New to Adsense? Have Questions?

[robynann123]

I am reading the posts and they are great, but I wanted some advice! I have had a website up and running for about a year now, making cents on the dollar... very frustrating. Just now really starting to learn about how important keywords, content, SEO, etc are. I have joined and subscribed to many programs, some of which I am sure are a scam! But overall...working my butt off to get content rich articles and information on my sites. Experimenting with keywords and description meta tags etc... and I am still not making any money! You read that people make $100's per month... is it really true? Am I completely oblivious? Have I missed the adsense boat? What am I doing wrong? I spend so much time everday on it... wanting to get a site that I can be proud of and earn a living from (stay at home mom), and I am getting let down each time I view my adsense reports.
HELP?
Thanks for listening to my "pity party"

[jfodale]

What kind of traffic are you receiving? If you aren't getting enough, you probably need to focus on driving in more traffic.

If you are getting a good amount of traffic, you may need to start worrying about ad location, color, that kind of thing.

[ronin]

For a start it sounds like you're way too focused on "making money" and not focused enough on creating value.

Build a quality site because you are interested in the topics you write about, the products and personalities in your sector, the latest news stories in your industry.

Respect, listen to and encourage the people who respond to your articles, build a grass-roots community, become a voice in your industry sector.

Be innovative in thinking up new and helpful ways you can present information, make sure your site is always one step ahead of competing publications, keep abreast of how you can improve your page layout designs and information architecture.

Don't worry too much about the income. When you're involved in producing a high quality, high-value publication, your income will grow along with your audience and the status of your site.