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Google AdSense

Getting Started

Guide

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Table of Contents

(click any title to be taken to that page)

Step 1: Sign Up for Google AdSense ....................................................................................................... 3

Step 2: Create Your Ads ................................................................................................................................. 6

Step 3: Copy and Paste Your Ad Codes Into WordPress............................................................ 10

A Note About Widgets .................................................................................................................................... 12

AdSense FAQ..................................................................................................................................................... 15

Using adBrite as a Backup for AdSense ............................................................................................... 17

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Step 1: Sign Up for Google AdSense

Open the AdSense website here: https://www.google.com/adsense. After the

AdSense page opens click the “Sign up now” button.

Next you must complete the AdSense registration form. There are three form sections

you must complete on this page (see the following screenshot):

1. Website Information -- Enter your website URL and select your language.

2. Contact Information -- Select your account type and enter your contract

information (payee name, address, phone). This data will be used to receive your

payment. Note: AdSense is free to use – the information you enter here is so

that you can get paid, not so Google can charge you to use their service.

3. Policies -- Check all options in this section.

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After all data is complete, click the “Submit Information” button.

After submitting the form, Google will review your website and your registration. It

usually takes one to five days for Google to process your AdSense registration. Google

will send an email to your inbox letting you know if your AdSense account has been

approved or rejected.

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Step 2: Create Your Ads

Once your account is approved, you’ll need to create your ads. You need to create two

different ads: one that is 300 x 250 in size and one that is 120 x 600 in size.

Note: Google recently updated AdSense’s user interface. This tutorial corresponds to

the new interface, which is easier to use. If you already have an AdSense account and

are using the old interface, click on the “Try the new AdSense interface” link at the top

of your screen (see the screenshot below).

When you log into your AdSense account click on the "My Ads" tab. Click on the + New

Ad Unit button (see the image below).

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This will bring up a screen where you can create your ad. It looks like this:

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First, create a name for your ad. This is for your own purposes, so that you can

distinguish one ad from another if you create more than one ad. Your visitors won’t

actually see what you name your ads. A good idea is to name your ad for the size of

the ad. For example, you could name your 300 x 250 sized ad: “Ad – 300 x 250.”

Next choose your ad sizes. Remember, you want to create two different ads, one that

is 300 x 250 in size and one that is 120 x 600 in size. You can only create one ad at a

time, so choose one ad size for now and create that ad, then when you’re done you’ll go

back and repeat this process for your next ad.

For Ad type, choose “Text & image/rich media ads” (this is the default option).

For all of the options under Ad Style (color palette, font family, font size, corner styles),

just use the default options that Google picks for you.

For Custom Channels, do not enter any information. For Backup Ads, choose “Show

Blank Space” (this is the default option).

When you’re done, click on “Save and Get Code.” When you click this button, a window

will pop up with the code for the ad. It looks like this:

You need to copy this entire code so that you can paste it onto your website. Note:

You need to copy the entire code that is generated for you, not just your AdSense

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Publisher ID. Paste this code into a Notepad document (or any other kind of document,

such as Word, or TextEditor if you have a Mac) so that you’ll have it ready for the next

step.

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Step 3: Copy and Paste Your Ad Codes Into WordPress

Now return back to your website's WordPress admin area (remember, you get there by

adding /wp-admin to the end of your URL) where we will show you where to paste your

ad code.

Once you’re logged into your WordPress admin area, click on Dashboard in the left-

hand navigation menu if you aren’t taken there automatically. Your Dashboard should

look like this:

Under "Affiliate Banner Code 1" and "Affiliate Banner Code 2" you should paste the

AdSense code you got for your ad that is 300 x 250. Under "Affiliate Banner Code 3"

you should paste the AdSense code that you got for your ad that is 120 x 600.

Remember, you are pasting in the entire code that AdSense generated for you, not just

your Publisher ID.

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And that's all there is to creating your AdSense ads and adding the code to your

website.

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A Note About Widgets

If you click on Widgets under Appearance in the left-hand navigation menu in your

WordPress admin area you’ll be taken to your Widgets menu.

Here you’ll see three widgets called Affiliate Banner 1 Widget, Affiliate Banner 2 Widget,

and Affiliate Banner 3 Widget. These three widgets correspond with the three Affiliate

Banner Code areas on your Dashboard.

Before we get into this any further, let’s take a minute to talk about how widgets work. A

widget is a way to add extra features to your website. You can add widgets to your site

by dragging the widget you want from the Available Widgets area over to the Sidebar

area (see the screenshot below). The sidebar areas you see here in WordPress

correspond to sidebar areas of your website.

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For example, in the image above, you could add a calendar to your Primary Sidebar on

your website by dragging the Calendar widget from the Available Widgets area over to

the Primary Sidebar area.

Your website is already set up with the Affiliate Banner Widgets in place in your

sidebars. As long as you paste your AdSense code into the Affiliate Banner Code areas

on your Dashboard, and have your Affiliate Banner Widgets in place in your sidebars,

your ads will show up on your site.

If you want ads to show up in more places on your site, you can drag the Affiliate

Banner Widgets from the Available Widgets area into more places on your sidebars

(you can use widgets from the Available Widgets area more than once).

For example, if you want another AdSense ad to appear in your Primary Sidebar on

your website, you could drag the Affiliate Banner Widget 1 into the Primary Sidebar

again. Then you would have two copies of Affiliate Banner Widget 1 in your Primary

Sidebar in WordPress (see the screenshot below) and another AdSense ad would

appear in your Primary Sidebar on your site.

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AdSense FAQ

Do I need to pay to use Google AdSense?

No, Google AdSense is a free service.

Do I need a business EIN # to register for Google AdSense or to get paid by

Google AdSense?

No.

What do I do if Google does not approve my AdSense application?

The first, and easiest thing you can do, is sign up for another advertising program, such

as adBrite. adBrite is another major, and popular, advertising program that is very

similar to Google AdSense. In many cases, adBrite is also easier to get approved for.

You can find instructions for setting up your adBrite account and displaying adBrite ads

on your website in the following section.

Your second option is to try to address the issues Google found on your website and

resubmit your application. When Google denies an application, they typically send you

an email explaining why. It could be that Google needs additional verification that your

website belongs to you, or that they found some minor problems on your website.

Read the email that Google sent you and address the issues that they outlined, and

then apply for AdSense again. In many cases, if you address the issues that Google

told you about and resubmit your application, you will be approved the second time. As

always, if you need additional help fixing these issues, please contact Customer

Support.

The email I got from Google stating that my application was denied stated the

following:

Domain ownership not evident.

1. Access the source code of your website.

2. Create a separate page on your site and paste “This post confirms my

ownership of the site and that this site adheres to Google AdSense

program policies and Terms and Conditions.”

3. Resubmit the application after replacing the current URL in the “Website

URL” field with the URL of the page where you have pasted the snippet.

How do I do this?

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There are two ways you can do this. The first (and easier) way is to log into your

WordPress admin area and create a new page by clicking on Add New under Pages in

the left-hand menu. On the new page paste “This post confirms my ownership of the

site and that this site adheres to Google AdSense program policies and Terms and

Conditions” and click Publish. When you resubmit your application, where it asks for

your Website URL paste the URL of the new page that you just created instead of the

URL of your home page.

The other way you can do this is to log into your cPanel and click on File Manager.

Select Home Directory and click Go. Click on public_html on the left-hand side of the

page. Click on New File at the top of the page. Create a name for the new file (such as

“Google”). Highlight the new file you just created and click Edit at the top of the page.

Paste in the sentence from Google (“This post confirms my ownership of the site and

that this site adheres to Google AdSense program policies and Terms and Conditions”)

and click Save Changes. Click on “go back to the File Manager.” When you resubmit

your application, where it asks for your Website URL paste the URL of the new page

that you just created instead of the URL of your home page.

I submitted my AdSense application to Google but have not received a response,

what do I do?

One option is to resubmit your AdSense application. You can also consult the Google

AdSense Support page here: http://www.google.com/support/adsense/

Do I have to use Google AdSense on my website?

No. If you do not wish to display AdSense ads on your website, you do not need to sign

up for an AdSense account. To get rid of the ads that are currently being displayed on

your website, simply delete the AdSense code that is in your Affiliate Banner Code 1, 2,

and 3 areas on your WordPress Dashboard.

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Using adBrite as a Backup for AdSense

If, for any reason, you want to use an ad platform other than AdSense, a good program

to use is adBrite. You can access adBrite at http://www.adbrite.com/. The first thing

you’ll need to do is create an account, which you can do here:

http://www.adbrite.com/mb/commerce/register_form.php.

Once you’ve created your account you’ll be taken to the page you see below, where

you’ll have two options.

If you click on “Get the ad code HTML for your website” you’ll be taken to the page you

see below, where you can choose what kind of ads you want to display on your website.

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For your site you’ll want to check the box next to “Banner and/or text ads” and then

choose “banner & text ads.” At the bottom check the boxes in the User Agreements

section and then click the button that says “Next: Set Ad Specs.”

On the next page you’ll be asked to fill in some contact information for where adBrite

should send your payments (if you didn’t already fill in this information when you created

your account). When you’re done click the button that says “Next: Set Ad Specs.”

The next page is where you can choose your ad size and colors. It looks like this:

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You’ll want to create ads that are the same size as the ads you would have created in

AdSense (one that is 300 x 250 in size and one that is 120 x 600 in size). Once you’ve

set all the options for your ad, click the button that says “Next: Describe Your Site.”

This page is important because it helps adBrite determine what kinds of ads to display

on your site, so be as detailed as possible when describing your website. Here’s what

this page looks like:

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The next page is where you set your ad pricing. It will ask you if you are using any

other ad networks.

When you’re ready, click on “Next: Get Ad Code.” On the next page it will give you the

code for your ad, the same way AdSense does.

All you need to do now is copy that code and paste it into the appropriate place in your

WordPress backend. Under "Affiliate Banner Code 1" and "Affiliate Banner Code 2" you

should paste the adBrite code you got for your ad that is 300 x 250. Under "Affiliate

Banner Code 3" you should paste the adBrite code that you got for your ad that is 120 x

600.