1. Go to google.adsense.com and click the sign up link. You will be asked to fill out a few text fields, including the URL of your primary site. Put your WordPress site's homepage URL into this field. Once you have signed up, log in to your account.
2. Look at the control panel. You'll see an overview of your advertising revenue, which will be zero at present. Click 'AdSense Setup' then 'Get Ads.'
3. Decide whether you want the ad unit to display text ads, image ads, or both. Select the relevant option from the drop-down menu. Click continue.
4. Customize the appearance of the ad using the drop-down menus that appear on the next screen. You can choose from a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. You can try an ad that blends in to the design of your site, or try a style that stands out. Different styles work for different websites, so feel free to experiment with different designs. Click continue when done.
5. Click 'Add new channel,' and choose a name to identify this ad unit. Choose something descriptive like 'Side bar skyscraper.' Click continue when done.
6. Click 'Submit and Get Code.' The code for the ad unit will appear. Copy the code to the clipboard.
7. Log in to your WordPress site. If you are familiar with HTML, you can click 'Appearance' then 'Theme Editor,' and place the ad directly into the source code. Otherwise, Click 'Plugins' then 'Add New,' and search for a free AdSense management plugin, such as WhyDoWork, Advertising Manager, or Easy AdSense. Activate the plug in, then look for it on the left menu bar. Click it, and look for the box to paste in your AdSense code. Choose where you want it to be placed.
8. Wait 10 minutes then load your site in a Web browser. See if the ad has appeared correctly. If it has not, return to the source code or plugin and ensure the ad code has been entered correctly, then check again. If the code is present and correct, but the ad has not appeared, try logging out of WordPress and looking again, as some plugins do not display ads to administrators.