Noothing to do with forex or currency markets or anything complicated.

I only mean that since Google Pay me my Adsense money in Dollars - when it gets converted into GBP I effectively get paid more now as I get a pound for evry $1.50 now instead of a pound for every 2 dollars when the pound was much stronger against the dollar.

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

The British pound, at one point, was $2:1 GBP meaning it took $2 to buy 1 UK Pound.

Let's say Jordan was earning $1,000.00 per month. At 2:1 that would convert to 500 pounds

In the last month, Jordan indicaated that he saw a decrease, let's say he only earned $500.00 in US Dollars.

If the exchange rate was still 2:1, it would have been worth 250 UK Pounds for him (a flat out 50% decrease).

But the exchange rate wasn't 2:1 anymore, the US Dollar had increased in value vis-a-vis the pound. The new exchange rate is now:

1.00 GBP

=

1.49485 USD


So now Jordan only gets $500, but $500 is worth 334.48 pounds.

So in dollar terms, Jordan sees a 50% decrease (from $1000 to $500) but in pound terms he sees only a 33% decrease from 500 pounds to 334.48 pounds. The exchange rate at one point was even higher than 2:1 and for a while it was between 1.95-2:1 before talk of the bailout.

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Exactly (couldn't have (and didn't) put it better myself)..

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Thanks for the explanation, I understand.

I've another question - is there a reason for not having your page sitting to the left (on high res), than having the whole thing centered? I've always centered all my pages, but have seen quite a few professional sites that sit off to the left. Just wondering why people do that.

Yes - there is a *very* good reason for this...

I am too lazy to change my stylesheet!

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

NB - Dec 2008 earnings are :-

$225



I am still confident these will increase massively in the next 3 or 4 months!

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

What are you doing different now from 1 year ago?

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Very little.

Earnings are always worse for me over xmas.

AND - I am still waiting for my images to reappear in google image search after moving them all from sub-domain to new domain (details further back in this thread)..

UPDATE (2 hours later)... *some* of my images have now reappeared in Google Image Search. Up to this point 100% of them had disappeared. So it has taken a full 3 months for about 5% of them to come back again (not as high in the results as they were before). This will change with time, but ye gods it is a long process - and I would heartily recommend that if anyone is getting decent traffic from Google images on any of their domains or subdomains, LEAVE EVERYTHING AS IT IS!

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Well you know what they say: What goes around, comes around.

You need to think about ways to add new content to your site(s). Why not add a whole section about the art of taking pictures, a section about pictures from other photographers, etc. etc. etc.

Just throwing some ideas around.

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Peter all ideas greatly appreciated (but there are a million web sites and blogs by photographers for photgraphers - so I am avoiding this area!)

Anyway, Jan 2009 Adsense = $234.70

On the face of it not very good, but my traffic is now going up again after my 301 redirect of around 3 months ago...

Also, since I handed in my notice at my full time job a few weeks back - I'll get a lot more time to add new photos to my web site now, and maybe start to make a half decent effort at actually making $3000 per month in the not too distant future ! !

Anyway to make ends meet in the mean time I'll have to do a lot more work freelance as a Qualified Google Advertising professional (see last link in my signature). So if anyone knows anyone who needs some Adwords work done - please let us know!

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

My post wasn't about those specific ideas. It was about cause and result. The less you do, the less you earn.

Good thing you have more time now and can add new photos. But still, think about adding content that focusses on things people want to buy but can't get in your site. The ads are then the best thing to click on.


Here's a tip, since you´re in europe: TradeDoubler - The European Affiliate Network. You can add a section which is a bit like a an online store with links to the products (they have lots of cameras on there) and earn commissions on sales. This really interesting if you get enough visitors. Just think of what's possible,.... a site full of great pictures,.... where you can also buy cameras. That's like marketing heaven.

Imagine a link with each picture: This picture was taken with a XXXXXXX Camera
where XXXXX Camera is your affiliate link. (This really is marketing heaven)

I can give you more tips, but then I'll have to charge,.

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That is a good suggestion, Peter, but then that begets the question? What is the geographic breakdown of the traffic coming into your site?

It would make sense to tailor the affiliate advertising to the incoming traffic.

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Are you concentrating only on Google Adsense or any other ad network do you use?

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I'm still just starting out, but I though everyone could use a chuckle:

For me, Jan 2009 Adsense = $13.45

And I'm working on new ideas and designs, thanks to Jordan's inspiration.

My traffic is from all over the world, which makes Adsense ideal. Most affiliate stuff only applies to a few countries. Most people who visit are looking for free images, and have no interest at all in actually buying a camera or anything else for that matter.

I have tried a load of different things in the past - and none of them have worked at all well, and they have all been very time consuming to set up and tailor properly to my site.

Adsense takes none of my valuable time to administer...

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Hello, just a thought as I've been watching this topic...

It may be that it's already the case, but have you tried using Google's AdManager to serve up the adsense instead? I switched from plain adsense to the AdManager and have had a noticible increase in revenue, about 80%. I'm guessing this may be due to the way the AdManager can sell your placements on Adwords but I could be totally wrong. I was migrating from using OpenAds to dish up the adsense and sponsored ad spots because an associate had success in doing the same. I also incorporated Google Custom Search into my site which added a few dollars increase.

Good luck!

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Yes, I use ad manager, but only so that when someone clicks on an Adsense advert, it opens in a new window rather than in the current one (this alone makes it worth using in my opinion).

By the way I did notice an increase but it was nowhere near 80%!

Likewise, I also use custom search which works quite well for letting people find what they are looking for and adds a few dollars here and there as well.

Thanks!

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

My income is still way down. And Bidvetizer did not cut the mustard, either. Ah, well. Back to the drawing board!

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Just wanted to thank you for posting all this. I read through the whole set and most of the blogs on your website. It gave me a lot of great ideas and pointers to other great ideas. Now if I can just find the time to actually work on my project!

SmokieMac

Thanks everyone for the appreciation.

For anyone not making enough money with Adsense at present, unless you have found a niche where you get paid like a dollar per click, you'll need *millions* of unique visitors a year to make a living off it!

By the way - so far, my Make Money From Photos Blog has taken up a hell of a lot of my time, with very little return...

It would have been a much better use of my time to spend it adding new photos to my main photo web site.

So much so that I have taken it out of my web pro world signature....

PS - seeing as how I'll be working freelance in a few weeks (unemployed) - if anyone wants a Qualified Google Advertising Professional to do any work for them - please let us know!

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

But the time invested is now a 'sunk cost.' - I have many websites which, if you told me ahead of time what they would produce, I wouldn't have built them, but being built, there is no sense taking them down.

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I agree.

Don't get me wrong.

I have only removed it form my web pro world signature (very few click throughs form here anyway).

I will still make posts to it - but I just won't spend as much time on it as I did, cos I don't want to flog a dead horse either!

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i have my Adsense A/c Since 2007 but i still not Reached $1000 Dear.

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That reminds me ...

Adsense Earnings for February 2009 are $315 !

So traffic is on the up again!

March is usually a good month for me because I have a lot of 'Irish' stuff and St. Patrick's day is in March...

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

March 2009 Adsense earnings are $407!

Traffic is up again. Earnings are still disappointing compared to what they used to be....

Put it this way - it is not cost effective to go somewhere specifically just to take new photos...

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Do continue updating us with how much you're earning with adsense. Those of us who are just starting can at least find encouragement from you. I hope to put up a simple photoblog (blogger.com) but I don't know the specifics as to how to properly do SEO without getting penalized.

Good luck to you!

Will do thanks!

NB - in my experience so far, it is not worth bothering with a blog if you interested in making money directly from it.

Do a bespoke photo web site instead - it works much better!

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

April 2009 Earnings = $282

Traffic down a bit again from March which is always a good month for me because St. Patricks day and my slightly 'irish' theme...

I would provide a more detailed break down of traffic etc - but it is just not worth my time now since I am eanring so little comapred to what I was.

I'll just keep adding photos when I get a chance, and hope for the best....!

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

I'm trying to read this entire thread. It's very entertaining as well as informative, but your post made me laugh out loud!

I hope your earnings have improved since this was posted in Nov, 2007.

I'm catching up on my reading. I made $.03 by the way, after having the ads up for one week. I'll be able to afford a vacation soon!

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Glad someone is still reading this thread!

It doesn't make for very happy reading!

I hope CW is making more money from his wallets than he is from Adsense!

Although I have to add a bit of balance by saying that even though my earnings are down massively of late - the majority of this fall has been my own fault (moving to a new web site).

Having looked at Google Analytics again today - My April 2009 traffic compared to April 2008 traffic looks like this:-


So it is no wonder I am making less money than I was a year ago!

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Hi, Jordan,

I'm up to your post of October 2008! The information in this thread is quite valuable, especially with showing some do's and don't's, so even if it turns out to not be as upbeat as we hoped, it's still helpful.

Your recent stats look like a roller coaster. Maybe that's partly good. It's better to have highs and lows, instead of just having low results.

Particularly, my attention was drawn to the experience of affiliate marketing. I just joined google AdSense a couple of weeks ago, and want to read as much info as possible.

I also want to see how worth it, it is to spend time on it, rather than other things my site needs.

I also have not reached the results posts about the "Wealthy Affiliate University".

Still reading!

Steph

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Hello, Jordan,

Your site is gorgeous! I love the perfectly clear photos. The map of Ireland favicon is a nice touch, also. I can stay on your site all day long. The moonlight photos are phenomenal. Probably all your photos are, but I have to keep coming back to this post to finish this reply!

Now that I have added the wide skyscraper to some of my pages, it does no good? Or was that "way back" in 2008? I saw that you have a wide skyscraper on your page today but it looks like the placeholder ad (since I'm reading a lot of old posts to get up to speed on this topic, I'm stating the what and when of all this).

I have a separate folder for backups of pages WITH the Google AdSense ads on them, to make it easy for me to find and update them quickly. (I have 2000 + webpages).

Steph

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CW, amen to that. Been there, done that. Now trying to rectify the mess.

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Jordan, where is ad manager and is that for adwords customers or for AdSense publishers? I <did> try to find it on Google's help forum.

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It is a 'link unit' I have at the top of most pages.

I found that those in conjunction with as many rectangles as possible worked best for me.

'Ad Manager' - good question - it is so long since I implemented it I can't remember..

Hold on 'til I look....

Here is the link :-

https://www.google.com/admanager

It takes a while to work out what you need to do but it is worth it for the fact that you can make ads open in a new window alone...

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

I'm planning on using link units also, but I meant the skyscraper ad on the right side of your page that says, "Kiva".

Since "link units" are just words are they better than the content ad units that have links and images or just text for helping to increase where we stand in the search engines? I'm getting tangled up here.


Thank you. It's exactly what I was looking for!

Steph

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Hi, Jordan,

The Google help forum pointed me to this just now, in case anyone else needs it:

Inside AdSense: Introducing Google Ad Manager

BTW, I made $1.07 today.

Steph

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Ahhh.. the Kiva thing - that is not Adsense - that is my own small attempt at a bit of philanthropy! This Advert has nothing in it for me apart from a good feeling about helping some people in a small way where possible.. You can get your own banners at kiva.org.

Re the link unit, I only have that at the top of the screen as it works well there as some people think that it is a 'menu' of internal links and therefore clicks on it, AND one most pages I have the max no. of large rectangle adverts already. Generally, far and way the most effective Adsense Ad is the first large rectangle on the page, so make sure you use one and put images near it so people want to click on it. If your pages are big enough, use 2 or 3 large rectangles per page. I had read that some people had said that having fewer ads on the page gave better profits, but the *official* Google advice on this is that more adverts almost always = more money.

By the way thanks for the compliment about the site.

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Now it all comes together! Since Google Adsense displays those when I first preview them I thought that was your chosen skyscraper ad.


On YOUR website, the link units blend in perfectly. I thought they were your menus. It takes a practiced eye or at least someone who is familiar with Google Ads to tell the difference. Kudos to you!

Jordan, I'm going to have to make space on most of my pages for the large rectangles because the way my site is designed, the easiest for me to use are the skyscraper ads and the leaderboards. The point, however, is to make money, one way or another. Either selling my products or from Google AdSense, so:

If I make space for those ads, I'm going to have to break up my product pages into 1 - 2 - 3 etc.

I'm not sure how good an idea this is. For pages where I have all of that product line or type on one page, should I leave them alone?

BTW, yes, again, I love your site so you're very welcome! And remembering from an earlier post in this thread, someone suggested that you should sell Irish sweaters. I love them. Even my dog has an Irish sweater!

Stephanie

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It is a harder call if you actually make money from selling products on your site.. But if Adsense is 99% of your income (like it is on my site) - then mixing the large rectangles in with the content is best.

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Jordan, here's my first attempt at using the large rectangle AdSense ad. Is this what you meant by putting the ad next to an image?

I don't have many pages with this much available "real estate". In fact, I'm not sure I have any more pages with large open spaces. That one is there because it's something I'm selling from my personal inventory, rather than one of my regular products.

BTW, I dedicate that first link at the top of the Google AdSense box to you. It says "Glencairn". (I know it may rotate, but that's what it says at this time).

Thank you,
Steph

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hmmm, well my site is geared towards retail sales, but there are times when sales are slim and I want to do something to augment the already "meager" income.

Why do people think skyscraper ads are not good? I can quite easily integrate them into my sites pages.

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Yes - that looks pretty much spot on. If it was me though - I'd make it a fixed width layout so the ads were always very close to the picture not matter what the resolution of the users screen was.

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You mean make the cell exactly the length and width pixel sizes that the ads are?

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Thank you, BTW. I changed the cell so that the ad would be left justified and at the top.

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Yes better. I'd also remove the cell borders..

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

Done. Does it look better now? I'm not sure if I should push the skyscraper down some or not. The reason being that the bright blue links also draw my attention (and hopefully customers' attention) to my own search box. (non google search)

Am I supposed to, or allowed to, give the link when I'm referring to a specific page? This is the page.

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Looks fine on your home page to me.

But you will have to test for a while to see what works for you.

On the wine decanter page I can still see cyan coloured borders between the photo and the adsense rectangle - which could be done away with..

Yes - do show links where possible.

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Irish Wallpaper/Photos/Desktop Backgrounds|PPC NI| Google Advertising Professional

I just fixed the wine decanter page and see what you mean. I went into my google adsense account and updated the ads to not have any borders, also.

I'm getting there and really appreciate the advice.

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All Dress Forms, Miniatures and Unique Gifts for Friends, Family and Dogs.
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2 questions, and 1 kudo comes to mind.

First off, kudos to Jordan for actually trying something instead of being one of the nitwits who just fabricate conjecture and try to pass it off as fact.

Now for the questions:

#1. Jordan, why would you keep trying for this long on something that does not make a decent level of income, and not try anything new to attempt to salvage your projects outcome?

#2. Others: Why would anyone ask advice from someone who has spent this long making no money?

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