Blogs initially started out as hobbyist affair -- netizens would jot down their thoughts, experiences, and opinions on things in their lives and the world around them. In this sense, blogs were the online version of personal diaries, only more interactive and available for the whole world to see.
Fast forward to 2018 and now blogs are a veritable source of income for many enterprising bloggers. Who knew? How did this happen? How does one get into this sort of business?
These days, blogs have transcended their basic origins; they now come in all shapes and sizes, so to speak, dealing on a wide range of topics. In fact, blogs have become so diverse, it is necessary to create sub-categories, such as travel blogs, food blogs, political blogs, tech blogs, photo blogs, etc.
Along with the increase in the popularity of blogs is the question of whether or not they could be monetized for profit.
The quick answer to this is: Yes, blogs are eligible for monetization.
The monetization of blog content is made possible primarily by the introduction of advertisements in your blog.
One of the most popular ways of monetizing your blog content is by implementing Adsense. How does this work?
Adsense, which is the world's leading web advertising company, sends a code which you need to integrate into your blog's design. This code will allow Adsense to match your content with what it thinks are the most suitable ads.
But this determination happens only after your blog has been approved by Adsense for monetization. Applying for Adsense approval necessarily entails a review of your website by Adsense and Google to see if it is ready for monetization.
So what do bloggers need to take into account when applying for Adsense? Here are some key pointers:
1. Content is everything.
Before applying for Adsense, make sure your website has sufficient content. The question of what is "sufficient" is relative; some bloggers had only less than 10 blog entries at the time of their application and yet manage to get approved, while some have upwards of 50 articles and still don't get approved.
Note that Google and Adsense take the review process seriously. Some of the things they look for are:
- Quality over quantity. Short articles composed of less than 300 words are frowned upon, more so blog entries with no words at all. Go for quality entries that run 500 words at the minimum.
- Choose topics that have not been discussed to death yet. Blog entries on topics that only a few people have written about, or topics that have not been written about at all, will help boost your chances of getting approved for Adsense.
- Be original. Do not plagiarize and do not use copyrighted content or lift content off somebody else's website. This is pretty self-explanatory. Google has algorithms in place to check the originality of your content.
- Note that Adsense is upfront about rejecting the Adsense application of blogs that carry NSFW content, such as violence, pornography, and terrorism, among others.
Part of the rubrix Google and Adsense take into account when reviewing your blog is its overall design.
As a general rule, a clean and an uncluttered layout is more preferrable. So when designing your blog, exercise restraint. Make sure that your content is front and center, your font is readable, your links are working, and you make the overall layout as intuitive as possible.
Part of your blog's design and layout is the inclusion of pages on ABOUT, CONTACT, DISCLOSURE ON COOKIES, and PRIVACY GUIDELINES.
It goes without saying that applying for Adsense while your website is still under construction is not going to end up well.
3. Use a custom domain name.
There are a lot of blogging platforms that provide free blog-hosting services. These include Blogger and Wordpress.
The downside to using these free services is that your URL end up having your host site's name, such as blogspot.com or wordpress.com.
In order to get approved for Adsense, though, it is necessary that you purchase a custom domain name. Plenty of sites like GoDaddy provide custom domain names for a minimal fee.
All you need to do is purchase a unique domain name for your blog and link it to create pages that now bear your customized or personalized URL.
4. Integrate social media in your blog.
You can use SEO to boost your blog's search engine rank, but there is no denying that utilizing social media is going to be a big help in spreading the word on your blog.
Consider that many of today's web consumers look for stuff directly via social media, such as Facebook, Instragram, and Twitter. Not being on these pages may take away your blog's potential for audience growth.
These are just some of the things you need to keep in mind when having your blog or website approved for Google Adsense.
Know that if your application gets rejected, Adsense will let you know why. This will give you the chance to remedy your mistakes and apply anew once these issues have been sorted out.
And if your Adsense application is approved, Adsense will still be there to provide you with insights and best practices recommendations.
In the end, it requires hard work and commitment to get your blog monetized. If you are serious about making blogging a full-time career, make sure that you have everything planned out. It also pays to have a contingency measure in place for potential setbacks because you just never know.
Wishing you all the best