Before you apply for Google AdSense, 10 Best Tips to Test Your Site for AdSense Eligibility

Before you apply for Google AdSense, manually auditing your website is the smartest way to avoid the dreaded “Valuable Inventory: No Content” or “Policy Violation” rejection emails.

Here are the 10 best tips to test your site’s readiness, followed by 10 alternative platforms you can use instead.

10 Best Tips to Test Your Site for AdSense Eligibility

1. The Age Check (Crucial for Teenagers)

Google AdSense requires account holders to be at least 18 years old. If you are under 18, you cannot legally sign up under your own name.

• The Test: If you are a teenager, you must have a parent or guardian apply using their Google account. If approved, all payouts will go through them.

2. The Content Volume Test (Aim for 20–30 Posts)

Google rarely approves “thin” or brand-new websites.

• The Test: Look at your blog or article feed. Do you have at least 20 to 30 fully published, deep articles? If you only have 5 or 10 posts, wait to apply until you’ve written more.

3. The Article Length Audit (800+ Words)

Short 200-word blurbs or simple image posts look like “empty pages” to Google’s review bots.

• The Test: Open your top 10 articles and check their word counts. Each post should ideally be 800 to 1,500+ words long, formatted cleanly with headings and bullet points.

4. Check for the “Big 4” Essential Pages

Google will immediately reject your site if it looks sketchy or untrustworthy to users.

• The Test: Look at your main menu or footer. Do you have clear links to these four essential pages?

  • Privacy Policy (Crucial: it must state that you plan to use third-party ads)

  • About Us (Who runs the site and why?)

  • Contact Us (A real way for people to reach you)

  • Terms of Service / Disclaimer

5. Check the “Google Index” Status

If Google’s search bots haven’t crawled and saved your pages, AdSense won’t be able to display ads on them.

• The Test: Go to Google and type site:time.i.ng (replace with your exact URL) into the search bar. Look at the number of results. If your articles don’t show up there, they aren’t indexed yet. You’ll need to submit them via Google Search Console first.

6. The Domain Age Variable

In certain regions (including parts of Africa and Asia), Google enforces a strict age rule to prevent spam.

• The Test: Has your domain been active for at least 3 to 6 months? While some US/EU sites get approved in weeks, waiting a few months builds the history Google wants to see.

7. Scan for Broken Links and “Under Construction” Signs

Broken links damage user experience, which is a massive red flag for AdSense.

• The Test: Use a free online broken link checker to scan your site. Fix all 404 error pages, and make sure you don’t have any empty categories or menus that say “Coming Soon!”

8. The “Prohibited Niche” Content Filter

Google protects its advertisers by keeping ads off sensitive or dangerous content.

• The Test: Be completely honest about your content. Does your site contain copyrighted material (movie streams, cracked software downloads), adult themes, violent language, gambling talk, or unverified medical advice? If yes, it will be rejected.

9. Run a Mobile Responsiveness and Speed Test

AdSense scripts can slightly slow down your site, so your foundation needs to be fast and mobile-friendly.

• The Test: Run your URL through Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool. Ensure your site scores well and loads smoothly on mobile devices, as that is where most ad views happen.

10. Establish a Small Base of Organic Traffic

Google claims there is no official minimum traffic requirement for AdSense, but completely dead sites are routinely rejected.

• The Test: Check your analytics. Do you have a small, steady stream of daily organic visitors coming from search engines? Even 15–30 organic visitors a day shows Google that real humans care about your content.

10 Alternative Ad Platforms Like AdSense

If you get rejected by AdSense, or if you simply don’t want to deal with their strict rules, there are plenty of high-paying ad networks available.