Blogspot is a free domain provided to those of you who are making websites
using Blogger platform. You will be able to choose whatever name that you like
for the subdomain as long as it's available. Blogspot is easy to set up and
you can monetize it using AdSense once it becomes eligible.
Contrary to popular belief, Blogspot eligibility does not guarantee that your
blog will be approved right away by AdSense. In fact, AdSense approval process
is much stricter. Qualified or eligible blogspot will be reviewed again to see if it
doesn't violate AdSense policy.
Furthermore, Blogger's new update has allowed us to add blogspot domain directly to our AdSense account. You no longer need to wait to become eligible/qualified, you can just add your blogspot blogs right away as long as you have an account. But again, getting the actual approval will be not easy.
Common AdSense Rejection Reasons
One of the most common policy violation is called "Valuable inventory: under construction". This warning often appears when you modify your blog while it's still being
reviewed by AdSense.
AdSense will reject your blog if it doesn't have sufficient content. For example, your blog may only contain three well-written published posts and get qualified. However, AdSense might think that the blog still does not have
enough valuable content and therefore you receive a rejection message which says
"Valuable inventory: no content".
Another example, your blog is qualified but you change the theme before you
request for approval. The new theme may contains error and you may receive a
rejection message which says that "Site behaviour: Navigation".
If your blog violates multiple AdSense policy, you may not get the violation
message in detail. You will only receive a message which says that your website is not suitable for AdSense.
In that case, you need to thoroughly audit your whole blog to identify
the possible problematic spots. Your blog may get rejected multiple times but
fortunately you are allowed to reapply after you have resolved the problems.
How to avoid AdSense rejection
In order to avoid policy violation and get AdSense approval, you can try the
following tips:
1. Follow AdSense Eligibility Requirements
2. Write long articles
Based on my experience, blog which contains well-written long articles (at
least 1000 words) will have a better chance to be approved. Of course not all
of your articles have to be that long. You can mixed it up with shorter
articles but please remember that
a blog which contain only short articles will have harder time to get
AdSense approval.
3. Unique writing style
If your blog is generic, you may have hard to be approved because AdSense may
think that your article is not original. For example, a blog which only posts
"Top 10" articles is considered to be generic. A blog about job listing,
fake product reviews, common how-to tips, bogus health tips, short current
news rewrites, or common cooking recipe will also have a hard time to get
approval.
Be original!
4. Double check your writing
Use a proper grammar (correct tenses and sentence structure). Avoid typo. Write in a language that you understand
well. I don't advise you to write in English if you are not able to write as good as a native speakers. AdSense may think that your blog is a spam website if you are using incorrect grammar because your articles will be nonsensical.
5. Use responsive theme
Your blog needs to be responsive in all devices. It needs to be able to load
fast. Slow blog may prevent AdSense to review your blog properly. I usually
use Contempo or Soho whenever I ask for approval. Then, I change it to
fast-loading custom theme
after my blog gets approved.
6. Avoid using copyrighted materials
If you need a copyright free pictures, you can download them from Getty image
or Unsplash. Please note that images such as book covers or movie posters have
copyright. You may be able to use those images after approval under "fair-use"
but I don't recommend using them during review process.
7. Avoid changing your theme during review process
AdSense will reject a website which is still under construction. Before you
apply, make sure that the theme does not contain error and the navigation
works properly. Changing theme will send signal to AdSense that your website
is still not ready. Modify your theme after you have the approval.
8. Index your articles
AdSense will only approve blog which can attract audience. If your blog is not
indexed, you will have harder time to get visitors and thus you may get
rejected. You can
use Google Search Console to index Blogspot.
9. Choose your subdomain name wisely
People think that having a keyword in their domain name will increase their
website rankings. This is not completely true. In fact, Blogspot subdomain which only
contains keyword may be designated as spam website. This type of website will definitely be rejected by AdSense. Combining your own brand
name and keyword may be better in some cases. Good Blogspot subdomain should
be short and easy to remember.
10. Be patience
AdSense recommend your blog to be
active for at least 6 months. Of course you can still get approval faster than that, but older blog tends
to get approved much easier. Also don't reapply right away if you get
rejected. Identify the problems first and take your time improving your
blog!
Always remember that it takes time to build a blog which can get AdSense
approval. Beware of clickbaiter and scammers who claimed to be able to get
AdSense approval quickly!