I have been experimenting with organic SEO for about two years. The idea to create ‘a nice website with quality unique content’ is a bit naive (it took me a lot of time to realize that). You need to develop a GREAT website to succeed online nowadays.

It should be extremely popular in the niche you are working in and in that case you have a nice chance to get a lot of traffic and direct advertisers in addition to poor performing Google AdSense (Internet users are getting blind to these ads the way they have got blind to banners a few years back).

It is not a bad idea to diversify your online business and test PPC marketing and other techniques – this is the conclusion I have made recently.

Though PPC marketing sounds quite simple – buy keywords, develop ads, get targeted traffic, send it to your landing page (or directly to the merchant’s website you promote) and generate your affiliate sales. Yes, it is a great way to burn your PPC budget.

Every step starting from selecting an affiliate program to promote, deep keyword research and ending with a great landing page need much testing and practicing.

I have been researching this topic for a few last weeks and have discovered a lot of fantastic links that will guide you through the entire process step by step. And I am glad to share these resources with you (they are listed in no particular order):

Lets learn how to run an affiliate campain with PPC shall we kids

Google AdWords Tips for Success

Google AdWords Case Study – Improving Landing Page Quality

Troubleshoot your poorly performing affiliate marketing campaign

Enough Bullshitting… Let’s Make Money In 24hrs Or Less!

12 Pay Per Click Networks Tested and Rated

Pay Per Click Networks Tested

HowTo: Writing good sales copy for PPC->A.M.

An easy script to mask affiliate links

PPC Direct to merchant

3 Critical Keys For A Profitable PPC to CPA Campaign

Make your content PREell (pdf)

How to choose an affiliate program that make money

Summary: Well, it takes time to research all these links and even more time to test them to develop your own profitable PPC system. Next goal is to turn PPC marketing into a real money maker.

[tags]ppc marketing, affiliate markeing, internet marketing[/tags]

I have intended to properly test and probably make some money with PPC arbitrage with the help of second tier PPC engines (7search.com).

It looks like I should have started it long ago. 7search have modified its policy and put an end to being the most popular second tier PPC engine for arbitrage: one site per account, 1000 keyword limit…

It is difficult to say why they made this step, even Google ‘allows’ this technique, but wants a bigger share of PPC arbitrage market and introduced its ‘landing page quality score’.

The experience that I have got within these few last weeks with PPC arbitrage makes me search a 7search replacement. I will test MSN AdCenter and probably Google AdWords, but I think it is harder with these two.

PPC arbitrage is in fact a no-brainer:

- Select a niche – for this you need a list of categories to research (browse wikipedia.org contents, affiliate program directories or eBay categories to get some ideas).

- Check supply / demand. Do not be discouraged if the bids in one niche much lower than in another – be sure that the traffic for lower paid niches will be cheaper. It is better to focus on the demand volume.

- Develop a keyword list. Add synonyms and misspellings. If you want to do it right way – use wordtracker.

- Make an ad creative. Use AdWords recommendations or just check your competition.

- Design a landing page. Or a few. No need to invent a wheel – find a great selection of arbitrage landing pages here. You need content for your landing pages – use free to reprint article directories.

- Start a PPC campaign.

Summary: My first few days of PPC arbitrage were loss making, then some really good days with a profit. It comes in waves, but still it is profitable.

Two things I did not figured out about 7search PPC arbitrage so far – volume and tracking. I mean it is no problem to start a hundred of PPC arbitrage campaigns, but how to track what campaigns really make you money and what campaigns you should pause. I am sure there are techniques and ways, but I did not research this deep due to the mentioned 7search policy changes.

[tags]ppc, cpa, arbi, arbitrage, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, make money online, earn your living online[/tags]

PPC arbitrage – I have discussed this method to make money online a few times: you can read about it here and here and more on PPC arbitrage and PPC marketing. I do not think about it from ethical point of view – many ways to make money online and offline are not quite ethical. For me, PPC arbitrage is one more technique to test and see if it works in my case.

In fact, I did not start yet a PPC arbitrage campaign, but have made several steps required to launch one:

- I have defined niches where I will try this technique. There will be two high paying niches and two less expensive.

- I have defined those keyword tools that will help me to generate keyword lists. I know that webmasters advice to use long keyword lists (1,000-5,000), others recommend to run short hand picked keyword lists that get high search volume. I think I need to test both.

- I have signed with a second tier PPC engine – www.7search.com I have made a mistake and signed for their pay-per-placement program, but I needed subscription for pay-per-click program. I should admit I am impressed with their customer service – very fast and efficient. Yes, the interface is not that of AdWords, but you get what you pay for – I want cheap traffic. They e-mailed me asking for a phone to call and confirm my identity, but a day later I have got a message that my account is active and I can start using their services. Nice. And fast. I should remember to use their geo-targeting feature not to get BS traffic.

- I have selected one of my domains where I will create folders for my PPC arbitrage campaigns.

- I have an idea how my landing pages will looko. I did not invent them myself, but borrowed these simple templates (a few different) at www.wickedfire.com forum.

Summary: That’s it. I have made a few tiny steps with my PPC arbitrage test, but these steps take time and efforts.

I will keep you posted once the campaign is running. To tell the truth, I do not expect much – I have read some delighted feedback, but I am also aware of many webmasters who failed to make any profit with PPC arbitrage.

[tags]ppc marketing, ppc arbitrage, 7search, adwords, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, make money online, home based job, earn your living online[/tags]