We all know Google makes a lot of money. But did you know Google is also helping lots of regular people just like you and me make money online as well? It’s true. Google has the number one search engine on the net by far. Savvy individuals, web site managers and marketing folks for big and small companies are learning to take advantage of the exposure Google has to offer them or their business.

Getting to the top of search results for your business category is a guarantee of more traffic and more business. And more money of course – a nice steady passive income goes out to those who pop up at the top of a search page.

Google is far and away number one in web traffic and the most-used search engine on the Internet. Getting to the top of Yahoo or MSN won’t get you half as much traffic. Round the clock income is almost guaranteed to those who get (or can afford) the most popular keyword.

Making web pages Google-friendly is a lucrative career in itself for many people. In fact, whole businesses are built around doing just that. Web sites have to be find-able by Google, and get on the first page of results if they possibly can. A couple of the most important factors in ranking web sites within their search engine are anchor text and off-page links. Certainly other factors are also key, like meta tagging and keyword density, and all of these combine to put a given site on the map. The Google map so to speak.

Web pages containing many relevant links from highly page-ranked sites will help in your site’s ranking. Page rank is assigned by Google from zero to 10. A cottage industry of ‘article marketing’ services has popped up around this, since these articles or stories are a great place to embed keywords and make them look natural. Google condemns keyword stuffing and only rewards relevant key word and links. If Google rates your page highly you will move up on the SERPS, which are search engine return pages, or search results.

Strategies and schemes (as well as many rumors and urban myths) revolve around getting to the top on Google. Brad Cullen is an SEO expert who cuts through the chaff and irrelevant information out there to help interested parties (anyone with a website) with their SEO. Brad is soon to be releasing another top of the line SEO software package called ‘Keyword Elite’. His ‘SEO Elite’ software is already out and in use by smart webmasters everywhere.

Once you get your keywords in order, and have earned some traffic to your website, Google’s AdSense tool is ready to help take you to the next level. AdSense allows you to make money by running ads on your site.

These ads are extremely relevant to the content of your site and this will make them more effective at getting clicks form your site visitors and earning you money. The top keywords will of course earn the most.

Want to just skip all this strategy stuff and get straight to the point. Well you can, if you have the money. Google AdWords can help you out here. Does this sound too good to be true? Well it is. There is a learning curve with AdWords, so don’t just plunk your money down immediately.

Do yourself and your wallet a big favor and check out ‘Google Cash’ and ebook by Perry Marshall. This great book will educate you about the basics of the AdWords pay-per-click system. Read up on how the advertising system works and tread lightly until you have done a few experiments with ads on your site, to see what works and what does not.

If you like, you can actually promote AdSense directly by referring new users from your website. Google also has an affiliate program for the Firefox browser. Most likely Google will soon add more affiliates to their program with other similar relevant products or services. A Google product banner on almost any site will get a respectable number of clicks and affiliate revenue for the site owner. It will be interesting to see what they do with this program in future and what affiliates they choose to add.

If you take part in any of these marketing activities, you can expect a check monthly form Google. You will not get the first one until you reach one hundred dollars in earnings. Even if you do this type of thing often and get paid more form other affiliates, you’ll feel great about receiving payment from Google. You can crow about it to your closest friends. You can put it in your blog. Google is a big force in the life of anyone who makes a living earning an (or even part of their living) online income. So they are your partner whether you like it or not. Google is shaping and re-shaping the web everyday and the rest of us are just trying to catch up. But at least they are good about sharing the wealth!