AdSense amount per page of content - web article or blog post

The importance of useful and original content for achieving success at the Google Adsense program is paramount. Unique content, especially in a niche industry, can yield great results even from a low 100 page web site. However, writing this content is time consuming - it first involves researching the topic on the web and books (yes, let's not forget them) and then the act of putting everything in words.

AdSense earnings should justify the time spent

I am sure all serious bloggers and web developers have done their homework on this issue. Since the time is what one actually spends, the AdSense returns should justified it. What is the use of creating content that yields negligible AdSense revenue?

Harold Davis (author of Google Advertising Tools - O'Reilly publications) in an interview at Wired magazine quotes a figure of USD 10 per year for a page of content i.e. less than $1.00 per month. Read How to Almost Live on Blogging for further details. I simply don't agree with this amount - It's too low. Any decent original article or blog post requires a fair bit of time which can be a couple of hours or one entire day. I am not talking about those 100-200 page blog posts here most of which are regurgitated cr*p from other blogs. I'm referring to articles that are meaningful, useful and original. Only they add value to the web as a whole and educate the reader.

How much should an article or blog post get in AdSense revenue?

So what AdSense revenue amount would justify the time on writing the page of content? This depends on how you value your time. Is your hour worth $10 or should it be $100?

If you spend 2 hours in putting together an original article, would you be satisfied by $10 per year? Assuming that Google AdSense lasts the next four years and the article holds its importance (and not dies - refer below on the lifespan of an article), it is still $40 in total which is $20 per hour for your time spent.

Remember articles, quite like everything else, have a lifespan - some will fade in a year while others are almost evergreen (ones that have drunk that special elixir). For instance, articles on latest technological developments might not have the same value (and readership) after a year or so, while those on world history would last much longer. In fact, those "history" articles will gain importance as time goes by.

Is $5 in Adsense per month per page a fair figure?

Now to some tangible figures. I target an average AdSense amount of $2 per page for the first 3 months and this should increase to $5 from the fourth month. Assuming my AdSense account lasts for the next three years, one page of content should get me about $180 in total and if I have spent 3 hours on it, my hourly rate of AdSense earning would be $60. Obviously, I do not take into consideration increase in traffic to the article over the years (which will increase earnings) and the fact that my AdSense account can last longer. If those happen, the total dollar amount brought in by the article would be more.

And do I achieve an average of $5 in AdSense per article per month? You betcha - in fact, it's much higher (I'm not going to tell you the exact figures... just note that $5 is the minimal I expect for my work). Some articles yield really good amounts and some remain at their initial $2 levels and so it averages out. Actually, at the time of researching and writing the article, I do get sense of the AdSense revenue it can potentially bring it. So why don't I just put my efforts on those higher payout articles... well, that's because I write what I want to write (makes me happy and keeps me satisfied) and I am not that greedy any way.

Tips on how to increase the AdSense earnings per page

Some quick tips on how to increase your Adsense earning per page

• Divide the article into two or more. However, make sure that neither of them is less than 400 words. This gives an additional benefit of pushing in different keywords for those split up pages.
• Research keywords well - use the Keyword suggestion tools.
• Do basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for each article. This is very important. FYI, I consider getting inbound links to those articles a part of the SEO.