If you are trying to make a full time income on the internet using a website then you already know the importance of traffic. You can have the answer to world hunger but if no one comes to your site then it is useless information. The thing is you not only need traffic but you need highly targeted traffic. Once the work of building a great website is complete with fantastic products and services available, you will need people to find you that have the same interests. This is a serious task that should not be taken lightly. The good news is there are aids available to help you drive targeted traffic to your affiliate website. One of the best tools at your disposal is Google Adwords.
What are adwords and exactly how do they work? The most popular search engine on the internet is Google. As such, Google receives over 200 million searches each and every day. This means that webmasters are very interested in having their pages rank well on a Google search. This high rank will translate into page views and then sales. The search engine also provides a place for advertisers to place their links. In answer, Google started the Adwords program as a way for various businesses to advertise their products and services to a particular audience. This is guaranteed targeted traffic, which is essential to online business and especially affiliate programs. Google will display these relevant text ads within its sponsored links section. Whenever a specific keyword is searched, all the relevant links will be displayed.
To begin using Google Adwords you will need to open an account with the Google Adwords program. Choose all the relevant information such as language and country. This is a very important selection since there may be countries in which your product cannot be legally sold. Next, you must create an ad group. Here you will design your ad, chose relevant keywords and choose the cost basis, or pay-per-click that is right for you. One of the most important steps in creating a profitable Adword campaign is a good title tag. An effective title tag is a short description and should be memorable and eye catching. Describe your site and program precisely and clearly. You do not want any confusion when your target audience reads your ads.
Do not feel limited to a keyword, keyword variations and phrases will keep your content fresh and natural. Using many varieties of the same word will also increase your traffic. Unbelievably even misspelling a word can increase your visibility. There are two ways a search engine will provide results. Broad match and exact match, broad match returns results based on keywords that have been searched by other users. This differs from exact match that will only return results based on the exact spelling and order of words.
When all of the above is complete, it is now time to choose a budget for your Google Adwords. The recommendation is a daily amount you are willing to spend for each program. Of course, you must choose a budget that is affordable for you. You are also allowed to choose a total price per click. Google has recommendations however you are free to choose for yourself. Do not shoot for the top position in the search, to many times this will result in a lot of useless traffic. Shoot for a good position such as number two or three; you are more likely to get convertible traffic to your site.
Google Adwords can be the perfect tool for attaining great exposure. Nevertheless, you should also use other advertising means to drive traffic. Google Adwords should never be your single source
38 Comments
Bruno Auger
November 15, 2008Google ads can be a great way to get visitors to any website. There are a lot of user that don’t understand how adwords work and end up spending a lot money on unsuccessful campaigns.
I would say use other traffic methods to build traffic and only use google adwors if you understand the concepts of keywords and tail keywords
Wayne Bell
November 15, 2008Adwords Are A Great Resource Reed But You Have To Do Your Research In Order To Make More Then You Spend. For Me, I Prefer To Use Other Methods That Lead To High Ranking Sights In The Search Engines. I Find It Much More Effective And Less Expensive Although
It Can Be More Time Consuming.
Regards – Wayne
Health, Happiness And Success
Wayne & Susan Bell
BELL’S HOME INCOME NETWORK DIRECTORY
“Searching The World To Bring You The Best Online”
http://bhpnincomedirectory.synthasite.com/
Lance Jepsen Author of Internet Marketing
November 15, 2008Excellent words of advice for you using Google Adwords, thank you. Here are a few more techniques that I have found to be helpful. The first is to include the keyword you are bidding on in the title of your ad. This has two benefits. First, Google bolds all the keywords that show up within your ad so having your ad bold while your competitors are not gives you a little advantage over their ads. Second, you connect better with the prospect. When a prospect sees his exact keyword phrase in your ad, it makes a better connection with him than if you don’t. Marketers call this a message to market match. Statistics have shown an improvement of up to 30% on CTR from simply including the keywords you are bidding on in the title of your ad.
Another helpful tip is to raise your quality score. The higher your quality score, the lower that you have to pay per click. To raise your quality score make sure that your landing page includes a 2% – 6% density rating for the keyword in your ad. If this means creating a different landing page for each ad you are running in Google Adwords, then that’s what it means. I know it is more work, but to raise your quality score by even 1 point is huge in terms of per click savings.
Finally, affiliate marketers have been nailed with the latest round of Google Slaps. If you have a thin page affiliate website, that is to say if you have a one-page sales letter that your Google Adwords ad takes a person to, then you need to take a few extra steps to avoid the Google Slap. At the very bottom of your landing page, add these links: About Us, Contact Us, Privacy Policy, Resources, Blog.
You don’t actually want humans to see or click these links so add them in a smaller font at the very bottom of your landing page. You want the Google bot to see these links only. For your About Us webpage, just a paragraph about your company will do. For the Contact Us, just an email link that spawns the users default mail program is fine. For the Privacy Policy, go and rip the one that Google uses and change it a little to fit your website. For the Resources webpage, add 5 links to authority sites in your niche. Wikipedia is a good one. Also any website that has .edu or .gov extensions are good. For the Blog page, use Fantastico in your CPanel to install a WordPress blog. Then go to an article website and copy three articles and post to your blog. Keep the author resource box at the end of the article but strip out the hyperlink html. Show the URL but don’t make it a hyperlink. Don’t worry about how sloppy the default blog looks. Remember, you don’t actually want people coming to this webpage from your landing page. You are not designing this blog to look good for human visitors, you are only slapping up something quick for the Google bot. Or course you may want to actually have a blog but that is a different topic entirely.
I have coached dozens of clients through this strategy and not one of them have been Google Slapped for their thin page affiliate site after they have taken these steps.
Ari Lestariono
November 15, 2008PPC Google Adwords campaign is very effective in it’s own way to get tons of traffic, yet not to forget the hidden agenda of Google campaign lot’s tricks and tips to proper study otherwise you loose your money down to drain that’s what happen to my Indonesian mentor, after wards he got himself into PPC course master class in Australia and cost him lots of money but the experience and knowledge was worth it, currently he can play around with Adwords.I suggest for newbies is get a master class of PPC to educate yourself before doing Adwords campaign otherwise you’ll get disappointed.That’s all folks
Ari Lestarionos last blog post..7 Secret Benefits of Tomato as Natural Remedies
Tim Ackley
November 15, 2008I agree with Bruno and Wayne, although I have
used Adwords campaigns successfully, and still do, you must be very cautious and learn the ropes or you stand to lose considerably more money than you make. I often use pages such as Squidoo or
Craigslist ads to get page one “organic” Google Results. And best of all…. they are FREE!
Jennifer
November 15, 2008Another useful post Reed, thanks. I love the idea of Adwords, but have never been able to make more than I spend!
I’ve read several Adwords courses, but find this to be a hard and time-consuming traffic method to master.
Do you have a recommended course on Adwords?
Thanks!
Jennifers last blog post..Exposing the Big Lie: Making Money Online is Hard
Hamant Keval
November 15, 2008Hello Reed.
Yes its very true indeed. PPC is fabulous at getting traffic to your site. In fact its probably the best ways to test an offer as fast as possible.
I try and test the offer with a High Bid to get as many clicks as I can initially – that gives me a good sense of what is working and what is not.
I also think that with that much traffic arriving very quickly its also probably the best ways to split test a sales page or even using Google’s Web Optimiser. Its a fabulous tool to use in conjunction with PPC but it does take quite a bit of time to separate all the different elements of a Sales page.
I understand that Microsofts Ad Centre’s PPC is even better at converting offers although that is one I have yet to get up to speed.
Take care
Hamant
Timothy Millar
November 15, 2008Hey Reed, Google Adwords is awesome stuff if you know how to play, If not, your going down! google loves Newbies and their money. I am trying my first campaign this week and I have been online since 1977. You must fear the Google
Monster!!OK theres a fine line between fear and respect, Knowledge is King and if you don’t have it,you will be the pauper.Have a wonderful Day,
Timothy Millar
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Sylvia Richards
November 15, 2008Hi,
I found the post helpful. I am new to Internet Marketing, and though the concept of Adwords is straightforward, it still sounds quite difficult to master. I had planned to leave it alone for the time being, but your article has made me want to learn more. I am particularly grateful for the tip on misspellings and also the tip that certain sales may be illegal in some countries.
Thankyou,
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Bryan Hee
November 15, 2008PPC is the best tool to drive immediate targeted traffic to your website. I prefer using “search” target if compare with “content” target.
To Your Success
Bryan Hee
TeasasTips
November 15, 2008Adwords is also beneficial if you are part of a CPA network as well. You can target your market and get instant results if you know how to optimize your keywords.
TeasasTipss last blog post..3 Reasons Why Adsense Is Essential For Content Sites
Luca
November 15, 2008I agree with most of these posts. Use adwords wisely because it could end up costing you too much. I’m planning to use Google adwords to send people to my optin on my blog to build up my list. I’ll do that as soon as I update my site
Frankie Teo
November 15, 2008Google Searches is huge & to be able to work with keywords & rank high is definitely great. Paying for Google Adwords can cost anyone to loose a pant each day if we bid & target it incorrectly.
Google is definitely a good traffic source but as Reed mentioned, we must also use other advertising means to drive traffic.
To Everyone Success.
Frankie
http://www.traffictacticsrevealeddiscover.com/
Travis Millward
November 15, 2008Good post. I particularly liked the suggestion that getting the second or third spot can deliver better traffic. Good tip.
Travis Millwards last blog post..Affiliate Funnel – The Best Just Got Better
Richard
November 15, 2008Another very good post, and some good stuff in the comments too.
I think though that Adwords should form a part of a traffic generation strategy, together with article writing, blogging, traffic exchanges etc..
Monitor results and adapt accordingly, concentrating your efforts on those that work best for you.
Work at Home Free Classifieds
November 15, 2008But, I always wonder and not sure how to get good amount of free traffic to a website that offers Free Classifieds for work at home offers and business ideas.
I never have come across any good success with Google AdWords (believe me I could not able to earn even $1 while I have paid more than $800 for Google Adwords) on different affiliate link promotions at http://www.orientalads.com
Thanks,
RKMailer
Geoff Dodd
November 15, 2008Great info, Reed. I just add that some niches in Adwords are totally saturated with competitors so keyword bidder – beware, or select a thousand long tail keywords.
Geoff D.
Ray Cassidy
November 15, 2008Adwords is the one advertising medium I’ve tried which has actually brought in paying customers. It is very effective but you do need to exercise a bit of “due diligence”. Used carelessly, the adword system will line Google’s pockets and empty yours – RAPIDO. Lance’s comments are particularly worth noting. The quality score is crucial. It’s a technique I haven’t really mastered yet, but I’m working on it.
Ray
Robert Jones
November 15, 2008I like you article very, very much. It was very informative. Keep up the good work.
Robert J.
Poughkeepsie, Ny
Geoff Dodd
November 15, 2008Ray, the quality score is now ‘a dynamic variable’ which responds to heaps of data so it’s basically an algorithm and hard for us to even predict. It seems to jump sometimes from one extreme to another. I think it measures how long a person stays on the landing page, so I add some extra ‘new window’ option links.
Geoff D.
Lynne Lee
November 15, 2008I confess that I haven’t yet dipped my toes in the Google ads water. I know that there is a lot of money to be made but also that you can easily lose big time.
I’ve been learning the basics and I’m about to try it out. My plan is to budget $50 to begin with and learn from my experience before outlaying more.
Matthew Glanfield is offering free Adwords training if anyone is interested in taking a look.
http://lynnelee.com/freetraining
Lynne Lees last blog post..Information sells – turn your articles into an information empire
Widiantoro
November 15, 2008For newbie like me, Google Adwords still confused, should be use another methods, I agree with tim, bruno, wayne trying to use craiglist first
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SANJOY
November 15, 2008East to West Google is the best Web
Henrik Blunck - Denmark
November 15, 2008I leave AdWords for the gamblers. I have seen numerous programs where people gamble – using various “exchange” strategies that THEY have felt were earning them money.
I have one principle for all of this: just like everyone else strives to build lists, yet stumble into spam filters when they send out their offers, so I feel QUALITY and BACK-LINKING from serious sites works far better than Adsense.
Realize this: if YOUR PRODUCT is good people will want to link to you. If your product is MISSING you will have to pay for similar traffic (using AdWords etc), and you might have gotten the same traffic for free if you did some decent product research first…
Just my $0.02 on the matter. 🙂
Henrik Blunck – Denmarks last blog post..How To Earn Money From Ad Banners
Patrick from Belgium
November 15, 2008I am also a newbie in internet marketing and I must say that PPC seems dangerous to me to start with. I don’t have experience in building a website, nor putting content to it with affiliate programs weaved into it. There are marketers that talk about listbuilding and safelists, but I don’t know how to get started with that. I also follow a program that uses MLM, but how do you recruit others to duplicate what you’re doing? Please give me advice.
Jeff Sargent
November 15, 2008Hey Reed,
Lot of good points by Lance.
A word of caution to newbies using Adwords. Keep a close eye on your account as you can loose a lot of money in a heartbeat if you set your account up wrong.
If just starting I recommend the first thing you do is go to Edit Campaign Settings and then under the heading “Networks and bidding” make sure you uncheck “The content network”. You can get a lot more traffic with the content network but if you don’t know what you are doing you will get killed.
When starting out stick to the Search network.
Another thing you need to do is split testing on your ads. To do this correctly you need to check the radio button that says “Rotate: Show ads more evenly”. Now you write two ads and they will alternate when shown on Google searches. After your ads have been shown enough times to make a fair accessment check and see which ad is performing the best. Now delete the worst ad and write a new one so that one can be tested against the best one.
If you keep doing this you will eventually get to a point where you can’t improve your ads anymore which means you now stick to the one ad that has performed the best for you.
Google Adwords can be great if you know what you are doing and a nightmare if you don’t. It can bring you instant targeted traffic to your site. You can literally be making sales in 15 minutes.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Zhana
November 15, 2008To respond to Lance Jepson’s post, surely it is better to have an actual blog that you post to regularly, rather than just copy a few articles to your blog.
I would also include a link to my testimonials page.
Reed, I love your blog and I would really appreciate a couple of posts about the best ways to do keyword research.
http://tinyurl.com/59zcgy
PV Reymond
November 15, 2008Hi Reed,
This article is very informative. Google Adwords is a good way to generate traffic to your site quickly.
You can make a lot of money if your site convert well.
Also you can use this method to test the conversion rate of your site.
Thanks,
^PV Reymond
http://www.startup-internetbusiness.com
PV Reymonds last blog post..Internet Marketing For Newbies… The First Step
Jussi Koiranen
November 16, 2008Great info once againg. I have yet to test making my own Adword campaigns, but perhaps that time will come.
Paul Livingston
November 17, 2008Thanks Reed, I needed this.
Paul Livingstons last blog post..Wow, 34 Targeted Leads in 18 Seconds!
jane semng'indo
November 18, 2008Thanks very much for the information,Reed. There is so much in google that I could’nt figure out what is what and what to start with, everything seemed to be confusing, really there is so much to learn and it’s not easy to digest all of it!You have summarized it for me, I’m still learning, really it’s not an overnight thing,thank you so much,I’ll never be the same at the end of all this,God bless you more and more!
Jerry Goodwin
November 18, 2008Hi Reed,
Thanks for the Post and info on Adwords, I have had an account for sometime and have not run any ads yet, mainly because I have heard so many people have lost money when trying it. I have heard some real horror stories about how someone used adwords and ended up paying several thousand dollars got lots of traffic and sold almost nothing. So wouldn’t it be best to make sure you have site that actually sells before spending a lot on adwords?
It is a great post though and I will definitely keep my account and probably start using it as soon as I do more testing to make sure my site actually turns visitors into customers, clients or subscribers.
Have a great day
De Bon Volore
admin
November 18, 2008@Bruno agreed you need to be careful
@Wayne agreed
@Lance good tips
@Ari yep researching this before diving in heads first would be wise
@Tim free traffic is good too
@Jennifer there are a lot of courses out there now PPCClassroom looked pretty good to me
@Hamant yeah great for testing
@Timothy agreed you can get into some serious debt if you aren’t careful
@Sylvia Before diving into something new why not finish what you are doing now and then try this
@Bryan glad to see you having success with it
@TeasesTips great tip
@Luca great hope it goes well
@Frankie yeah you can lose your shirt with this
@Travis thanks
@Richard agreed concentrate on what works best for you
@RKMailer it can be difficult to master but you can do it
@Geoff thanks good tip
@Ray yep due diligence is key
@Robert thanks
@Geoff thanks for that clarification
@Lynne keep us posted
@Widiantoro I’ll continue to post information here that may help you with adwords
@Sanjoy 😛
@Henrick agreed if your stuff is good people will promote it
@Patrick if you are just brand new to this I’d try going for free traffic first
@Jeff great tips
@Zhana I’ll see what I can do
@PV great tips as usual
@Jussi thanks
@Paul, @Jane you’re welcome
@Jerry you can use other methods to test and then bring to adwords but adwords is often a great way to start
Kendrick Lewis
November 19, 2008Jennifer,
I know one good Google Adword course that I found just recently and it’s fairly new. I am just about to review the course and put them into my blog soon. I hope you find what you’re looking for.
Reed, great content on your article. Keep up the good work.
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November 19, 2008@Kendrick thanks
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January 15, 2009Google adwords is a great way to drive targeted traffic to your site or product. But using their pay per click (PPC) system, it not something you just rush into or it could cost you more then you will make.
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Lisa
September 30, 2010I’ve been using Google Adwords for two week now and I’m getting more visitors on my own. Thanks for the article.
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