avatarVictoria Kurichenko

Summary

Google identifies niche blogs, forum sites, and free online tools sites as the most profitable website types for earning money through ads, emphasizing the importance of high-quality content, user engagement, and SEO.

Abstract

According to Google, niche blogs that consistently produce focused content on specific topics, such as Matcha tea, have a high potential for earning through AdSense due to their ability to attract a dedicated community. Forum sites like Quora and Reddit demonstrate the effectiveness of user-generated content in driving traffic and ad revenue, even for smaller forums. Free online tools sites capitalize on the demand for complimentary services, such as image size reduction, to draw in users and present them with ads. Google advises that choosing a topic of interest, providing valuable content, and promoting the website are key steps to success in ad revenue generation. The article also notes that the average commission per click is around $3, with variations depending on the niche, and suggests that prioritizing user needs is essential for long-term monetary success.

Opinions

  • The author believes that niche blogs with regular updates can effectively grow their audience and monetize through ads.
  • Forum sites are seen as valuable for their ability to generate content through user engagement, leading to increased ad potential.
  • Free online tools sites are considered a profitable model because they offer value to users, who are then exposed to ads.
  • The author emphasizes the importance of SEO and creating content that resonates with the target audience to drive ad revenue.
  • There is an opinion that the success of a website in earning through ads is closely tied to how well it serves the needs of its visitors.
  • The author suggests that earnings from ads can be substantial, providing an example of potential monthly revenue based on average ad click rates.
  • The article implies that Google's AdSense is a viable platform for website monetization, with a significant portion of revenue going to the website owner.

These 3 Website Types Consistently Earn Money With Ads, According to Google

A proven passive income stream.

Image credit: Scyther5 on Canva

If you want to make decent money with ads, Google has revealed which website types perform best.

In short, Google says that niche websites with a lot of traffic will make decent money with the AdSense advertising program.

As the owner of the fast-growing website, I wonder if it fits their requirements and how much money I can potentially make running ads.

Therefore, I examined the Google AdSense advertising program to help you understand which websites have the highest chances to succeed and how much you can potentially make.

1. Niche blogs

Niche blogs are sites that have a lot of content focused on a particular topic, like Matcha tea, healthy eating, or habits.

In most cases, blogs are regularly updated, which means new content appears daily, weekly, or monthly.

More content implies more opportunities to grow and reach the target audience.

Let’s consider an example with the Matcha tea blogging nice idea. Matcha green tea lovers are a very niche market segment.

Attracting Matcha lovers to your website means you build a community of people with similar values, tastes, and likes.

Even if you don’t directly sell anything on your website, you can still monetize it by helping others reach your website audience with their offers.

Google AdSense connects advertisers with niche bloggers like you to place ads on your website.

Here is what ads look like on my website — Self Made Millennials.

In-page ads preview on my blog.

In general, Google pays you for every click on ads placed on your website. However, it also takes a commission.

According to Codefuel, website owners get 68%, or 51%, when using AdSense for reach. Google takes all the rest.

Depending on the niche, the commission varies from $0.20 to $15, with an average of $3 per click for publishers.

I also researched the most profitable niches in the USA in 2021. If your website falls under any of these niches, you might earn that much per click:

Most profitable niches in the USA in 2021. Source.

My website is about SEO (falls under the marketing category), side hustles, and blogging. I could make roughly $3.23 (50% from $6.45) depending on the ads.

Let’s say my ads get one click per day. It will result in roughly $96.75 a month— it does not seem that bad, right?

I’ll soon start running ads on my website and share the actual numbers in the upcoming posts. So, stay tuned!

2. Forum sites

For those who don’t want to create lengthy blog posts, Google offers an alternative solution — a forum.

Forums are digital places where people discuss various topics, ask questions, share their opinions and experiences.

It’s challenging to get the eyeballs at the very beginning, but once people start engaging with your platform, it will grow like a snowball.

I am sure you are familiar with the following websites. Both platforms grow with the help of user-generated content.

  • Quora
  • Reddit

Quora is perhaps the biggest question-and-answer platform on the web. Over 600 million people visit Quora monthly, according to Similarweb.

I grew my Quora account from 0 to over 406k views by simply sharing my knowledge with other people.

Various businesses run Quora ads and see 4x times higher conversion rates than on other platforms, according to Foundationinc.

If you take a closer look at Quora’s content, you’ll see that its feed is full of ads that look similar to answers. That’s why it’s so hard to notice them.

Ads on Quora. Image credit of the author.

The same applies to Reddit.

Every 9th post is an ad (at least for me), but they are barely visible.

Ads on Quora. Image credit of the author.

Quora and Reddit are giants with their advertising programs and monetization opportunities for creators.

Smaller forums can be monetized with Google AdSense.

For example, his is a forum for cat lovers worldwide that runs multiple ads via Google AdSense.

3. Free online tools sites

Everyone likes free stuff.

That’s why people eagerly search for “free” tools, tips, checklists, guides, and so on online.

For example, my favorite image size reducer service is free of charge. However, I am exposed to ads every time I open their web page.

While the software resizes my images, I patiently wait and consume ads in sidebars. This way, the tool owner covers expenses and makes money through the service without making it paid.

Screenshot from reduceimages.com

According to Semrush, people search for “image size reducer” over 435k times monthly!

Imagine how many people will use the tool and see the ads if this particular page ranks #1 on Google.

If Google suggests free tools sites consistently perform well with AdSense, the ad revenue must be impressive regardless of the CPC (cost per click).

Data for the “image size reducer” keyword taken from Semrush

Final thoughts

No matter which type of site you’ll choose if you want to make money running ads, here is what Google recommends you do first:

First, you have to make sure that the topic you choose for your blog, forum, or free online tool is something that people will be interested in and, therefore, something they will search for.

Second, you have to create something useful for the visitors who come to your website.

Third, promote your blog, forum, or tool to get the visitors you need to consume your content, engage in discussion, and use your tool.

In other words, the primary goal of your website is to serve people with helpful content, not ads.

Do keyword research, master SEO writing, and create content people want to read.

Money is the byproduct of success.

If your website serves users’ needs, they’ll come back to it repeatedly, letting you monetize your efforts through different means, including ads.

Grab my 50-page guide to learn how I create blog posts that hit Google front page. You can easily replicate my 3-step process even if you are just starting.

You can get full access to every story on Medium for just $5/month by signing up through this link.

Your membership fee will directly support me and other writers on Medium to keep creating helpful content for you. :)

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