Advertising

Advertising on Google Sites

With the recent removal of Adsense from Google Sites many website owners are looking for an alternative advertising provider. This tutorial will show you how to use Chitika advertising in order to monetize your Google Site. This is an advanced tutorial so make sure to approach it slowly and with patience.

Step 1:

You'll need to sign up for a Chitika publisher account (here). Publishers are accepted easily into the program (unlike Adsense) and you can insert ads on your website right away.

After you sign up with your email address, you'll need to set up your payment options. Click Account and then select Payment Settings in the top right corner of the website after signing in to your publisher account. Payments are made through PayPal when you hit $10 USD.

Step 3:

Using the code you've just generated, you'll need to create an xml file and insert this into your Google Site. To do so, begin by creating a new text file. A simple way to do this is to right click on the desktop, select New and choose Text Document.

Step 2:

Now that you've created an account with Chitika, you'll need to create an ad. Select Ads in the top left corner and choose Get Code.

After giving your file a name, open the file. Insert the following code by copying and pasting:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<Content type="html"><![CDATA[

ADD CODE GOES HERE

]]></Content>

</Module>

In place of the ADD CODE GOES HERE, paste the advertising code you created in step two. Proceed to save the file in xml format choosing File > save as, selecting All files from the dropdown and changing the extension to .xml. Use the image below as a guideline.

Next you'll get to choose the type of ad. There are a wide array of options including 728x90 Leaderboard, 250x250 Square, 160x600 Wide Skyscraper, 550x250 MEGA-unit and 16 other sizes. Ads work best when they match your website's design, so we recommend using the Customize option.

After you are done customizing the ad, select Get Code and copy the code to your clipboard.

Step 4:

You now have your advertising code inside an xml file. The next step involves uploading it to your Google Site. Once you have selected a template and chosen your site's name and web address, you will find yourself on the home page as shown below. If you are on your website but can't see the editing menu, make sure you are signed in with the website owner's account.

Step 5:

Click on More in the top right corner of your site as shown below. Then select Manage Site from the options that appear.

Step 6:

On the side-bar menu, select Attachments as shown below.

Select the Upload button and navigate to the xml file you created earlier.

Step 7:

The last step is to insert the ad into your website. Navigate to the page you wish to monetize, and click the pencil icon in the top right corner. Then select Insert and choose More gadgets...

Next, choose Add gadget by URL from the left sidebar and insert the main URL of your website with the name of the file added to the end

For example: https://sites.google.com/site/yourwebsite/filename.xml

On the following screen, change the size of the gadget to match the ad size choice you made in step two. You can also choose to add a border or a title. After clicking OK your ad should appear as a gray gadget box which you can move to the desired position by clicking and dragging. Save the page and the advertisements will appear. It may take a few hours before the advertisements become more relevant to your website.