Google Adwords is simple to learn but sometimes hard to master. There are many small mistakes that can make a big difference in your campaign effectiveness.
Before you begin your first campaign, make sure you understand how the concept of marketing through Google Adwords works. So many people make the mistake of trying one campaign and throwing a lot of money at it without planning it out. Since they didnt take the time to set up the campaign properly, it will fail. They end up blaming the system, instead of that one campaign and essentially throw the baby out with the bathwater. If the first campaign fails, analyze it and see what went wrong. Maybe the product or affiliate choice didnt convert well. Maybe the ad was written poorly. The method works if you study it and apply it correctly.
One of the most important things to remember when starting out with affiliate marketing through Google Adwords is to pick a niche or a product that you are familiar with and passionate about. If you cannot find anything profitable that you are absolutely passionate about, at least make sure you choose an area that you will be willing to learn a lot about. It is much easier to set up a profitable campaign when you know something about the market and what people in that market are looking for. Starting a campaign in an area that you are familiar with or are an expert in will give you a leg up on the competition.
Another reason that choosing a familiar market is so important is that it allows you to cross-promote items. If you are already marketing products like Burts Bees, and you know about the organic and natural beauty market, than you know your customers might also be interested in Dr. Bronners Soap. You understand the web of products and services that are associated with Burts Bees. You can develop several campaigns in your niche area that will be effective and allow you to cover that niche completely. This would not be possible if you did not have intimate knowledge of the market and its needs.
If you dont know the web surrounding your product or service do a little research before you start your campaign. Understand the products web. An effective brainstorming technique is to write down your main product on the center of a piece of paper. Then start brainstorming related keywords and topics with lines linking back to the original product. Take your research online and add to your web. You can also ask other people for ideas to increase the web. After youve expanded the web, do in-depth keyword research on each term on your page. From there you can create your Adwords campaign.
A common mistake in Google Adwords campaigns is setting your daily budget limit too low. This may seem counter-intuitive but you will actually be saving yourself money if you set the budget really high. Generally, you will only pay a fraction of that daily budget and you avoid the risk of being shut down. Once you hit your daily budget for the day, Google will not display your ads. If your budget is too low, your ads will be out of the publics eye and your profitability will sink.
Keep in mind that while budgets should be high, bids should be kept low. Dont make a huge bid to try to get your ad to the top of the list. It isnt necessary and can cost you a lot of money.
Another budget breaking mistake is bidding on broad keywords. Many newcomers to Adwords bid on keywords like gambling or dating. These keywords are too broad and the bids for them are very high. Keep your keywords in niches to tighten up your budget.
Heres a note about Googles traffic suggestion tool. When you are creating a campaign, the Adwords system will show you how many clicks you will get per day with a certain word. However, this tools suggestions should be taken with a grain of salt. If you have a keyword on your list that is relevant to your campaign, but the Adwords system says it wont get any clicks, go ahead and try it anyway. A lot of the time that particular keyword may not have a long enough bid history to gauge how many clicks it will get, which produces a false reading.
Make sure that your click-thru traffic is going to the correct page on the companys website. For example, if you are promoting a pay-per-lead program send the customer directly to the page that has the sign-up form, or a page with a description and prominent link to the sign-up form. If you drop them at the homepage of the company and then make them find the sign-up form on their own they will just hit the back button and look elsewhere.
Additionally, dont send traffic to a web site that wont convert to sales or sign ups. Before you start any campaign, spend a little time on the merchant site and look around. Pretend you just clicked through your own ad and evaluate the page. If you were a customer, what would your first impression be? Was the ad relevant? Would you bother to sign up? This simple exercise can save you valuable ad dollars. Pointing customers to an unprofessional or unorganized website is a sure way to lose money. |
