The Bottom Line

If you run a website, there is no reason not to sign up for the Google AdSense program. Instead of being a drain on your finances, AdSense lets any website generate some amount of revenue. Even if it's just a few dollars per month, it might be enough to let your site pay for itself.

And if you want to drive more traffic to your site (to help generate more AdSense earnings), you can tap into the power of Google search via the AdWords program. AdWords lets any websiteno matter how smalladvertise on Google's search results pages. It's a sure-fire way to get your site noticed by Google's millions of users.

Use AdSense to generate revenue for your site, and AdWords to generate traffic. The first doesn't cost you anything, and the second very well could pay for itself in terms of increased traffic and ad revenues. If you're serious about your website, these are two programs you must participate in.