How AdSense Works

Aug 5, 2022

What is  AdSense?

Google AdSense is one of the most popular ad networks for sites, serving as a reliable and consistent way to monetize your content. They offer a wide range of ad types meant for any kind of website, and are adaptable to multiple device types and platforms. These features make them a great choice for anyone looking to place ads on their site and generate income. This is why the last thing you want is to be rejected from AdSense because you didn’t follow instructions properly, or because you didn’t follow their policies.
In this article, I’ll teach you how to properly apply for an AdSense account with straightforward step-by-step instructions, so that you can maximize your chances of being accepted and starting to bring in revenue.

Table of Contents

Before You Apply
How Does AdSense Pay Me?
How to Apply For an AdSense Account

Step 1: Sign In to Your Google Account

Step 2: Sign Up For an AdSense Account
Step 3: Enter Your Details
Step 4: Add Code to Your Site
Step 5: Wait for AdSense to Contact You
Step 6: After Your Approval

Recap and Common Questions

Closing Thoughts

Before You Apply

The reason why following AdSense’s rules and policies is important is because Google is very strict about the quality of sites that they display ads on. If any aspect of your site or how you’ve followed their regulations isn’t up to their standards, expect to lose your chance at monetizing your site by being rejected from joining their ad network. Before you sign up to AdSense, you need to meet these requirements:

  1. You must have an active Google account that isn’t already linked to an AdSense account.
  2. You must be 18 years old or older.
  3. You must have a website, and this site must meet all of Google’s terms of service.
  4. You must be in a country or territory that AdSense’s services are available in.

Take a look at this page to read more about Google’s AdSense program policies.

Additionally, experience and expertise with the Google AdSense system has clued me into a few factors that might not be written in stone, but are likely to improve your chances of being accepted by AdSense:

  1. The more website traffic you have, the better.
  2. Have your site be at least 3-6 months old.
  3. Have at least 30 or so unique and quality articles published on your site.

How Does AdSense Pay Me?

To be paid by AdSense, you’ll need to meet their minimum threshold of $100 in ad revenue for them to issue a payout to you. Additionally, Google follows a net 30 payment term, meaning that your pay is sent to you 30 days after the billable month is over. This means that, for example, if you earn ad revenue during September, your ad revenue will be sent to you during the first week of November.

How to Apply For an AdSense Account

I’ll go over how to join Google AdSense in simple, step-by-step instructions. Follow along to have your AdSense application process off the ground in no time.

Step 1. Sign In to Your Google Account

First, go to the Google AdSense website. On this page, click on “Sign in” in the top right corner, and you’ll be sent to a page where you sign in to your Google account. Enter your email address and password, then click the “Next” button.
Adsense how homepage
AdSense How Signin

Image source: Google Adsense website

Step 2. Sign Up For an AdSense Account

You’ll be sent to a page that gives you the following message, as shown in the image below:

“Looks like this Google account isn’t associated with an AdSense account. That’s okay. You can either sign in with the Google account associated with AdSense, or sign up for an AdSense account today.”

Click on the “sign up” option to sign up for an AdSense account.

AdSense How Signup

Image source: Google Adsense website

Step 3. Enter Your Details

You’ll now be sent to a page where you enter all the relevant details about yourself and your online presence. This includes your email address and website URL.
AdSense How Info

Image source: Google Adsense website

Step 4. Add Code to Your Site

After filling out your details, you’ll be instructed on how to connect your website to AdSense so that you can start serving ads and bringing in some revenue. This page will give you a piece of code that you need to add to your site’s coding between the <head> and </head> tags. Add this code onto every page of your site that you’d like ads to be shown on.

When adding ads to your site pages, you’ll be given the choice of letting Google automate your ad placement and size, or you yourself can decide your ads’ placement and size on your site pages.

If your site uses WordPress, this page also provides you with instructions on how to implement the AdSense code onto your WordPress site.

AdSense How Code Use

Image source: Google Adsense website

Step 5. Wait for AdSense to Contact You

After you follow their instructions and add the code into your site, your site will be ready for Google AdSense to review. Make sure to keep the code present on your site’s pages until AdSense contacts you. The time it takes for AdSense to contact you can range from a few days to weeks or to months, and there’s no set concrete timeframe for when they’ll contact you, so remember to be patient.

Step 6. After Your Approval

When your account’s been approved for Google AdSense, you can officially start earning money online with the ads on your site. Congratulations! After being approved, you might wonder where you can access your new privileges from becoming part of the AdSense ad network. Accessing your AdSense page is very simple, and it’s done through the same page you used when you first signed up while following this guide. Simply head to the Google AdSense page that you visited when you first signed up for your AdSense account. Go to this site, press “Sign In” in the top right of the screen, then log into your AdSense approved account.

Recap and Common Questions

Feeling a bit more knowledgeable from following these instructions, but still have some questions? Read the following section to get the main ideas of how Google AdSense works.

Is AdSense free? Do I need to pay to access AdSense?

Yes, Google AdSense is free for anyone who is approved to join. You don’t need to pay to join or access it.

Why do you need an AdSense account?

AdSense is one of the leading ad networks around the world, and enables publishers who operate sites to monetize their content by displaying ads. It’s an effective way for publishers to generate revenue and support themselves off of their online presence, and is a transparent and reliable way to make money online.

How do I get my AdSense account approved?

AdSense is one of the leading ad networks around the world, and enables publishers who operate sites to monetize their content by displaying ads. It’s an effective way for publishers to generate revenue and support themselves off of their online presence, and is a transparent and reliable way to make money online.

  1. Make sure you: have an active Google account that isn’t already linked to an AdSense account, are 18 years or older, have a site that meets all of Google’s terms and services, and are in a country that AdSense serves.
  2. While not set in stone, having more traffic, having a site that’s at least 3-6 months old, and having 30 or more unique quality articles published on your site may increase your chances and/or speed of being approved for AdSense.
  3. Sign up for an AdSense account on its website and follow the instructions I’ve laid out in this article.
  4. Add the AdSense code to any page of your site that you want ads to be displayed on.
  5. Be patient and wait for AdSense to get back to you about your site’s approval.

How long does it take for AdSense to approve accounts?

There’s no set timeframe for when AdSense will get back to the owners of approved accounts. The time can range from a few days, to weeks, to a couple months. The key is to be patient and wait for AdSense to get back to you.

How do I know if my AdSense account is approved?

You’ll see if your AdSense account is approved by logging into your AdSense dashboard. When you log in and are able to see stats for ads running on your site, you’ll know that you’ve been approved as a member of the AdSense ad network. Congratulations!

Got any more questions not answered here? Feel free to leave them in the comments!

Closing Thoughts

Once you’ve finished reading this guide, you should be well on your way to having your AdSense account approved.

Are you someone who’s interested in joining the AdSense ad network and earning revenue, but don’t have a site to start yourself off on? I’d recommend you start using one of two methods depending on your experience with building and running websites. If you’re on the newer side to things, I’d recommend you start and build a site using the beginner-friendly website.com site builder, which lets you drag and drop parts of a website together to create very presentable and professional-looking results. If you’re someone with more experience starting and running sites, I’d recommend you build and host a site using WordPress, and host your site with Doteasy, which offers quality and value-packed site hosting that I’ve personally had great experiences with so far.

Regardless of how you decide to start your site, work towards producing quality content that attracts traffic, then look around for different ways you can monetize your overall online presence. If you’re looking for ideas, I’ve written about different ways to make money online, and I’ve also written about how you can become an Amazon Affiliate, one of the most popular forms of affiliate marketing around.

If you’re reading this and have already had your account approved, great job! You’re advancing towards having a reliable and steady source of revenue thanks to your site’s traffic.

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