Google AdSense is the publisher’s component of one of the world’s most popular pay-per-click advertising programs, Google AdWords. Once you have applied and been accepted for a free Google AdSense account, you will be able to display advertisements on your WordPress blog. The type of advertisements displayed should be determined by the content of your website so that they are as relevant as possible to your visitors. For those who are monetizing their WordPress blogs for the first time, installing AdSense should be one of the first things on the to-do list. This guide explains how to add these advertisements to your WordPress Blog.
Obtaining Your AdSense Code
To get your AdSense code, you will first need to have a blog or other website with its own domain name. You will then be able to apply for an AdSense publisher account at google.com/adsense. Before applying, be sure that your blog or website follows Google’s rules and terms of usage. It may take a few days for your application to be accepted, but once it is, you will be able to obtain your AdSense code as detailed below:
- Log in to your Google AdSense user account and click “My ads” at the top of the page.
- Click the “+ New ad unit” button.
- Fill in the form of the next page to name and customize the size and appearance of your advertisements.
- Click “Save and get code”. Copy down this code to save it to the clipboard.
Installing AdSense Using the Text Widget
By far the easiest way to add WordPress to your blog is to simply paste your AdSense code into the text widget and place it into one of the widget areas of your blog. The available widget areas will depend on the theme you have installed.
Log into your WordPress administrator dashboard and click “Appearance” followed by “Widgets”.
Scroll down to find the Text widget. Click on it and choose the location on your blog where you want your advertisements to appear. Click “Add Widget”. The Text widget will now appear in the column to the right.
In the right-side column, scroll down to find the location where you added the Text widget. Click to open it and click again on the Text widget. You can also change the location of the widget by dragging it up or down in the widget area.
- Paste Your AdSense code into the text box and enter a title for the on-page element. Be sure that the title conforms to Google’s AdSense terms of use. It must not encourage people to click on your ads. Most people use a title like “Our sponsors”.
- Click “Save” to save your changes. Your ads should now appear on your blog.