Thanks for the reply Sherif. I have few follow up questions.

1. So the purpose of a landing page (in most cases) is to get the potential customer to "click and buy" through cleverly written titles, convincing images and supported content?

2. Why is a landing page necessary when the merchant has its own landing page?

For example, some merchants/advertisers will create landing pages for the affiliates to use yet affiliates see the need to make their own landing page. An example would a dating advertiser.

3. Sherif, in your experience does creating landing pages (with all the essential ingredients) convert well then directing to merchants landing page?

I've lost about $200 in PPC in last 2 months. I promoted web hosting through ppc. I know i'm not doing something right. But something tells me that hosting has low turn out ratio since its require a big purchase? I could be wrong.

4. Sherif, in your experience what kind of CPA campaigns have decent/good turn out. Leads or Sales?

I know the answer is probably leads, no credit-card leads (name, email, address, etc)

5) How do you determine which merchant/niche to promote? What do you mostly look at? Commission? Competition? How easy it would find good key words? How easy it would be to convert?

What do you use to promote your landing pages? PPC? Does ezinearticles allow you to link to your landing pages in your articles?

__________________
Learn PHP | Best PHP Books

PHP/MySQL Hosting Review

You're welcome.

Wow, you asked very important questions... I will do my best.

Yes, I think so!

If you like the merchant landing page, it is ok, in my opinion, to do direct linking... but the problem when other affiliates are also direct linking... Google will only show one (it will only show one ad for the same domain)... that's the advantage of using your own landing page. If that's the case, just have a short landing page... a brief point or two and then your affiliate link.

Even if the merchant has a landing page, sometimes it is generic. Your landing page could be more specific, more convincing, more comprehensive. Keep in mind that the customer wants to feel that he/she is getting the best deal. If they click on the ad and are directed to the merchants landing page, the merchant is obviously promoting his/her own product... but as an affiliate, you can compare different merchants, highlight each of their strengths and weaknesses, compare the price, advantages, disadvantages, etc... that way the customer will feel that they are getting exactly what they want, or that they are getting the best deal.

Give me an example of a dating advertiser's landing page and I will tell you what I think.

On a slightly different note, that's why sometimes I hate the looooooong sales pages on Clickbank... because I pre-sell a product and the customer is ready to buy, but then they have to read 10 pages of a sales page from the merchant. You can bypass the Clickbank merchant's sales page, but but but, you have to get permission from Clickbank and the merchant.

Yes and no. It depends on the market and the niche. If the merchant has an excellent landing page and there is not much competition for the keywords you are bidding on, why not direct-link... but when you want to add a twist or angle to your landing page, it may convince the visitor to buy.

Also, you can experiment with this... sometimes, the CPC will be lower if you are using your own domain than to direct-linking.

I am sorry to hear you lost that much money in PPC. Trust me, I have done worse! PPC can be tricky, because I used to get excited when I got clicks, but I wasn't excited to see that after 50 or 60 clicks, I had zero conversions! The trick with PPC is all in the keywords. Think about what kind of keywords were you bidding on in your PPC campaigns that made you lose the most money. With PPC, you have to think like the customer... if you were someone who is interested in buying a web hosting plan... what keywords would you enter into your search engine? Would you type "web hosting plans" or "the best web hosting plan for an e-commerce website" or "best deal on a web hosting plan"... these are bad examples, but what I am trying to say is to think like your potential customer... what keywords would they use when they are ready to buy. It wouldn't be generic, it would be rather specific. This, of course, is tricky... but if you research your niche, you would be able to relate with your potential customer and the language they would use. If you see in a forum, for example, that a lot of people do not want to buy a whole year of web hosting plan upfront, but would rather pay month-to-month, then you can highlight that in your ad... Does this make sense?

Given the high commission for web hosting plans, I am pretty sure the competition is fierce. It does not mean that money cannot be made in that market... you just have to be clever. Do your research... dig deep into a niche and think of how to phrase your ad as a solution to a problem your customer is experiencing.

Also, do your research on your competition... What is your competition doing? What aren't they doing? What keywords are they bidding on? Do you see a potential area or specific niche that is not represented that you can cater to?

With CPA campaigns, the best for me has been dating offers... but I really didn't really try hard enough on other markets.

I can guarantee you that some people (I am not there yet, but I know several who are) who can enter any market, regardless of how competitive it is and make a profit!

For me, I try to find <b>hungry markets</b> in very specific niches! I want to find people who are about to buy something that they are seriously considering to buy a specific product... and I just seal the deal (either by price comparison to find them the best deal, or by really convincing them that indeed they really need/want it, or that this product will really solve their problem).

I usually try to find hungry markets, but I also consider the commission... I consider the competition, but I evaluate the quality, not how many competitors I have. Good keywords are also key... I never bid on generic keywords. How easy it is to convert is usually determine by how "hungry" the market is... if I did my research correctly, then converting "easily" will happen.

For example, let's say on woot.com, there was a great deal on a Cannon digital camera model 34034.x2 (this is obviously made up)... but woot.com already sold out... so if you put a quick landing page comparing prices of the same camera from different merchants... and so when someone wants that camera and is pissed off that they didn't get it on woot.com, they will search for "Cannon 34034.x2 deals" not "digital cameras" - so when you are putting the PPC campaign together, only bid on those specific keywords... does this make sense? This also applies to a lot of other markets, as well.



I am still learning too, Webdev... I tried to answer the questions to the best of my ability, but I hope my answers were helpful.

For more seasoned affiliate marketers, please add, criticize, etc.

One final important thing to remember... a niche is not a product... a niche is the people who are interested in that product... think about the people... what they want, what gets them to tick, what language/words they use, what motivates them to spend money etc...

and you will be on the path to a successful and profitable campaign.

__________________
Connexins.com is Web Development Made Simple!

Eco-Friendly Fundraising | Success Starts Today | Let's Go Green!

Wow, great advice, Sherif.

Another reason people use landing page (or squeeze pages) is that some people prefer to collect email addresses because they understand most people do not buy on the first exposure.

So let's say you're bidding on the phrase "ppc advertising" and instead of sending them directly to the Clickbank merchant page that advertises a product that teaches people how to master PPC, advertisers often send the visitor to a short squeeze page asking for an email address in exchange for a free e-book or report they've created.

It's a small page with nothing but a benefit-rich headline and a few paragraphs that does nothing but attempt to get their email address. So it may be something like...

20 Ways to Master PPC - Free Report!

Simply enter your email address below and I'll send my exclusive free report on how to get the most out of PPC advertising. I guarantee it will help you double your profits in three weeks....

Then once they have the person's email address they sign them up with an autoresponder that continues to market to the product(s) in question.

This is a much more indirect way of using PPC advertising, but it can be very effective if you know what you're doing because the whole idea is most people do not buy on the first visit. They need repeat exposures to the product. So collecting their email and following up with more benefit-rich information is a great way to PREsell the product.

I've read quite a few e-books on people doing this and many are successful but it takes a lot of trial and error. As Sherif said it's about finding the right keywords and experimenting until you find a combination that works. If you do decide to collect emails and indirectly promote the product like this, you have to be very careful that you don't wear out your welcome and only send relevant, useful information or your visitor will unsubscribe. It's a very delicate process but can be very rewarding if you learn to master it.

I think it's great when people can master the process of getting the person to buy directly from the merchant's landing page but I understand why so many people create squeeze pages. You have to build up that credibility AND if gives you more than one shot at the sale.

I agree with Sherif 100% on the web hosting bid issue. The reason your conversion is low could be that is such a generic term. You don't know if the person searching for "web hosting" is someone who already has a host and is looking to compare hosts or if they're a first-time builder trying to buy a host for the first time. So from the start, it isn't quite clear what they have in mind.

But if you bid on something like "dedicated unix hosting" this is obviously someone who knows a bit about hosting and may be looking to compare hosts. They're probably a bit more savvy when it comes to web hosting and may be more apt to pay a higher price. In this case, it would be a good idea to create a review of some of the dedicated hosting plans and send the visitor to your landing page rather than the merchant page. The review will help you build up your credibility and it will likely be a page they will research and come back to.

__________________
Create a Website | My Blog | Subscribe via RSS | What's RSS?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recent Blog Posts...

AdSense - Are You Earning Your Max?
Blog Rush - The Good & Bad
AdBrite - A Good AdSense Alternative?

Sound advice both Sherif and Lisa. Thanks.

So as it seems, CPA marketing isn't a easy task. Its not a matter of creating a ppc campaign with high ranking keywords, linking to merchant and then waiting for results. I sure know that now after loosing $200...lol

It is so hard to guess what is the right way to do this when you're doing this alone. Plus you can't keep testing it for ever because your money is on the table.

But i guess anything it needs figuring out. Your reply was helpful especially the part where pointed out to think hard about the keywords i would be using if i was to buy hosting and do comparison review page.

I'm sure, figuring out those all important keywords is not going to a big deal because i too at one point was searching for hosting plans and i know what keywords i used and what things i was looking for. But i wonder, if what i was looking is what EVERYONE would be looking for too?

I'm going to take some time to setup a hosting campaign, research keywords, build a small website, prepare the landing page, read up more on ppc and give it shot again.

I'm gonna try the same with dating niche. I have a feeling i will be successful in this because i know a lot about how dating sites work and dating sites don't require you to pay upfront.

__________________
Learn PHP | Best PHP Books

PHP/MySQL Hosting Review

Webdev... I am glad you found some of the info helpful.

Remember that different people are searching for different things in a hosting plan. Even though you may be promoting the same hosting company, if you cater to the different needs of different groups, this will greatly increase your conversions.


Awesome plan! Research is definitely one of the key things... lack of research in the past lost me a lot of money in PPC.


You're right... It's hard doing it alone. There aren't a lot of places on the web where members share information freely... it's a competitive field, after all. There are a few places on the web, however, that are extremely helpful. I am lucky to have found and learned from a couple of those places... WebsiteBabble.com happens to be one of them, by the way! The other one is in my signature.

If you want... let's keep this discussion open here or in another post... we'll help each other out by thinking out loud.

__________________
Connexins.com is Web Development Made Simple!

Eco-Friendly Fundraising | Success Starts Today | Let's Go Green!

I like this idea. We can keep the discussion open here. Hopefully other members are reading this and finding it helpful as well.

I'm gonna give ppc another try. I'm gona get started with my campaign and i will post my ever step here.

__________________
Learn PHP | Best PHP Books

PHP/MySQL Hosting Review

Hmmm... webdev:

Some people like shortcuts, and I would hate if someone just copies exactly what you're doing.

I would not post specifics, if you know what I mean.

Maybe I am being paranoid, but you never know.

__________________
Connexins.com is Web Development Made Simple!

Eco-Friendly Fundraising | Success Starts Today | Let's Go Green!

Yeah I wouldn't give too much away (keywords your bidding on, etc), although if want to share general updates (your ROI, etc.) then I'm sure that would be beneficial to others wanting to get into PPC.

__________________
Create a Website | My Blog | Subscribe via RSS | What's RSS?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recent Blog Posts...

AdSense - Are You Earning Your Max?
Blog Rush - The Good & Bad
AdBrite - A Good AdSense Alternative?

Actually i was thinking about that this morning. As much as i like to share all my finding and experience, i should be a little careful about what i spill.

But at the same time, i want to share my experience and learning with others not because they can copy me but to serve as a motivational source for others.

So, i will not share my specifics but ask general questions so that other can benefit for it as well.

Thanks for the help guys. You guys are the best

oh forgot to mention, i can't wait to get started now

__________________
Learn PHP | Best PHP Books

PHP/MySQL Hosting Review