It's no great secret!

No great secret that is, unless you haven't discovered what many seasoned webmasters and just plain ordinary folks have found out.

"There's gold in them there blogs!"

Yours for the mining, or we should say writing.

Many people have discovered and are benefiting from the connection between blogs and Google Adsense. A lucrative connection that's earning them extra money each month as they receive their checks from Google. It's putting a big smiiiiiiile on their faces.

What's even more amazing, all this can be set up at zero-cost to anyone who can use a cursor. It's a totally free system that can earn you money each and every month.

What gives? What's the connection?

Actually, there is no big secret, anyone can set up a blog or blogs and put Google's Adsense code on them. If you're new to the Internet or not a webmaster -- these things may have to be explained further.

Blogs are online journals where anyone can write on any subject or topic that interests them. Blogs are extremely popular with Internet users, with an estimated 60 million or more blogs on the web. Any and every topic (news, hobbies, sports, etc.) is covered in these blogs.

Creating a blog couldn't be easier, there are many online blogging sites that will let you set up a blog of your own for free. The two main biggies are bloglines.com (owned by Ask Jeeves) and blogger.com (owned by Google). It only takes minutes to create your own blog.

Or many webmasters who don't want to go the 'free route' can use a system from wordpress.com and place or host the blogs on their own sites. It will give you a lot more options. Regardless which method you use, once you have your blog up and running, you will need to get a Google Adsense account here: https://www.google.com/adsense/

Google Adsense is an advertising system where you as the publisher places the Adsense code on your site. Google then uses this code to send targeted 'keyword guided' ads to be displayed on your site. If someone clicks on your Google ad, you earn a portion of the ad revenue. These ads come in many formats and sizes. Chances are you have already seen these 'Ads by Google' on many sites that you have visited, you may have even clicked on one or two!

Advertisers wanting visitors or customers to their sites, buy these ads using the Google Adword system. Commonly known as Pay-Per-Click advertising. This system is based on keywords, these are the words people use to search for things on the Internet. Because they are 'keyword based' -- these ads match perfectly with the content on your site or blog - delivering well targeted visitors to the advertisers.

Google's Adsense program is very user friendly. Google lets you customize your ads to match the 'look and feel' of your site. Google also gives you some good advice on 'where' to place these ads on your site to increase your click-thru rate. It would be a good idea to read this section before you place the Adsense Code on your site or blog.

Google also lets you track your adsense code on 200 different urls (channels) so you can see which web pages or blogs are earning you money. As part of Google's 'TOS' Terms of Service, individual publishers (that's you!) are not allowed to discuss any Adsense earnings they get from Google. So mums the word.

However, one of the 'keys' to making ad revenue from your Google Adsense account has to do with 'keywords'. Obviously, some keywords are worth more than others, that is - certain keywords or phrases that people type into search engines will pay more. For example, which one do you think will bring in more revenue to your Adsense program -- someone searching for a home loan or someone searching for a baseball cap.

Many webmasters or bloggers use sites like www.overture.com to see what advertisers are paying for certain keywords. Just as important, it will also give you the number of searches made by surfers for your chosen keywords or phrases last month.

The real trick is to set up a blog or blogs on popular (heavy traffic) topics or keywords that pay the most money to publishers like you. Also, it's best to create a blog or blogs on topics that will keep your interest for years to come. You do have to write interesting stories, facts, information on your topic in order to bring visitors and traffic to your blogs... so pick something that you're very passionate about.

Submit your blogs to all the blog directories, here's a good place to start:www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/

Once you have a regular flow of traffic to your blogs, you will see a regular flow of adsense income coming to you each month. The more traffic or page impressions you get, the more you could possibly earn.

Blogs use RSS to syndicate their content. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, the standard format for syndication of content from online blogs, news sites, forums and other web sites. Google has introduced a system where you can place your Adsense Code into your RSS Feeds. You have to apply separately to get into this program -- it's only in Beta yet. But the potential for RSS Adsense could be very beneficial to bloggers, imagine getting your Adsense code syndicated to thousands upon thousands of subscribers or web sites.

Google has also gone so far as applying for a patent on RSS ads. This patent could give Google control of RSS advertising. The application was filed by Google employee Nelson Minar and is currently under review by the U.S. Trade and Patent Office.

Regardless of whether or not Google is successful in this application; the potential of RSS Adsense is great and may have far reaching implications in the very near future. This could also prove to be a very lucrative system for both Google and the ordinary webmaster or blogger.

A very lucrative connection indeed.