When you host paid internet advertisements (of which AdSense ads are one type) on your website, you get paid each time someone clicks on an ad or each time an ad is shown depending on your agreement with the advertiser. There is no cost to you for hosting the ads, but in order to maximize your revenues, you do need to learn some best practices and tips and tricks for working with online advertisements.

There are a number of companies that help match websites with advertisers and make it easy to embed ads in your pages. Most will not disclose how much you can expect to make up front, so you'll have to experiment a little to find the one that is best for you. Make sure that you understand the terms of the service, what types of ads can be shown, and how and when you will be paid before you sign up.

Tips for hosting ads

• Show the ads on "above the fold" - i.e. where the user can see them without scrolling down

• Create pages that are visually simple and text rich

• Experiment with different ad placements and colors

• Organize your site so that customers can easily find the information they're looking for