AdSense vs. Affiliate Marketing: In Which Direction, Should a Blog Focus?

A massive discussion on the notion of making huge money with the Google AdSense is ongoing since the last decade. It is being claimed that AdSense sites can generate more money than an affiliate-based earning model site.

This discussion has become similar to the one on the egg and the hen. Nobody actually knows the real answer.

However, as far as my viewpoint is concerned, I can create more money through affiliate marketing as compared to what I earned on AdSense. Let us understand the two terms separately.

Before that, here is a nice article about how to become a successful affiliate marketer you should miss.

AdSense vs. Affiliate Marketing

Google AdSense

Google AdSense provides the opportunity to the user to earn money without dealing with the customers or answering their emails. With AdSense sites, you can earn virtual-passive incomes that don’t require too much of maintenance. It is beneficial for people who run information sites that have no related affiliate product.

Google AdSense lets you create a content page, and there is little need to update the content. Since they do not require too much work, the user can very easily create multiple websites and earn a good income through each.

These sites do not have a long term keep because instead of pitching your customers to subscribe to your mailing list, your attention is now on to make people click on the ads.

These sites rely completely on search engines. If by chance, the algorithms of the search engines change, there could be a significant drop in your income.

Affiliate Marketing

It is essential for the people who wish to build a theme site. With the help of this, it is easier to create web pages around a topic and in turn, makes your customers buy your products. If it is carried out well, you can have a set of loyal followers that will provide your business with money in the many years to come.

The best part about affiliate marketing is that you can build a long-term business and earn a constant amount of money in the years to come. A person using these sites needs to put in a lot of efforts in creating a mailing list. This is important for your business as via this you can intimate your customers about your new products and services.

The toughest part of using affiliate marketing is writing; writing elaborate descriptions about your product can be a tedious task. It requires a lot more work and effort.

What will generate more blog revenue?

Points of comparison:

1. Getting into an Affiliate Marketing network is easy as compared to AdSense.
2. In the long run, affiliate marketing generates more income than AdSense.
3. The Paypal payment option is only available with Affiliate companies and not with AdSense.
4. Affiliate is product and topic-centric. Hence, it is available throughout all the niches, but AdSense is not allowed on many of these niches.
5. There is no control over the AdSense ads. Therefore, the ads on affiliate system turn out to be lucrative.
6. With AdSense, you are entailed to a recurring income, but in affiliate marketing, you are paid once per sale.
7. AdSense is solely managed by Google, but there are a couple of companies for Affiliate products.

Important Pointers:

The points mentioned below will help you in making your final decision.

1. Affiliate-Marketing is not applicable in every domain. If your content is viral, then it is better to choose AdSense.
2. There can be major fluctuation in your Affiliate Income, but your AdSense Income is more or less stable.
3. Numerous bloggers have a tendency of replacing the successful ad spaces with affiliate ads. This is very risky as it can be both: successful and unsuccessful. You should use it with proper thought and idea.
4. For your blog, the best way is for you to use a combination of Affiliate and AdSense sites. Keeping the ratio to 2:1 is the best possible outcome.
5. At the core, what matters is the quality of your content. Therefore, focus on creating the best end value for your customers and earn income through it.

Keep these pointers in mind before making a choice between AdSense and Affiliate system.