AdSense is a great way to monetize your website and make money online in South Africa, but it requires strict adherence to its strict policy. Google AdSense is not new to old bloggers, and even if you are new to blogging, you must have heard of it. Joining Google Adsense is free provided you own a blog, YouTube Channel, or an App in Google PlayStore. This guide provides step-by-step processes to start making money with Google AdSense, and how to create an account and improve your income significantly.
Adsense compensates users who know how to take advantage of the service, but it does not reward users equally. While some AdSense publishers struggle to make a few dollars each month, others bring in more than $100,000. To start your Google Adsense campaign off on the right foot, read these effective recommendations.
What is Google AdSense?
Google AdSense is an advertising network created by Google that allows website publishers to display targeted text, video, or image advertisements on their pages and earn money when site visitors view or click the ads. Revenue is generated on a per-click or per-impression basis and is free to become a verified website publisher. Ads can be text, image, or video, and Google pays a percentage commission based on content type, ad type, and location.
Eligibility Requirements Before You Can Sign Up for Google AdSense
But before you can become a Google AdSense Partner, you will need to meet some eligibility requirements.
Some of these requirements include:
- you need to be the owner of the site or a YouTube channel
- You must have unique and interesting content
- You must be 18 years or older. However, your parent or guardian can sign up for AdSense using their own Google Account if you are not yet 18.
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Who can sign up for Google AdSense in South Africa?
- Website owners
- Blogger.com creators
- YouTube Channels
can sign up for Google AdSense.
How to Sign Up for AdSense in South Africa
To sign up for Google AdSense,
- Visit the AdSense Website
- Click sign up
- Submit your site
- Install your ad banners in the relevant positions
- If your website meets Google’s guidelines all you will need to do is wait for verification and confirmation from Google
Getting Google AdSense Account Approved
After signing up for AdSense, paste the JavaScript code on your site. If approved following about 48 hours of review by Google, ads will appear on your site and you can earn money. If rejected, make improvements and re-apply after 3-4 weeks. To get accepted into Google AdSense, you must have at least 25 unique content and high-quality articles. Also, your website should be easy to navigate and has a privacy policy page.
How Google AdSense Works In South Africa
Google Adsense works on a cost-per-click (CPC) and revenue-sharing basis. It charges advertisers per ad click and publishers get a percentage of the amount an advertiser has set. To participate, publishers must sign up with Google Adsense using a Gmail account and insert a JavaScript code into a webpage. Google then fetches ads in the form of text, images, or both from Google’s servers and displays them on the webpage. Ads can also be displayed based on the browsing history of the end user. Each time a visitor clicks on an ad, Google will pay a percentage commission which varies by content type, ad type, and location.
How to Make Money with Google AdSense in South Africa
1. Improve your traffic
Why? This is simple. Publishers get paid on a Cost-Per-Click basis, and if website traffic increases, their income through Google Adsense should increase. In essence, the more pageviews your site gets or views your videos get, the more ad impressions you will serve, which increases the amount of money you earn as you are maximizing the chances of someone seeing or clicking an ad that is relevant to them.
2. Niche
Choose your website’s niche, theme, or topic carefully. If the niche is not a popular one there may not be enough Google Adwords advertisers for Adsense to serve up enough relevant ads on your web page.
3. Review and Optimize Your Ads
You shouldn’t get too comfortable with your ad layouts. It’s easy to get comfortable with a certain amount of revenue if you are making money online, but you should always be testing to ensure you can maximize your revenue streams.
Clicking your ads or any suspicious activity can have your account disabled for life.
4. Educate yourself on best practices and see what others are doing to grow their AdSense revenue.
Subscribe to the Google AdSense YouTube Channel and find forums related to online marketing and advertising. Stick with it and grow with it.
5. Place Ad Units Above the Fold
The closer Ad Units are to the top of the page, the more likely they are to be viewed and clicked. However, don’t cram it with ad units, as this can make it difficult for users to read the content.
6. Place Ads Within the Post Content
Blending ads in between posts can increase AdSense revenue, even though it may not be great for the content experience.
7. Improve your international reach
If the local audience isn’t pulling in enough views, perhaps it’s time to expand your content efforts internationally and try to improve your reach in various countries by writing localized content or language-specific content.
Benefits of joining Google AdSense
One of the surest benefits of joining AdSense is that you will be able to make money online from your content.
How much can South Africans earn with Adsense?
How much you can make from AdSense depends on a number of factors. First, it depends on the advertiser demand, and second, the competitive bidding for ad space. If you’re creating content around finance topics, you will earn more per 1000 clicks.
How do you Get Paid with Adsense?
Google AdSense has a minimum payment threshold of $100 (about R1,817.82). There is no limit to the amount of money that you can make from Google Adsense in South Africa. You can make hundreds of thousands of US dollars.
Don’t click or encourage people to click on your ads. Any suspicious activity can have your account disabled for life. If this happens, all the efforts you put into the project will be in vain.
Verifying Your South African Google AdSense Account
Adsense will issue a PIN to confirm your payment address after you are approved and have earned up to $10. You will be advised to utilize a different method of verification if you are unable to obtain the address verification PIN three times. After earning up to the payment threshold of $100, you will be asked to choose your preferred payment method, such as a cheque, direct bank transfer, or a third-party payment platform like Payoneer. I advise doing a direct bank transfer.
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Google AdSense Alternatives
There are other ways to monetize your content online apart from Google AdSense. Media.net and AdThrive are two alternatives that offer higher RPMs than Google AdSense. However, if your audience is primarily South African, make Google AdSense part of your monetization methods due to most South African businesses directing a lot of spend to Google Ads which trickles down to AdSense.
Conclusion
AdSense is a gold mine for those willing to work hard and take the time to test and optimize their website. It can be difficult to make the first $100, so bloggers should set up their blogs correctly and make sure their website category is advertising-friendly. Making money with AdSense is a task of patience and hard work.
