Google AdSense delivers great click-throughs and high revenues for one reason: the ads are targeted to what the user wants. (If you're new to Adsense is, click here for a beginner's guide to Adsense.)

How does Google know what ads to put on your website?

Google's robot picks out keywords on your page, gets a grip on what your website is about and delivers links that take users to sites that interest them.

That's great news... up to a point. As much as you want your users to click on ads that look interesting, you might not want to trust to a robot to pick those ads - and you might prefer to have ads on your page that pay the highest amount possible for each click.

But you don't get the choice. You can do lots of things to improve your AdSense revenue, from selecting the layout of your ad unit to choosing the color and size of the font, but one thing you can't do is slip into Google's database and choose the ads. If you could do that, no one would ever choose the low-paying ads.

Tricks of the Adsense game

That doesn't mean you can't do anything at all though. The fact is, some smart publishers have been noticing all sorts of interesting results after playing with their HTML code and changing some of the text on their Web page. And some of those results have been very surprising indeed.

For example, some publishers have found that placing keywords in certain positions on the page can have an immediate effect on the ads served. The owner of a site about recreation vehicles then would be able to do a little research online to find the highest paying keywords in his area and then - if he knew where those hotspots were - he could place those keywords in the right areas on the page. In addition to the usual ads about camper vans and RV's that his site would receive, the publisher could be certain that at least one of the ads was the highest paying possible. That's the sort of knowledge that's worth money in your pocket.

Why some areas of a Web page should be more important than others is a mystery well kept by Google's programmers. But some of Google's ad secrets are leaking out - and they're being snapped up by smart publishers who understand that knowledge and strategy are the key to massive AdSense revenues.

For more Google AdSense tips, visit http://www.adsense-secrets.com

Copyright © 2005 Joel Comm. All rights reserved

Have you ever noticed the Kiva banner on this website? I've made a screenshot of it here, but a live version is always in the right column of this site - if you can't see it right now just scroll down and it will appear.

What is Kiva?

Kiva enables me to make a micro-loan of any amount (I usually do $25) to a small business person in the developing world. Note that I said LOAN, not donation. These are loans which will be paid back.

How does Kiva work?

You can click on the banner on this site or go directly to Kiva's website and lend to someone in the developing world who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the business is going.

The best part is, when the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.

I just made a $25 loan to an entrepreneur named Catharine Ejenarhome in Nigeria. (You can see her pictured at right.) Mrs. Ejenarhome sells wooden combs to people in her community. She is 54 years of age, married, and mother of 7 children. She needs the loan amount of $625 to boost her business, which she started 2002.

Hopefully within a few days other people like me will chip in to make up the additional $600 to complete Mrs. Ejenarhome's loan request of $625.

It's very easy to actually do something about poverty using the microfinancing system that Kiva has introduced. I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, I know that I'm helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

Join me in changing the world - one loan at a time.

Thanks! Barbra Sundquist
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What others are saying about www.Kiva.org:

'Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.'
-- BBC

'If you've got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you've now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.'
-- CNN Money

'Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.'
-- The Wall Street Journal

'An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity...All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.'
-- Entrepreneur Magazine

What are Google ads?

Google ads are those little "clickable" links that you see on many websites above, below and beside the articles. For example, if you look towards the top of this page, you'll see a horizontal line of text links. Reading from the left, it says "Ads by Google" and then has a number of text links that you can click on. Those ads are placed there by Google, with my permission.

What's the difference between Adsense and Adwords?

Adsense is what Google calls their program where website owners (called "publishers") sign up to allow Google to place ads on their webpages.

Adwords is what Google calls their program where advertisers pay to have Google place ads on other people's webpages.

So the ads on this page are Adsense ads for me (I get paid each time someone clicks on one of those ads) and Adwords ads for the advertiser (who pays a fee each time someone clicks on one of those ads).

Recently I discovered a nice little money maker that requires almost no work on my part. Sound too good to be true? Keep reading and I'll tell you about it.

I have a website called Become A Certifed Coach. As the name implies, it's a website providing information to people wanting to become a certified business or life coach. If you click over to the site, you'll see that the main focus is training courses and other tools for coach training.

Here's the hidden money part

According to my website statistics, of the 7000 or so unique visitors that the site gets each month, 5000 of those enter and exit on one particular page. And get this: that page has nothing to do with my coach training services.

Ever wondered if you could get Paypal to "talk" to Aweber... so when someone pays you in Paypal they get an automatic response through the Aweber autoresponder service?

Yes, you can do that. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to integrate Paypal with Aweber

Some ideas for using this feature include:

- Send post purchase email to customers
- Send out purchased information products automatically
- Semd customers email newsletters, etc

And if you're just getting started with Aweber, this article will help you the first time you attempt to set up an autoresponder in Aweber.

If you're like the majority of new small businesses, you're operating on a financial shoestring. And although you may be tempted to skip hiring professionals such as a lawyer and an accountant, that's not the place to skimp. I'll tell you why.

Hiring good professional advice from the outset is never a waste of money. In fact, no matter how tight your budget, getting professional legal and financial advice will usually result in saving you money in the long run.

Financial recordkeeping for small business

Unless you have both the time and the expertise to maintain a complete set of financial records for your business, you should not hesitate to hire an accountant. Most new small business owners discover too late that maintaining current financial records can either make or break their venture. Most of the time, this message does not register until tax season or when they attempt to get financing from a lending institute.