Tweaking A Site For AdSense Relevancy

By Jeff Alderson

Google's AdSense is a great tool for publishers to use to gain the chance of making extra money for their online efforts. Sadly, this particular program doesn't always function exactly as it's intended. If ads appear with a focus that's so far off a site's mark, fixing the issue can be vital for income potential.

The AdSense concept centers on providing publishers with ads that match their site's theme or that of individual posts, pages or articles. Making sure this really happens can directly tie in to a publisher's ability to make money. Should readers on a site about bedroom furniture see ads for monster trucks, the conversion rate won't likely be very high. Although AdSense is great in theory, the concept doesn't always pay off with results as far as relevancy is concerned.

Although Google has taken measures to fix the problems, publishers can help themselves, too. There are several things they can do to help improve their chances of getting relevant ads. Most steps are simply to use. They are worth considering, especially if irrelevant ads are impacting revenue.

The first thing that publishers can do is focus on section targeting. This involves putting code around the most vital parts of a site to ensure that AdSense reads these parts to fish for relevant ads. It is also possible to target areas ads should not relate to, such as footers, sidebars and other content that might not relate to a site's overall focus or that of an individual post.

Meta tags are considered outdated in some circles, but they can have an impact on AdSense's ability to read a page for relevant ads. With this in mind, it's a good idea to make sure they include relevant keywords. Meta tags can be found on a page's source code. If they don't fit the topic at hand, put in words that do. Bloggers will find this is very easy for them to do when "title tags" code or meta tag management plugins are used.

Meta tags in and of themselves can be important for AdSense, but not necessarily as important as a site or page's overall keyword content. Make sure keyword focus for articles and posts is very clear. This can help AdSense's bots decipher them correctly. Choosing the right words and using them in posts and articles simply makes it much more feasible for AdSense to "get" a page or site. Using brand names and the like in posts can help, too.

Making sure keywords are clear in titles is also very important. In fact, it could be the most important consideration. Since clear keywords in titles is also useful for search engine placement, getting into the habit of thinking SEO for titles is just a good thing to do AdSense or not.

Other components on a site like pictures can play a role, as well. Although the importance of picture names to AdSense is a little fuzzy, it doesn't hurt to ensure they are nam
ed with the proper keyword in mind.

In a perfect world, AdSense would work as it was meant to all of the time. However, it's not a perfect world. A few easy measures can help publishers ensure relevant ads appear on their sites. It can, also, help increase revenue. If problems still arise, contact AdSense directly. A little time and patience for a reply might be required, but the folks behind the program are noted for their willingness to correct issues.

Jeff Alderson develops newbie-friendly PPC, SEO and Internet marketing software. His software can quickly boost traffic and sales. Jeff suggests using Ad Word Analyzer to choose adsense keywords for your website.