Affiliate Marketing Point Twelve

Affiliate Marketing Point 12: PPC Doesn’t Always Work

Affiliate Promotion: Using Pay Per Click (PPC)

As mentioned earlier, PPC stands for pay-per-click. PPC is an effective option for affiliate promotion, if it is done correctly. You should be aware of the word ‘pay’ in PPC. You will be required to pay for every click you receive on your link, and if you don’t pay close attention, your PPC costs can become astronomical!

PPC doesn’t always work for affiliate marketing. First, you must be aware of the rules at the site where you are getting your PPC. For instance, Google has rules about promoting affiliate programs with Google AdWords PPC program.

Google does permit affiliate links in their AdWords, but they will only display one affiliate ad per search query, and this includes that of the parent company. They also will not allow links to replicated affiliate websites.

So, what you must consider here is that since there are other affiliates selling the same product you are selling, the chances of your ad actually being seen and clicked on are very slim. Second, if you have a replicated website for your affiliate programs, your ad won’t show at all – ever.

You must get more creative if you hope to profit from your affiliate programs using PPC. First, don’t use an affiliate link. Use your own link for your own domain, and send the visitor to your website first. You should also have them pass through a squeeze page first to collect their name and email address!

Start small with your PPC campaigns. Do your keyword research, and set yourself a budget. Work within that budget to test different ads. Also, avoid using long affiliate links. These links are obvious to people, and many people avoid them. Again, people do not like to be sold to.

Instead of using PPC to sell a product, use PPC to get qualified leads and to build a list. You will find that this is a much more economical and effective use of PPC in the long run. It may take just a little longer to make the sale, but if you are patient, you will earn more money than you would have otherwise.