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This is a follow-up post to my article I Made My First Dollar On Google Adsense (And It Only Needed 21,928 Page Impressions.)
It’s been a month since I first talked about making my first dollar on Google Adsense - I thought it would be interesting and informative for other new bloggers to see what has developed in the four weeks since then.
Last time, it took me 21,928 page impressions, and about six weeks, to reach that hallowed mark of one dollar earned. As of writing this article, I’ve literally just inched above the $10 level. Now, we’re still not at the Darren Rowse or Steve Pavlina levels, but that’s a fair improvement, certainly in a relative sense. So what has changed?
Again, using the data provided by Wordpress.com Stats, let’s take a look at my page views:
My total page impressions since I started using Adsense are now 40,563.
One thing stands out immediately, notably that my stats are down slightly for this month (this is to date - I may make up the difference over the next few days but I doubt it.)
What is of real interest to me though is that within a few hours after writing my article last month, my Adsense revenue quadrupled. I mean, literally within a few hours. We then returned to a few weeks of making little bits every so often, with the odd $0.50-$1.00 day thrown in for good measure.
Some things I have learned:
- In terms of revenue conversion, the best traffic is from Stumbleupon. I think that’s a truism anyway, irrespective of what end result you’re talking about, as SU users typically know what they’re looking for, but it certainly seems to be the case for ad clicks.
- Masses of uniques do not necessarily equate to dollars - my article on Frank Dux has generated a ton of interest in the last couple of weeks, with well over 10,000 page views and a load of comments, but hasn’t generated a single cent of income. Most of this traffic has been from martial arts forums - clearly, these guys either have a blind spot when it comes to ads or they’re really into Adblock.
- Google’s filter can be a bit hit and miss, but sometimes it’s so good I want to click on the adverts myself. Frustratingly, I can’t, as that’s the quick route to account deactivation. Sure, I can copy the URL, but I’m incredibly lazy like that.
- A couple of days ago Google were clearly experimenting with the fonts they use in their adverts - this is all part of a proposal they’ve outlined to give site owners the option to choose whatever font they prefer. I mean, most of the time it’s plain-old Arial. Out of the blue, my site started showing all ads in Comic Sans, and I had one of my best days. Comic Sans is one of the most loathed fonts of all time, so what gives? Simple - it stood out. I think people, and this definitely applies to regular visitors to your blog, learn to tune out from adverts, particularly those in plain text that are always in the same spot. When the font, colour or size of the ad changes, they will immediately notice. That clearly results in more clicks.
- My RSS subscriber count has been between 100-118 for about a fortnight now. A month ago it was, I believe, about 10. Does that mean there’s a ratio of about 10 cents, per month, for each subscriber, on average? Or is random traffic as or more important?
I’ve made nine times more this month than I made last. Does this mean I can expect $81 in July? That would be great, but it’s highly unlikely. A good working target would be $20, or even a second month in a row of $10.
Of far more importance to me now is to continue to generate interesting content, and to get that subscriber number up. I’d like to have hit 150 by the end of July. So if you haven’t signed up yet, click here to do so. 
In Other News: Be sure to read my feature post at Geeks Are Sexy, ICANN Proposes Web 3.0 Vision.
Hi Sheamus!
Congrats on such a drastic growth! That’s almost 1000%!
Seriously, thanks for sharing this information. You are providing a great inspiration for a newbie like me.
And appreciate the pointer to StumbleUpon, too. I haven’t ventured out too much into Social Bookmarking yet, as they overwhelm me, but you are the second source today pointing me to SU. So I’ll be heading there first. Is there anything in particular you have done with that site?
Anyway, keep up your upward motion! Looking forward to observing your success.
ari
That’s pretty good going and you are doing a lot better than me! Adsense is really hit and miss and I feel sometimes I missed the boat with it.
To make serious money you need so much traffic and it’s so hard to generate
Good luck and keep up the good work!
James
Congratulations! I just made my first dollar a few weeks ago after two months bloggin, and I’ve already hit $2. But I just can’t figure out what makes a person click on one ad and not the other. I’m disappointed at the quality of the ads, but don’t want to block too many for fear I’ll get PSAs.
Thanks for the post - it is uplifting to know there are others patiently waiting for the money to follow our efforts.
@ Ari - With SU, it’s not really advisable to submit your own stuff for two reasons. One, people tend to ignore it when the submitter is pushing his own material, and two, if you do it enough (over 10 times, I think), Stumbleupon blocks your account. What you need, or want, is for others to Stumble your stuff for you - preferrably people with a bit of swing!
@ James - Cheers man. It’s strange - again, after writing this article, I saw a 30%+ improvement on my Adsense earnings within 24 hours, even though this article itself hasn’t generated an enormous amount of traffic. Quite weird…
@ My Hymphs - Congrats on your own earnings. Yes, as you say, it’s very much a game of patience. I’m still under three months in but it’s encouraging what I’ve achieved thus far, especially as my blog is in no way a ‘Make Money Online’ enterprise!