Google AdSense is one of the most popular ways to monetize your website.
It allows you to automatically sell your website’s ad space to advertisers and get paid. AdSense is one of the easiest way to start making money online with your website.
In this article, we will show you how to add Google AdSense in WordPress along with some best practices and tips to increase your earnings.
What is Google AdSense?
Google AdSense is an advertising network run by Google that allows bloggers and website owners an opportunity to earn money by showing text, image, video, and other interactive advertisement on their websites. These ads are targeted by site content and audience, so they’re highly relevant.
Google AdSense is hassle-free because you don’t have to deal with advertisers or worry about collecting money. Google administers and maintains relationships with advertisers. They collect the payment, take their management fee, and send the rest of the money to you.
AdSense offers cost-per-click ads (CPC) which means that you earn money every time a user clicks on the ad on your website. The amount received per click varies based on a variety of factors.
Video Tutorial
If you don’t like the video or need more instructions, then continue reading.
Getting Started with AdSense
First thing you need to do is sign up for a Google AdSense account. If you have a Gmail account, then you can use your existing account to sign up.
Once you’ve submitted your application, you will need to wait for the Google AdSense team to review it. This may take a few hours to a few weeks for some publishers.
Once it is approved, then you can log in to your AdSense account and get your ad code. This is the code that you need to place on your website to display ads.
Recently, Google AdSense announced auto ads, which means you paste just one piece of code and Google automatically decides when, where, and how many ads to show on each page.
However, most publishers are still using the manual method to individually place ads on their website.
We’ll show you both methods. We recommend starting with the manual ad placement first. Once you have started earning, then you can experiment with auto-ads to compare them yourself.
1. Manually Place Google AdSense Ad Code in WordPress
You’ll start by clicking on the Ads menu in the left column and then switching to the ‘By ad unit’ tab. From here you need to click on ‘Create New Ad’.
You will be asked to choose an ad type. You can select from ‘Display ads’, ‘In-feed ads’, and ‘In-article ads’.
If you are unsure, then start with the display ads.
Next, you need to provide a name for this ad unit and select the ad size and type.
The name of the Ad is only used for internal purposes, so you can name it anything like “SiteName Sidebar”.
The next option is choosing the Ad Size. While Google offers a wide variety of ad sizes, there are certain sizes that are listed under recommended because those are the most popular among advertisers.
You can also choose whether you want your ad to be responsive or fixed. We recommend choosing responsive ads as they work well on all devices and screen sizes.
Next, click on the Create button to continue.
AdSense will now generate the ad code for you. It contains the unique ad unit ID and your publisher ID.
If your website has a Google AMP version, then you can also copy the code for your AMP pages.
Simply copy your ad code and paste it in a plain text editor like Notepad or TextEdit. You will need it in the next step.
Adding Google AdSense in WordPress
You need to determine where you want to show the ad on your website. Ads are most commonly displayed in the sidebar. You can add Google Adsense in your sidebar by using WordPress widgets.
Simply go to Appearance » Widgets page in your WordPress admin area. Next, drag & drop the ‘Custom HTML’ widget to the appropriate widget area and paste your Google AdSense code in there.
For better placement control and tracking, we recommend that you check out AdSanity WordPress plugin. (See: Best Ad Management WordPress solutions)
2. Add Auto-Ads AdSense Code in WordPress
Adding individual ads to different areas of your website takes a lot of time. Most beginners struggle to find the best locations to display ads on their sites.
To solve this, Google has introduced auto-ads. This allows you to simply add one code snippet to your site and let Google AdSense figure out the highest paying location, ad-size, and type.
The disadvantage of this method is that you have less control over ad placement on your website.
If you want to add use auto-ads feature, then this is how you’ll add Google AdSense to your website.
First login to your Google AdSense account and click on the Ads tab. Next, you need to click on the Get Code button to generate the auto-ads code.
AdSense will now generate a code snippet with your publisher ID and show it on the screen. You can now copy and paste this code in a text editor.
Adding AdSense Auto-Ads Code in WordPress
The auto-ads code uses the single code snippet to generate ads everywhere on your WordPress website. This means you need to add the code to all the pages where you want to display the ad.
One way to do this is by adding the code in your WordPress theme’s header.php file. However, the disadvantage of this method is that your ad code will disappear if you update or change your theme.
The best way to add any site-wide code to your website is by using a plugin like Insert Headers and Footers.
First, you need to install and activate the Insert Headers and Footers plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, go to the Settings » Insert Headers and Footers page. From here, you need to paste your Google AdSense code in the header section.
Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save’ button to store your changes.
The plugin will now add the ad code on all pages of your website. It may take Google AdSense sometime to start showing ads.
AdSense Best Practices and Frequently Asked Questions
Over the years, we’ve answered several AdSense related questions. Having used AdSense on several of our sites in the past, we’ve learned a whole lot about optimizing. Below are some AdSense best practices and frequently asked questions.
What’s the best AdSense Ad Size?
Although ad placement is key, we’ve found that the best sizes are 336×280 and 300×250. These ads tend to fit on most screen sizes and have the best pay rate as well.
What’s the Best AdSense Placement?
This entirely depends on your layout. The goal is to get more clicks, so you want to place your ads in a more prominent spot. We have found that ads within post content towards the top of the screen tends to get the most clicks.
Several users have asked us about adding AdSense in a floating widget because it will be very prominent. We strongly recommend against that because it is not allowed by Google Terms of Service. If you violate their TOS, then you can get banned from the program.
Can I click on my own Google AdSense Ads?
Often beginners are tempted to click on their own ads or ask their family members to click on their ads. Please don’t do that. Google’s algorithm is very smart and knows when you’re clicking on your own ad. This can get you banned from the program.
What is Page RPM in Google AdSense?
RPM stands for Revenue per Mille meaning revenue per 1000 impressions. This is determined by multiplying the total number of clicks and cost per click and then dividing that by the total number of pageviews.
Can I use my Blogger or YouTube AdSense account with WordPress?
Yes, you can. If you started using AdSense on one of Google’s hosted platforms like Blogger or YouTube, then you can change your AdSense account type and use it with WordPress. You’ll need to provide Google AdSense with the URL of the site you want to monetize by filling out an application form.
Simply login to your AdSense account and then under ‘My Ads’ click on ‘Other Products’ option. Next, you need to click ‘Upgrade now’ and complete the application form.
What is CTR in Google AdSense?
CTR or click-through-rates differ vastly for different kind of websites. Your ad clicks depend on a lot of factors like your website’s topics, your audience type, ad placement on your site, and more. The ideal CTR for Google AdSense is really hard to define because you don’t have access to the click rates of other websites like your own.
However, Google AdSense has built-in tools that will start showing you messages if your site is not getting a good CTR. You can follow the optimization guides shown inside Google AdSense dashboard to improve your ad revenue.
When and how does Google AdSense pay publishers?
Each month, Google AdSense calculates your previous month’s earnings and shows them on your ‘Transactions’ page. If your earnings match the required threshold, then your payment is processed and released by the 21st of that month.
There are multiple payment methods available including direct electronic transfer, wire transfer, check, Western Union, and more.
Why Google AdSense rejected my application?
Google Adsense may reject your application if your website doesn’t meet the AdSense program policies or their terms and conditions.
What are the requirements to get Google AdSense application approved?
Here are the minimum requirements to get your Google AdSense account application approved.
- Your website and all its content must comply with AdSense program policies and terms and conditions.
- Your website should be at least 6 months old.
- You, the applicant, must be over 18 years old.
Note: Even if your application meets all the requirements, Google AdSense still reserves the right to decline your application.
Can I add Google AdSense in my WordPress.com blog?
WordPress.com does not allow you to add Google AdSense to your website unless you upgrade to the Business plan. For more on this topic, please see our guide on the difference between WordPress.com vs WordPress.org.
What is the difference between Google AdSense vs Google AdWords?
Google AdWords allows you to advertise on other websites including those participating in the Google AdSense program.
Google AdSense allows you to make money from your website by showing ads on your website.
We hope this article helped you add Google AdSense in your WordPress site. You may also want to check out our guide on how to increase your blog traffic, and the best email marketing services to grow your subscribers.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
thanks for the helpful article
i just want to ask can i put ads without buying the domain ?
You would need a domain to have a site to place ads on
Thank you for this article.
Are you able to choose the kind of ads that are displayed on your website?
ie: auto ads but not soda ads
You would control the allowed types of ads in your Adsense dashboard under their blocking controls.
Very lovely piece for intender like me. My question is if I’m using a page builder to build my site, will this auto-ad code that I insert using insert header and footer plugin display ads on all my pages that I build with a page builder
It should work even when using a page builder.
Hello sir, i hot approved by adsense and i started to show ads but my problem is that ads sometimes they appear and some times it show empty place, is that due because its new?
Google may not have ads that would fit your specific site available at that time, you can reach out to Adsense’s support should you feel this is a continual issue.
its good .very useful article. I like the post very much
Glad you found our guide helpful
Thank you so much for this informative article because it really helped me. I just got Google AdSense approval today. Very nice article for beginners like me.
Thanks once again for this helpful article.
Glad our article was helpful
Can i add google ad in my wordpress.com blog
Our tutorials are for WordPress.org sites, you can see the difference between the two in our comparison article below:
https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/
For WordPress.com questions you would want to reach out to WordPress.com’s support.
Great Article, i love the content so much is so relevant and helpful. wpbeginers is full of great articles to learn from
Thank you, glad you’ve found our content helpful
Hi, I have just had to deactivate site kite and remove the auto ads because they were breaking the centre column of a three column block being used as a image/gallery.
Advice from WP forum- When you’re loading google adsense in the header like that, you may get wonky results bc it takes time for the browser to understand what it will be rendering, meanwhile the rest of the html is loading.
Correct, the auto ads are attempting to learn your content, if you wanted a specific type of ad in that location you would want to use the manual ad code
Even though I placed Adsense code for approval using Insert Headers and Footers, it still shows ‘The code is missing or incomplete’. Even though I tried 3-4 times but every time it comes up with the same issue. Please do help
You would want to ensure you’ve cleared any caching and you don’t have a coming soon page up on your site for the most common reasons.
I have a different doubt.
I got my adsense activation code. To insert and activate adsense account should I delete the previously given verification html code?
I am not using wordpress I am a blogger user.
Please reply
If you’re not using auto ads you can remove the verification code from your site.
Hello my site is only one month and i have requested for adsense approval it is still saying “Getting ready…” do you think if everything is okay i will get approved even if the site is not 6month old? its now two weeks not approved yet
That would be up to Google, they do not have a specific timetable for approving applications at this time.
Need your help.. I got a mail from Adsense
The team has now reviewed it but unfortunately your site isn’t ready to show ads at this time. There are some issues which need fixing before your site is ready to show ads.
For more information, visit the ‘Sites’ page in your account.
What next I have to do?
You would want to log into your account and Google should specify why they feel your site is not ready
Hey, I got error when adding the snippet on the “Custom HTML” widget:
1.Tag is not allowed
2.Tag attribute … is not allowed
I saw some post somehere that said I need to clear cache the browser, but it’s not working. The error still persist.
You may want to ensure you are not using WordPress.com, you can see our comparison here:
https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/
Hi there,
Is it just as simple as past the code in the widget? I have tried but only sey a light grey block instead of the ad?
Adsense may not have ads to display at the moment.
Thanks for such informative post. I want to start a blogging website and earn money from Google Adsense. Will it any problem if I use free web theme?
There wouldn’t be an issue using a free theme, for understanding the main differences between paid and free themes you would want to take a look at our article here:
https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/decide-premium-free-wordpress-themes/
You Guys have the solution to every problem related to the WordPress blog. Thanks.
Glad we can be helpful
Thank you so much! I am wordpress illiterate and this is the first tutorial that actually helped me!!
Glad our guide could be helpful
Hi.
Google Adsense place for posting code for wordpress site didnt work sorry… I saw you guys say to paste it into sidebar widget but google adsense says is not picking up the code in the site
Thanks for letting us know, just to be sure, if this is the verification code they recommend adding in your header you may want to try the method from our article here:https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-add-header-and-footer-code-in-wordpress/
If Adsense is not seeing the ad, in general, there could be an issue with your caching as the most likely culprit
I have my website for a year and 6 months and did everything in the video. However, it’s been months since I did it and there’s still not ads showing in my website. I’ve tried everything and nothing is happening.
You would likely want to use Google’s Adsense troubleshooter for the ads not displaying.
This information is now out of date. There are no more “ad units” to pick from.
Thank you for your feedback, we will certainly take a look at Google’s updates
Great article! Thanks.
Can you please elaborate on :
Your website should be at least 6 months old.
Couldn’t find this in official policy page.
They may have updated their policy to remove that requirement but having your content be that old still aids in getting your site approved
This was very helpful. Thank you!!!
Glad our article was helpful
Hi WPbeginer,
My Adsense is loaded on my webiste but it show as blank space. I inspect my Firefox browser and it showed that I have my ads code but it doesn’t show images. I check and confirm that my webiste is not baned by Google Adsense. Please advise.
Adsense may not have an ad they would recommend for your site at that time. If you feel that there may be an error with the code you can check using the Google Adsense Troubleshooter to ensure the ad is set up correctly
Thank you so much, your article helped me properly setup Adsense on my site bidaqiqa.com that was very helpful guys. Thanks again
Glad our guide could help
Thank you so much for your wonderful article. Today is a really unforgettable day for me. I get approved for my blog. It’s because of you only. Love you thanks for guiding me. I’m a new AdSense publisher now,
Glad our recommendations could help you
Thank you. This was helpful. My ads disappeared with the latest ads.txt update and I had been having trouble getting them to show up again. With the help of this article I was able to ad a widget and I can collect my pennies from adsense again.
Glad our guide could help
Your video content is very good we are really benefited from here thanks for help us.
Glad you like our content
How would I add code in between post paragraphs (beyond the sidebar)?
I don’t want to clutter my sidebar because I already have a couple ads there. Thanks!
For inserting ads automatically, you could take a look at: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-insert-ads-within-your-post-content-in-wordpress/
Another great article. I’m a new blogger and I found all I needed to know to help me through the entire process right here on your page. God Bless you! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Glad our guide could help get you started
hello…do you have any tutorial about how to create a wordpress google adsense site?
This would be the closest article to that at the moment. If you’re looking to create a blog about Adsense you would want to take a look at our blog article: https://www.wpbeginner.com/start-a-wordpress-blog/
Well, I need some more help…
I am unable to activate Google Adsense for my website
Can You help me???
It would depend on the reason why your Adsense is not activating. You should receive an email or a message in your dashboard for why Adsens is not activating.
Loved your article
Thanks
Thank you, glad you liked our content
i am trying to add adsense ad code in my header but it shows error 500, I tried both the method manual and by plugin but it shows the same, i already tried changing theme but it also doesn’t work , what to do know please help?
For the 500 error you would want to take a look at our guide here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-fix-the-internal-server-error-in-wordpress/
Hi.
Thanks a lot for this post.
I have tried several times to save my AdSense verification code after pasting it in the header.php and ads widget but it doesn’t save. Tried so many times. It just keeps loading and never saves.
Need your support to fix this issue because it’s been so many months I’ve struggled with this issue.
Thank you and hope to hear from you soon.
If the editor is having trouble saving your code you could manually edit the file using FTP following the steps in our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-use-ftp-to-upload-files-to-wordpress-for-beginners/
I have submitted my website three times on Google Adsense but my Adsense has been disapproved and the reasons are your Url is a typo.
What is the typo URL?
How can I solve it?
Help, Thank you
You may want to ensure there isn’t another error message with that, otherwise, you would want to reach out to Adsense’s support for assistance.
sir on my blog are not showing any single ad i’m facing this problem last 2 days.
sir i’m confessed because when i open blog on Mobile where all ads are showing. But not showing on PC.
Please help me how can i remove this problem
You would need to reach out to Adsense for the specifics, more than likely there aren’t ads for the size you’re using as a possibility.
I have tried to use my adsense code but I can not add it in my widget and it will not work. The main error I get is “tag is not allowed.”
It sounds like you may be on WordPress.com: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/
Hello!
I tried to add my custom adsense html code to my side bar but it told me that is not allowed! What should I do? Do you have any solution for this?
Sadly, from the sound of it, you are using WordPress.com instead of a WordPress.org site: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/
Hi sir, after WordPress update, I am not able to save this custom HTML Widget, when I add Adsense code the HTML Box taking a lot of time and not saving.
You could try our troubleshooting steps here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/beginners-guide-to-troubleshooting-wordpress-errors-step-by-step/
to see if it is a plugin or theme conflict
I’m looking to “upgrade” because I’ve switched from blogger to WP, but I can’t find the tabs following your instructions:
“Can I use my Blogger or YouTube AdSense account with WordPress?”
I don’t have “My Ads” and when I go under “Ads >> Other Products” I don’t have an upgrade options, it just gives me the option to monetize games and videos.
What do I do?
Sadly, with how often Google changes their methods, you would want to reach out to the adsense support to the current method
Thank you for the article! I need some help – I have added the header and footer scripts plugin to my wordpress.org site and copied and pasted the adsense code in the header area per instructions. However, I haven’t gotten approval still. Adsense recommends placing the code on each page I want ads to show up but isn’t that what the plugin is doing?
The plugin does add the code to each post and page. It can take time for Google Adsense to approve your site depending on your content.
Thanks for a great post.
We currently use the AdRotate plugin on our WordPress site and this fulfills a need that we have for advertisers who book directly with us. If we use AdSense, will we still be able to place ads for clients/advertisers who book directly with us?
For that, you would need to check Adsense’s ad placement policy for their limitations.
Hi, thanks for the article. One question: do I need to add multiple HTML widgets if I want a couple of ads in my sidebar? Or can I put all the HTML code for the ads within one widget? Thanks so much if you can help!
That is a question of personal preference but you can use either option for multiple ads.
Thank you so much for sharing this very valuable information with the world. As a beginner it really is helpful. I have 2 questions that I really need help with:
1. How do I hide certain ads from showing in a certain location?
2. I happened to be approved by Thrive Market affiliate, will that be a problem with Google Adsense?
Thank you so much in advance for your time and advice!
Best Regards,
Maya
For Adsense, you would want to set up their auto ads for excluding ads appearing from certain pages. For multiple ad programs you would need to check the current policies of the ad networks you’re using or wanting to use.
When I try to input the code, it says tags are not allowed and I can’t save.
Is your site on WordPress.com? https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/
Yes, it’s on WordPress.com.
That would be your problem, our tutorial is for WordPress.org sites, WordPress.com has limitations on what advertising is allowed on sites through them unless you are on their business plan.
Hello
So my question is I have my wordpress blog since 2013 but since then I didn’t really used it for a couple of years. Now Im ready to use it so I cleared all the oldest articles of the past. So would they consider my blog as a new one ? Since you mentionned only website with minimum 6 months will be allow for google ads. Please help me.
That would depend on Google Adsense’s opinion when you apply.
Osm article really information for all blogger
Thank you
Ho,
I have fully approved adsense account on my blogger blog. I just migrate my blogger blog to WordPress, now the question is, is it ok to place the ad codes on my new WordPress site, or I should add the url to adsense url list etc? Thanks
Shams Ali
You should be able to maintain your ads on your WordPress site if it is the same URL, otherwise, you would need to add the new domain to your Adsense for it to work properly.
Thank you, I really needed this article because it was really helpful.
Just wondering if you would help me with something? I have -Google Adsense- above the ad in my sidebar and have no idea how to remove it!
Thank you for your time.
Tracey
You may want to check the title of the widget in case that is the cause of the issue