Certainly, Every blogger who want to earn money from his blog want to get approved for Google AdSense. It's the dream of many blog owners. Unfortunately, getting approved for AdSense isn't easy these days.
Thousands of bloggers apply for this program everyday, the big part of them is rejected because they don't meet the AdSense requirements. The other big challenge when it comes to applying for AdSense is that you'll find bloggers talking about hundreds of methods to get approved, But which one is the right way ?
I've applied for Google AdSense and I got approved after 2 tries. In today's blog post, I'm going to share with you the steps I followed to get approved at last. Honestly, I was really impressed when I received the Google's Email saying that :
"Your Google AdSense application has been approved. You'll soon begin to see relevant Google ads ..."
I thought the review would take much longer especially my blog is relatively new (1 month age), It was really a great day !
Anyway, I've applied with my blogspot blog right from my blogger account and the review process took 3 days after the 2nd try.
First of all, I highly recommend to not apply for AdSense using a partner account (ex: Youtube). In fact, many bloggers used this trick but trust me, the account could be suspended in any time and you'll not be able to use the available balance.
The safest way to apply for AdSense is to apply directly using your website/blog. Follow the next 10 steps and you'll surely see amazing results in a short period of time.
Step 1 : Buy a custom domain name
I know there is a lot of blogs with free domain names (ex : .blogspot.com, ...) that have AdSense ads working well. It's true, but it's not always the case. Besides, custom domains are more professional than free one not only for Google, but also for readers.
In addition, paid domain name is highly recommended for better SEO, don't think that you can change the domain at any time later, it'll cause serious SEO issues and you'll have to spend days fixing links, redirecting ...etc
Even my blog was ready to apply for the program, I made sure to not apply until I buy the custom domain and link it to my blog.
Eventually, using a custom domain name would increase the chance to get approved for AdSense.
Step 2 : Write 15 unique, SEO freindly blog posts
Google won't accept blogs with few content, so make sure to write at least 15 blog posts with +500 words length each, before you apply.
DON'T COPY AND PASTE : this will not only cause your blog to be banned from AdSense but also from Search engines results.
Remember ! Unique, relevant content is the key success for your blog. In my case, I've applied with 15 posts, not all of them are +500 words length but most of them were.
Step 3 : Make sure you're using an eligible language
Not all languages are accepted by AdSense, here is the list of the eligible languages. English is the most suitable language for the simple reason that the audience for this language is huge. In addition, high CPC (Cost Per Click) ads are those who target US and UK citizens.
Step 4 : Add contact us, about, terms & conditions and privacy policies pages
Google put a heavy emphasis on the reliability of it's publishers websites/blogs. This step is mandatory to demonstrate that your blog cares about the reader's privacy. write a good about page, add your contact information (Address, Email, Phone, ...)
Step 5 : Pick a beautiful template with clean navigation an fast loading speed
Loading speed is one of the most important factors taken into consideration by all advertisement programs. Obviously, no one would love to put his ads in a blog that takes a while to load. Additionally, loading speed directly affects the blog's SEO performance.
Choose a beautiful template with clean navigation, try to make it as easy as possible to reach all the blog's pages. Of course, Your blog's main navigation menu should be hidden or at the bottom of the page.
Step 6 : Design a unique logo and favicon for your website
Unique logo and favicon are extremely important for every online business. It's your online signature. Make sure to change the default favicon and to include the logo in the top of your blog's home page.
Step 7 : Remove any other ads or affiliate banners
It's the easiest step; just turn off all ads, popups and banners in your blog. It would give a great impression for the AdSense reviewer when he see your blog clean from ads from other companies. You can get them back once you get approved.
Step 8 : Don't worry about link building and the traffic amount
So far, Google doesn't take into consideration neither off-page SEO nor the traffic amount. When I applied for the program, BloggerTalks had 0 backlinks and the page views/day was 1 view/day.
Of course, increasing the visitors number is the goal of every blogger. But, at this stage it's not a requirement.
Step 9 : Build social profiles/pages to reinforce your blog reliability
Professional Google+/Twitter/Facebook pages have a great impact on your blog. It's a proof that you're running a serious business. Thus, make sure you have made a good social presence before applying.
Step 10 : Don't use copyrighted content
Several bloggers use Google to search for the images they want without even thinking about copyrighted images. This is a frequent reason why many blogs got banned from AdSense.
Remember, Google knows everything, the image you took without permission can be easily recognized by Google so it's very important to check copyright permissions before including any resource in your blog posts.
Final words
Google AdSense is a great source of revenue for bloggers. It's not impossible as your might think to get approved as publisher. The above 10 steps worked well for me and of course it'll work for you if you apply them perfectly.
When it comes to earning online, working cleverly is the key success. Hard work without an organized strategy is a waste of time.
I hope you liked this post and I would be very happy to read your stories/experiences in the comment section.