make money with ads the easy way!

Almost everyone these days spends a good deal of time surfing - and in many cases, a good deal of money, too. The net is booming like never before, and wouldn't it be great to profit from that growth? To actually make money from the web rather than simply spend it?

There are dozens - perhaps hundreds - of online companies providing web ads. They come in many different formats, from simple text links to whizz-bang shopping malls. As far as you're concerned, however, they all work similarly - you'll get paid every time a visitor clicks the ad or uses it to make a purchase.

The term 'targetting' is often used with ads. Want to know more? view or hide

Before you start, though, make sure you have a personal domain and that your site's up to scratch. Many companies check your pages to ensure they meet minimum standards; many more will insist you have your own domain.

some of the best ...

Here's a shortlist of some of the most reliable online advertising providers. Visit their sites, see what they offer and make sure you feel comfortable with their methods and instructions: some will inevitably appeal more than others.

If you decide to sign up for an account, make sure you choose a 'publisher' option. This is simply another term for someone who makes websites (Yes! You're a online publisher now!)

We'll be adding more providers as we receive new recommendations, so make sure you check back frequently!

how to put the ads on your site

instant advertising: iWeb08 and weebly

As we've said all along, it IS possible to build great websites without going too near anything technical, and as far as ads are concerned, both iWeb08 and weebly provide simple set-up options.

    iWeb08

iWeb's advertiser of choice is google AdSense, so to start with, you'll need to sign up for your own AdSense account.

When that's done, make sure you know your personal AdSense ID, as you'll need to use this with any ads you create in iWeb08 - you won't get paid otherwise!

You'll find this in your personal AdSense admin area. It's under the Account Settings tab in Property Information right at the bottom of the page, and will look something like this:

ca-pub-62X928X07581X9X0

Once you've made a note of this, it's simply a matter of clicking the Web Widgets button at the base of the iWeb window, choosing the google AdSense option, adding your account number, then dragging it into position. Nothing easier!

    weebly

Weebly allows you to automatically use Adbrite units in your pages, although the process is not quite as straightforward as iWeb - you'll need to work at least once with Adbrite's code, at least to get things set up.

For this reason, we'll talk you through this option once we've taken a look at the basics of using ad code....

working with code

Once you've signed up and been accepted into any of the advertising programs, you'll probably want to spend a little time experimenting with all the different types of ads you can create. Setting them up is simple: each site provides their own easy-to-use wizard, which usually includes presets for different shapes and sizes as well as a choice of text or banner ads. Often you can create your own color schemes, too.

Before designing your final ads, think carefully about the layout of your web pages - you may need to re-juggle sections if you haven't already left advertising space. And any ad you create will need to fit into place, of course, so it's worth considering the how this will work with your website open at the same time - you can usually judge dimensions by eye.

In all cases, once you've walked through your wizard the final button will deliver a chunk of code that looks something like this:

<!-- Begin AdVertiser code -->
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript1.1" SRC="http://ghf.advertiser.com/AdVertiser.cfm?pet=45893219" type="text/javascript"></SCRIPT>
<noscript><a href="http://www.Advertiser.com/>pay per click</a></noscript>
<!-- End AdVertiser code -->

Scary? Many people think so at first! But in fact, the only thing you need to do is copy and paste this into the appropriate part of your website.

And if you're still thinking "that's fine, but where do I paste it" - read on. We're here to help.

    weebly

If you've created your site in weebly, any ad code has to be pasted into a special box known as a custom html element.

To access this, click the Elements tab then the More option.

Drag a custom html element into position in your layout (if you've previously left a space for ads using a picture or paragraph element, you'll need to replace it).

Once the element is positioned, it will display a 'click to set custom html' message. Go ahead and click, and an Edit Custom Html button then appears in the weebly Editor panel.

Click this, and the interior of the element turns white, allowing you to paste your code inside (don't worry if nothing seems to happen straightaway - you won't actually see the ad until the site is online).

Click the Publish button to view your new ad.

 

    working with Adbrite in weebly - finding your ID

As we've already said, weebly makes it simple to drag and drop Adbrite ads into pages without any pasting of code needed. The initial hitch, however (and admittedly it's only a very small one) is that you'll need to use your own Adbrite account ID in order to make sure you get paid for the ads rather than weebly.

For some strange reason your personal id doesn't seem to be recorded anywhere in Adbrite's admin areas. Nevertheless, it is automatically embedded inside any ad code you generate. So to grab your id, you'll have to set up at an initial chunk of code, even though you won't have to actually paste this into a weebly page.

Once you've created the code (which you might want to copy and paste somewhere for future reference) look for the following:

In this case, the id is 456789 (we've underlined the numbers in the image ourselves). Yours will be another 6-figure number.

 

    Using Adbrite Ads elements

Once you've successfully obtained your ID, the rest is simple.

click the Elements tab then the More option.

Drag an Adbrite Ads element into position in your layout.

Click just inside it, and Element Options will appear.

Click inside the Account ID box and type in your own account number

If you want to, use the Orientation pull-down menu to change the appearance of your ad.

That's it! Just remember to change the ID every time you use a new Adbrite element.

    350.com

350 isn't anything like as flexible as weebly when it comes to layout, so you'll need to be sure that your chosen template already has a text area that's a suitable size (you won't be able to easily replace any of the images with ads).

We've found that horizontal areas of text seem to work better than vertical ones.

Hover the mouse over the text until a dotted line appears around its box, then click. The Editor bar should appear.

Click the Edit option (the pen icon) to open the text editing panel.

If you wish to change the text itself, do this now by simply typing in and formatting your copy. It's also worth creating extra space (by pressing the return key on your keyboard) wherever you want your ad positioned.

Next, click the html tab at the top of the text editor panel. This will show any typed text surrounded by lines of code.

Locate the position where you want your ad to appear, then paste the code into place.

Click the Save option at the base of the panel, then click the main Save Page option (a green check button) to publish your page and view the ad. Note that it may take several minutes to appear.

    iWeb08

We've already explained how to use iWeb's very simple option for adding Google AdSense to your pages. But it's also possible to easily ad code from any other advertising program, too.

To do so, you'll need to open HTML Snippets from the Insert menu, then paste your code into the window. OK this, then drag the resulting 'widget' into position on your page. Nice and easy!

back to top

 

© All textual content copyright, simplersteps.com 2008