Why AdSense?

Don't get me wrong, I can definitely see the earning potential with using AdSense as a revenue stream but I'm just curious as to why some of you guys prefer it.

One thing in particular that interests me is why you would prefer AdSense over promoting affiliate products. If the advertisers are paying to have their service or product marketed on your content sites, why not just go straight to the supplier and earn a commission rather than a few cents?

I am in no way bashing using AdSense as a primary source of income, I just wanted to get some of your opinions. I'm thinking of starting a new niche site very soon with the primary income source being AdSense so I just wanted get some feedback from people who are actually making decent money with it.

 

It's not easy getting someone to part with their hard earned cash, but clicking on an ad is not too much of a problem, as people enquiring about specific information may enjoy your content, but perhaps would like to then find out more about the topic. Most people come on the web trying to solve problems, the people that are ready to commit to buy are another kettle of fish. I think if you can master long tails (front page/ready buyers) and have some skills with the killer sales pitch... then yes, you can make considerably more profit! Adsense is unique though, if you can gain heavy traffic and get an average CTR, then being able to make a living out of discussing your favourite hobbies/interests is like a dream job; especially with the fact that you can have an open mind on a topic and not be phased... like affiliates tend to be when they are trying to make a sale. I think mixing affiliate programs and contextual programs is a good idea, because at least you're not putting all your eggs in one basket!

 

This is something that I have thought about myself. You don't quite have to sell anything to a visitor when you are using AdSense to make money. You just have to provide them with half decent content.

I can definitely see where you are coming from. Thanks for the input!

 

Ah, so you're the guy whos websites I use to promote my products!

Never mix contextual programs with affiliate programs. If you do, keep them on separate pages. What some affiliates do are find such sites, and then target that website and place their ads there, stealing sales after you take the time to bring the traffic to your site.

 

as Ryan6 said, it is easier to earn commissions by clicks rather that waiting for a purchase to happen. and besides, adsense offers a lot of advertisements, which gives a better chance for a viewer to get interested in it and click it rather than having banners which displays the same product over and over again..

 

Why Adsense?

Because adsense pay all my bill and give me new car and 2 new home.

 

Yeah, I'm very aware of this. That is why my next project would be solely focused on making money through AdSense.

I sometimes here people say, "use Adsense and affiliate links in the same niche site to make even more money!". In my opinion this would just be counterproductive.

 

If you're a smart marketer though, you should be able to convince the web user to follow through with the affiliate link, regardless of having other Adsense ads on your page. People may like the idea of buying, but will maybe leave it for the time being, or may want further information first; which is why a backup is good. If you study EPC rates with top advertisers, these rates can be extremely low, which shows that a great deal of affiliates struggle to get the clickthroughs! Would you rather web users leave your page with nothing, or leave by clicking on a related Adsense ad? If you can dominate the search engines and suck up monster traffic, then you can also earn good money from Adsense CPM ads, which is another reason to have them on your page.

 

Well it depends on your traffic, as certain age groups tend to avoid shopping online due to the lack of credit cards and the fact that their parents might not let them use it.

Sites targeted at an older audience might actually result in some conversions as that age group can obviously buy things online, the hard part is convincing them..

 

I personally like it because its so easy - if I dont have time to research for weeks on what I should be selling, I can just let adwords put whatever it thinks is relevant up.

 

Variety.

I have some item specific websites that I use affiliate programs for. But for the one that I use adsense on, there is a great variety of content and no way I could manage enough affiliate programs to have a product specific to each page.

Besides, I am able to offer adsense sharing and google takes care of paying people that contribute to the site

 

Yea, those smart marketers who use the PPC usually say something along the lines of "Hey, get a discount on THIS PAGE. CLICK HERE YOU MORON."

After reading your review, they'll be interested, and see the DISCOUNT, and go and buy it. Easy conversions. You get $0.50-$1.00 for your trouble of writing the review.

Which is why I say, it's not the best idea. But hey, your call.

 

If I ever sell a product I make sure that I am selling it at the basement price. So if it was a DVD, I would send them off to Play.com! The content/review would have all the information on the discount, noting that it aint cheaper anywhere else. Usually with the DVD content, the Adsense throws up let's say, 'take the friends quiz' or 'jennifer aniston in the news' etc. If they don't fancy buying today then maybe they might just fancy taking the free quiz. I can see your point though!