How to get your website Google AdSense approved in South Africa

There are a number of ways to monetize your website. The easiest way to make money is through having ads run or show on your website. I am sure that you have seen the ads that are running on this website. This is where AdSense comes into play.

How Google Adsense works is that Google partners with a number of companies that want to advertise their products and services. However, as Google itself does not produce content, it partners with website owners through its Google AdSense program to display the ads on your website. Google will take its share of the advertising fee, which is 40% and the rest is yours. There is a whole technical thing to the process but we as website owners are not privy to it. Google will give us the information we need. That is, the traffic and how much we have earned from our website visitors

Is Google AdSense available in South Africa?

Yes, Google AdSense is available in South Africa. The ads that will run on your website will target potential customers who are keen on your niche. What I have noticed is that the advertisements are localized and that they target content from relevant industries. An example of this is that finance content tends to have banking or finance related ads.

How do I get my website approved for Google AdSense in South Africa

It is not a challenge to have your website AdSense approved in South Africa. However, please note that Google itself has not publicized the official requirements for AdSense approval. In countries such as India, other publishers have remarked that they had to wait 6 months to be approved. Luckily for us, in South Africa, AdSense approval can be done within a week. There are 4 things that you need to have in order for your website to be Google AdSense approved.

Self hosted website

Well, unless you use BlogSpot, google will not run ads on websites that are not self hosted. What I mean by that is that you need to have a domain that you purchase that is self hosted. This is simply like your URL. (lynnfitho.com). It cannot say WordPress, Squarespace etc. I have written a detailed article HERE about how to get a FREE domain and the cheapest domain.

Recommended article format for Google AdSense Approval

After a lot of research and personal experience, quality content is king for Google AdSense Approval. This is because an actual human manually reviews your website. The Google AdSense reviewer will check to see if your website is adhering to the Google AdSense usage policies or not. You can find the policies from Google outlined HERE.

Google AdSense does not want plagiarized content. So make sure that you are writing authentic content that is not copied from another website. To add on, avoid using AI generated content for your website. You can use AI tools such as chatgpt4 to get a guide for your articles, but if Google senses that your articles are written by AI, you will be penalized.

How many articles do I need to get approved in South Africa for Google AdSense Approval

Producing good quality content for your website plays a big role in you getting approved for AdSense. In most cases, you need to have a minimum of at least 20 well written articles that are at least 900 words long. Apart from just getting AdSense approval, you want your website visitors to get some information and to keep coming back for more content. This can only be done by having adequate content. To add on, it will show the Google AdSense review team that you are serious about your site.

Can I get Approved for Google AdSense with no traffic

You need to have traffic for your website to be approved by Google AdSense. A number of bloggers including myself noticed that Google AdSense will accept a minimum of 1000 website visitors for the to monetize your website in South Africa. Please note that when you are starting out, it will take months for Google to index and for your website to generate organic traffic. With this being said, you will have to generate traffic through social media. In 2024, I am finding that it is easier to get quick traffic from Tiktok.

What happens if I get declined by Google AdSense?

Once you send your account in for Google AdSense approval, it can take a few days for them to get back to you. In most cases, they will tell you the reason you have not been successful. In most cases, it is perhaps you have a number of categories and do not have enough content to fill those categories. I will say, start small with three categories or subsections. You can always expand when you are approved. To add on, you can re-apply for monetization as often as you want.

What pays more than Google AdSense in South Africa

There are other options which you can consider when thinking of monetizing your website. Companies such as Mediavine and AdThrive do pay the most but they need you to have an audience from the US, and have over 50 000 website visitors a month. That number to reach for monetization is tough as you are just starting out. Another option to try is Ezoic. I actually have both Ezoic and AdSense running on my website. They said that the two can compete to give me the best payment. I am yet to sit down and see if this is true. I will be back with an update regarding this.