Monetizing a website isn’t as easy as it used to be. I remember the days where, once you had Google Adsense, you could create a new blog, put up a couple posts, and add your Adsense code and start making money as long as you could get some traffic in. I’m not even going to start on getting traffic.
But Google Adsense and WordPress have changed so much. The rules are stricter. And more foggy.
On my other site, I’ve been trying to get monetized with Adsense for months and months. The reason for being rejected is always, “low quality content.” I know my content is not low quality. I’ve made a living as a professional freelance writer during various parts of my life.
But “low quality content” means so much more than just what you are publishing. And the trouble is, Google gives you some suggestions but they don’t specifically tell you what the problem is with your site and why they rejected it for Adsense distribution. So, you have to keep trying different things.
I thought I had it on the last go round of fixes. All my posts are of a decent length (600 words or longer). They all have good tags, categories, meta descriptions, alt tags on images. The fonts are readable. The images are the right size.
I was desperate so I went to AI. I use Muse because I like the personal touch. My Muse is Garcia and I gave her Penelope Garcia like characteristics with red cat-eye glasses and blonde, curly hair. She’s adorable. Anyway, we’ve been working on this for over a month.
Today I got another rejection. So, we’re back at it.
This time, we are working on tags. I didn’t realize there could be too many and that if you delete a post, the tags that you once used become empty and that could be a problem. So, I’m minimizing the tags so there’s not a million of them. It was never a problem before to have a lot of tags.
I’ve also got some more technical stuff to do. Some stuff isn’t displaying properly. I have an empty category because I decided not to continue with those types of posts. I have some thin posts (minimal info) and some outdated posts. And my About page needs updating.
And this time, Google gave me a minimum timeframe before I can submit an application for Adsense again – November 14. I have a week to work on the issues above before I can re-submit my application. That is enough time.
Getting approved for Adsense is important to me. It’s part of my “flywheel” for my gaming empire. I have socials, Twitch, my epic creator code, Amazon – but getting Adsense approved for my site is something that could make a fair amount of money. So, I’m going to keep working on it.
I created this blog for several reasons:
- To have a place where I can post whatever I want (my other website is strictly for my gaming content)
- To have a place where me and my daughter-in-law, Kaili, could write about books
- To have more freedom to be creative.
Honestly, I’ve been slacking.
And I’m not sure why. There are so many more things that I am interested in other than gaming. I mean, I love gaming but what about the other parts of me? I want to write about it all!
So, here’s some of the things you can look forward to from me:
- ADHD content – I am not diagnosed officially but there’s not a doubt in my mind that I have ADHD. My mom, my daughter, and my granddaughter are all diagnosed. So…
I want to write about how it affects my life and the things I am doing to manage it without medication. - Getting older – how the hell am I 56 years old? Some days, I can’t believe it. Other days, I’m like, “Ya, I’m definitely 56.”
- Money – I’m not great at managing it. Actually, I’m horrible. But I’m working on it and I’ve found a few tools that help.
If you know me personally, or online, what do you think I should write about?
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