Ads can be a huge source of income for bloggers, but sometimes it can feel like you have to be in the hundreds of thousands of pageviews to make any sort of decent income with them.

Thankfully, this doesn’t have to be true! While it is easier when your pageviews are higher, because you can have ad networks manage your ad stacks for you, you can also make your own miniature ad stacks (or waterfall ads) to get the most out of your ad spaces.

If you have over 100,000 pageviews a month we recommend Adthrive to manage your ads. If you have over 30,000 we recommend mediavine. 

In the video below I will show you exactly how to create an ad stack using amazon CPM and google adsense. Even though I’m using these two popular sites as an example, you can do the same thing with most ad companies, in a similar way. I’ve also used Sovrn, and I know many others that allow this as well.

The benefit to creating an ad stack instead of just using adsense, or another such ad company, is that it allows you to really increase your earnings. Instead of just getting whatever that particular ad agency is able to serve up that day, be it low or high, you get the best of all the ad companies you’ve stacked.

For example, if you are using just google adsense, some days they might have a stellar ad for you, one that’s giving you a really high RPM (rate per 1,000 views).

But, the next day, they might only have low paying RPM ads to display. Sadness!

Instead of just relying on the ebb and flow of that particular ad company, you combine efforts and get the best of both.

In the video I put Amazon CPM on top my stack and then adsense at the bottom. I did this because Amazon CPM typically has a higher RPM/CPM (adsense and amazon can’t agree on which term to use), so I want to give them the chance to give me a higher paying ad.

I also always keep google adsense on the bottom because they have a 100% fill rate.

That means they always have an ad to show, even if it’s low paying, many other ad companies can’t do that, so adsense on the bottom of the stack ensure I’ll always be earning from my ads.

I hope this shows you that building your own ad stack is not as intimidating as it seems, and you can totally do it!

If you are focusing on increasing pageviews and income on a tight time-schedule, then your next step just might be our blog intensive, called Part Time Blogger, Full Time Income. In it, we discuss tips like this that can help you make the most of every minute of your time, grow your blog and make a great income with your site, even if you don’t have all day to devote to it! See more details by clicking the image below!

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So I had to share this little tip with you.  When I was working with a sponsor last month, they sent me a message to please remove all ads from my sponsored post.   I had no idea how to do this, so I e-mailed Adthrive (my ads manager).   They gave me the best tip ever!

They said that when you want to remove ads on your own, you can simply go into your  TAG area on your post and insert the word NOADS to clear it of ads.   I was pretty skeptical that it could actually be that easy, but sure enough, it worked.  I tried it and the sponsor wrote back within 5 minutes to day “Thanks so much!”

Really?!

So that is all that I have to do now to clear it of codes.  I wish that I could tell you that it worked this way for all ad managers, but I’m just not certain of that, but I can tell you that if you e-mail your contact person for your ad network, they should be able to tell you if it will work for your site or they can set it up to work this way.  I highly encourage you to try it and to do this.

So simple!

Ps- check out our book!  I bet you’ll love it!

MORE POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:

or this one if you are using Google Adsense… 

The post How to get rid of ads in sponsored posts with Adthrive appeared first on Becky & Paula.

SO many of you ask this question to Paula and I in our blogging on the side Facebook group, so today I wanted to give you a very brief explanation:
“Where do we start with monetizing with ads on our page?  What is Adsense, The Blogger Network & Adthrive?”    Here you go…  

This is the path that both Paula & I have taken.

1. GOOGLE ADSENSE:
When you first start your blog, you have the option to apply for Google Adsense, or you can put ads on your sidebar that link back to other things (like affiliate links… ex: Books of other bloggers, companies that you are an affiliate of, etc…)

Here are tips to grow your Google Adsense Income.

2. THE BLOGGER NETWORK
This was the second blog network that I worked with.  You have to have at least 100,000 page views to join (it may have changed, but this was the case when I joined).   I really liked it.  They manage all of the ads for you.  They tell you where to put your ads and how many would work.   They do all of the work.

3.  ADTHRIVE
I later (recently) switched to Adthrive because it is more $ per page view.   It was a rough start (their plugin was clashing with a few things on my site) but is doing great now and they are very friendly/helpful.   I am earning a bit more and they have started (this week) to implement mobile ads, which is great because 80% of my traffic is mobile.

Now onto WHERE TO PUT YOUR ADS on your page: 
I have found that the best spot is above your post.  I wrote a post here about which size gets the most clicks and about how my square ads did well above my post, but now I have a rectangle there and a square in my sidebar.  While I think that I would make more money the other way, I like the way that this looks, so I’m not going to mess with it too much.

There you have it, in a nutshell- our ad history.   

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I came across something that I found to be VERY interesting this past week.   As some of you know, I had my page redesigned (with the help of Jornie.com… she can ad widgets anywhere on your page for a fee)  Well, when I was playing around with where I wanted my google ads, I found that the small banner looked so much nicer, but at the end of the day, I had shocking results!   If you are wondering which size adsense ad should I use – this will help!

First- a little background on my adsense ad placement:   I only have the google ads at the top if my page and I keep one on my sidebar.  I rarely include them in my post (mostly because I forget about it).   So all of this information to follow is about the google ad that sits above the fold (my “money maker”)- the sidebar ad rarely gets clicks.

Take a look at this.

One June 23rd, I made $28.51 (My average is around $30-$40 a day) – this is the day that I had a Medium Rectangle (300 X 250) on my page, right above my post:

One June 24th, I moved to a banner ad instead:

I liked the look much better, because you could see the content right away, but look at this message from Google Adsense…

And I kept it there to see if it would happen again… here is today’s picture:

Now- my page views increased, so my money should have gone up, but it went way down.

So…  I did this (moved ad to header):

and guess what…?
My adsense income is back to normal! 

Moral of the story:  You get more bees with honey.    (You get more clicks with the big ad)  

Here are some Tips on how to increase your adsense (mine has doubled since writing that post, using these tips) 

Do you want us to take a look at your blog & tell you what we think would help?   Check out Your Best Blog service. 

The post The bigger ad gets the clicks … which size adsense ad should I use? appeared first on Becky & Paula.

Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links of companies that I use and recommend.

So, you are thinking “How can I increase Google Adsense earnings on my blog?”
  Although it may not be typical, you can go from $2 to over $500 in just a few months if you continue to do these things.

We have seen our own blog’s earning increase dramatically through the steps that I am going to share with you today.

Follow these tips:

1- The only (legal) way to increase your earnings is to bring in more traffic.  I know that there are ways to get only the high-paying ads, but I don’t recommend it because I don’t think that they follow Google’s rules.

You can increase your traffic this way:

• Pinterest – did you see our page on why Pinterest is your BFF?  This is a great way to bring in traffic.  (Here is our Pinterest Page where we will post tips like these and more!)
• Better Pictures- if you don’t have pin-worthy pictures, your page and post will be overlooked.  I can promise you that.  Every picture can use a bit of editing!
• Facebook- You need to be active on your blogging Facebook Page

2.  If you are trying to make more money per click, make sure that your Ads are Targetable.

On Google Adsense, you need to make sure that you have Targetable Ads.   (see how I added one from my custom channels)?

Watch your ads: 

• – You will want to track your ads to see which ones make money.
• My best money-maker, by far, is the one that I have on the top of my blog.  The widget area is “site-wide top”  – it is at the top every post & page.  You can see it here (it is the square above the posts.  You can see my other ads, too).   My other ones make a little bit, but no where close.
  to this.   PS- THE POTTY TRAIN PIC IS MY OWN BOOK & POST, SO IT IS NOT ANOTHER ADVERTISEMENT. 

• 3- Keep it above the fold (this means that it has to be seen when you first click to your page.  This is the first thing that you see (“above the fold”).   Google doesn’t want them below your posts or in your footer or low in your sidebar.  They want them to be seen right away.Google Adsense is one way to make money on your blog.
  I also do several sponsored posts every month.  (Here is how to write a sponsored post).  Sponsored posts can bring in several hundreds to several thousands of dollars per month.  I highly recommend signing up with Izea and Sverve.  (Find a master list of where to find sponsored posts here) These have been my highest-reffering companies.  I continue to get jobs from them every day or every few days.  The price ranges from $5 to $800 per job and more!   Just sign up for them and they will send you e-mails with new leads or campaigns.I hope that helped!  Between the new companies and utilizing google adsense, you will be well on your way to making your blog a financial benefit to you and your family. UPDATE:  Check the ad size- See the link that Sarah shares in the comments section- great advice!What tips do you have to share about how to increase google adsense earnings on your blog?

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