"Todd" was keen to compete in one of the most notoriously difficult categories ? work-at-home. He was smart, earnest, hard-working and keen to make affiliate marketing more than just a part-time endeavor. He had dreams of living on the beach in Mexico and surfing between sessions at the computer.
He had put together a sweet little landing site. He had 20 keyword groups running about 10,000 unique visitors a month. He was spending $5,000 per month on pay per click on sales of $6,000. He was collecting email addresses at a rate of 100/day through an opt-in form. He had placed his Google tracking data on the confirmation page of his subscription form. He had great data he collected daily over the past 4 months. He had calculated his visitor value based on commissions divided by clicks and was bidding accordingly. He was a dream client.
Could I help him?
I was drooling over this one. In this case I was 100% sure I could at least double his profits, and likely triple or quadruple. Why was I so sure?
1) He was tracking sign-ups, not conversions
2) He was selling 22 different items off of one landing page
3) He was calculating his visitor value incorrectly
The first thing I did was turn off his keyword groups one at a time. When I got to his top keyword group, the one with the highest conversion rate, we prepared for a massive drop in commissions. There was only a slight dip.
He was stunned. He had made a simple assumption ? that there would be a correlation between signups and sales. That is, a keyword that produces twice as many signups would likewise produce twice as many sales. But that wasn't true. We had seen vividly that there were keywords that produced lots of signups but few sales, and visa versa. He was bidding based on wrong data. His finely-tuned Ferrari of a website was, in fact, a peddler's cart of clanking pots and pans strapped on with little thought to efficiency.
I had him write letters to each of his advertisers, requesting they place his Google tracking code on their Thank You page. That way he could track sales directly. (Important: Place the code in an attachment; email programs can scramble the code.)
Most didn't answer. Normal. After three failed attempts, I advised him to drop that particular advertiser. Others refused, to which I reply, "Are you nuts?" No one stands to profit more from an efficient affiliate than the advertiser. I recommended that he drop them, too. He did, all but one, which was a big money-maker.
Now that he was actually tracking actual sales, not subscriptions, the guesswork was gone. We began eliminating keywords ? lots of keywords. Advertising costs plummeted. Sales sailed along at the same pace.
But we were not done.
His landing site was very broad, selling over 20 different products, which was find for keyword groups like work-at-home. Yet about half of his Google ads were related to specific product. I had him create mini-landing pages to receive these ads. For example, a keyword group on medical transcription was no longer directed to the main landing page, but to a mini-landing page with info about medical transcription only. This slashed his bounce backs and upped his sales.
Finally, I had him recalculate visitor value for each keyword group. A visitor who came from a search on "free home-business ideas" is worth far less than one who types, "medical transcription." We adjusted his bids accordingly.
The results? His sales stayed at $6,000 per month, while his advertising costs plummeted to $2,500 per month. His monthly profit had increased 350%, from $1,000 to $3,500. It took about a month to complete the project, and, yes, it was a lot of work, but it was certainly worth it. Best of all, he now had the information he needed to keep the campaign on track as sectors go hot and cold, and keywords get overbid. Whereas his competitors were working in the dark, he understood why and how his site was performing, and why and how it was not.
So let's review the steps
1)Turn off one keyword group at a time to test assumptions
2)Add tracking to advertiser welcome pages
3)Remove poorly-converting keywords
4)Create mini-landing pages for certain keyword groups
5)Recalculate bids based on visitor value by keyword.
We had taken a campaign that was producing a modest income and transformed it into a juggernaut, without any SEO, all built around pay per click advertising, a hot website and a killer auto-responder sequence. But none of that would have worked without first tracking the keywords that allowed us to find not just any customer, but the right customers.
Michael Hetzer, The Artful Affiliate, is President of Webster Henrietta Publishing. He is an author, consultant and sought-after speaker. He is the founder of a number of services for Internet affiliates, including the training program, "My 1st Google." You can learn more about Michael Hetzer at:
So how do people find my website? This is by... Read More
As anyone who uses Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising in... Read More
One of the hottest crazes for online marketers is Adsense... Read More
In Google AdWords, the advertisers' links show up when someone... Read More
Yahoo announced that their Publisher Network, formerly available in the... Read More
By knowing the most expensive keywords on the internet, you... Read More
With Google Ad Words . . .When a person searches... Read More
Most pay per click ads draw amazingly low click through... Read More
On Friday, July 15th all Google advertisers got the email... Read More
Wouldn't it be great if every keyword in Google's entire... Read More
They are calling him the million dollar man. Jason Calacanis... Read More
As the dust settles and the excitement caused by Google's... Read More
There are millions of web sites trying to get listed... Read More
If you haven't yet got a Google AdSense account for... Read More
If you have been online for quiet some time you... Read More
Hi, my name is Darryl Power and I have been... Read More
Cost per click or pay per click is a common... Read More
MSN PPC Advertising Long-Awaited Debut Announced You probably already know... Read More
Google's AdSense program is a proven money-maker that has enriched... Read More
There's tons of money to be made from the Google... Read More
If you have visited any of the affiliate-related websites or... Read More
Dear friends,Google AdSense has rapidly gained a status of an... Read More
Here are three Adsense Tips, together with the required HTML... Read More
Google announced in January 2005 significant changes in their popular... Read More
Despite what you may hear, the Google AdSense program is... Read More
1: The ideal Google AdSense page should have great content... Read More
Have you received your check from Google? If you own... Read More
During conversations with web business professionals about pay-per-click search engines,... Read More
Google's Adwords service has brought success to many businesses by... Read More
The fairy tale existance of Google is starting to experience... Read More
4. Write an attractive ad - you have a very... Read More
Before Google's AdWords, Overture was the preeminent pay-per- click program.... Read More
Pst! Wanna know some Adsense secrets? The only secret is... Read More
Did someone tell you you can make money easily with... Read More
Improving Adwords Campaign ManagementAdwords Campaign Management - Naming SchemesKeep your... Read More
It seems at the moment that everybody is telling you... Read More
Here's a simple way to use "No Results, No Pay"... Read More
Campaign strategy for Paid placement:A Paid Marketing campaigns provides immediate... Read More
There are no guarantees in life, so I don't guarantee... Read More
The core principle of affiliate marketing is that the referring... Read More
Clickbank has been around for years and has earned an... Read More
You may not realize it, but in the next few... Read More
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is when an advertiser pays for each... Read More
Pay Per Performance Advertising is when the advertiser pays a... Read More
Hey, wait a minute. You can't have popups on the... Read More
When search engines pay website owners a percentage of the... Read More
Your probably reading this article because you use Google Adwords... Read More
If you haven't yet got a Google AdSense account for... Read More
Before Google's AdWords, Overture was the preeminent pay-per- click program.... Read More
It seems to be a phenomenon. You try Google AdWords... Read More
Looking back in time, I could still remember standing in... Read More
You know about Google Adsense, now it's Google Ad Links... Read More
What is Average Customer Lifetime Value?Traditional business philosophy is that... Read More
One of the best kept secrets in today's affiliate marketing... Read More
As you probably know, Google Adwords is a pay-per-click solution... Read More
Writing outstanding ad copy for pay-per-click advertising campaigns is critical... Read More
You have a web site ready for action. Your product... Read More
So, you've tried all the marketing techniques you have read... Read More
What I find is a lot of marketers do have... Read More
Did you know that there are actually pay per click... Read More
Incorporating high paying keywords into your site is critical to... Read More
Watch out for a shift in the pay-per-click (PPC) industry,... Read More
If you ever used Google AdWords to advertise your product... Read More
So You Want Big Profits From Your AdWords PPC Advertising?... Read More
A large part of Google's multi-billion dollar annual turnover comes... Read More
According to Andy Jones, a member of the Best Practices... Read More
Pay-Per-Click Advertising |