Here’s a pay-per-click question posted by Steve that I think many NPT readers can relate to…
Dear Rosalind,
I purchased the Super Affiliate Handbook about 10 months ago and have been really applying myself with several affiliate offers. Your book was so helpful, and I have gone from having no clue about how to build a website to learning HTML, CSS, PPC, SEO and all of that good stuff.
However at the moment I am feeling extremely discouraged and really don’t know where else to turn for help. Here’s why:
Every time I use Pay Per Click I get killed. The math just doesn’t work.
For Example, I am trying to market a popular weight loss product from Clickbank. It has a gravity of 747 so it’s obviously selling, and it pays $26.30 per sale. My problem is that the PPC is way too expensive to turn a profit. If an average affiliate converts at 1% that means I have to get clicks for $0.26 to break even. This is simply not possible. Lets assume my landing page is very good and this product could convert at 3%. Then I break even with $0.79 clicks.
I have found one keyword with slow but steady traffic on Yahoo that I can get position 4 for $0.42. Using this keyword as an example, with a 3% conversion rate, I spend $42 on clicks to turn a $36.90 profit. This works, but I will be 86 years old before I make five sales at this rate!
I need lots more cheap keywords to get any significant traffic volume and, well, they’re all over $1 per click! The cheap keywords seem to have no traffic volume.
If the Clickbank gravity is over 700 then this thing is selling like hot cakes. What am I doing wrong? If you wouldn’t mind offering some advice I would really appreciate it!
Best Regards,
Steve Anderson
OK, because Steve didn’t provide a link to the landing page for this particular PPC campaign, here’s my general take on the situation, as well as a solution.
First of all, weight loss is a HUGE market that’s increasing in size every day. That’s a good thing for marketers.
However, because the diet / weight loss niche is so popular, you have tons of competition from other marketers and pay per click keyword prices skyrocket, as Steve indicated.
That doesn’t mean you can’t make a profit using ppc advertising to big markets with tons of competition. I personally love playing in big markets.
But you have to play it smart.
And by ‘smart’ I mean that each of the following 3 elements has to be absolutely perfect.
- Your Ad Copy.
- Your PPC Bid and Ad Position.
- Your Landing Page.
Although I can’t write an entire course here on copywriting, bid positioning and landing page copy and construction – I’ll share the essential nuggets.
Ad Copy
First and foremost, ad content must be 100% relevant to content on the landing page. I’ll talk more about that in the Landing Page section below.
Moreover, because you have tons of competiton, your ad has to stand out, so make it unique and personal. So where using “Lose Weight” in the headline will put your ad adrift in a sea of 100′s of other boring “me too” ads, using “How I Lost 89 Pounds” (in quotes) sets your ad apart and makes it more noticeable. That captures the surfer’s attention. They think “I want to know how he/she did that” and clicks on your ad, most without ever reading the rest of the copy.
For those that do read the description, it had better be amazing (‘amazing’ is a good word to use) and enhanced with credibility (as seen on CNN) or speak to a specific timeframe. Speaking of timeframes, those ads that are still promising that you’ll “look great in 2008″ are dead in the water and should be revised to promise that I’ll look simply fabulous in a bikini this summer. Note how the latter is more specific and conjures up a specific image — scarey as that may be?
Bid and Ad Position
NEVER bid the top spot. Lower on the first page is always better both in terms of price and overall conversion rates. People have to spend more time filtering through the top ads to get to the lower regions of the Sponsored Listings, so they prove that they’re more motivated to buy product.
You also don’t want to waste your time having your ad languish on the second page of ads.
Most of all, don’t put your ad up on the Content Network until after you’ve proven that it converts.
Landing Page
I won’t even bother talking about sending traffic to a merchant’s landing page from a PPC ad — in most cases that’s a guaranteed way to put yourself in the hole with PPC advertising. Moreover, it’s a terrible business model.
As stated earlier, your landing page has to be completely relevant to the promise made in your ad. Ergo, if you say that you lost all that weight, I want to read your story, not end up on a side-by-side comparison page of your top 3 recommended weight loss products. I want to see something that looks like a real person is telling their story – not some glitzy, merchant-prepared landing page with high-end graphics that is just too obviously just another ad.
Here’s a screenshot of a landing page that I did for a handbag promotion… note how it’s personal? It got a 6% conversion rate on the PPC campaign.
NOTE: If you need more help with website copy, read my How to Sell WITHOUT Selling article and Ken Evoy’s MYCPS! (Make Your Content PreSell) is available as a free download.
Once you have all that in place, you need to watch your campaign like a hawk. That means testing and tweaking, and testing and tweaking some more until it is converting properly.
But what if you’ve done all of that and it STILL doesn’t convert?
The Main Reason Affiliates Lose Money on PPC!
Well, there’s one more reason many affiliates still end up losing money on their PPC campaigns.
They’re driving traffic to a single-product landing page that in most cases only links out to the merchant’s product.
So guess what happens when the visitor decides that they’re not interested in the product being promoted and doesn’t visit the merchant page?
That’s right. They back-up or close the page.
And that’s the reason that I DON’T teach or advocate using single-product landing pages in the Super Affiliate Handbook.
That’s not to say that there aren’t affiliates who use this technique successfully. There are. But relatively speaking, their success rates are lower than those of us who use the content model. Moreover, they work very hard to build out each and every campaign, in some cases only producing one campaign every 3 months. Then, the law of diminishing returns comes into play when other affiliates find out about a newly successful PPC campaign and they pounce to promote the product. (See below for how they find out about those successful PPC campaigns.)
Compare that with having your visitor land on your blog and when she decides that she’s not interested in pursuing the original product further, she sees that there are many more options relevant to her interests that she can peruse through links in your sidebar. So, she clicks on one of those links and because you have informative content on your site, she sticks around longer. Google likes that and gives you higher rankings for keeping your readers’ interest.
She sees that you have a newsletter and because she finds your content interesting, entertaining and of such value, she decides to signup. Yippee!! You can now market to her again and again.
Lastly, of the products listed on your site, she finds one that she likes and buys it.
Amazing how that works and here’s why…
We like having options.
Can you imagine wanting running shoes and ending up in a store that sold only one brand and one style of shoe? Ugh. Wouldn’t you prefer to offer your visitors a nice array of products from which to choose and also have the option of selling them something even bigger — like maybe a treadmill?
Ultimately, when you have a content site, your PPC dollars go a lot farther by increasing the number of visitors who stay longer (which raises your rankings and brings MORE visitors) and you’re building a list.
About Rosalind Gardner
Rosalind, thank you! You inspired about how to design a good landing page that increase conversion rate for the PPC.
You’re absolutely right Rosalind. I’ve been doing lots of PPC and keyword research recently, and have attended some excellent PPC courses (basic and advanced) which have taught me the importance of getting the landing page and the ad wording right in order to reduce your cost-per-click. It’s not too time-consuming and can save you a packet!
Took a look at your Baggalinni Bags review – I agree it’s better to do this rather than a hard sell – much more convincing! (Especially with a personal photo – “social proof” that you’ve actually used the bag!)
PPC Bully sounds interesting – I’ve been getting their marketing emails. One to try maybe – what did you think of it – is it bug-free in use? And is it really useful? Maybe you’ll be posting a review of it…?
Cheers,
Gill Clark
Dear Rosalind,
Many thanks for your incredible response to my question!
Even though I did not provide a link to my landing page (check again) you nailed it when you said that many affiliates are driving traffic to a single product landing page…one like mine no doubt! I looked at your Baggallini blog page and I see what you mean about offering more than one product. I like the way you encourage the visitor to browse the different bags at ebags.com. I had a Halloween costume blog that did well by targeting certain costumes and when people got to the merchant and bought something else I still got a commission.
I am absolutely sure that my landing page is the problem. It is a single product landing page where I talk about how I’ve tried all kinds of weight loss products and which one (single product) worked for me. Maybe this approach is no good. I have to admit that I am following the masses by attempting to get into the weight loss product market. I used Google’s keyword tool and cb-engine.com and discovered the huge numbers of people searching for various solutions to their weight problems. The gravity numbers say that they are buying, but one thing that’s for sure is it’s not from me!
Ok, I have a confession to make. I am a 33 year old 5’9″ tall guy who has never weighed more than 150 pounds in my life. I figured if I did some research I could learn enough about weight loss to make my landing page convincing and collect on those huge search and gravity numbers, but I am failing miserably.
It seems to me that if I am going to tell people what I had success with it’s a bit awkward to offer other options as well. Maybe the “I lost weight using this weight loss diet” method is not the best approach. Perhaps I could say how much weight I lost and then offer links to the top three products I had success with. What do you think?
When I search for weight loss diet keywords I find people with phony looking blogs marketing acai berry and colon cleanse free trials. If you read the fine print they charge a lot after the free trial. This seems pretty shady to me. I also find top 10 lists of weight loss products and weight loss pills. These are all multiple product landing pages.
Maybe this whole weight loss idea is stupid, because I have no experience losing weight! My wife says I should market something in an area where I am an authority, but being an audio visual engineer with a TV and recording studio background, it appears that there is not much search volume in this area. I am afraid that nobody is buying recording equipment or TV’s with the current state of the economy. I read all of these marketers pages online talking about how easy it is to make money with Clickbank, but I am not having such an easy time.
I guess my question to you today is this:
Should I figure out how to perfect my landing page and sell weight loss products I have no experience with simply based on the market demand?
OR
Should I abandon this and do something in an area where I am an authority, even though the demand for pro-tools systems and digital audio/video equipment is extremely low?
I have learned a bit of all the technical stuff and feel confident with ads, articles and PPC. I would really love to see a sale or two per day in my Clickbank account instead of all those zeros!
I am really not stupid, am I making this more difficult than it needs to be?
Thanks again for your amazing PPC blog post!
Best Regards,
Steve Anderson
Steve,
I just had to jump in here. I too, promote weight loss on my site but have never been overweight at all. I don’t use myself as an example, but do use my mom as an example. She was always on a diet and I saw how miserable being overweight made her. Chances are, you know of someone too.
Another angle I take, is that since I’m not overweight, I know how to keep the weight off me. This is good for people who are slowly gaining weight or have reached a plateau in their weight loss.
Think outside the box. I am always encouraging my readers to do just that. Try a unique angle, something that doesn’t ‘fit into the mold’.
I am not doing any PPC campaigns (because I’m scairt!) but that doesn’t mean you can’t do well telling the truth from your own perspective. ‘I stay thin cause I think thin and because I want to!’
You could always try the ‘self control’ and ‘self discipline’ angle! Also, think long tail keywords. They may not always get the sale, but they’ll have a higher click thru if you stay with it and they’ll be a lot less expensive to test. The longer long tail keywords are around, the more people are bound to search for them and the more staying power they’ll have.
Another tip is to use the Thesaurus a lot!
Sorry for butting in here:o)
Carolyn
When i saw this post, i thought that PPC business is getting way off the road but then again you give me a nice tips instead. I’d say its a nice tips but from the three tips you mentioned only the Ad copy that i haven’t heard of, Thanks Rosalind, i will follow your advice and see how can this affecting my PPC earning
Hi Ros,
This is very useful and helpful article.
I have a half-dozen sites, all dead, havn’t made a dime from any of them in 6 years. I’m getting the urge to REALLY APPLY some of the good stuff I’ve learned TO DO and NOT TO DO.
I purchased your Super Affiliate Handbook in July of 2003. Has it changed enough to warrent purchasing a new copy or do you offer updates?
Thanks for all you do,
Charles
Charles, I have had, and read both books. The new book is three times as long and goes in to more detail on every aspect of affiliate marketing. I can see where most of what she says can be applied to any kind of Internet Marketing.
John
Dear Rosalind,
Thanks for the tips.
Do you use wordpress for your PPC campaigns?aren’t those links on the right side diverts the attention from landing page to somewhere else?
Also which wordpress themes do you recommend,thank you
@ Steve Anderson:
Steve, those Acai Berry and Colon Cleanse are some of the best pulling CPA offers on the net. The people behind the pages you see running these ads are making money every time someone clicks on the ad and simply fills out a form for “the free product trial”. And if they are driving a lot of traffic to their page or blog, you can bet a high percentage of people are clicking on the ads and filling these forms out. You want to lose weight? A free product trial that promises just that? I’m IN!
If you were desparate to lose weight, what would you rather do (think: easiest , fastest solution!):
a.) Order a real world physical product you simply ingest that promises INSTANT RESULTS, and that you can try-before-you-buy (no risk!) FREE of charge (great price!) (well there is a small shipping fee) or…….
b.) Buy an ebook that you will have to read before you even begin to apply its system…a system that will probably want you to change the way you eat, the way you think, and even the way you live. And…… it will probably even require you to……shudder……..wait for it………….EXERCISE! ……..And…. there will be a period of time, possibly a lenthy one, before you even BEGIN to see any results.
Look at your market. People who want to lose weight don’t want to “wait”, they want to lose it now!
Marketing a weight loss book, no matter how high the gravity, you are up against a lot of “noise”, a lot of competition. What can you do to separate yourself from the crowd?
This is just meant to help, Steve. There are just so many ways to make insane money on the net. Yes, focus is good, but not to the degree that it causes oportunity blindness.
Now with my luck, my wife is going to read this and make me get on the treadmill or go for a bike ride with her or something….
Michael Rytter
Hi Michael,
I appreciate your perspective and comments. I am very hesitant to promote these free trials because if you search keywords related to “weight loss diet” on Yahoo for example, almost every single PPC ad is for these free trials. There is way too much competition. some of the landing pages use the same before and after pictures but with different names and text.
Don’t you think this will make people wary and suspicious? Don’t you think that people read the fine print when they see they have to get out their credit card?
I can see why these offers can convert better than an e-book but it seems super competitive.
Cheers,
Steve Anderson
Hey,
Cool blog, I just stumbled on it and I’m already a subscriber
I hope it’s not too brash but I have just begun documenting
my own weight loss(I went down 30 pounds in a month, so not bad
, and I was wondering if you could post
the weight loss plan I used for your blog readers.
My latest post is
weight loss exercise
If you would be willing to do a link trade
that would be amazing as I want to share my weight loss success
with everyone. If I can lose weight then
anyone can. Whatever you do, don’t give up and you WILL
achieve all your weight loss goals!
much thanks for reading,
Joan
Thanks Rosalind, great advice! I was wondering about his when I worked on my site this weekend and ran a google campaign.
But I´m so happy to say that I´ve earned my first commissions!!!!
Steve,
I tried to post a response to your message back to Ros last night but it didn’t post. I just wanted you to know that there are many ways to skin a cat! (As I’m sure you must know!)
I too, promote weight loss on my site, but I’ve never been overweight a day in my life. I am the same size now, that I was when I graduated high school and I use that in my pages. “I know how to keep the weight off of me. If I can do it, so can you!’ Or follow a healthy lifestyle and you too, can keep your weight down.
I also have my mom as an example to use. She was overweight all her life and was always on one diet or another. Chances are you know someone too! Use them in your examples, not necessarily yourself.
Remember too, that everyone is different. What works for you or is the perfect plan for you, may not be perfect for other people. Give them options but state that “Xproduct” is what worked for me! And tell them why and how it’s different.
Don’t forget about the other words that convey weight loss too.
Think Thin
Slim Down
Lose the Fat
Tone and Lose Weight
Belly Fat
Stay Slim
Emotional Foods
Fatty Foods
Serving Size
Portion Control
Self Control
Self Indulgence
Geez, I could go on and on, but you get my point. Think outside the box. Don’t shoot for those high priced PPC campaigns. 5th, 6th or 7th on the first page will still give you click thru’s.
Oh, and use a thesaurus and check variations using your keywords a lot. Use long tailed keywords that have more than 1000. (or slightly less)
Those low balling keywords will give you traffic. Oh, and the longer the tail, the more targeted your traffic becomes. Think about some of Ros’ recent posts. She’s been a long tail lover for a while. (Sorry Ros, that just doesn’t sound quite right somehow:o)
Even if the words don’t have high keyword demand, those pages will still show up when someone searches for those, or similar terms. Be very targeted too!
“the-best-damn-weight-loss-product-on-the-market”
Keep your chin up Steve. I don’t use PPC so I might not know a lot about it, (scairty cat) but I do know about weight loss and keywords and getting a higher ranking. I’ve been working at that for a while. Good luck! Keep us up to date on how you’re progressing. If you’re starting at the bottom, the only way is up!
Can anyone recommend just a few CPA Network Offers that are good please
Hi Ros
Thanks for an excellent post. Thanks to all for the discussion about going into the weight loss market. While I have my own website, I’m also planning to go into affiliate marketing as well. As an affiliate newbie, I’m faced with many of the issues that Steve raises. I think success in a highly competitive niche depends on how well we segment the market via our keyword research. Focusing on lower volume, yet affordable keywords helps too.
My question: When market testing an affiliate product, is it sufficient to link my Google Adwords ad to a landing page and link my landing page to the vendor’s website?
Once I know whether the vendor’s website will convert, I’ll build a content website with complete product lines, reviews and articles.
Regards
Jeanne