Saturday, 9 September 2017
Monday, 4 September 2017
Tuesday, 11 April 2017
Tuesday, 7 March 2017
Kohli stops short of calling Aussie captain Smith cheat
Indian captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday stirred up a major controversy by virtually accusing the Australian captain Steve Smith of cheating in the usage of DRS, flaring up the tensions between the two sides.
"We have been inconsistent with the DRS but we take our decisions on the field, we don't ask for confirmation from the dressing room," a sarcastic Kohli let it rip after India's 75-run win in the second Test.
ALSO READ: India beat Australia by 75 runs to level series 1-1
"I have seen it twice while batting. I have seen their players looking upstairs (dressing room). I told the umpires, this had to stop. I don't want to mention the word but it falls in that bracket. I would never do something like that on the cricket field," he added.
Asked if he was accusing the Australian team of cheating,
Kohli retorted, "I have not said that either."
"We have been inconsistent with the DRS but we take our decisions on the field, we don't ask for confirmation from the dressing room," a sarcastic Kohli let it rip after India's 75-run win in the second Test.
ALSO READ: India beat Australia by 75 runs to level series 1-1
"I have seen it twice while batting. I have seen their players looking upstairs (dressing room). I told the umpires, this had to stop. I don't want to mention the word but it falls in that bracket. I would never do something like that on the cricket field," he added.
Asked if he was accusing the Australian team of cheating,
Tuesday, 28 February 2017
Create A YouTube Traffic Jam With These 4 Simple Optimization Tips
Create A YouTube Traffic Jam With These 4 Simple Optimization Tips
Did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google? As a Google product, YouTube has climbed to the top with over 4 billion videos being viewed every single day and a staggering 60 hours of video getting uploaded every minute. Uploading and marketing your videos on YouTube can help give your content visibility in both YouTube and Google search.
A YouTube channel serves as a hub for all your companies video content, allowing you to present your product, service or mission to a platform that sees over 800 million unique users visit each month. Today we’ll explore four ways to optimize your YouTube channel to ensure your videos are being discovered, watched and shared by looking at examples from existing innovators.
1. Optimize Your Videos Metadata
What is metadata you ask? Metadata is all the information you enter about a video to help clearly define the subject of a video. In terms of YouTube, the metadata makes up the title, descriptions and tags of your videos.
Optimizing these key sections of your video content will help rank your videos in both Google and YouTube. It’s important to note that content is king – if your video is the type of content your audience wants to see then these optimizations will help further a video’s reach. If your video content stinks, then optimizing your metadata is going to do very little to extend its visibility. For a worthwhile example of optimized metadata on YouTube, we’ll take a look at the Zappos YouTube channel.
How can you optimize your metadata like Zappos?
Title Your Video Correctly
Write a concise, descriptive title using key phrases that people would search to find your video. Be as natural as possible, but also incorporate YouTube’s Keyword Suggestion Tool as an approximation of how much global monthly traffic a particular key phrase receives. Make sure you choose “exact match” when doing keyword research with this tool.
In the above example, Zappos chose to title their video 5 Ways to Cuff Your Jeans! as a means of making viewers with style questions aware that Zappos is here to help style your clothing as well as offer some for sale. The title is more likely to be found by someone not searching for Zappos specifically, but more so for someone looking for help styling jeans. Zappos used the title of the video to help illustrate the video’s purpose of providing a service to viewers. In the end, helping bring the video in front of a relevant audience for Zappos.
Make Use of Your Video’s Description
Each of your videos should have a lengthy description of what the video’s content is all about. In this case, Zappos could have been lengthier in its description of this video but nonetheless they describe the contents of the video using similar keywords they used in the title.
One thing Zappos did correctly was include a URL at the very beginning of their description of this video. Always include a relevant URL to your website, whether it is a specific page or just the homepage of your website, so your viewers can find the corresponding information from your video on your company’s website.
Following the URL, include your most important keywords in the first few sentences of your description because some of your description. This is because depending on the length, gets hidden behind the show more tab. Aim to have at least a 250 word description using key phrases you’ve researched for the title of the video. Remember to keep your videos balanced with use of key phrases, while remaining natural.
Add Tags to Your Videos
Adding ten to twenty tags per video is an ideal way to make use of keywords relevant to your video but that couldn’t naturally fit in your title or description. Each tag should be a word or phrase (use mostly phrases), that are relevant to the content of the video as well as the ways in which you predict users would discover such a video. Follow Zappos examples of how to tag your videos with their use of keywords like how to, how to dress, 2012 fashion, what to wear, how to cuff your jeans etc.
Why is your video’s metadata a beneficial aspect of your YouTube strategy?
Correctly optimizing your videos title, description and tags is an important way to help YouTube and Google’s search algorithm determine the subject of your video and help it rank in the search results for relevant searches. Again, the metadata is only a small piece of the puzzle and will only help take your videos to the next level if you’ve got quality content to share with your audience.
Optimizing your metadata helps get your videos discovered by a relevant audience more likely to watch your video. The more views a video gets in a short time period of time, the higher it will rank for a variety of key phrases related to its subject. All and all, the first step to your YouTube strategy should be to follow Zappos in the steps described above and optimize your quality video content from the beginning.
2. Use Descriptive Playlists
Playlists are a feature that allows you to organize your videos on your channel into groupings based on a topic of your choice. There are a few benefits in using playlists to organize your video collections on YouTube when it comes to achieving greater visibility to your channel’s content.
Target’s YouTube channel is making wonderful use of the playlist feature when it comes to grouping videos of a similar topic, choosing a keyword focused title and correctly providing a description for the playlist.
Begin grouping videos of a similar topic into playlists.
Target chose to group all their web exclusive content in one playlist and all their TV commercials into another. By grouping your videos together based on their topic, these videos are more likely to drive traffic between one another due to both usability and YouTube’s search algorithm. A user is more likely to watch a video of the same subject matter right after they’ve just watched a video on that topic.
Use keyword focused titles for your playlists.
YouTube’s search algorithm takes into account many factors to determine what videos show up for what keywords. Keep this in mind when naming your playlists because it’s one of the factors YouTube takes into account to determine the subject matter of a video. Keep the title short, descriptive and use YouTube’s Keyword Suggestion Tool as a reference for finding keywords with a substantial global monthly search volume. Make sure when you’re using this tool to search with exact match types and to only use it as an approximate estimate on the value of certain keywords.
Write a keyword focused, accurate description for the playlist.
This description can be a maximum of 5,000 words, allowing users to understand the subject of the playlist at a glance and YouTube’s algorithm to take into account the contents of the playlist. Target wrote one sentence describing their Current TV Spots playlist, using keywords like great commercials, exclusive online content and of course Target. Completing the same type of research for the title of your playlist is also recommended when writing the descriptions of your playlists as well.
Playlists are beneficial because they help facilitate more views to your content by helping define the subject matter of a video for YouTube’s search algorithm when it comes to the playlist’s title and description. Playlists even rank in Google and YouTube’s search results, providing another means of getting your content seen.
Using playlists also drive increased traffic via related videos. When viewing a video on Target’s Current TV Spots playlist, other videos from this playlist appear on the related videos sidebar to the right of the video. Since videos of a similar subject matter were placed in an optimized playlist, other videos from Target appeared and therefore are helping drive traffic to one another. Related videos are one of the most common ways to drive traffic to your existing videos, playlists help facilitate this traffic.
Also, the playlist bar automatically plays an entire playlist once you begin watching one of the videos from the selection, which provides another opportunity for more than one of your videos to be played in front of a user who you’ve already gotten the attention of. This feature doesn’t come off as abrasive because it’s very easy for a user to stop, play, pause, skip or return to your YouTube channel by interacting with the playlist bar at the bottom of the browser at anytime.
3. Make the Most of Annotations
YouTube annotations are a way of adding interactive commentary to your videos. They act as a call to action on your content to help drive a viewer to complete a certain task, such as subscribing to your channel, watching more videos, pausing the video, adding a comment, following your brand on Twitter or Facebook and among many others.
Expert Village’s YouTube channel, which is part of the organization’s greater ehow network, takes the use of annotations to a new level of innovation by providing call to actions that don’t interfere with the viewers experience.
How can you add annotations to your YouTube videos just like Expert Village?
To begin adding annotations, select edit video on a video you’ve already uploaded to your channel and then select the annotations tab. In the annotations dashboard you can scroll throughout your video, selecting the timeframe where you wish to add an annotation from the add annotation drop down menu. There are six different types of annotations to help drive further interaction with your videos, each with a different purpose for optimizing your content.
The Speech Bubble:
This annotation acts as way of adding additional text not supplied in the video, but is still important that the user be aware of it. For instance, adding a speech bubble to someone who is talking during a video is an easy way to add additional content to what they’re already discussing.
This annotation can be especially helpful because it not only allows you to display text, but also the opportunity to add a link to another YouTube video, YouTube playlist, YouTube channel or the ability for a viewer to subscribe to your YouTube channel. Links to other websites can only be displayed in text form, requiring a user to type the URL displayed in an annotation into their browser as opposed to clicking. Unless it relevant, stick with sending traffic to other destinations within YouTube and keep links elsewhere to a minimum.
The Note:
This is one of the most usable annotations of them all. It’s a simple square that you can enter text into, as well as the links to other YouTube features like the speech bubble allows you to add. This annotation looks professional and is an easier way to present links to relevant destinations like a brand’s Twitter account or website. A marketer could utilize this annotation in a similar way to the speech bubble, but this annotation is more relevant for a variety of video content.
Expert Village’s Garden Home Challenge video uses the note annotation throughout the first nine seconds of the video as seen below. This adds a clear call to action to the beginning of the video, connecting it with the other videos in the series.
A clever innovation used in this video was after the first nine seconds of the video, when the note annotations changed over to spotlight annotations. Expert Village used both forms of annotations on this video series because note annotations draw more attention and take over more of the screen visually; therefore changing over to spotlight annotations after the first nine seconds removes the more distracting calls to action from the video experience, but still keeps them in a smaller form with the use of spotlight.
Always keeping the viewers experience in mind is the most important thing you can do and Expert Village does just this while making use of best practices for optimization.
The Title:
This annotation acts simply as an added function for videos without a title built into the production of the video. Users can customize the color, font and size of the title box they wish to have for their entire video or if they wish to, they can cut their video in various sections with various subtitles. This annotation is more helpful for branding purposes because it helps clarify for the user what the video is and what company is being represented.
The Spotlight:
The spotlight annotation acts similarly to the note annotation in that it allows you to link to various aspects of the YouTube network with or without text, but the only difference is it highlights a section of an existing video. Therefore, you can create aspects of your video that added with the spotlight annotation appear as custom links to your other YouTube assets. By placing the spotlight over a particular item within your video that section now acts a working link to other content.
Expert Village added a subscribe and a watch now image to the end of their video during its original production. Once the video was uploaded to YouTube, the spotlight annotation was placed over each of these images to create a custom call to action, adding a link to the appropriate next step.
The Label:
The label annotation is a newer addition to the YouTube annotation family. Think of it as a combination of the spotlight and note annotation, acting as a frame with space below it for a caption and/or link.
The Pause:
The pause function freezes the video during a period of time of your choosing, then resumes the video once that pause time is over. This annotation is helpful to help emphasize a particular part of a video that may be beneficial for viewers to focus on for a longer moment than the video allows.
For instance, a user with a video with important contact information about a particular product or service may choose to give viewers more time to take down this information. This annotation would appear to be used the least, just by the nature of what it does. However, it’s still useful to highlight an important message or image about your company to consumers, so vital that the video needs a brief pause.
Why are annotations a beneficial aspect of your YouTube strategy?
Annotations are beneficial aspect of your YouTube strategy because they are a free and easy way to expand your social following, gain greater visibility and add an interactive element to your content.
Your social following can grow from your YouTube videos due to provided calls to action in your annotations like the subscribe feature, making it as simple as possible for YouTube users to receive your future YouTube content. Using a call to action is surprisingly effective, proven to increase engagement as compared to not including them in your videos. Asking your viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel is the most successful social call to action on YouTube but that doesn’t rule out the benefit of drawing attention to your other social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more.
Annotations allow for both increased visibility and a way for viewers to interact with your content. Expert Village’s YouTube Valentine’s Day Essentials highlights ten different Valentine’s day videos within one video using the spotlight annotation over built in features of the video. Expert Village incorporated this menu of YouTube content thru annotations in the beginning of the video, during the video and at the end of the video. Annotations used in this way help drive traffic to your content if it’s relevant, especially when highlighting videos in a series. Annotations can also help to give your viewers more ways of watching and interacting with your content as opposed to browsing elsewhere once they’ve finished watching your video.
4. Brand Your Page Consistently
Branding is important no matter the marketing channel. Many features for branding your YouTube channel are free and should be taken full advantage of. Customizing the background of your channel, showcasing your other social networks and creating a custom header are just a few of the many ways to brand your presence on YouTube.
Upload a Custom Background
Many YouTube channels have a custom background as a testament that this is the official YouTube presence of their brand. CHOW.com’s background is simple, high quality and highlighting what they do best, food. Making sure to incorporate those three tactics in creating your own YouTube background is vital. Here’s a link to download your own YouTube Photoshop Template for getting started with your own YouTube channel design with the proper dimensions courtesy of Line25.
Showcase Your Other Social Channels Everywhere
Any opportunity to showcase links to your other social networks, blogs, website etc is worth utilizing. With YouTube’s latest upgrade to the look and feel of the channel there’s new ways of displaying your other online properties. Many brands, like Oralbrush and Dell as seen below, choose to utilize the space about their channel at the top right of the dashboard as a place to link to their Twitter, Facebook, blog, website and other destinations of relevance to their YouTube audience. It also allows for a brief description of your channel which should be utilized with keywords and natural phrasing in mind, much like the optimization of your metadata above.
Custom Banners and Layout as a Brand Channel
Customizing the banner and layout of your YouTube channel can go a long way towards improving the experience of your subscribers and viewers, but it unfortunately comes at a cost compared to these other free optimization suggestions.
If you’re a non-profit, this can be done for free but otherwise you’ll have to explore your payment options on YouTube’s brand channel product offerings page. These optimizations are often only undertaken by large companies but don’t let that dissuade you from taking on such a customization of your channel.
CHOW.com created their custom header focused around sharing a similar branded look to their website with a focus on the icons of their other social networks. Take into consideration how you can better utilize this space by taking a quick look at a couple other YouTube channel with customized channels.
Branding your channel helps bring a consistent experience to your viewers and subscribers on YouTube that they would see similarly reflected elsewhere. It’s important to let each marketing channel have its own feel, but also be tied together with other channels as well. Highlighting your most important videos on your channel, alongside your other social networks is a helpful way to help flaunt your digital savvy and help make it as easy as possible for your online advocates to connect with you wherever they’re active.
Those are four of the many ways innovators on YouTube are better optimizing their videos for the platform. What other innovative uses of YouTube optimization have you encountered? Share any thoughts or questions you might have in the comments below!
Did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google? As a Google product, YouTube has climbed to the top with over 4 billion videos being viewed every single day and a staggering 60 hours of video getting uploaded every minute. Uploading and marketing your videos on YouTube can help give your content visibility in both YouTube and Google search.
A YouTube channel serves as a hub for all your companies video content, allowing you to present your product, service or mission to a platform that sees over 800 million unique users visit each month. Today we’ll explore four ways to optimize your YouTube channel to ensure your videos are being discovered, watched and shared by looking at examples from existing innovators.
1. Optimize Your Videos Metadata
What is metadata you ask? Metadata is all the information you enter about a video to help clearly define the subject of a video. In terms of YouTube, the metadata makes up the title, descriptions and tags of your videos.
Optimizing these key sections of your video content will help rank your videos in both Google and YouTube. It’s important to note that content is king – if your video is the type of content your audience wants to see then these optimizations will help further a video’s reach. If your video content stinks, then optimizing your metadata is going to do very little to extend its visibility. For a worthwhile example of optimized metadata on YouTube, we’ll take a look at the Zappos YouTube channel.
How can you optimize your metadata like Zappos?
Title Your Video Correctly
Write a concise, descriptive title using key phrases that people would search to find your video. Be as natural as possible, but also incorporate YouTube’s Keyword Suggestion Tool as an approximation of how much global monthly traffic a particular key phrase receives. Make sure you choose “exact match” when doing keyword research with this tool.
In the above example, Zappos chose to title their video 5 Ways to Cuff Your Jeans! as a means of making viewers with style questions aware that Zappos is here to help style your clothing as well as offer some for sale. The title is more likely to be found by someone not searching for Zappos specifically, but more so for someone looking for help styling jeans. Zappos used the title of the video to help illustrate the video’s purpose of providing a service to viewers. In the end, helping bring the video in front of a relevant audience for Zappos.
Make Use of Your Video’s Description
Each of your videos should have a lengthy description of what the video’s content is all about. In this case, Zappos could have been lengthier in its description of this video but nonetheless they describe the contents of the video using similar keywords they used in the title.
One thing Zappos did correctly was include a URL at the very beginning of their description of this video. Always include a relevant URL to your website, whether it is a specific page or just the homepage of your website, so your viewers can find the corresponding information from your video on your company’s website.
Following the URL, include your most important keywords in the first few sentences of your description because some of your description. This is because depending on the length, gets hidden behind the show more tab. Aim to have at least a 250 word description using key phrases you’ve researched for the title of the video. Remember to keep your videos balanced with use of key phrases, while remaining natural.
Add Tags to Your Videos
Adding ten to twenty tags per video is an ideal way to make use of keywords relevant to your video but that couldn’t naturally fit in your title or description. Each tag should be a word or phrase (use mostly phrases), that are relevant to the content of the video as well as the ways in which you predict users would discover such a video. Follow Zappos examples of how to tag your videos with their use of keywords like how to, how to dress, 2012 fashion, what to wear, how to cuff your jeans etc.
Why is your video’s metadata a beneficial aspect of your YouTube strategy?
Correctly optimizing your videos title, description and tags is an important way to help YouTube and Google’s search algorithm determine the subject of your video and help it rank in the search results for relevant searches. Again, the metadata is only a small piece of the puzzle and will only help take your videos to the next level if you’ve got quality content to share with your audience.
Optimizing your metadata helps get your videos discovered by a relevant audience more likely to watch your video. The more views a video gets in a short time period of time, the higher it will rank for a variety of key phrases related to its subject. All and all, the first step to your YouTube strategy should be to follow Zappos in the steps described above and optimize your quality video content from the beginning.
2. Use Descriptive Playlists
Playlists are a feature that allows you to organize your videos on your channel into groupings based on a topic of your choice. There are a few benefits in using playlists to organize your video collections on YouTube when it comes to achieving greater visibility to your channel’s content.
Target’s YouTube channel is making wonderful use of the playlist feature when it comes to grouping videos of a similar topic, choosing a keyword focused title and correctly providing a description for the playlist.
Begin grouping videos of a similar topic into playlists.
Target chose to group all their web exclusive content in one playlist and all their TV commercials into another. By grouping your videos together based on their topic, these videos are more likely to drive traffic between one another due to both usability and YouTube’s search algorithm. A user is more likely to watch a video of the same subject matter right after they’ve just watched a video on that topic.
Use keyword focused titles for your playlists.
YouTube’s search algorithm takes into account many factors to determine what videos show up for what keywords. Keep this in mind when naming your playlists because it’s one of the factors YouTube takes into account to determine the subject matter of a video. Keep the title short, descriptive and use YouTube’s Keyword Suggestion Tool as a reference for finding keywords with a substantial global monthly search volume. Make sure when you’re using this tool to search with exact match types and to only use it as an approximate estimate on the value of certain keywords.
Write a keyword focused, accurate description for the playlist.
This description can be a maximum of 5,000 words, allowing users to understand the subject of the playlist at a glance and YouTube’s algorithm to take into account the contents of the playlist. Target wrote one sentence describing their Current TV Spots playlist, using keywords like great commercials, exclusive online content and of course Target. Completing the same type of research for the title of your playlist is also recommended when writing the descriptions of your playlists as well.
Playlists are beneficial because they help facilitate more views to your content by helping define the subject matter of a video for YouTube’s search algorithm when it comes to the playlist’s title and description. Playlists even rank in Google and YouTube’s search results, providing another means of getting your content seen.
Using playlists also drive increased traffic via related videos. When viewing a video on Target’s Current TV Spots playlist, other videos from this playlist appear on the related videos sidebar to the right of the video. Since videos of a similar subject matter were placed in an optimized playlist, other videos from Target appeared and therefore are helping drive traffic to one another. Related videos are one of the most common ways to drive traffic to your existing videos, playlists help facilitate this traffic.
Also, the playlist bar automatically plays an entire playlist once you begin watching one of the videos from the selection, which provides another opportunity for more than one of your videos to be played in front of a user who you’ve already gotten the attention of. This feature doesn’t come off as abrasive because it’s very easy for a user to stop, play, pause, skip or return to your YouTube channel by interacting with the playlist bar at the bottom of the browser at anytime.
3. Make the Most of Annotations
YouTube annotations are a way of adding interactive commentary to your videos. They act as a call to action on your content to help drive a viewer to complete a certain task, such as subscribing to your channel, watching more videos, pausing the video, adding a comment, following your brand on Twitter or Facebook and among many others.
Expert Village’s YouTube channel, which is part of the organization’s greater ehow network, takes the use of annotations to a new level of innovation by providing call to actions that don’t interfere with the viewers experience.
How can you add annotations to your YouTube videos just like Expert Village?
To begin adding annotations, select edit video on a video you’ve already uploaded to your channel and then select the annotations tab. In the annotations dashboard you can scroll throughout your video, selecting the timeframe where you wish to add an annotation from the add annotation drop down menu. There are six different types of annotations to help drive further interaction with your videos, each with a different purpose for optimizing your content.
The Speech Bubble:
This annotation acts as way of adding additional text not supplied in the video, but is still important that the user be aware of it. For instance, adding a speech bubble to someone who is talking during a video is an easy way to add additional content to what they’re already discussing.
This annotation can be especially helpful because it not only allows you to display text, but also the opportunity to add a link to another YouTube video, YouTube playlist, YouTube channel or the ability for a viewer to subscribe to your YouTube channel. Links to other websites can only be displayed in text form, requiring a user to type the URL displayed in an annotation into their browser as opposed to clicking. Unless it relevant, stick with sending traffic to other destinations within YouTube and keep links elsewhere to a minimum.
The Note:
This is one of the most usable annotations of them all. It’s a simple square that you can enter text into, as well as the links to other YouTube features like the speech bubble allows you to add. This annotation looks professional and is an easier way to present links to relevant destinations like a brand’s Twitter account or website. A marketer could utilize this annotation in a similar way to the speech bubble, but this annotation is more relevant for a variety of video content.
Expert Village’s Garden Home Challenge video uses the note annotation throughout the first nine seconds of the video as seen below. This adds a clear call to action to the beginning of the video, connecting it with the other videos in the series.
A clever innovation used in this video was after the first nine seconds of the video, when the note annotations changed over to spotlight annotations. Expert Village used both forms of annotations on this video series because note annotations draw more attention and take over more of the screen visually; therefore changing over to spotlight annotations after the first nine seconds removes the more distracting calls to action from the video experience, but still keeps them in a smaller form with the use of spotlight.
Always keeping the viewers experience in mind is the most important thing you can do and Expert Village does just this while making use of best practices for optimization.
The Title:
This annotation acts simply as an added function for videos without a title built into the production of the video. Users can customize the color, font and size of the title box they wish to have for their entire video or if they wish to, they can cut their video in various sections with various subtitles. This annotation is more helpful for branding purposes because it helps clarify for the user what the video is and what company is being represented.
The Spotlight:
The spotlight annotation acts similarly to the note annotation in that it allows you to link to various aspects of the YouTube network with or without text, but the only difference is it highlights a section of an existing video. Therefore, you can create aspects of your video that added with the spotlight annotation appear as custom links to your other YouTube assets. By placing the spotlight over a particular item within your video that section now acts a working link to other content.
Expert Village added a subscribe and a watch now image to the end of their video during its original production. Once the video was uploaded to YouTube, the spotlight annotation was placed over each of these images to create a custom call to action, adding a link to the appropriate next step.
The Label:
The label annotation is a newer addition to the YouTube annotation family. Think of it as a combination of the spotlight and note annotation, acting as a frame with space below it for a caption and/or link.
The Pause:
The pause function freezes the video during a period of time of your choosing, then resumes the video once that pause time is over. This annotation is helpful to help emphasize a particular part of a video that may be beneficial for viewers to focus on for a longer moment than the video allows.
For instance, a user with a video with important contact information about a particular product or service may choose to give viewers more time to take down this information. This annotation would appear to be used the least, just by the nature of what it does. However, it’s still useful to highlight an important message or image about your company to consumers, so vital that the video needs a brief pause.
Why are annotations a beneficial aspect of your YouTube strategy?
Annotations are beneficial aspect of your YouTube strategy because they are a free and easy way to expand your social following, gain greater visibility and add an interactive element to your content.
Your social following can grow from your YouTube videos due to provided calls to action in your annotations like the subscribe feature, making it as simple as possible for YouTube users to receive your future YouTube content. Using a call to action is surprisingly effective, proven to increase engagement as compared to not including them in your videos. Asking your viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel is the most successful social call to action on YouTube but that doesn’t rule out the benefit of drawing attention to your other social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more.
Annotations allow for both increased visibility and a way for viewers to interact with your content. Expert Village’s YouTube Valentine’s Day Essentials highlights ten different Valentine’s day videos within one video using the spotlight annotation over built in features of the video. Expert Village incorporated this menu of YouTube content thru annotations in the beginning of the video, during the video and at the end of the video. Annotations used in this way help drive traffic to your content if it’s relevant, especially when highlighting videos in a series. Annotations can also help to give your viewers more ways of watching and interacting with your content as opposed to browsing elsewhere once they’ve finished watching your video.
4. Brand Your Page Consistently
Branding is important no matter the marketing channel. Many features for branding your YouTube channel are free and should be taken full advantage of. Customizing the background of your channel, showcasing your other social networks and creating a custom header are just a few of the many ways to brand your presence on YouTube.
Upload a Custom Background
Many YouTube channels have a custom background as a testament that this is the official YouTube presence of their brand. CHOW.com’s background is simple, high quality and highlighting what they do best, food. Making sure to incorporate those three tactics in creating your own YouTube background is vital. Here’s a link to download your own YouTube Photoshop Template for getting started with your own YouTube channel design with the proper dimensions courtesy of Line25.
Showcase Your Other Social Channels Everywhere
Any opportunity to showcase links to your other social networks, blogs, website etc is worth utilizing. With YouTube’s latest upgrade to the look and feel of the channel there’s new ways of displaying your other online properties. Many brands, like Oralbrush and Dell as seen below, choose to utilize the space about their channel at the top right of the dashboard as a place to link to their Twitter, Facebook, blog, website and other destinations of relevance to their YouTube audience. It also allows for a brief description of your channel which should be utilized with keywords and natural phrasing in mind, much like the optimization of your metadata above.
Custom Banners and Layout as a Brand Channel
Customizing the banner and layout of your YouTube channel can go a long way towards improving the experience of your subscribers and viewers, but it unfortunately comes at a cost compared to these other free optimization suggestions.
If you’re a non-profit, this can be done for free but otherwise you’ll have to explore your payment options on YouTube’s brand channel product offerings page. These optimizations are often only undertaken by large companies but don’t let that dissuade you from taking on such a customization of your channel.
CHOW.com created their custom header focused around sharing a similar branded look to their website with a focus on the icons of their other social networks. Take into consideration how you can better utilize this space by taking a quick look at a couple other YouTube channel with customized channels.
Branding your channel helps bring a consistent experience to your viewers and subscribers on YouTube that they would see similarly reflected elsewhere. It’s important to let each marketing channel have its own feel, but also be tied together with other channels as well. Highlighting your most important videos on your channel, alongside your other social networks is a helpful way to help flaunt your digital savvy and help make it as easy as possible for your online advocates to connect with you wherever they’re active.
Those are four of the many ways innovators on YouTube are better optimizing their videos for the platform. What other innovative uses of YouTube optimization have you encountered? Share any thoughts or questions you might have in the comments below!
Saturday, 21 January 2017
12 Things to Do Before Applying for Google AdSense + FREE Bonus Checklist
So, you want to apply for Adsense to make some money from your blog and enjoy the life you always dream of?
Who does not anyway? That’s the dream of every blogger to get AdSense approved.
But, wait..
I’ve to tell you something.
That’s not easy. Google AdSense is very strict when it comes to approving new application. Everyone is trying to trick AdSense to get approved so they have made the process very hard.
Don’t worry. You’re not alone.
In this article, I’m going to share with you everything that you need to do before applying for Google AdSense program to actually get approve.
Some common questions that you may have about Google AdSense are…
How to apply for Google AdSense?
Does my blog qualify for AdSense or not?
Am I eligible to apply for Google AdSense?
What are Google AdSense requirements?
Why Google AdSense rejected my application?
What to do if Google AdSense reject my application?
This post is going to answer all your questions in detail. It’s over 3000+ words so grab a cup of coffee.. ;)
Download Your FREE 12-points Checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything before applying for AdSense.
WHY GOOGLE ADSENSE IS SO POPULAR?
Google AdSense is one of the oldest networks to offer ad publishing and works at Pay Per Click system.
When it comes to the legitimacy of Google AdSense, it speaks for itself. Google AdSense have thousands and thousands of satisfied customers and publishers. AdSense pays on time, every time.
One more reason for choosing Google AdSense is that we can earn huge amounts of money if we do our work in right way. There are many bloggers who are making a complete living from their blogs and Google AdSense.
Therefore, Google AdSense should be the number one choice among all the other available networks.
It’s paying rates are better than all of other networks so that’s the biggest reason it is so popular among bloggers.
But since everybody is running behind them, they have made the approval system very strict. You make little mistakes and get disapproved every time. Here are few reasons why Google will reject your AdSense application.
COMMON ADSENSE REJECTION REASONS
Here are the most common rejection reasons and Google AdSense requirements that you should keep in mind before we get into details.
1. Insufficient content / Unacceptable site content
Your website doesn’t have enough text on for Google specialists to review.
Google gives a lot of value and attention to the content of the blog before accepting it. If the content is poorly written and has grammatical mistakes Google will reject the blog right away.
Not only the content needs to be grammatically correct, it must be unique and has to provide value to the users and readers of the blog. So the number one reason is the poorly written content on your blog.
2. Page Type / Design of your blog
What will you do if you land a page with full bright yellow background with white text on it, having huge buttons all over the place?
Yes, you’ll never visit that website again .
Blogs which are poorly designed and are hard for the visitors to understand gets rejected by Google AdSense. You must have a good and neat design which comforts the eye and is beautiful in the look.
3. No Privacy Policy, About Us or Contact Us page
There are some pages which you must have before applying to Google AdSense if you want to get accepted.
These are about us, privacy policy and contact us pages. These pages give the impression that you are a professional and that you are working according to the Google policies. Keep in mind that having a privacy page is also one of the requirements for Google AdSense.
4. Site Does Not Comply With Google AdSense Policies
No rich, unique and meaningful content, no organic traffic, pages with little to no original content or bad user experience through clear navigation and organization.
Your website may be the one that drives traffic through illegal sources, sites with excessive keywords or poorly coded design are usually rejected.
So you need a complete guidance and list of things that you need to do before applying for Google AdSense.
THINGS TO DO BEFORE APPLYING FOR ADSENSE
1. Write High-Quality Content:
The #1 thing you need to do before applying for Google AdSenseis to write high-quality content. This is very important thing which you can’t ignore at any cost. I mean it!
Google loves the blog who are providing high-quality content and their visitors are enjoying it. Keep in mind that your application will be reviewed by humans and you have to impress them to get approved by AdSense.
A high-quality content…
is unique and original
with proper headings and bullet lists
free from grammar and spelling mistakes
is long enough
useful and informative
Helpful resources:
What is Quality Content?
How to Produce High Quality Written Content
2. Create Privacy Page for Your Blog:
One of the common mistakes that most new bloggers. Even though there are people out there who say that having a privacy policy for a blog doesn’t make sense but they are wrong!
The first thing you will need to apply for Google AdSense and get approval is the privacy policy of your blog or website. If you don’t have it you cannot get approval simple is that.
Why is it important?
It’s requirement of AdSense and secondly, this privacy policy means you are not a scam and gives the sense of a serious business. Google will check the rest of the conditions only if you have this policy.
A privacy actually describes to your readers about what they will get on your blog , what they should do and what they should not. So obviously there is nothing bad in having a privacy policy. While it can affect somehow on your AdSense approval, you must give it a try.
You can write it yourself or find Privacy Policy Generators online (You don’t need a lawyer anyway).
Helpful guide:
Create a Simple Privacy Policy for Your Blog (Example Included)
3. Create About Page:
Like privacy policy, you must have an about page so that you can get approved. This also shows that there is a real person behind the blog.
An About page has a major role and importance even if you don’t want to apply for AdSense. But when it comes to AdSense, they are about zero chances of getting approved if you are not showing this page.
About page simply describe you and your blog . This will not only help you establish a relationship with readers but it will also make them trust you.
4. Setup A Contact Us Page:
It’s quite obvious that everyone has his/her own opinion.
What one of your readers likes may be bothering someone else. Then it is better to give them an opportunity to speak up to you and tell how they feel about your blog, what they want to be edited , what they liked or hated.
Create a contact page, if possible add your email that you are going to apply for Google AdSense. If possible do get some professional email address like ammar@allbloggingtips.com and your social profile links too.
By creating this you are telling Google that we care for our customers, visitors and we are ready to help them. They can contact us anytime.
It will also show the Google AdSense Team that is viewing your site that you actually care about your readers and not only the money and AdSense.
Check out my contact page to get some idea.
One important step: Google AdSense mention in their rejection email that your website should have a clear navigation menu to help your readers find your pages and access the content before you think about applying again for AdSense.
So, what you’ve to do is to work on your menu by adding all important categories and pages i.e about us, contact us and privacy policy to help your readers easily find the content that they are looking for. The more you care about improving your visitors experienSo, what you’ve to do is to work on your menu by adding all important categories and pages i.e about us, contact us and privacy policy to help your readers easily find the content that they are looking for. The more you care about improving your visitors experience the higher chances will be to get approved by AdSense.
Here’s an example to illustrate this point.
add important pages to adsense
5. Verify Your Name and Email:
When you apply don’t forget to put your name and email address in some easily visible area like about and contact pages. It will confirm to Google AdSense team that it is the same person who applied for AdSense and not some spam, crappy bots.
This will speed up the verification process and within no time, you’ll be able to enjoy fully approved AdSense account.
6. Have Some Good Number Of Posts:
What should be the minimum number of posts before applying for Google AdSense? There is no confirmed answer.
Not even one.
Because I have seen very established blogs with 300+ posts and their owner telling me that Google AdSense is rejecting them while somewhere bloggers with few posts or even less than 10 are enjoying making money with AdSense.
Exactly, what I said that there is no actual answer. However, we can always predict things.
According to my experience, the best time to apply for AdSense account is when you have at least 20 good quality posts. Your blog posts length should be at least 600+ words with quality content.
Dillon got his AdSense account approved with just 3 posts, 115 views, and 2 comments. Isn’t that great?
I visited his blog and noticed these things that actually matters to get Adsense approved.
Simple and clean design
Easy to navigate blog
Unique niche
Detail content
No “unwanted” widgets
minimum requirement for posts
7. Make Sure You’re 18+
This is the mistake that new bloggers are making who are less than 18. They write incorrect age and get into trouble.
Use your correct date of birth and age while applying for Google AdSense account.
Because Google AdSense is not for people who are under 18. Some people realize this problem after being disproved a few times without any legitimate reason.
So I advise you to be accurate while typing your age.
8. Improve Your Blog Design:
As mentioned earlier, you blog design matters a lot. It should be professional and not like a messy photo gallery. A clean, professional and fast-loading design is appreciated by Google.
When you visit a website what’s the first thing you look for? It’s blog design.
You’ve to build a good first impression on your blog readers to engage them.
Your blog design is the biggest thing after content. This represents your expertise, experience, and professionalism. It should have following features:
Simple and professional
Easy to navigate
Proper menus
No useless items in sidebar or footer
Search engine friendly
Fast loading
So be careful because anything can kill your chances of getting approved by AdSense.
There are thousands of websites who provide free professional looking themes for your blog. All you need to do is to search for them.
If you’re on WordPress self-hosted blog then I recommend getting a premium theme from MyThemeShop.
And if you are still using blogspot then there are many great websites where you can find free professional looking blogger templates for your blog.
Check out my post on the reasons to invest more money on your blog.
9. Check Your Content Type:
Be careful with what type of content you are publishing. Because it is something that truly matters.
Here are some common content types that are not accepted by AdSense.
Pornography/Adult materials
Pirated Content
Hacking or Cracking Tutorials
Illegal Drugs/Paraphernalia
Any Other Illegal Stuff
There are few languages that are supported by AdSense so make sure your blog language is in the list of these.
AdSense supported languages
Google AdSense team mentioned in one of their forum posts that they stopped accepting niches that are already saturated i.e making money, marketing, website and SEO stuff. You can read more here.
Please-review-my-site-for-Google-Adsense---Google-Product-Forums
If you already have written about these content that AdSense doesn’t support, you can either stop dreaming about AdSense or get rid of these content.
10. Use Top Level Domain:
Google has made changes to their policies. If you have a blog with blogspot and the domain is yourblog.blogspot.com then chances are you will get approved quickly.
But you will not be able to use that on any other domain like .com. You’ll have to submit the request to upgrade your AdSense account.
As for today, you must have your own unique domain that specifies your blog. If you don’t have one yet, stop dreaming about getting approved with sub domains and go buy a Top Level Domain. It will cost anywhere from $10-$15/year. You can buy the domain from Godaddy or Namecheap.
The best domain is the one with .com extension. Choose a short, unique and easy to remember domain that is related to your blog niche.
Another important thing about the domain is its age. Because for some of the Asian countries like India, AdSense has placed domain age restriction. They don’t accept any sites which are less than 6 months old.
There are many AdSense stories that I read on many forums that some people got approved for few weeks old blog and other got rejected for the blog that is even more than 6 months old. So age doesn’t really matter when you have a high-quality blog that’s focus more on helping your visitors.
If you’ve a website that is less than 6 months old then you can still consider applying for AdSense.
Shibam got accepted by Google AdSense with 28 posts and a 6 months old blog. He managed his blog from mobile only.
shibam adsense approved
11. Remove Other Ad Networks:
If you have any other ads placed like Chitika, Infolinks, Clicksor or anything, it’s time to drop them off.
Make your blog free from ads.
Even Google AdSense allows you to use other ad networks along with them, it’s better to remove the ads before applying and don’t put them back until you get a reply from AdSense team which usually takes anywhere from few days to weeks.
So, before submitting your application for Google AdSense make sure to remove all the ads on your blog from any other network.
12. Check Your Traffic Sources:
Google hates the sites that are getting paid traffic and mostly penalizes them so there is not a damn chance of getting approved by AdSense for a site that is getting paid traffic. You can bring traffic from search engines or any other way you want but if you want to earn via Google AdSense the right way, paid traffic is not a solution.
Also, note,that Google does not accept site which gets traffic from illegal sources. So focus on getting traffic from legal sources like social media, search engines, and related blogs.
Further Reading:
7 Strategies I Use To Increase My Blog Traffic (I Bet You Can Too!)
How to Get Traffic to A New Blog?
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR APPLICATION IS REJECTED?
Okay, so you had done trying everything you could to get approved by AdSense.
But, AdSense is still not getting approved.
Well, It’s not the end of the world! ;)
There are two things you can do:
#1: Don’t lose hope. Take your time to fix the issues on your blog that is mentioned by AdSense in rejection email and apply again. Remember, if you are disapproved, you can apply again and again until you finally get approved by Google AdSense. There’s no issue with that. Just use the same email account that you used for the first time.
#2: There are many other trusted and high paying ads network you can use and trust me they are not hard as Google AdSense is in terms of getting approval. One door of opportunity is closed so the other one will open.
You can use these ad networks to earn money without AdSense. They are easy to get approved.
1. Infolinks
Infolinks is the leader in in-text advertising which offers 70% revenue share even if you’re a newbie blogger. It is different from other advertising networks. It takes less space because it shows in text ads or pop up ads. You can use it with Adsense safely.
It is a pay per click. They offer advertising options like: insearch ads, intext ads, inframe ads, intag ads.
Alexa Rank: 2571
Min payout: $50
Payment method: PayPal, Wire Transfer, eCheck, Western Union, Payoneer
SIGNUP NOW (IT’S FREE AND
2. BidVertiser
BidVertiser is another top alternative to Google AdSense which pays you for valid clicks on ads placed on your website. It is great Adsense alternative if you didn’t get Adsense approval or got banned. Bidvertiser offers Banner ads, Text ads, Mobile Ads, Slider ads etc. You can also make money by promoting your customized toolbar.
Alexa Rank: 892
Min payout: $10 only
Payment Method: PayPal, Checks
SIGNUP FOR BIDVERTISER
3. Media.net
Media.net is probably the best alternative to AdSense as it’s powered by Yahoo Bing Network. I’ve tried Media.net few years ago and the average CPM was much better than any other AdSense alternatives. Media.net ads are quite similar to Google AdSense and it’s very easy to get approved if you’ve a quality blog.
Alexa Rank: 5132
Min payout: $100
Payment Method: PayPal, Bank wire
SIGNUP FOR MEDIA.NET
CONCLUSION:
To sum up, getting an AdSense approved is not really hard if you have a quality website that is focused more on high-quality content, optimized for search engines, uses a great design and with the good number of visitors. Because that’s what Google wants from its every publisher.
Make sure to do these things before applying for Google AdSense. I guess these are not too hard. Don’t be sad if Google AdSense doesn’t approve your blog. There are many other ways to make money online without AdSense.
Hope for the best.
One more thing, don’t reply too much on AdSense. Try to make money through your blog from other business models. Ads network will not give you much as other income methods like affiliate marketing and selling your own product.
Now here’s what I want YOU to do.
Click on social sharing buttons below and share this post with your friends, I’m sure they’ll love it!
Comment below and let me know your story about getting AdSense approved. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
Who does not anyway? That’s the dream of every blogger to get AdSense approved.
But, wait..
I’ve to tell you something.
That’s not easy. Google AdSense is very strict when it comes to approving new application. Everyone is trying to trick AdSense to get approved so they have made the process very hard.
Don’t worry. You’re not alone.
In this article, I’m going to share with you everything that you need to do before applying for Google AdSense program to actually get approve.
Some common questions that you may have about Google AdSense are…
How to apply for Google AdSense?
Does my blog qualify for AdSense or not?
Am I eligible to apply for Google AdSense?
What are Google AdSense requirements?
Why Google AdSense rejected my application?
What to do if Google AdSense reject my application?
This post is going to answer all your questions in detail. It’s over 3000+ words so grab a cup of coffee.. ;)
Download Your FREE 12-points Checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything before applying for AdSense.
WHY GOOGLE ADSENSE IS SO POPULAR?
Google AdSense is one of the oldest networks to offer ad publishing and works at Pay Per Click system.
When it comes to the legitimacy of Google AdSense, it speaks for itself. Google AdSense have thousands and thousands of satisfied customers and publishers. AdSense pays on time, every time.
One more reason for choosing Google AdSense is that we can earn huge amounts of money if we do our work in right way. There are many bloggers who are making a complete living from their blogs and Google AdSense.
Therefore, Google AdSense should be the number one choice among all the other available networks.
It’s paying rates are better than all of other networks so that’s the biggest reason it is so popular among bloggers.
But since everybody is running behind them, they have made the approval system very strict. You make little mistakes and get disapproved every time. Here are few reasons why Google will reject your AdSense application.
COMMON ADSENSE REJECTION REASONS
Here are the most common rejection reasons and Google AdSense requirements that you should keep in mind before we get into details.
1. Insufficient content / Unacceptable site content
Your website doesn’t have enough text on for Google specialists to review.
Google gives a lot of value and attention to the content of the blog before accepting it. If the content is poorly written and has grammatical mistakes Google will reject the blog right away.
Not only the content needs to be grammatically correct, it must be unique and has to provide value to the users and readers of the blog. So the number one reason is the poorly written content on your blog.
2. Page Type / Design of your blog
What will you do if you land a page with full bright yellow background with white text on it, having huge buttons all over the place?
Yes, you’ll never visit that website again .
Blogs which are poorly designed and are hard for the visitors to understand gets rejected by Google AdSense. You must have a good and neat design which comforts the eye and is beautiful in the look.
3. No Privacy Policy, About Us or Contact Us page
There are some pages which you must have before applying to Google AdSense if you want to get accepted.
These are about us, privacy policy and contact us pages. These pages give the impression that you are a professional and that you are working according to the Google policies. Keep in mind that having a privacy page is also one of the requirements for Google AdSense.
4. Site Does Not Comply With Google AdSense Policies
No rich, unique and meaningful content, no organic traffic, pages with little to no original content or bad user experience through clear navigation and organization.
Your website may be the one that drives traffic through illegal sources, sites with excessive keywords or poorly coded design are usually rejected.
So you need a complete guidance and list of things that you need to do before applying for Google AdSense.
THINGS TO DO BEFORE APPLYING FOR ADSENSE
1. Write High-Quality Content:
The #1 thing you need to do before applying for Google AdSenseis to write high-quality content. This is very important thing which you can’t ignore at any cost. I mean it!
Google loves the blog who are providing high-quality content and their visitors are enjoying it. Keep in mind that your application will be reviewed by humans and you have to impress them to get approved by AdSense.
A high-quality content…
is unique and original
with proper headings and bullet lists
free from grammar and spelling mistakes
is long enough
useful and informative
Helpful resources:
What is Quality Content?
How to Produce High Quality Written Content
2. Create Privacy Page for Your Blog:
One of the common mistakes that most new bloggers. Even though there are people out there who say that having a privacy policy for a blog doesn’t make sense but they are wrong!
The first thing you will need to apply for Google AdSense and get approval is the privacy policy of your blog or website. If you don’t have it you cannot get approval simple is that.
Why is it important?
It’s requirement of AdSense and secondly, this privacy policy means you are not a scam and gives the sense of a serious business. Google will check the rest of the conditions only if you have this policy.
A privacy actually describes to your readers about what they will get on your blog , what they should do and what they should not. So obviously there is nothing bad in having a privacy policy. While it can affect somehow on your AdSense approval, you must give it a try.
You can write it yourself or find Privacy Policy Generators online (You don’t need a lawyer anyway).
Helpful guide:
Create a Simple Privacy Policy for Your Blog (Example Included)
3. Create About Page:
Like privacy policy, you must have an about page so that you can get approved. This also shows that there is a real person behind the blog.
An About page has a major role and importance even if you don’t want to apply for AdSense. But when it comes to AdSense, they are about zero chances of getting approved if you are not showing this page.
About page simply describe you and your blog . This will not only help you establish a relationship with readers but it will also make them trust you.
4. Setup A Contact Us Page:
It’s quite obvious that everyone has his/her own opinion.
What one of your readers likes may be bothering someone else. Then it is better to give them an opportunity to speak up to you and tell how they feel about your blog, what they want to be edited , what they liked or hated.
Create a contact page, if possible add your email that you are going to apply for Google AdSense. If possible do get some professional email address like ammar@allbloggingtips.com and your social profile links too.
By creating this you are telling Google that we care for our customers, visitors and we are ready to help them. They can contact us anytime.
It will also show the Google AdSense Team that is viewing your site that you actually care about your readers and not only the money and AdSense.
Check out my contact page to get some idea.
One important step: Google AdSense mention in their rejection email that your website should have a clear navigation menu to help your readers find your pages and access the content before you think about applying again for AdSense.
So, what you’ve to do is to work on your menu by adding all important categories and pages i.e about us, contact us and privacy policy to help your readers easily find the content that they are looking for. The more you care about improving your visitors experienSo, what you’ve to do is to work on your menu by adding all important categories and pages i.e about us, contact us and privacy policy to help your readers easily find the content that they are looking for. The more you care about improving your visitors experience the higher chances will be to get approved by AdSense.
Here’s an example to illustrate this point.
add important pages to adsense
5. Verify Your Name and Email:
When you apply don’t forget to put your name and email address in some easily visible area like about and contact pages. It will confirm to Google AdSense team that it is the same person who applied for AdSense and not some spam, crappy bots.
This will speed up the verification process and within no time, you’ll be able to enjoy fully approved AdSense account.
6. Have Some Good Number Of Posts:
What should be the minimum number of posts before applying for Google AdSense? There is no confirmed answer.
Not even one.
Because I have seen very established blogs with 300+ posts and their owner telling me that Google AdSense is rejecting them while somewhere bloggers with few posts or even less than 10 are enjoying making money with AdSense.
Exactly, what I said that there is no actual answer. However, we can always predict things.
According to my experience, the best time to apply for AdSense account is when you have at least 20 good quality posts. Your blog posts length should be at least 600+ words with quality content.
Dillon got his AdSense account approved with just 3 posts, 115 views, and 2 comments. Isn’t that great?
I visited his blog and noticed these things that actually matters to get Adsense approved.
Simple and clean design
Easy to navigate blog
Unique niche
Detail content
No “unwanted” widgets
minimum requirement for posts
7. Make Sure You’re 18+
This is the mistake that new bloggers are making who are less than 18. They write incorrect age and get into trouble.
Use your correct date of birth and age while applying for Google AdSense account.
Because Google AdSense is not for people who are under 18. Some people realize this problem after being disproved a few times without any legitimate reason.
So I advise you to be accurate while typing your age.
8. Improve Your Blog Design:
As mentioned earlier, you blog design matters a lot. It should be professional and not like a messy photo gallery. A clean, professional and fast-loading design is appreciated by Google.
When you visit a website what’s the first thing you look for? It’s blog design.
You’ve to build a good first impression on your blog readers to engage them.
Your blog design is the biggest thing after content. This represents your expertise, experience, and professionalism. It should have following features:
Simple and professional
Easy to navigate
Proper menus
No useless items in sidebar or footer
Search engine friendly
Fast loading
So be careful because anything can kill your chances of getting approved by AdSense.
There are thousands of websites who provide free professional looking themes for your blog. All you need to do is to search for them.
If you’re on WordPress self-hosted blog then I recommend getting a premium theme from MyThemeShop.
And if you are still using blogspot then there are many great websites where you can find free professional looking blogger templates for your blog.
Check out my post on the reasons to invest more money on your blog.
9. Check Your Content Type:
Be careful with what type of content you are publishing. Because it is something that truly matters.
Here are some common content types that are not accepted by AdSense.
Pornography/Adult materials
Pirated Content
Hacking or Cracking Tutorials
Illegal Drugs/Paraphernalia
Any Other Illegal Stuff
There are few languages that are supported by AdSense so make sure your blog language is in the list of these.
AdSense supported languages
Google AdSense team mentioned in one of their forum posts that they stopped accepting niches that are already saturated i.e making money, marketing, website and SEO stuff. You can read more here.
Please-review-my-site-for-Google-Adsense---Google-Product-Forums
If you already have written about these content that AdSense doesn’t support, you can either stop dreaming about AdSense or get rid of these content.
10. Use Top Level Domain:
Google has made changes to their policies. If you have a blog with blogspot and the domain is yourblog.blogspot.com then chances are you will get approved quickly.
But you will not be able to use that on any other domain like .com. You’ll have to submit the request to upgrade your AdSense account.
As for today, you must have your own unique domain that specifies your blog. If you don’t have one yet, stop dreaming about getting approved with sub domains and go buy a Top Level Domain. It will cost anywhere from $10-$15/year. You can buy the domain from Godaddy or Namecheap.
The best domain is the one with .com extension. Choose a short, unique and easy to remember domain that is related to your blog niche.
Another important thing about the domain is its age. Because for some of the Asian countries like India, AdSense has placed domain age restriction. They don’t accept any sites which are less than 6 months old.
There are many AdSense stories that I read on many forums that some people got approved for few weeks old blog and other got rejected for the blog that is even more than 6 months old. So age doesn’t really matter when you have a high-quality blog that’s focus more on helping your visitors.
If you’ve a website that is less than 6 months old then you can still consider applying for AdSense.
Shibam got accepted by Google AdSense with 28 posts and a 6 months old blog. He managed his blog from mobile only.
shibam adsense approved
11. Remove Other Ad Networks:
If you have any other ads placed like Chitika, Infolinks, Clicksor or anything, it’s time to drop them off.
Make your blog free from ads.
Even Google AdSense allows you to use other ad networks along with them, it’s better to remove the ads before applying and don’t put them back until you get a reply from AdSense team which usually takes anywhere from few days to weeks.
So, before submitting your application for Google AdSense make sure to remove all the ads on your blog from any other network.
12. Check Your Traffic Sources:
Google hates the sites that are getting paid traffic and mostly penalizes them so there is not a damn chance of getting approved by AdSense for a site that is getting paid traffic. You can bring traffic from search engines or any other way you want but if you want to earn via Google AdSense the right way, paid traffic is not a solution.
Also, note,that Google does not accept site which gets traffic from illegal sources. So focus on getting traffic from legal sources like social media, search engines, and related blogs.
Further Reading:
7 Strategies I Use To Increase My Blog Traffic (I Bet You Can Too!)
How to Get Traffic to A New Blog?
WHAT TO DO IF YOUR APPLICATION IS REJECTED?
Okay, so you had done trying everything you could to get approved by AdSense.
But, AdSense is still not getting approved.
Well, It’s not the end of the world! ;)
There are two things you can do:
#1: Don’t lose hope. Take your time to fix the issues on your blog that is mentioned by AdSense in rejection email and apply again. Remember, if you are disapproved, you can apply again and again until you finally get approved by Google AdSense. There’s no issue with that. Just use the same email account that you used for the first time.
#2: There are many other trusted and high paying ads network you can use and trust me they are not hard as Google AdSense is in terms of getting approval. One door of opportunity is closed so the other one will open.
You can use these ad networks to earn money without AdSense. They are easy to get approved.
1. Infolinks
Infolinks is the leader in in-text advertising which offers 70% revenue share even if you’re a newbie blogger. It is different from other advertising networks. It takes less space because it shows in text ads or pop up ads. You can use it with Adsense safely.
It is a pay per click. They offer advertising options like: insearch ads, intext ads, inframe ads, intag ads.
Alexa Rank: 2571
Min payout: $50
Payment method: PayPal, Wire Transfer, eCheck, Western Union, Payoneer
SIGNUP NOW (IT’S FREE AND
2. BidVertiser
BidVertiser is another top alternative to Google AdSense which pays you for valid clicks on ads placed on your website. It is great Adsense alternative if you didn’t get Adsense approval or got banned. Bidvertiser offers Banner ads, Text ads, Mobile Ads, Slider ads etc. You can also make money by promoting your customized toolbar.
Alexa Rank: 892
Min payout: $10 only
Payment Method: PayPal, Checks
SIGNUP FOR BIDVERTISER
3. Media.net
Media.net is probably the best alternative to AdSense as it’s powered by Yahoo Bing Network. I’ve tried Media.net few years ago and the average CPM was much better than any other AdSense alternatives. Media.net ads are quite similar to Google AdSense and it’s very easy to get approved if you’ve a quality blog.
Alexa Rank: 5132
Min payout: $100
Payment Method: PayPal, Bank wire
SIGNUP FOR MEDIA.NET
CONCLUSION:
To sum up, getting an AdSense approved is not really hard if you have a quality website that is focused more on high-quality content, optimized for search engines, uses a great design and with the good number of visitors. Because that’s what Google wants from its every publisher.
Make sure to do these things before applying for Google AdSense. I guess these are not too hard. Don’t be sad if Google AdSense doesn’t approve your blog. There are many other ways to make money online without AdSense.
Hope for the best.
One more thing, don’t reply too much on AdSense. Try to make money through your blog from other business models. Ads network will not give you much as other income methods like affiliate marketing and selling your own product.
Now here’s what I want YOU to do.
Click on social sharing buttons below and share this post with your friends, I’m sure they’ll love it!
Comment below and let me know your story about getting AdSense approved. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
The Advance Guide To Make Money With Stock Photography Sites – 2200+ Words
if you read the next 2,200 words, you’ll learn The Advance Guide Make Money With Stock Photography Sites.
So..let’s get started. ;)
Do you want to Make Money With Stock Photography Sites?
Make Money With Stock Photography Sites
Are you interested making money from internet selling your lovely photos?
Then you would have a better chance to make money with stock photography sites which are considered the powerhouse of creativity and global depository of photographs.
Microstock website Shutterstock has a reputation that puts it on the top of the stock photography game. Shutterstock has one of the best multidimensional search engines of any stock photo site offering over 14.3million photos from 280,000 photographers. Everyday millions of photographers making money by selling photos on these stock photography websites. Stock photos and graphic marketplaces are useful for designers to both buy and sell stock resources.
Everyday designers are frequently needed stock photos, specially when clients don’t have high-quality photos of their own.
And type of stock design resources (like vectors, icons, PSD files, textures) can save a great deal of time for designers. And selling stock graphic and photos can be an excellent source of residual income for photographers and graphic designers. Today by this tutorial you could learn some basics of Stock Photography and how to Make Money With Stock Photography Sites.
Let’s go ahead.
Guide To Make Money With Stock Photography Sites
What Is Stock Photography?
Stock Photography is the word which refers to a supply of existing photographs that can be arranged and licensed for specific uses. It is a fulfilled stock of different portfolio of photographs where tons of people gather who need to use photos and images everyday on websites, magazines, brochures, web designs & development, graphic designs and other various purposes.
Using Stock Photography you can locate your target photos without hiring any photographer to perform on location shooting, that’s greatly save your valuable time also keep stayed on budget.
Stock images get popular faster so people can promote their daily products from their websites otherhand photographers can Make Money With Stock Photography Sites according to the commission rate from Stock Photography Websites.
Make Money With Stock Photography Sites Online?
Make Money With Stock Photography SitesWe just talked about Stock Photography now come how to get started with selling photos to earn money. Once you’re a professional photographer and want to share your portfolios with the world then certainly this way could bring you some extra cash.
Yeah! that’s right your photo back catalogue could earn you a few or more, once you can utilize your work appropriately and choose the right websites to add them way.
There are few different ways to Make Money With Stock Photography Sites:
You can host your portfolio of photographs on your self website. Do let people download photos free and restrict some stuffs to purchase. Even you can sell advertising space next to them.
You can also build up a gallery and sell photographs directly to private clients
You can sell your photos for use on merchandise such as t-shirts, cups and calendars.
Once you don’t have your own website don’t worry about, simply upload your portfolio to stock photography websites and make money with commission rate.
These are the regular ways to get started selling photographs online as a professional photographer. You may explore more out of the internet but we discussed the core points where majority accrues to sell photos and make money.
From Which Photography Websites You Can Make Money?
Make Money With Stock Photography SitesThere are tons of websites dedicated to buying and selling stock photography which you can use to Make Money With Stock Photography – but a few are still withstand from the rest of beginning due to a number of reasons.
Each stock photography website has different rules and guidelines on the way which photographs they are exactly looking for and will be accepted. Hence there are strict rules upon photographs ownership and copyright issues for each photo that will be submitted.
Different stock photography websites offer different commission rates and payment structures, so it’s an worth taking query you may read FAQs, Getting Started sections to make yourself proper understand before joining any stock photography website.
Here we update a list of most useful and popular stock photography websites that really works on pay per download and your commission rates will be increasing if your photos get sold more.
Shutterstock
Dreamstime
Fotolia
iStockphoto
Freedigitalphotos
These are top 5 lists of stock photography websites, you can register for free and explore your photos rating on internet market but you should remember the acceptance of photos there very tough, because everyday millions of applications knocking them also expertisers keep the market quite competitive which effects on beginners not to perform well also tends to be pushed out.
So, you must signup for these five big websites and try out the photos your consider the best from your repository. I think you will get at least a positive response.
Always keep in mind you may have to try multiple times to get a photo being approved. You’ll Make Money With Stock Photography Sites sooner than later but remember NEVER GIVE UP!
How Much Can You Earn Selling Photos?
Make Money With Stock Photography SitesThe simplest answer to that question, it largely depends upon you specially how many photos get approved and how increasingly it goes ahead for sale.
Sometimes payment per download gives you a few cents if it gets sold via a subscription but you remember the cents can quickly be upgraded if you can manage a considerable set of quality stock photographs over time. Some websites pay more for photographs if you can reach on different levels of downloads.
Example: You may get more per download if one photo manages over 5 or 10 times download rather of 1 download for one photo.
One more thing you should remember that you will be paid much more from a certain stock photography website if you agree to submit photographs exclusively and it will be included onto their exclusive program.
For example: iStockphoto will pay you up-to three times more commission to their exclusive photographers. Apart of iStockphot, Dramstime also pay an additional bonus for each and every photograph that their exclusive photographers successfully submit and you will be paying more per download.
One of the great things from stock photography websites is that your portfolio can grow rapidly and bring you up a lingering income while you are not even active on the website. The first photo you successfully upload that ready to sale and still selling on a certain commission could be hold out and in this way you can Make Money With Stock Photography Sites 10 or more year’s time, terrific!
Which Photos Get Sold Well?
Make Money Selling Stock PhotosOne of the best questions till now.
Let’s discuss and make it easier to understand.
Before starting your stock photography career you will have to learn to deal with a bit of rejection.
Many of your photographs could well get approved but some of them will be disapproved containing violated or out-dated issues.
All of the stock photography websites lead their company on the basis on customers demand about which photos their customers ask for more, so they can’t accept all types of photos because they have to target the market place not to the photographers portfolio.
People come to the stock photography websites to get images and photos that they can apply on their professional drudgery likely to design websites, icons, logos, graphics and merchandising purposes. Exactly you can target your portfolio on this market so your photos may be getting approved to stock photography websites easily. Lots of the most successful stock photography can involve very simple images on white backgrounds.
The more you sell the more you’ll have Make Money With Stock Photography Sites..
For example: Lots of people seek for very simple photos or images of dogs, cats which they can easily photoshop onto a different background.
Final word, the simple the photograph, the more successful it could be on the stock photography sites.
How You Will Be Paid?
That’s the most important question in our Advance guide to Make Money With Stock Photography Sites.
Now come to the desired question for every photographer.
Each stock photography website has their own rules and guidelines to pay a member when it comes on action. Normally you will have to reach a minimum payout level such as $50 or $100 to request for a withdrawal circumstance. You may check withdrawal conditions or payout sections of any certain site before to get registered and make yourself well awared about payment procedures.
Most of the sites surely pay you out by a variety of methods such as Paypal, bank transfer or cheque. These things will have to meet your local address and the company’s serving areas around the globe.
Additional Questions:
We also have tagged some additional questions regarding how to Make Money With Stock Photography Sites that you may ask yourself after reading till now.
Who Can Participate This Program?
Definitely the question dedicated for theme we’re talking all about this tutorial. People join to Make Money With Stock Photography Sites are all experienced photographers or you can say geeks in photo shooting. If you’re out of this profession then you need not read this tutorial anymore because we’re talking photographers and this tutorial dedicated only for them.
Because you can’t take part this market once you’re not addicted to this profession but purchasing some attractive photos or optimizing your photos by photoshop or illustrator these are not the criteria of this program. How many photos you could manage adopting such type of proxies there are indeed over thousands of portfolio photographers mange to apply so you can’t compete them with your limited stock.
Things You Will Need?
A Photographer needs these types of instruments before to take part in stock photography journey.
Professional digital cameras such as Digital SLR cameras
Computer, or a tablet with internet connection
Adobe Photoshop (optional but recommended)
Adobe Illustrator –if you want to create your own images other than photos (optional but recommended)
And two hands..;)
Bonus Tips For Starters To Get Photos Noticed – Sell More
Over millions of people target to make money online also hunt for the hassle free ways. To Make Money With Stock Photography Sites is becoming one of the most popular ways to internet surfers where we will have to do nothing but sales will be increasing and we will earn day and night. This idea is very interesting but to achieve that position is too hard to manipulate.
For example: you will have to face a lot of competitions to get your photos noticed … and sold!
So what you can do to help your photos get noticed into millions of photographs online.
There are some certain ways to get your photos being noticed and you go popular quickly thus you’ll Make Money With Stock Photography Sites..
Once you have a website, facebook page, twitter account, linkedin profile or other connected social accounts, then try them to promote your stock photography portfolio.
Use Google trends, Google planner, Bing keyword tool to locate highest search keywords and finally tag your photos and make sure they will get found in search results.
Check what your images look like 100% before to take part in competition.
Read failed submission stories from different sites forums. Almost websites give reasons why a particular photo doesn’t get accepted to their database. Note them and try improving future photos.
Do not touch up your photos much more with photo editing softwares always try simple background images.
Use blogs, comments marketing, reviews and guest posting to link back your submitted photos on stock photography sites.
Read the onsite blogs of photographers who are selling well on particular site.
Never submit similar dozens of photos, this will surely degrade your standing on stock photography sites
Use photoshop or similar softwares to remove background from images to give proper outlook
Join stock photography website forums to make useful debuts
Properly go exclusive if you feel happy to work with just one stock photography site
Bid some photos for free to download just to get at buyers into your portfolio
I’m Not Good At Photography, How to Make Money Then?
Make Money Selling Stock PhotosOkey let me explain about this query.
We talked about how to Make Money With Stock Photography where it’s very easy to make money by selling photos on different criterias but the competition keeps the market very hard to get approval first and join. But once get approved you will definitely start making money no doubts. But what to do if you’re not addicted to this profession.
There are lots of ways out of internet where people making money on the basis of their experience, academic knowledge or special techniques. You also need to learn how to make stock photos and selling them effectively to Make Money With Stock Photography Sites.
We can consult you to start with freelancing. In this field over 60 million active freelance workers making money huge which keeps the global market revenue always higher.If you have your own website then what you are waiting for you can make money ad publishing networks also sell ad spaces with third parties
Out of these you can try paid surveys, paid-to-click, pay per sell, review posting, and lots of ways around the internet. But be remember before starting with any company you must try the reviews of that company, whether it’s scam or legitimate, talk with people who are making money and still now, always participate forums to get clear information from the people who tried prior. Thus you could be able to Make Money With Stock Photography Sites.
Hope that tutorial helped you to learn something about how to really Make Money With Stock Photography Sites.
Have any questions?
Feel free to ask in comments.
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