Firstly, let's have a look at some of the terminology we will be using in this article and learn the language of Adsense and monetization.
Term Abbreviation Meaning
Above the Fold When referring to content, Above the Fold is what you can see on the page without scrolling.
Ad Code This is the short code snippet which Adsense provides and you copy into your web page.
Ad Unit A configuration for a type of advert, for example a banner. The ad unit is configured with colours, fonts and various other settings. Google then generates the Ad Code which you place on the page.
Click Through Rate CTR The CTR is the number of clicks on an advert divided by the number of ad impressions expressed as a percentage. For example, if an Link Ad is delivered 100 times and received one click, then the click through rate for that advertisement would be 1%.
Impressions Number of times an advert was placed on a page.
Revenue per thousand impression RPM Ad revenue per thousand impression (RPM) is calculated by dividing the estimated earnings by number ad impression received and multiplied by 1000.
Cost Per Click CPC Cost Per Click is the amount earned by a publisher each time a user clicks on an ad. In AdSense reports, CPC is calculated by dividing the estimated earnings by the number of clicks received.
Estimated Earnings Estimated earnings is the close estimates of your recent account activity which will be finalized at the end of the month. This is just to show you instantly the estimated earnings for the activities happened on your account and may not be the actual amount you will ultimately be paid.
Unpaid Earnings Unpaid finalized earnings are accurate earnings amounts that include all revenue you will be paid for validated clicks and impressions.
Signing up to Adsense
In order to sign up and start using Adsense, you will need a website which meets Google's selection criteria. Your website must have content, it must be indexable and be active. It must not be a site for the sole purpose of showing adverts (made for Adsense). Your website must also have been live for a while as well, newly created websites are rarely accepted. Google review each site manually, so you must show that your website is a high quality and updated regularly. Do not try to register for sites under construction or are not publically accessible.
Once your website is up and running for a while, you can then sign up for the Adsense program. If you already have a Google Account (YouTube, Gmail etc) then sign into your account and head over to Adsense Registration page. From here you will need to fill in a few details. Once that is completed successfully, they will give you some code which you must place on your site. This is to verify that you are the owner of the website. Once this is done, you can let Google know and someone will review your site.
It usually takes a couple of days to get reviewed, so be patient. With any luck, you'll get an email notifying you that your website has been accepted.
Adding Adsense to your Website
Now that your website has been approved, you can go about setting up your ad units and adding the code to your pages.
When you create or edit an ad unit, you can pick the colours, size, shape and types of ads being displayed so that they match with your sites colours and layouts. For each ad unit you create, you can then copy the ad code into your site. Exactly how you add the code to your site depends on the platform you are using and is beyond the scope of this article.