Review: The Adsense Code, by Joel Comm
Are you hunting for advice on how to make money with your blog or website using Google’s Adsense advertising program? You may need this book!
The very first piece of advice that Joel Comm gives in his new book, The Adsense Code, is to make sure your Google Adsense ads do not look like ads. It should not surprise you that his book doesn’t look like a book about Adsense either – The cover is a spoof on the Da Vinci Code design.
While browsing through the business section of my local bookstore the cover caught my eye. I wondered what a Da Vinci Code book was doing in the business section and then realized it was Joel’s book. The gimmick made me smile and I grabbed it to see what tips I could get for free by reading it in the store. After skimming through chapters and having a few aha! moments, I realized I was going to need my own copy to study and broke down and bought a one.
I was first introduced to Joel Comm’s work through one of his Dr. Adsense podcasts. I had been toying with a niche topic website and Adsense to see if it was possible for me to make a little money online. His podcast was helpful and I was soon looking for more Adsense advice from him. That was another reason I was so quick to buy this book.
Joel is not an advocate of slapping up hundreds of software generated garbage sites with ads stuffed in them. There are hundreds of “gurus” out there who promote this type of approach. Google is getting wise to their tricks and the profits made from those types of websites is evaporating quickly. It has a number of folks claiming that Adsense is Dead, but the techniques and strategies that are taught in The Adsense Code will keep you on Google’s good side and keep you making money.
The book spends a few pages giving a brief overview of setting up a site and an Adsense account, then jumps into explaining how to use Adsense on your site. Joel shares his years of experience giving advice on the best formats and placements to use for your ads. He explains ways to influence the ads you get on your site without violating Google’s terms of service. He gives suggestions for gathering and generating content for your site and how to track your ads and analyze your visitor stats.
What impresses me most with this book is that Joel encourages and demonstrates tracking and testing strategies to help you evaluate the impact of the changes you make to your ads. Without tracking and analysis, you are just groping in the dark. Joel recommends keeping an Adsense Journal to track your changes and their impact on your earnings. A wise recommendation!
If you are trying to get a handle on how to use Adsense for your website or blog, this book is a must have. If you have been working with Adsense for a while you may have heard of many of these ideas before, but you will still learn a few new tricks to try (I know I did!)
The Go-To Guy!
Joel has just finished a new book on AdSense, updated for 2007. Always look for any updated information, as things with Google change almost daily, let alone from a couple of years ago, when “The AdSense Code” came out. I plan to read his updated tome first, then see if this one is still worth it.
Ana,
Thanks for the info about the new edition. There have been a number of changes to the Adsense program in the past few months. (The rule about placing images next to ads is one of the most significant changes.) For people who are looking to Adsense as their primary income source and who push the limits of the Terms of Service in the way they integrate the ads into their site, it is vital to get the most up to date info.
Fortunately, the bulk of this book is as valid today as it was last year. The way people scan web pages hasn’t changed and the tracking and testing strategies that Joel recommends are also still valid. Personally, this was the information I found most valuable.
With all of the changes to the program, I haven’t had to change one thing about the way I use Adsense on my sites and my income from Google has been improving (I just cashed another check today!)
Buy this one used (or check it out of the library) if you want to save a little money or just get the new edition. Either way you’ll learn valuable information.
The Go-To Guy!