Do You Click On The Ads?

So you're an affiliate and you want to research your competition...see what they're doing. Do you click on the ads?

I hope you said no. If you said, "duh, how else am I supposed to see what my competition is doing" then read this post in its entirety.

By now you know that clicking on the ads charge some good affiliate out there for that click. If you're an affiliate yourself and use adwords its kinda unfair because you wouldn't like someone clicking on your ads now would you? Especially if they're not going to complete the desired action.

So how do you actually see the landing page without charging your fellow affiliates?

Here's how:

1. right click on the ad you want to view.
2. Select properties
3. Copy the url and paste it into the browser.

At this point you should have something looking like this:

google.com/pagead/iclk?sa=l&ai=BDqCsGsxtR4byojee&num=4&adurl=http://www.beatingadwords.com

Note the part on the end with the destination url.

4. Delete everthing else in your browser leaving the destination url (bolded in the above example)
5. Click enter and you see what your competition is doing...without charging them for the click.

Another way to do this is to use research tools like Wealthy Affiliate's Research Top Listings tool. The tool shows the top listings and their destination urls so you can look at their landing pages without charging the affiliate or advertiser for the click.

So the next time you're doing some research...be considerate to your fellow advertisers...competition or not.

Steve Goltiao's Ad Infiltration

I recently got a copy of an ebook by Wealthy Affiliate member Steve Goltiao called Ad Infiltration.

The ebook reveals how Steve was able to get some rather low cpcs of under 1 cent! No, really...I read the book. He also reveals how he managed CTRs of up to 64.70%!

Yeah its pretty amazing and not many people are doing PPC like this. Steve is stealing (legally) from his competitors and they are allowing him...jeez, do I sound like a liar, already?

The ebook is pretty eye opening and although the method has been around for a while now, there's not much material written about it and is pretty much unexplored. Steve's Ad Infiltration is a really good read and anyone who gets their hand on this is going to make a lot of money in highly competitive niches.

The limited release of 100 copies sold out in just under an hour but Steve's gonna be launching pretty soon as a WSO on the Warrior Forum. You can get on the notification list by going to Ad Infiltration.

Ad Writing Techniques To Increase Your Adwords CTR

Having a high click thru rate (ctr) on your ads is very important. Google will hand you some low minimum bids if you have a high click thru rate on your ads. Your quality score will also improve and so will every thing else including roi providing that you're making money on your campaign.

Click thru rate is measured by the ratio between the impressions on your ads and the clicks your ad recieves. Simply put, for every time your ad is shown, how often is your ad clicked on?

Here are some things you can do to increase your click thru rate:

• Don't be boring like everyone else. Sure its hard to be unique and still keep your keyword in your ad but being unique will usually stand out and therefore get more clicks. Google will reward you regardless so inject humor in your ads and try to be as relevant as you can.
• Use symbols - Google will usually disapprove certain symbols but there are some that you can use to get eyes on your ad. One of the most common is the "?". Using the "?" on the end of your ad headline can jump your ctr since people generally respond to being asked a question. Also your competition may not be using these symbols. Other symbols such as "™", © , ®, #, $ and % can also work wonders for your ctr. Remember to split test your ads.
• Use numbers. Same as with special symbols the eye usually gets drawn to numbers as they stand out from text. Combine them with special symbols. eg. Top 10 Widgets Under $10
• Put your keyword in the display url field if possible. Keywords are usually bolded and this will add relevance to your ad. eg. ConquerAdwords.com/IncreaseCtr
• Start each word in your domain with a capital letter. Drop the www so you can have more character for the keyword on the end in the above example.
• Offer a bonus right in your add. Most advertisers don't do this and customers want something extra. Make sure customers can get the advertised bonus.
• You can use the price in your ad to get your ctr up and your bids down. Using the price usually gets rid of freeloader and curiosity clicks.

There are other ways to increasing your adwords ctr other than ad writing techniques. Starting at the first stage of exposure is a great way to get a good campaign going.

Turn Off The Adwords Content Network.

One of my Wealthy Affiliate friends learned the hard way. She had just set up a campaign and activated it and left for the bathroom. When she got back 3 minutes later, she had already racked up over 800 clicks...must have been one good looking ad.

I'm sure she probably meant to turn off the Adwords content network but that 3 minutes she had it on for cost her a pretty penny. Its one of the biggest mistakes advertisers make when starting an adwords campaign. They leave the content network running.

Always turn off the content network.

The Google Adwords content network is used to show ads on relevant websites in the form of adsense. The network is plagued by click fraud and advertisers can recieve very untargetted and unwanted traffic. There's actually a right way and a wrong way to use the adwords content network.

Leaving on the content network feature will get your ads tons more impressions and this usually means lower click thru rate (ctr). As you know, having a low ctr can have damaging effects on your quality score and other aspects of your campaign including roi.

If you're going to use the content network then its best to use a separate campaign so you can track the results and maintain the different variables related to both the content network and the search network.

Setting up a placement targetted campaign is also much better than letting an adwords campaign run with the content network on. Placement targetted campaigns (formerly site targetting) places your ads on websites which you select so you have more control over where your ads are shown. You can also pay per click instead of by impressions if you like. This is the only recommended use of the content network.

So next time you start that new campaign, remember to save your self some money by turning off the adwords content network.

Direct Linking or Landing Page?

When I first got online in early 2006, I was introduced to Google Adwords through Google Cash. Being that it was my first time trying to make money online, I had no website and no experience - the hot buttons Chris Carpenter pushed to get me started.

I was taught the direct linking method, and I happily went to Clickbank, picked an affiliate program and grabbed my link.

I direct linked to the merchant and....I had problems!

I didn't know how to use landing pages but I later on learned. I used to think, "Why the hell would anyone use a landing page? Doesn't that just get in the way of the customer and the merchant?"

Well I later learned that landing pages were the way to go. Here's why:

Direct linking Problem #1
Google does not allow any two advertisers to use the same url for any given keyword.

Solution - Use a landing page so that you can advertise using that keyword. You might even beat out the advertiser if your landing page is better optimized then the direct-linked lander.

Direct Linking Problem #2
Google asks you for some rather high minimum bids. You're told to optimize your landing page. Trouble is the landing page is not yours.

Solution - Using unique landing pages for each of your keyword ad groups can earn you very low cpcs since you can build relevant landing pages to suit your keywords. Most merchant landing pages aren't optimized for the keywords that perform very well.

Direct Linking Problem #3
The customer hates being sold to.

Solution - When you direct link to the merchant its hard to show the customer the benefits of purchasing the product. The merchant may have this on his page but the customer might prefer to know that he is making his own decision to buy and may need opinions other than the merchant's. Its the job of the affiliate to presell or to tell the customer what to expect. Presells usually convert higher than direct linking campaigns. The affiliate can also offer bonuses on his landing page.

Direct Linking Problem #4
Cant track conversions and other variables.

Solution - Unless the merchant is willing to insert your conversion code on his thank you page, there's no way to track conversions. Tracking is very important and having a landing page can help you to track which keywords convert since you can put the code on your own landing page. This will usually be landing page to merchant click thru rate. You can also go into your hosting logs and find keywords that you may not have thought of and add them to your campaign. With direct linking the merchant usually benefits from you sending him traffic with keywords you don't even know about yourself.

Direct linking campaigns can also be profitable as well (especially when there is little or no competition). In some cases its better to direct link. However using landing pages has its benefits and generally work better than direct linking straight to the merchant.

Using Negative Keywords To Increase CTR

One overlooked aspect of setting up a campaign is using negative keywords. If you're not using negatives keywords you are most likely paying for unwanted or untargetted clicks.

Having negative keywords in your adgroups or campaigns can also increase your CTR exponentially since you are getting rid of some of those unwanted impressions. When you set a negative keyword you are telling Google not to show your ad for certain keywords.

Some negative keywords you might want to use are listed below along with the searchers who you want to elliminate.

1. To hide your ads from freeloaders:

• -free
• -crack
• -torrent
• -keygen
• -p2p

2. Hide your ads from researchers:

• -picture
• -wikipedia
• -jpeg
• -image
• -pics
• -video
• -youtube

3. Hide your ad from other marketers:

• -forum
• -forums
• -affiliate or "affiliate program"
• -blogs

You might also want to hide your ad from being displayed on the broad term although Google is up on its game and would usually stay very relevant. For example if you're advertising 'Chow Mutt German shepherd dog food' you could take out the broad term 'dog food' by using the negative keyword for the exact phrase -[dog food].

Also its a good idea to go to the keyword tool and do a search for your base keyword. Any irrelevant words used with your base keyword could be used as a negative.

Check your hosting logs too. You'll probably find some there too.

Add your keywords to the campaign if you aren't going to use them at all or add them to the adgroup if you'd like to use them in another adgroup but not that one. You'll see your impressions dropping way down and because you'll only have relevant searches even if you get the same amount of clicks you normally get then you'll have a better ctr which will give you a better quality score and as a result lower cpc.

The Buying Cycle

Who are you targetting?

Are your keywords bringing you any revenue? If not then you may be targetting the wrong searchers in the buying cycle.

So what is the buying cycle? Basically there are three types of searchers. There is a fourth aspect of the buying cycle but lets focus on the three types of searchers.

Searcher #1 - The researcher - The researcher is very early in the buying cycle. He may not even make a purchase or have the means to do so. He is looking for information on how his problem can be solved and would use very broad keywords.

For example if he might have heard about people making money on the internet using Google.

His searches may be "make money on the internet", "make money with Google", "google make money". With these searches, you may be getting clicks on your ads without him making a purchase because he is just looking for information.

You can take advantage of the researcher if you set up an opt in and offer a free 7 day course, a free sample, a free guide or newsletter or something of use to the researcher.

Searcher #2 - The Informed - Searcher #2 used to be a researcher and has found what he is looking for - the information he came online to get in the first place. The interest is now building up and he is now an informed searcher. He is getting closer to the end of the buying cycle but may not even buy (might be a cheapo).

His searches using the above example, would be keywords like "adwords guides", "best adwords ebook", "google adwords coupon" and so on.

Again it might be possible to get him to your website and turn him into searcher #3 but why not spend your money on searcher #3 instead.

Searcher #3 - The Buyer - The buyer's interest has been peaked and he has his credit card in hand or has logged into his paypal account already. He is looking for reasons to buy (or not to buy) something that could solve his problem. He definitely is going to spend money.

His searches using the above example are now very targetted. He has seen some adwords guides and has heard suggestions on 'best adwords ebooks' and has singled out one. He searches for "Beating Adwords review", "buy beating adwords", "beating adwords + bonus". If you advertised on "buyer type" keywords your conversions are going to be much higher.

Buyer type keywords contain words like 'review', 'buy', 'purchase', 'bonus', 'coupon' etc and the brand name.