How to Get Accepted by Google AdSense: Do’s & Don’t Do’s

Getting accepted by Google AdSense is a significant milestone for bloggers, website owners, and content creators who wish to monetize their online platforms. AdSense is one of the most popular advertising platforms, offering a simple way to display ads and earn revenue. However, Google has strict requirements and policies, so understanding what to do (and what not to do) is crucial for getting accepted.

Understanding Google AdSense and Its Importance

Google AdSense allows website owners to display targeted advertisements on their sites and earn money based on clicks or impressions. Google serves ads that are relevant to the content of the site and the interests of the visitors, ensuring a better user experience. However, due to the high-quality standards of the program, not every website is approved right away.

Why Is It Important?

• Monetization: AdSense provides a passive income stream. Once ads are displayed on your website, you can earn money without much ongoing effort.
• Simplicity: It’s a plug-and-play solution. Google manages ad placement and optimization, so you don’t need to manage advertisers manually.
• Relevance: Google’s algorithms ensure that the ads displayed are relevant to your content and your audience.

However, earning from AdSense requires both quality traffic and a high-quality website. Here’s a detailed guide to help you through the process.

Steps to Get Accepted by Google AdSense

1. Build a High-Quality Website
   • Domain Age and Authority: While Google does not require a domain to be a certain age for approval, having an established domain (e.g., 6 months or older) can sometimes increase your chances, especially in competitive markets like India or China.
   • Professional Design: Ensure your website has a clean, professional, and easy-to-navigate design. Your website should not look cluttered or amateurish.
   • Mobile Responsiveness: Your website should work smoothly across all devices, especially mobile, as mobile traffic makes up a huge part of internet usage today.
   • Fast Loading Times: Google values user experience. If your website takes too long to load, this may harm your application. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to optimize your site’s loading speed.
   • Legal Pages (Privacy Policy, Disclaimer, Terms & Conditions): These pages show that your website complies with legal standards and Google’s policies, which is an important aspect of acceptance.
2. Create High-Quality Content
   • Original Content: Google AdSense values original, high-quality content. Avoid copying content from other websites, as plagiarism will result in a rejection.
   • Adequate Content Length: Google generally prefers longer, detailed articles. Make sure your posts have at least 500-1000 words, but more in-depth articles of 1,500 to 2,500 words tend to perform better.
   • Consistent Updates: Regularly publishing new content is a sign of a growing website. Update your website with fresh content to show Google that it’s active and maintained.
   • Engaging Content: The content you produce should be informative, engaging, and valuable to your audience. Avoid superficial content, as it will reduce the chances of approval.
   • No “Prohibited Content”: Google has a strict content policy. Avoid any content related to violence, illegal activities, adult material, hate speech, or drugs.
3. Ensure Sufficient Traffic
   • Organic Traffic: Although Google doesn’t specify a traffic minimum, having a steady stream of visitors, preferably through organic search (from Google), shows your website is credible.
   • Avoid Traffic from Suspicious Sources: If your traffic is mainly from low-quality sources like traffic-exchange sites or paid bots, Google might flag this as suspicious behavior, leading to rejection.
4. Enhance User Experience
   • Easy Navigation: Google prioritizes user experience, so ensure that your site is easy to navigate. Organize your menu structure, categorize your content properly, and include a search bar.
   • Clear Layout: Ads should not interfere with the user experience. Having a clean layout and placing ads where they do not overwhelm users is important.
   • Engagement Metrics: Lower bounce rates, higher session durations, and more page views per visitor show that users find your content engaging and stay longer on your site.
5. Optimize for SEO
   • Keyword Optimization: Use relevant keywords strategically within your content to rank higher in search engines. However, avoid keyword stuffing.
   • On-Page SEO: Ensure proper use of meta titles, descriptions, header tags, and image alt tags.
   • Quality Backlinks: Although not a direct requirement for AdSense, backlinks from authoritative sites enhance your website’s credibility in Google’s eyes.
6. Set Up Essential Pages
   • Privacy Policy Page: This is one of the most important pages Google will look for. It tells your visitors how you use their data and comply with privacy regulations.
   • Terms and Conditions Page: Outlining the rules and guidelines for using your website shows professionalism.
   • Contact Page: Having a contact page (with a functional contact form) enhances trust. Include an email address, phone number, or physical address if possible.
7. Age Restrictions
   • If you’re under 18, you won’t be able to apply for AdSense on your own. In such a case, a parent or guardian will need to apply on your behalf. This is an important legal requirement that ensures AdSense compliance with child protection laws.

What NOT to Do to Get Accepted by Google AdSense

1. Avoid Copyrighted or Scraped Content
   • Google values originality. If your site contains scraped or duplicated content, you are likely to face rejection. This includes copying text, images, videos, or even slight modifications of existing content without proper attribution.
   • Solution: Always create original content. If you are quoting or using external resources, provide clear citations and ensure that the content is transformed into a unique format.
2. Don’t Use Excessive Ads Before Approval
   • Google doesn’t like sites overloaded with ads before they’re even approved. Avoid bombarding your visitors with pop-ups, banner ads, or affiliate links prior to AdSense acceptance.
   • Solution: Maintain a clean and non-intrusive experience for visitors. Wait for AdSense approval before considering ad placements.
3. Avoid Prohibited Content and Niche
   • Sites in niches like adult content, gambling, illegal activities, or anything controversial will not be approved. Even if your site only lightly touches on these topics, AdSense will reject your application.
   • Solution: Stick to mainstream, family-friendly niches. Content about education, technology, health, finance, lifestyle, and other well-accepted categories tends to perform better.
4. No Fake Traffic or Bots
   • Google’s algorithms are highly effective in detecting suspicious traffic, including bots or artificially inflated numbers through click farms or other black-hat SEO techniques.
   • Solution: Only focus on organic traffic, which comes from legitimate SEO efforts, social media, or referral sources.
5. Don’t Skip the Essential Pages
   • As mentioned earlier, legal pages like Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and About Us pages are critical. Many site owners overlook this step, and their application gets rejected for lacking these basic legal components.
   • Solution: Ensure these pages are present and easily accessible. There are many templates available online to create these pages.
6. Avoid Low-Quality Design
   • A poorly designed website gives the impression of a low-effort project, leading to rejection. Broken links, excessive use of widgets, slow page loads, and unprofessional fonts are common reasons why applications are declined.
   • Solution: Invest in a professional-looking theme and ensure that all functionalities, links, and navigation elements work perfectly.
7. Don’t Apply Too Soon
   • Applying for AdSense too soon is a common mistake. Websites that are too new or haven’t built sufficient content or traffic are often rejected. If you apply with only 4-5 articles on your website, the chances of getting accepted are slim.
   • Solution: Wait until you have at least 20-30 high-quality, original articles published on your website before applying.
8. No Fake Information
   • Providing incorrect information in your AdSense application (such as a fake name, wrong address, or unverified email) will result in a permanent rejection.
   • Solution: Always provide accurate and verifiable information in your application. Google cross-checks details, and any discrepancy can result in disqualification.

Post-Approval Best Practices

Once you get approved, it’s important to maintain quality on your website to ensure continued success with AdSense.

• Ad Placement: Avoid placing too many ads above the fold. Google penalizes sites that are “top-heavy” with ads.
• Monitor Ad Performance: Use AdSense’s performance reports to understand which ad formats work best for your audience.
• Avoid Violating AdSense Policies: Google monitors websites even after approval. If you violate any AdSense policy (such as clicking on your own ads), you may lose your account.
• Maintain Content Quality: Regularly updating your website with fresh, high-quality content helps keep your site engaging and your AdSense earnings growing.

To Sum Up

Getting accepted by Google AdSense requires a combination of great content, a well-optimized website, and adherence to Google’s policies. Focusing on quality at every stage—design, user experience, content creation, and legal compliance—is essential for your success. Avoid common mistakes, maintain a professional approach, and you’ll increase your chances of approval significantly.

Following these steps diligently will put you on the right track for AdSense approval and help you start earning revenue from your website.