SEO Tip for Bloggers and Online Writers

Webmasters and writers use search engine optimized web content to rank higher in organic searches. Adding Google AdSense to your website or blog creates another stream of income and with the creation of content optimized to attract high cost-per-click ads, it can be a lucrative one.

How Google AdSense Works

Advertisers using the Google AdWords program pay Google to display banner and text ads across the web. The expense of advertising this way is based on a cost-per-click model; advertisers pay when a reader follows a link to the page they are advertising, not each time the ad is displayed.

Google AdSense is simply the other side of the advertising coin. Webmasters can sign on to the program to display the ads and earn a percentage of the advertising revenue.

Why Keyword Research is Important to AdSense Users

The primary goal of search engine optimization is to make it easier for internet users to find the website or article. Once readers are on the page, they may click relevant ads to find more information.

Search engine optimization with good keywords helps content rank higher and tells the AdSense program the topic or niche of the webpage. This helps Google place relevant ads on the page; advertisers get their money's worth by having their ads matched to a targeted audience, and webmasters/writers offer something of extra value while earning more money.

How to Research Keywords

The Google AdWords Keyword Tool is a free online tool built for advertisers that gives web content creators valuable insight into keyword value and popularity.

Enter keywords into the search box on the Keyword Tool page to display a list of related keywords and phrases. Choose to display the average cost-per-click by selecting the option from the drop-down box. Filter the keyword search results to organize the list, with the highest paying keywords at the top.

Work your way down the list, searching for high CPC keywords with relatively high search volume. When a keyword meets these criteria, search the term in quotations in a regular Google search to see how many other results appear. Some terms have millions of results and are highly competitive.

What Makes a Good Keyword?

The holy grail in keyword research is a keyword or phrase that has a high CPC value, is highly searched, and has few results to compete with. These are rare and hard to come by.

If the primary keyword or phrase is designed to attract readers and help the web content rank higher in organic searches, you can use higher CPC keywords to attract better ads.

This strategy makes sense for web content creators who want to earn ad revenue because the use of all highly searched ads might draw a lot of traffic, but fail to make money if there are no valuable ads. Alternately, valuable ads are rather useless if readers can't find the content.

Tips and Tricks for Attracting Ads that Make Money

Remember a few important details as you set out in your search for great keywords:

The average cost per click is not the amount of money you will make each time a reader clicks an ad. Google keeps an unknown percentage of the revenue.

Use a variety of complementary terms to attract ads targeted to the content of your article or webpage. Readers are more likely to click through if the ads answer a question or need.

Never try to trick Google. Clicking your own ads, telling others to do it, encouraging readers to click, or any similar activity is called click fraud. This will get you instantly banned from the program and any sites using your AdSense account will lose that revenue.

Use a combination of highly searched, low competition keywords and high CPC keywords to get readers to the webpage and encourage click-throughs.