I’ve received so many emails about Adsense approval since I started this blog, I’ve decided to finally just write a post about it.
The reason I never wrote about it in the past is because I got my own Adsense account around 5 years ago, and it was kind of different back then.
It was easier…. much easier, from what I’ve been hearing today.
My own site had only 5 or 6 pages on it when I applied. They were high quality pages with a lot of research, but still… it was just 5 pages slapped onto a free WP theme.
And I got approved right away.
The Adsense approval process today
Although it’s not quite as easy to just get an instant approval today as it was in the past, the process hasn’t changed.
There are already a bunch of articles online that list guidelines and rules you need to follow, so I’m not going to repeat what they say.
Instead, I’m going to talk about passing the quality standard of the Adsense reviewer who’s going to look at your website.
From what I’ve seen, most people who get rejected aren’t rejected because they were missing something.
It’s because the site didn’t meet the quality standards of the reviewer. It just wasn’t seen as a high quality site that provided value to the internet.
But what exactly is a “high-quality” site that “provides value?”
A lot of the points in this article are my own opinions and not officially stated guidelines in Google’s Adsense policies.
You can disagree and that’s fine, but I think they’re common sense tips since…..
1. It’s a manual review, not an algorithmic review.
The most important thing you have to realize is that an actual Google employee is going to visit your site, click around, and read your content.
It’s not a robot that just crawls around your site to check if you have everything outlined in their requirements list.
That means… some ridiculously smart human being who works for Google is going to visit your site, click around, read your articles, analyze your source code, and then….
Decide that it’s a nice, high-quality website that provides value to readers.
Following the guidelines is just part of the equation.
To pass the manual review process, your site has to be high quality.
So how do you make sure you have a quality site?
2. Make sure you have enough pages
There are a lot of reasons a site can get rejected. But when you do everything right, and still aren’t accepted… this is usually the reason.
From my conversations with others, some people have been rejected with 50+ pages, and some people have been accepted with 10.
These things aren’t set in stone here.
It’s more about the overall quality of the site than it is about the number of pages.
Really… all it takes is just some common sense.
Don’t just order 5-10 articles at $10 each and then submit for approval.
Even with 100 pages… those types of articles seem to be the most common thing amongst sites that were rejected from what I’ve seen.
………..Low-quality, generic 500 word articles full of fluff.
They don’t add value to the internet.
If it were me, I wouldn’t apply until I had at least 5 really in-depth, well researched posts above 2000 words.
These 5 long-form content combined with around 10-20 normal 700-1000 word articles should be enough to please any manual reviewer.
Buying articles
A lot of people buy articles for their site, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
But if you’re going to apply for Adsense with a site that’s full of articles that you paid for, make sure you paid a good amount of money.
If your site is full of $5-$10 articles, don’t bother applying.
It won’t get accepted.
Spend at least $30-$50 per article.
It may sound like a lot of money, but it’s the price of a quality article.
3. Make your site about one topic
If you’re submitting a site with less than 100 pages, stick to one topic, and provide value for one specific audience.
A lot of rejected sites I’ve seen are “magazine” type sites that talk about anything and everything.
5 posts about childcare, 5 posts about sports, 5 posts about design, and 5 posts about SEO.
Unless you have 100’s of pages on your site, don’t do that.
Make your topic narrow. Make it about one thing only.
4. Build traffic BEFORE applying
Traffic is not a factor that determines whether your site is accepted or not.
But why apply before you have any traffic? You need traffic to make money.
This is probably one of the biggest mistakes that I see: Applying too early.
Honestly, though…. I really don’t understand this from a logical point of view because everyone seems to do it.
What’s the rush? You’re not getting much traffic at this point. Why not wait until you do before applying, and grow out the site in the meantime?
Build out the site first.
Put out some great content.
Build traffic.
Build some backlinks.
Rank for something.
Get some engagement on your site from readers.
There’s no need to rush.
If it were me, I wouldn’t apply until I grew the site to at least 50-100 visitors per day.
5. Wait at least a month
I would prefer you wait until your site is at least 3 months old before you apply, but it really shouldn’t be less than a month old.
You can try it sooner, but it takes time to build and grow some traffic, too right?
Remember, a human being reviews your site.
Quality content is one thing, but if you have a site on a domain that was registered last week, with 20 posts slapped onto it, all published on the same day……
I think it’s a pretty obvious sign that you just threw something up to get your account approved.
6. Stick to a publishing schedule (at least in the beginning)
Show the reviewer that your site is a REAL site that’s here to stay.
A domain registered a few days ago with 20 posts bulk published on the same day, and then none after that, doesn’t show that you have a real site that’s being grown into a quality site.
Show that it’s being grown out consistently.
Stick to a consistent publishing schedule.
Doesn’t have to be everyday, but if you can show that a new post is being added on every X number of days, it shows that the site is providing more and more value to readers as time goes on.
7. Get a premium WordPress theme and a custom logo
Getting a premium WP theme isn’t absolutely necessary, but I recommend it for 2 reasons:
1. Some free themes have spammy links or malicious code written in them.
I’ve tried a few free WP themes where I would see a bunch of links coded into the footer. Usually, they’re links to the theme creator’s own niche sites.
A few times, these links weren’t even in the theme files but hidden in secret javascript files so that I couldn’t easily delete them.
You don’t want anything like that showing up in the review process without you even knowing it.
2. Most free themes don’t have a nice design
It’s tough to find a great looking WordPress theme you can download for free.
It’s easier to find a theme with a design you like and install that instead.
A shiny, custom designed site isn’t necessary to get Adsense approval. But once again… it’s a manual review from a human being and it helps you get a good first impression.
Even I find myself discrediting a lot of sites as soon as I land on them if they don’t have a good, clean design.
If you don’t have a WordPress theme already, I recommend the Newspaper theme.
Logo
Getting a custom-made logo for your site isn’t absolutely necessary either.
But again, it helps.
Logos don’t cost that much money these days anyways. You can get one for $5+ at Fiverr or just make one yourself using Photoshop or Pixlr.
Pixlr is a free online browser that’s pretty robust, and is also what I used to design the RankXL logo.
8. Ditch categories
If you don’t have over 25 posts in every category, ditch categories in your navigation.
I come across a lot of sites that were rejected from Adsense, and this is a common feature that everyone has on their site.
Having categories are a bad user experience if every category you click only has a few pages in them.
I’m assuming people do this to make their site look more vibrant and “full” but it actually has the opposite effect.
Ditch them.
9. Link out to other helpful sites
Don’t be a dead end on the internet. Link out to helpful resources and sites.
But don’t just blindly link to random wikipedia pages.
Link to actual helpful resources that support what you state in your articles.
10. Remove any ads from other ad networks
Google gives you a maximum of 3 ad spots for a reason.
Any more than that… and it usually makes your site really spammy-looking.
Your site is there to provide value first, and make money second.
Your site essentially makes money by providing value to readers.
Plastering your page with ads from several networks makes for a bad user experience.
Even if you decide you want to mix in other ad networks in the future, remove them when you submit your site for approval.
11. Build quality backlinks
Having some high quality backlinks pointed at your site from established sites is a good thing to have before you submit your site.
This should be common sense, but don’t order any cheap link packages to your site, and don’t submit sites where you have spammy links built on them.
Yes, SEO and Adsense are not related to each other, but no manual reviewer who sees 20,000 comment links built last week is going to take your site seriously.
Conclusion
Just imagine how many spammy sites the Adsense reviewer has to go through in a day.
Remember that for every site that gets rejected, a person had to sit there and go through it.
It’s been said that only 3 out of 1000 sites are accepted.
That means… these reviewers are going through about 997 sites before finding one that meets their standards.
Following the policies and guidelines of what Google wants is important.
But it’s also important to review your site for quality in the shoes of the Adsense reviewer.
If you can do that, you should be able to get your Adsense account approved with no problems.
Thanks Chris. This is just what I needed. I think I will wait before applying and work on content first. I’m loving the training course too.
Glad to hear that. Thanks Tony 🙂
Woah, never actually knew that the free themes can have backlinks snuck in from other sites. Thumbs up for the mini course man!
Yeah, depends where you download it from. Thanks!
Hello Chris,
This is really a very useful guide for prospective adsense publishers. I’ve also been hearing a lot of people complaining about their adsense applications being rejected.
Its really incredible how adsense now review sites before approving them for adsense. I got my own account in 2010 and i guess its also same period you got yours and back then, it wasn’t like this at all, it just a strength forward approval.
But just like the saying that Once the rhythm of the song changes, the dancing step will also change, people should start getting serious with their blog before applying for adsense if they really want to get a chance of being accepted and, this post of yours is really useful guide to achieve that.
Thanks for sharing Chris.
BTW: How do you see this theme http://demo.themefuse.com/?theme=newssetter&device=desktop&_ga=1.117267265.6977555.1440311718 ?
Thanks, Theodore. Good advice.
I think it’s well designed, and could work for Adsense.
Wouldn’t know how it functions in the backend since I’ve never used it before so can’t tell you that.
For me personally though, it looks like it has too many features in it that I wouldn’t use.
Thanks for your response Chris,
I got the theme sometime ago and have never used it since then.
I can send it over to you so you take a proper look at it in your free time if you don’t mind?
Thanks, Theodore but I don’t think it would be a theme that I would use myself.
Thanks for sharing Chris.
I always thought the approval process was an automated one, but I guess things must have changed over the years. It’s probably a good thing though for the serious online marketers because it removes a lot of clutter from the Internet and adds more value to websites that have been approved.
Thanks for reading, AJ.
Yay, Thanks man. I’ve been waiting for THIS!!
Cool!
Hi Chris, that really nice article, when I created my blog I was not even aware of AdSense, I just created for fun, sharing my programming skill and for frame :P.
And when I get to know about Adsense luckily by the time my blog has already covered all the points you have mentioned specifically I posted 30 article on “Learn jQuery”, and in 1st attempt I cleared google Adsense approval.
Some how i jumped into your article “3 techniques improve ctr” about adding ads shortcode, earlier everytime I used to copy paste whole code into my each blog post, and if I make any changes to design etc I need to make it for all post manually, imagine how painful was it, thanks for sharing this tips.
Thanks again for sharing great tips
Nice, thanks for sharing Satinder!
Glad to hear the tips were useful for you.
Thank you for this information. Anybody that reads this article will know that you are talking based on the wealth of experience you have garnered over time and not cut and paste that some people do.
Thanks 🙂
Nice post Chris. Should be helpful to a lot of people.
I guess I got really lucky when I apllied for Adsense, because I did (almost) everything the exact opposite as what you described 😀
My site:
– was 3 weeks old
– had 5 posts
– had categories (most of them were empty)
– had 0 traffic
– was not about 1 topic
But it did have:
– All the mandatory pages (about, contact, disclaimer, etc)
– 5 posts with 800 – 1200 words of excellent, self-written, researched content that linked out to other authority sites
– Premium theme (a bit customised), custom logo and favicon
In my opinion you should just make it look professional and make sure it delivers value to the visitors. Either that, or I got really lucky 😉
Nice, thanks for sharing Marco 🙂
Chris, I have an Adsense account that I acquired 10 years ago. I haven’t used it for any of my sites probably in the past three years.
Is there anything I need to be aware of when I start to use it on a new site?
Check your email to see if Adsense sent you any emails regarding your account. If not, should be fine.
Hello Chris, quick newbie question here:
Every new site that I set up for Adsense, has to pass any approval too?
Thanks 🙂
Nope, you’ll be able to use your account for your future sites without going through approval again.
Great Chris, thanks!
hi there chris,
could you suggest some decent free and paid wordpress themes that is best suited for the authority site model you usually talk about !! also where ads could be placed significantly ! thanks
I wrote about one of the themes I use, have you seen it?
Hello Chris,
I’m starting on Adsense and I am following your posts are very good, thanks for sharing.
I have a question: in Google’s policies can only put 3 blocks of ads on a page and only one block to sites for mobile devices.
My site is responsive, I can put 3 blocks of ads?
Yup, you’re allowed to place 3 blocks for mobile.
Thank you Chris!
No problem!
Hi Chris
Much appreciated on Adsense account approval tips. Your post is a breeze to read! Quite long, but every word is in its place. Will take note on to create 5 really in-depth, well-researched posts above 2000 words and combined with around 10-20 normal 700-1000 word articles before applying Adsense account.
Thanks for sharing that, I learned a lot from it.
Imer
Thanks for reading 🙂 Glad it was helpful.
hello chris
i think i will read the whole website because you just keep answering my questions and worries. i have been rejected 5 times and all the 5 time its the same email. i think this post has given me a concise answer and i know what to do now.
thanks for sharing.
Awesome! Glad to hear it’s helpful 🙂
Great Post Thank You Sharing This
Thanks!
Great advise! Patience indeed is a virtue. Grow the site first and build organic traffic through quality articles that help visitors. Thank you.
Indeed! Thanks Jaime 🙂
Thank you so much Chris for this helpful article about how to get approved for AdSense. I’m at the point where I’m contemplating monetizing now or adding more value to the blog before attempting to monetize. You were spot on when you said value first, money second. Thanks!
Jaime
P.S.: just curious what are the chances of getting a blogspot.com blog approved for AdSense?
Glad it helped Jaime! I wouldn’t recommend using Blogspot either way.
Thanks again for the great advice, Chris. I was beginning to wonder about when I should apply. I’ve only got 2 long/quality posts so far so I’ll hold off until I have more content. PS I’m using the Newspaper theme – glad to hear you approve!
No problem, Misha! Glad to hear this helped 🙂
Thanks for giving this wonderful information you explained clearly about Adsense Approval.
Glad you liked it.
Hello Chris,
I have a one month old website and i applied for Adsense with 5 posts but my request was rejected due to insufficient content. After that i added 5 more posts and again applied for approval and my request is approved within 5 days.
This is my site no1healthsite.com
Chris, how to place ads properly in WordPress site. Please guide me.
That’s awesome 🙂
You can copy and paste ad codes directly in the post in the WP editor or anywhere on your site.
Thanks for sharing Chris.
I always thought the approval process was an automated one, but I guess things must have changed over the years. It’s probably a good thing though for the serious online marketers because it removes a lot of clutter from the Internet and adds more value to websites that have been approved.
Definitely agree!
Hi Chris , i really appreciate your post about ad sense. My question is these if i decided to buy a site from flippa that is already seo optimized and got adsense on it , is it possible to own the adsense account?
Hey Henry – you would have to swap out their code with your own Adsense code.
NICE ARTICLE COMPOSITION, I GOT MY FIRST ADSENSE APPROVAL AFTER READING THIS.
THAKS ALOT.
Awesome!!!
Thanks for this Chris, I really love it
No problem, Sam!
Thanks so much for such an insightful article. with this post shared here i was able to get my AdSense approved in less than 24hrs i must say you are doing a great job here keep it up.
Awesome! 😀
Thanks so much for such an insightful article. with this post shared here i was able to get my AdSense approved in less than 24hrs i must say you are doing a great job here keep it up.
That’s great to hear!
Wow so helpful. I just set up a wordblog blog. Thanks bro
Thanks for sharing AdSense approval tips.
Hey Chris, after applying for google adsense, I heard I’m meant to see a code but I didn’t see any code even after trying to submit again I didn’t see..
All that I’m seeing is that your website is under review.
Thanks a lot. I was planning to give my website (www.techmuzz.com) for the Adsense approval thinking it was performing well.
But surprisingly I had some prerequisites missing (as mentioned in your article). You just saved me from getting a rejection.
Thanks a ton.
Adsense approval has always been considered as a difficult task by some because they simply don’t follow the important policies you’ve mentioned here.! I hope I will get approval soon for my blog https://ilcroatia.com/
Really informative post. Just what I needed to read before applying.