Tracking AdSense Ads in Blogger

I recently decided to do some serious research on tracking
software for my Google AdSense program and was a little bit
surprised with the results.
There are several nice looking products out there, some of
which are available for free as open source programs while
others are for sale with a free trial or a money back
guaranty. A simple Google search for "adsense tracking
software" will keep you busy for hours.
There is, however, a problem with all of these options if
you are one of the many bloggers hosting your Google AdSense
ads on blogger.com or any of the other free blog hosts. You
will find that all third party software programs require
files to be loaded on the server. This issue alone excludes
them from use on your free blog.
For those bloggers using a free platform, the question
becomes, "How do I track my AdSense ads?". Rest easy dear
friends. There is a solution. Granted, it's not as slick or
simple as one of those cool self contained programs, and
this method will not produce quite as much data, but it is
free and it will work and it's not overly complicated.
The first thing you have to do is take advantage of the
channels option when you set up your ad designs. It is a
very simple process to complete. After you have chosen the
size and colors of the add block, you will be asked to
"Choose Ad Channels". Click "add new channel" and enter
a name for this new channel. I prefer to use a name that
describes the ad or referral link, such as "Top Banner",
"Right Wide Tower", "FF Referral", etc. This way I can
easily recognize each ad block or referral in my reports and
gauge it's performance. If you have multiple sites, be sure
to include a site prefix in each name. ("Dogs Right Link
Box", Cats Left Referral Button") For proper tracking, it
is necessary to go through this process for each ad unit,
link box, referral button, or text link.
Next go to Google Analytics. Get your account set up, then
install the javascript code into your template and wait for
the system to start gathering information. This process
takes overnight because the Google Analytics system collects
and compiles it's data every 24 hours. When this data
starts to flow you will have plenty to look at for a while
until you decide exactly what is important to you. You can
dissect this information any number of ways including the
all important "Keywords" category and you can set up the
system to report multiple websites.
I also like to set up an account for each site over at
Sitemeter.com. One benefit to having the sitemeter account
is that it reports in real time instead of having to wait
until the next day for your hit count.
Now you have the ability to see exactly which ad units and
referral links are performing and which are not by checking
your AdSense report with channels. You can monitor the flow
of traffic through your site(s) including the referring URL,
keywords used, and tons more through Google Analytics. You
have a source for real time hit data with sitemeter. All of
which was free.
With these three tools in place you should be able to
generate all of the data you need to manage a successful
Google Adsense experience.

Ad Tracker is the author of the AdSense Tracker Blog,

a community experiment with Google AdSense where she

does all of the work and everyone receives the experience.



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Author: Ad Tracker

Email: ad.money.today@gmail.com



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