long term project.
Should I read an E-Book on making money with Adsense? Or should I hire a SEO/Adsense Professional to help me?
I don’t know, I’ve never read one. I’m sure you can find all the info you’ll need on the internet for free.
How do I get traffic to come to my site? Should I advertise using Adwords or use organic SEO?
I don’t think using Adwords to drive traffic to click Adsense is ever likely to pay off. The Adwords have to cost more unless you come up with something really clever that no one else has thought of.
Do you believe that Web Design and color schemes of a site have an effect on CTR?
Definately – you need to blend them.
Do you use Rotating Adsense Color Schemes?
No – blend them.
Do you use borders? And if not do you think it decreases CTR?
No borders – keep blending them.
What should I focus most of my efforts on?
Content filled sites with a long shelf life.
Should I find the higher paying keywords and create a site targeted towards those so that I make more per click?
That’s what you have to do if you’re doing MFA. It’s not what I do.
Which do you recommend using for an Adsense site a blog or a site assuming both are hosted by the user on its own domain.
The distinction between a blog and a site is pretty blurred nowadays. A blog would be easier to maintain.
Are there any things you would warn against NOT doing?
Be very careful to follow the T&Cs – I think when you get to my level of impressions (approx half a million a month) then Google will give you some leeway for dodgy clicks etc, but when you’re first starting you need to be squeaky clean.
Any additional helpful comments would be welcomed.
I’ve mentioned blending – have a look at
http://www.fire-engine-photos.com/li…year&crit=2005
for an idea of what I mean.
__________________
Name: Randy
Makes: XXXX and growing rapidly
Uses Adsense on: 2-4 sites. But 2 main ones.
What steps did you take to make what you make today?
I started sites on something I like and something I knew a good amount about.
How long did it take before you started turning over the big bucks?
Can’t really say it is the big bucks yet because I haven’t made it to $20,000/month which is my aim but it came slowly as I worked on my sites. The biggest part was writing useful content for my visitors. Once you create a presence and you have loyal visitors especially for blogs they will become your marketers.
What in your opinion is the most important part of becoming a success with Adsense?
Creating a site about something you know something about, something you have experiance with and which you can explain to your visitors. If you have the experience and not the skill to put it to blog or have the skill to write but not what your writing about your site will not be a success.
What is the best way to turn in the highest CTR?
Depends on the site. I have found rotation of ad colors work well on some sites and on others a solid smooth color works best on others. The more traffic you get the more clicks. The most important things is to worry about getting the traffic, taking care of it and the CTR comes by itself.
How important is content? Should the content be very targeted and helpful so the visitor finds everything they need or should it be slightly targeted so that the visitor is more apt to click an ad?
Should be targeted and very helpful to the visitor. If it isn’t they probably will be more apt to click the back button than click your lousy ads so keep them there. The longer you have them there the more chance they will see a good ad to click.
What steps should I take to start making $$$ with Adsense?
Don’t quite your job and go Adsense full time. It doesn’t make quick money at least it didn’t for me. It takes time and effort to build up a good site. Like I have reiterated over and over you must have something your visitors will find useful whether it be articles or tools. Keep writing content. Start out getting 20 visitors a day and watch it build. Don’t be disappointed if it takes a while. It may depending on your category of interest.
Should I read an E-Book on making money with Adsense? Or should I hire a SEO/Adsense Professional to help me?
If you got the money and find one that looks good buy it but remember the guy writing the E-book makes more selling to you than he does or did with the information or he never would give it to you. I think all the information you will ever need to run a successful site is on the web. I hope to write lots of it for you here on this blog.
How do I get traffic to come to my site? Should I advertise using Adwords or use organic SEO?
Adwords traffic for Adsense is dieing. Google is catching on and realizing that Googlers don’t want to click a ad and then get another batch of ads. They want content. If you got good content however depending on what your interest is you could try Adwords. It works well if you do it right. I suggest using organic seo. Blogs work well with this. Write content and ask a few webmasters to link to you and others will link on their own.
Do you believe that Web Design and color schemes of a site have an effect on CTR?
Yes it does to a great deal. A clean professional yet smooth and easily navigational design is best. Keeping a link for feedback on the design is useful to determine what your visitors think
Do you use Rotating Adsense Color Schemes?
Yes and no. Again I run a bunch of sites so on about half I do and the other half I don’t.
Do you use borders? And if not do you think it decreases CTR?
No borders ever. They will decrease CTR considerably.
What should I focus most of my efforts on?
Writing content. Your visitors could care less what your PR is or how many backlinks you have. They want to know whether you got what they are looking for and if not they will find site #2 which may be able to satisfy that need. Don’t think backlinks aren’t important but content is much more important or you won’t be getting any quality links
Should I find the higher paying keywords and create a site targeted towards those so that I make more per click?
No. It is better to get 1500 clicks a day at $.10 than to make $150/click every other day right?(not that any keyword pays 150/click) If you don’t know anything about the target and are just targeting it because it is a expensive keyword your site will die.
Which do you recommend using for an Adsense site a blog or a site assuming both are hosted by the user on its own domain.
Depends. Blogs are easily created, edited and add content too. They have nice plugins(especially wordpress solutions), ping services and feeds. Sites can also have pros over blogs. you aren’t confined to a certain type of template and navigation system. I prefer sites in that respect but blogs are easiest and contrary to some people they are not less valuable than sites.
Are there any things you would warn against NOT doing?
Don’t use BH methods and don’t disobey the Google TOS. NEVER CLICK YOUR OWN ADS and don’t edit them outside the Google Adsense control panel.
Any additional comments???
Don’t think you are going to make money overnight but don’t think it is impossible to make millions either. It just takes work, effort, and patience. And of course a knowledge of what your writing about. Give your site time. As it grows offer more services, content, tools or whatever. Don’t use somebody elses content or tools and don’t market a idea as your own if it isn’t. Small things can give you a bad rep which will stay with you for a long time.
__________________
Name: Grasshoppa(nick)
Makes: On average: $10,000 Gross, about $5,000 net (after advertising and other expenses)
Uses Adsense on: 15 sites
What steps did you take to make what you make today?
Wrote lots and lots of content, constantly update pages, experiment with different ad styles and placement, read lots of tips in forums, ebooks, and on AdSense.
How long did it take before you started turning over the big bucks?
Grossed over $1000 in third month. Started netting (after advertising expenses) over $1000 in fourth month of implementation back in 2004. Started steadily netting over $5000 a month after 1 year.
What in your opinion is the most important part of becoming a success with Adsense?
Content, content, content. Provide something useful and people will come back. Provide crap and people will stop coming.
What is the best way to turn in the highest CTR?
Good ad placement that complements your color/layout scheme.
How important is content? Should the content be very targeted and helpful so the visitor finds everything they need or should it be slightly targeted so that the visitor is more apt to click an ad?
I believe that providing the best content possible is the way to go. This is a numbers game, the more people that you can get to come to your site, the more ads that will get clicked in the long run. If you only provide mediocre content people won’t return, won’t link to you, and won’t pass on your URL to others.
What steps should I take to start making $$$ with Adsense?
Write lots of good content and get your URL out there. You may want to drive traffic to your site using AdWords or another program. If people don’t know about your site, you won’t get traffic.
Should I read an E-Book on making money with Adsense? Or should I hire a SEO/Adsense Professional to help me?
Read all that you can! Hire a professional if you can’t do it yourself or don’t have the time.
How do I get traffic to come to my site? Should I advertise using Adwords or use organic SEO?
A combination of both is best. You may want to start off driving traffic to your site with a PPC while you are building up your SEO.
Do you believe that Web Design and color schemes of a site have an effect on CTR?
Absolutely, on some sites you may want your ads to stand out, on others blend in. It may take some experimenting to find out which one works for you.
Do you use Rotating Adsense Color Schemes?
No
Do you use borders? And if not do you think it decreases CTR?
I sometimes use borders, depends on the site.
What should I focus most of my efforts on?
Content, content, content and testing, testing, testing. Write good information and play around with the ads (not too often) to find out what works best for you.
Should I find the higher paying keywords and create a site targeted towards those so that I make more per click?
NO! Write or design about a website around what you know. Don’t write crap or make up stuff just to get higher paying ads. You want to be in this for the long haul, not just make a quick buck!
Are there any things you would warn against NOT doing?
Clicking your own ads and designing a site made specifically for Adsense (MFA).
Any additional comments???
Making good money at AdSense is not a get-rich-quick-scheme. Those who are sucessful at it treat it as their full-time job and work hard at it. You have to have a passion for your content and your audience–if you do it will show!
I hope you have enjoyed these interviews and have learned some new things. These Adsense publishers are in it for the long haul not just to make quick money. And hence have over time made a success. And you can be the next one to make it top the top. You just have to be willing to put effort and thought into your site and content.