Hi there

I'm a newbie with adsense (not yet signed up for my account) it's just that I need some advice since I suspect adsense may not be the best solution for me given the type of site I'm planning to launch.

I'm a php developer and I'm looking to launch a type of forum site...that's to say that the content on most pages will be php code and details of where it's not working.

My point is that I can't help thinking the ads that get generated in relation to the content wouldn't be of interest to my visitors therefore my CTR would be low

Here are some cases in point...

http://www.webmaster-talk.com/php-fo...atch-help.html
(at the time of posting the google ad generated towards the bottom of this page was for a site offering php freelancers.....now it all liklihood that's who my visitors would be so they wouldn't want to hire one would they..)

http://www.protycoon.com/index.php/2...lor-using-php/
Here you see an article about alternating the row colours on an html table and you get ads that don't have anything to do with php.....at the time I looked there was one about a site selling table cloths.

I would have thought my potential visitors would be interested in things like books on programming, DVD's, interesting new softwares, sites offering free scripts etc.

So can anyone offer any advice on this?

Also is it possible to only accept ads from people doing a "site targeted" campaign as opposed to a contextual one?

thanks for any help


Juan

You could go out searching for people that would want to advertise on your website in the first place. This way you don't have to worry about click through rate, and just receive a steady monthly payment.

Also, I would think that php coders would want a website, so maybe a web hosting add could pop up here and there. Which would interest SOME of your members. The freelance websites are not ALL bad. Some may provide a place for freelancers to find work. So again, your visitors could benefit.

Generally, adsense is used if your site does not make a profit by itself. For example, a forum, a free service, tutorials, videos, music, etc..

Hello Juan,
I'm no expert on Adsense, but why not try it out for a week or two?
See what kind of ads are presented and decide then if it's right for you.
It shouldn't hurt your site and it won't cost you anything.

Otherwise, you can display other alternatives to Adsense, depending on
your type of content and visitors, as andrei155 said.

Juan I agree with Lance about trying. The only way to know is to try it and see what happens.

In general though, I agree AdSense probably isn't the best monetization for you. Web savvy people have a lower tendency to click on the ads because it's easier for them to recognize the ads as ads. I don't think the issue you'll have will be relevancy, but rather members who just aren't ad clickers.

You might have more luck with affiliate offers. You could hand pick some affiliate programs that offer products and services you know your forum members will be interested in. You already have a list of things you think would interest them. There's plenty of affiliate programs for all of them.