SearchOne of the unique features of PlanetWriters.com is that it allows you, the writer, to share in the revenue stream. The more content you add, the more you make. We do this by asking the writers to set up their own Google Adsense account and linking that to the ads displayed inside their stories. In other words, the writer gets paid for the ad clicks in his or her story.
Note : PlanetWriters.com displays its own ads in stories if the writer has not entered his or her own publisher ID. We also display our ads 20% of the time in those stories where the writer has entered his or her own publisherID.
Once an adblock has been added to the code (which is done by the software, you, the writer, need not do anything other than provide us with your Google AdSense publisher ID) Google will automatically display ads that are relevant to the text of the entire page. A story focused, say, on elephant trekking, will likely have ads for elephant trekking displayed.
PlanetWriters.com has no influence on what ads are displayed, but you can steer this a bit with the content / theme text of your story.
Note : It can take several days for Google to 'crawl' (i.e. read) a new page. Before that it is possible that there are either irrelevant ads being displayed, or even no ads at all.
Setting up account
Before you can start making money on your content you will obviously have to have an account with Google Adsense. The process is quite easy and is described in detail in the article 'Creating a Google AdSense account'
Optimizing revenue
The placement of Google ads is quite important as certain areas generate a much higher return than others. Google has created, what they call, a 'heat map' (click here to view it) which shows the best placements for ads.
As you can see the placement we use on PlanetWriters.com inside the stories is the most optimal placement.
Placement by itself isn't enough to provide an optimal revenue stream, the color scheme of the ads is also very important. The right color scheme can make all the difference between a good CTR (Click Through Rate) or a bad one.
There are 2 schools on these color schemes, one says to make them blend in while the other says to make them stand out.
We have opted for making them blend in mainly because we feel this works best, but also because it looks better.
A big part of optimizing revenue however is testing, testing and testing. So, from time to time we will likely change color schemes, and maybe even placements, slighty in an effort to improve the CTR-rate.
Probably the biggest factor though is the topic of the content. What you write about determines what ads are displayed, and certain ads make more money than others when clicked. Unfortunately, finding out which ones they are is not easy.
Warning : There might be some who are tempted to click their own ads a lot. We would strongly discourage this as Google is very effective in identifying fraudulent clicks. If they encounter such clicks on your account they will remove them. Too much abuse and they will close your account, losing you any money you might have accrued by then.
Explanation of terms
When you login to your Google Adsense account you will see a report called 'Today's Earnings'. This report shows you:
- Page impressions - the amount of times your ads have been displayed
- Clicks - the amount of times one of your ads has been clicked
- Page CTR - the Click Through Rate of your ad, i.e. the Clicks divided by the Page impressions
- Page eCPM - the cost per 1000 impressions, i.e. the amount of money your ads generate for every 1000 times they are displayed
- Earnings - the amount of money you have earned
Below this is a section called 'Quick Reports', which displays a couple of links to the Advanced Reports section. The Advanced Reports section can be used to get a more in-depth overview of what you have earned over time.
Channels & Tracking
For those who want more detailed information, you can use 'channels' to find out which of your stories perform the best. To set up a channel click the 'AdSense for Content' tab and select 'Channels' from the submenu below it.
There 2 kinds of channels, 'URL Channels' and 'Custom Channels'. You can only use the first kind though as the second kind requires changes to the Google AdSense code which you do not have access to. This isn't a big deal though as those channels are only of interest if you have multiple adblocks on a single page, which is never the case for writers anyway.
To create a URL Channel just type in the URL of the page (or pages) you wish to track and click the 'Create new channel' button. That's all there is to it.
Some examples:
- www.planetwriters.com/article/fiction - track all your ads on stories inside the fiction category
- www.planetwriters.com/article/fiction/a-life-online.html - track a specific page
For more information on Google Adsense, please check their AdSense Support page
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