The internet is full of articles, ebooks and hype about using blogs with Google’s Adsense program to make money. The formula for success, it seems, is simple. You blog, place ads, get traffic, visitors click on the ads and you get paid. The question many people want to know is, can we make a profit?
This question has been difficult to answer, in large part, because of the Google Terms of Service for Adsense users. Although the terms have recently been loosened somewhat, users were long prohibited from sharing personal information regarding their success levels and other key statistics that might have provided prospective for-profit bloggers from developing a clear perspective on the profit potential available.
If you are curious about whether or not you can make blogging with Adsense a legitimate moneymaker, it is worth conducting this relatively simple exercise. The results can give you an idea of whether or not it is worth your time.
First, determine how long it will take you to build your blog. Consider the set up time and the time necessary to do initial promotion and to write at least ten to twenty starter posts. We will say our preparation time is fifteen hours.
Second, estimate how much time it will take on a weekly basis to do additional promotion and to add at least two new posts. Multiply this figure by 52 (the number of weeks in a year). For this example, we will set promotion time at 156 hours (3 hours per week).
Third, add preparation time and Promotion time. This will give us an idea of the total time required. In this case, total time is 171 total hours.
Fourth, investigate the average value of an ad click in your niche. You can use the Overture bid tool, easily found online, to get a reasonable idea of the value of each click. In order to make your projection “safe,” reduce that number by half. This yields PPC, or “pay per click.” Let’s say the bid tool says clicks related to our keyword are worth about forty cents. Our PPC is .20.
Fifth, determine how much your time is worth. Do you feel your blogging time should generate at least $10 per hour? $20? This is a matter of personal preference. We will assess the value of our time at $10 per hour for this exercise.
Sixth, assume a click-through rate of eight percent. This is a low figure, as many blogs can generate click-through rates approximating 25%. Click-through rate is expressed as CTR.
Now it’s time to perform the critical calculation. We need to determine the required number of visitors necessary to produce enough money to make the process worthwhile. To find the number of visitors required you need to do a little algebra. You multiply visitors (unknown) times pay per click(.20) times click thru rate (.08) which will equal how much your time is worth (10) times total time required (171).
You don’t have to do the algebra, the number of visitors would be 139,200. In order to make the process pay, you will have to drive 106,875 visitors to the blog over the course of one year. That translates to approximately 292 visitors per day, on average. Obviously, that is a very “doable” number based on the amount of time we have set aside for the process.
So, for our example, blogging for bucks with Adsense is a winner.
Perform these calculations based on your own unique circumstances and you can determine the viability of earning money with a blog and Adsense.