Top 10 Ways to Supercharge Adsense

There is no question I hear more than, "How do I make more money with Adsense?" While most of this information is public, newbies seem to have a hard time finding everything in one place. So here are my top ten ways to supercharge your Google Adsense earnings, in no particular order (use these tips for the Yahoo Publisher's Network as well):

#1. Use the heat map! - Who has more information about Google Adsense than Google? If they are going to take the time to research the best placements for ads, why bother trying to figure it out yourself? They have more time and resources than you... trust them on this one. If you make more money, they make more money. Which brings me to #2...

#2. Did you know Google has an Adsense blog? - Updated frequently with Google tips on Adsense, this blog will give you some of the best information out there. Keep an eye on this one, it often has new posts that let you know of new features before they are officially released.

#3. Blend your ads in with the rest of your site - Take the time to change the ad colors to blend in with the rest of your site. It's been proven that a blended ad can perform better than the default ads.

#4. Don't have too much content on one page - This isn't something that a lot of people think about, but having too much content can confuse the Adsense system, creating some very irrelevant ads. If you must have a page that takes 45 minutes to scroll down, use section targeting tags ( and ).

#5. Stay on top of your stats - Check your stats daily! Click bombing (competitors clicking on your ads over and over) is real and can kill an account. Checking your stats lets you know where and when people are clicking. Also, use the channels feature. If you only check your stats once a month, be prepared to switch to the Yahoo Publisher's Network after being banned from Google.

#6. Use Adwords to target Adsense - Did you know that you can use Google's other network, Adwords, to drive traffic to your site? A cheap $0.05 keyword may bring you a visitor who clicks an ad on your site worth $1.00 per click. When used correctly this technique can bring you a large increase in Adsense earnings.

#7. Use the Leaderboard Ad (728×90) - This ad format has always been a winner for me. I have seen CTR (click through rate) go up an extra 3 percent when adding this ad format. I have also seen earnings decrease when removing it.

#8. Read the Digital Point Forums - In my opinion, this is the single best Adsense resource on the Internet. When I have a question, this is where I go.

#9. Use keyword tools - If you are one of those people that like to try and target high paying keywords, use the Keyword Selector Tool from Overture (http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion). I'm not someone who creates posts based around certain keywords, but this technique does work.

#10. Increase your traffic - Traffic equals money, simple as that. Make sure you are writing quality content, stay the course and stay away from posting about what you had for lunch just because you think you need another post. Use SEO (search engine optimization) to help the search engines find you. Last but not least, submit your articles to sites such as Digg, Fark, Del.icio.us, etc... who knows when an article with make it to the front page?