Using the Content Network help please

The content network is a very tricky beast. Google has been changing it recently, and sometimes things just don't work the way you expect. Have you been making money on search and you're looking to expand out? Or are you relatively new to affiliate marketing? There's a lot of ways to promote offers other than the content network. Clicks can be cheap, but working with google's QS can be really difficult at times.

If you're not making a whole lot of money right now I would be leery of spending a lot. I've been a part of a couple paid forums and really found the structure and extra information worthwhile. I was fine paying the $40-$50 to see what they had to offer, but I would strongly recommend not throwing down close to $500 if you're really just starting out.

Just my $.02, I try my best to trust my guy on these things.

What you have to realize with the content network is that people are not searching for you. That's the main big difference compared to search. Your ad is like a TV ad where you basically announce to those visiting that site that you have something that might interest them. Actually, it's more like a newspaper ad but you get the point.

Because of this, you get some people ignoring the ads. For those reasons, the click rate is much lower than search. It can also be affected by where and how your ad is being displayed on the page.

Those who click from content, you somehow attracted their attention. You therefore get a lot of curious clicks but since most were not searching for your kind of product or service, they are not yet into the buying mode. Sure, some may buy on impulse or bookmark your site for later when they are. That's why the conversions are lower on content, generally.

It's always best to see how well your offer converts on search, those looking for your product. If you can't convince them, don't use content until you can. It's also better to target the type of sites where those most likely to be interested are visiting instead of letting Google select them with your keywords.

Lucid made some good points and also some I don't completely agree with.

Yes, the content network is completely different than search and thus requires a different approach in mindset. Yes, on the content network you much be able to capture the attention of the visitors, because they aren't necessarily looking for anything particular, they are just on the internet browsing in most cases. Yes, CTR is typically much lower UNTIL you identify converting URLs and improve your CTR on them.

What I don't agree with.
NO, conversion rates are not always lower, its about 50/50, just depends on the market and offer. NO, its not always best to see how an offer converts on search, some offers work on content but not on search, and the opposite is also true.

A way to see if the offer is making money on the content network, simply go to ezinearticles.com and do a quick search for articles of the main keywords in your niche, click on an article, if you can clearly see other affiliate promoting that offer or similar offers on the content network, your chances of that offer being a good choice for content is very high.

There are many different strategies for the content network, Chad from CDFnetworks just recently made a blog post about a very simple yet effective strategy. I suggest you read that and put some of its tips to use. I've pasted the URL to his blog post below.

cdfnetworks.com/google-content-network-basic-strategy

I too would also recommend staying away from buying more products. Use it for adspend and learning.

Tips I can Give about the Content Network

1. Start off with about 20-30 adgroups of no more than 10-20 keywords per adgroup, just enough to establish a theme.

2. Start off with 2 text ads per adgroup. After you identify some conversions, start testing IMAGE ADs.. <------ BIG Tip -------

Best of Wishes,
Andrew