Adsense is Google???s easy-to-use ad program which sifts through your site???s content and places very relevant ads automatically. It???s a great way to earn extra money, since it requires next to no effort to use, and more importantly it???s free. You can place the ads and start earning right away, but just leaving it like that won???t generate much returns. You would have to do a bit of optimizing to get the most out of Google???s Adsense. But don???t worry, it???s not difficult at all, and the returns are great.

The first thing you want to do right is the positioning. As in, where you place the ads. Obviously you want to place the ads where people can see them. You can either place them right at the top, on the side, or near the menus. Or basically just anywhere people would naturally look. For instance, you don???t need to place it at the very top, if you have a menu at the bottom that people WILL go to. You can place it near there. Adsense offers a great many different styles and sizes to suit your needs, so experiment with them and see which ones look good. Remember though to not make the ads become too intrusive, or people might block them! Make them blend in with your site.

Secondly, Adsense automatically does the targetting of your ads but this is nowhere near perfect. You would get ads that are totally irrelevant to your site???s content if you let Adsense decide for itself. The more related your ads are, the higher chances of people clicking on them, and the more you earn. Observe the ads being displayed and take note of the ones you don???t want. Then, use the "Competition Filter" in your Adsense control panel and add the sites there. For instance, if you don???t want ads coming from Amazon.com then add "amazon.com" on the filter list (do not include "http://www").

If you have multiple websites, it???s important to use channels. Channels allow you to track which pages and ad units generate the most revenue. You can do the former by selecting URL channels, and the latter with custom channels. . You would get ads that are totally irrelevant to your site???s content if you let Adsense decide for itself. Using these, you can view more detailed reports, see which pages need work, and which ad types are most effective. You can access channels by going to Adsense Setup and clicking on the Channels tab that appears underneath.