PPC, also known as pay-per-click is probably one of the best, not to mention the fastest, ways to increase your affiliate earnings. The following details some very important information for those new to pay-per-click to get their start. Veterans of PPC will also find it helpful to keep this list in order to remind themselves of the fundaments.

1. Do your keyword research

This is a crucial step to successful PPC marketing. In order to draw quality traffic to your website, traffic that will result in sales, you need to know which keyword phrases to bid on. You can sign up for WordTracker, or you can use Google’s free keyword tool.

You can expect a higher bid for more competitive keywords. However, as you go through the list you will notice that there some keywords that are not being heavily targeted. Take a look at theses as they may result in a successful niche campaign.

The best advice though when it comes to PPC is to know your audience and your affiliate programs thoroughly. This way you can create pay-per-click ads that target keyword phrases that those in your market would be likely to search with and increase your affiliate earnings.

For example, if you were an affiliate to a website that sold high heels instead of betting on the keyword “shoes”, you may be more successful bidding on a phrase such as “green alligator pumps.” In other words, refine your keywords.

2. Do not ignore the advice of others

PPC is one of those games that have ever changing rules. This makes it difficult to become an expert, unless you keep up with those who already have a good grasp of the game. Buy and read “how to” books, subscribe to newsletters that offer information on the topic, and
stay current with the latest pay-per-click trends by seeking the advice of those who already know what they’re doing. Seasoned veterans would also be wise to constantly keep an open mind, in order to gain new knowledge to futher increase their affiliate earnings. The worst thing you can do is to pigeonhole yourself to one way of thinking.

3. Test, test, test and test again

This is perhaps the most important step to successful advertising. You need to know what ads are working and which ones are duds. The beauty of PPC is that the internet makes it easy to measure your success. This can be done by creating split A/B ads. Send one group
to page A, and the other to page B. The changes could be adding a value proposition or just changing the font of the heading title. Just be sure that you only change one thing per test.

Testing lets you decipher what is working and what it isn’t. You may also want to consider joining an ad tracker service that lets you determine which ads are converting into sales and which ones are sucking your revenue.

4. Not all clicks are created equal

Keep in mind that the name of the game here is not traffic. True, more traffic will increase your probability of sales; however, there is no point in creating an ad that draws thousands of visitors if no one buys your product.

Let’s say you send 1,000 visitors to a sponsor or affiliate program. You buy those visitors from a pay-per-click search engine for a .10 each. In U.S. money, that is $100. Now, let’s say you made two sales. What you really paid is $50 per sale. You spent $100 to make 2 sales.
So those two sales cost you $50 each. If you made 10 sales from the same traffic, your sales would have cost you $10 each.

You want to spend your time targeting traffic that will result in what I call cash clicks-that is clicks that result in sales otherwise you are wasting your advertising budget.

To avoid losing money on unnecessary clicks, test all your ads, create a few ads in the beginning and measure their success before bidding on more keywords, and create a different campaign for each keyword, do not bunch your ads together. It is also important to keep a close eye on your visitors. Where are they coming from? How long are they staying?
Is their visit resulting in a sale? PPC marketers will at some point experience click fraud to minimize this keep a close on your all your ads so this helps you increase your affiliate earnings.

Take care
Jeff Casmer

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Tags: Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Programs, Creating An Online Business, Pay Per Click Advertising