First attempt at PPC + CPA

Roman8389 · 06-18-2009, 03:43 PM

Hey guys,

I'm about to make my first attempt at PPC + CPA. I've already done all the "work" and now I just have to unpause my Adwords campaigns and off they go! Here's how it looks:

- One niche/type of offer
- Two campaigns - one for each offer
- Ten adgroups, one long-tail keyword each
- Four ads per adgroup

Total of 40 ads per campaign. Everything in both campaigns (ad copies, number of adgroups etc.) is exactly the same, except for the display/destination URL, obviously, to link to the different offer. All of the ads are direct-linked, but the affiliate URL has been shortened using bit.ly, with a customized subdomain that contains the keyword for each adgroup. Each ad headline also contains the keyword for its adgroup. Niche has been proven to work well with CPA. Two adgroups in each campaign are targeted to specific states in the US. In the Adwords Keyword Tool, most of the keywords do not have a full "advertiser competition" bar but still have above 10k monthly searches. Max CPC is $0.10, daily budget $5 (I'm poor and it's for testing anyway). Offer #1 is a four-field submit and pays $2.25, and Offer #2 is a three-field submit and pays $6.50 I think. For now, the ads are only on Google's search results, and not content sites.

Does this sound like a good setup? Is there anything I should do differently?

Ready... Set... STATUS: ACTIVE!

FredFarnes · 06-18-2009, 05:55 PM

So you are targeting on 20 keywords? Each of them is more than 10k monthly searches?

It will be interesting to see whether google gives a bad quality score due to direct linking. And whether your low bid will buy sufficient impressions.

My experience is that bids under $0.10 earn a low quality score, and I need to have my own landing page to help the quality score. After a few days of low bids, the number of impressions drop off, lower and lower.

Thanks for posting this, let's see how it works out. I'm looking forward to hearing about your number of impressions, CTR and conversion percentage.

Wishing you great luck, & some keyword gems in your list.

Roman8389 · 06-18-2009, 06:02 PM

I'm actually targeting 10 keywords, with both campaigns having the same keywords.

Update:

My campaigns BLEW UP like an ATOMIC BOMB. I just got an email from Google and EVERY ONE of my ads has a broken bit.ly link. I'm absolutely positive that I pasted in the affiliate link, chose a custom subdomain name, and copied the resulting link into the ads. However, when I try any of the links, I go to the 404 page on bit.ly. I have to go for a couple hours, but when I get back I'll investigate and see what's going on...

Roman8389 · 06-18-2009, 10:02 PM

Another update:

After two seconds of research, I found that the links were broken because I capitalized every word in the Adwords display URL (e.g., bit.ly/FreeWeightLossNow) but not in the actual URL when I put it in bit.ly. I honestly didn't think that capitalization mattered in URLs -- I mean, GOOGLE.COM still takes me to the same place...

Now it's just a matter of making every link again, but capitalized this time. PPC Lesson Learned the Hard Way #1: Always test your links.

Edit, 15 minutes later: Okay, I created all the links that the ads were already pointing to. This should work now.

06-18-2009, 05:55 PM	#2
FredFarnes (not my real name) War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 469 Thanks: 10 Thanked 39 Times in 32 Posts	Re: First attempt at PPC + CPA So you are targeting on 20 keywords? Each of them is more than 10k monthly searches? It will be interesting to see whether google gives a bad quality score due to direct linking. And whether your low bid will buy sufficient impressions. My experience is that bids under $0.10 earn a low quality score, and I need to have my own landing page to help the quality score. After a few days of low bids, the number of impressions drop off, lower and lower. Thanks for posting this, let's see how it works out. I'm looking forward to hearing about your number of impressions, CTR and conversion percentage. Wishing you great luck, & some keyword gems in your list.
	So, you want to sell me another way to easily make "X" dollars in "X" days? ROFL too funny! IM success requires hard work and lots of time. Most newbies do not survive the steep learning curve. Anyone who says otherwise is probably selling you a fantasy.

06-18-2009, 06:02 PM	#3
Roman8389 Active Warrior Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 72 Thanks: 5 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	Re: First attempt at PPC + CPA I'm actually targeting 10 keywords, with both campaigns having the same keywords. Update: My campaigns BLEW UP like an ATOMIC BOMB. I just got an email from Google and EVERY ONE of my ads has a broken bit.ly link. I'm absolutely positive that I pasted in the affiliate link, chose a custom subdomain name, and copied the resulting link into the ads. However, when I try any of the links, I go to the 404 page on bit.ly. I have to go for a couple hours, but when I get back I'll investigate and see what's going on...

06-18-2009, 10:02 PM	#4
Roman8389 Active Warrior Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 72 Thanks: 5 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	Re: First attempt at PPC + CPA Another update: After two seconds of research, I found that the links were broken because I capitalized every word in the Adwords display URL (e.g., bit.ly/FreeWeightLossNow) but not in the actual URL when I put it in bit.ly. I honestly didn't think that capitalization mattered in URLs -- I mean, GOOGLE.COM still takes me to the same place... Now it's just a matter of making every link again, but capitalized this time. PPC Lesson Learned the Hard Way #1: Always test your links. Edit, 15 minutes later: Okay, I created all the links that the ads were already pointing to. This should work now.

06-18-2009, 03:43 PM	#1
Roman8389 Active Warrior Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 72 Thanks: 5 Thanked 7 Times in 7 Posts	First attempt at PPC + CPA Hey guys, I'm about to make my first attempt at PPC + CPA. I've already done all the "work" and now I just have to unpause my Adwords campaigns and off they go! Here's how it looks: - One niche/type of offer - Two campaigns - one for each offer - Ten adgroups, one long-tail keyword each - Four ads per adgroup Total of 40 ads per campaign. Everything in both campaigns (ad copies, number of adgroups etc.) is exactly the same, except for the display/destination URL, obviously, to link to the different offer. All of the ads are direct-linked, but the affiliate URL has been shortened using bit.ly, with a customized subdomain that contains the keyword for each adgroup. Each ad headline also contains the keyword for its adgroup. Niche has been proven to work well with CPA. Two adgroups in each campaign are targeted to specific states in the US. In the Adwords Keyword Tool, most of the keywords do not have a full "advertiser competition" bar but still have above 10k monthly searches. Max CPC is $0.10, daily budget $5 (I'm poor and it's for testing anyway). Offer #1 is a four-field submit and pays $2.25, and Offer #2 is a three-field submit and pays $6.50 I think. For now, the ads are only on Google's search results, and not content sites. Does this sound like a good setup? Is there anything I should do differently? Ready... Set... STATUS: ACTIVE!