There are a lot of so-called gurus that make a living by teaching others how to drive traffic to websites. Creating and running a website could be difficult as it is, but things get even more complicated when you struggle to drive any real traffic to your website. Obviously, most of us want to earn the most profit and incur the least cost in the process. Being involved in SEO and the social media can help you bring down your costs and generate free leads for your business. Google Adwords and other search engine advertising networks can also drive you a lot of traffic. But that doesn’t mean you should jump into new channels without having a plan.

A lot of gurus will tell you that you can expand your business dramatically by learning the art of search engine advertising. There is no doubt that Google Adwords and other networks can bring you quality traffic for a reasonable amount of money if you optimize your campaigns, landing pages, and ads. I understand why a lot of experts claim that you should jump into the Adwords game as fast as possible. Google Adwords could be an amazing source of leads, but it can make you go broke as well. Before taking advantage of such services, you need to make sure you understand what you intend to accomplish by spending money online. There are a lot of fundamental questions that you need to ask before getting started with search engine advertising. You can skip this process and jump right into it, but you’ll be leaving money on the table if you do so.

Here are a few questions that you need to ask before spending a fortune on Google Adwords:

• What do you plan to accomplish with your advertising campaigns?
• Do you plan on getting more exposure for your brand, sell a product, generate leads, or inform your visitors about a specific topic?
• What constitutes a conversion?
• How do you plan to test your metrics to increase your conversions?
• Do you have a specific path of action in place for your visitors?
• Is your landing page relevant to the type of traffic you are planning to drive to your website?
• Are your ads relevant to your landing page?
• Do you have proper call to action in place in your ads or on your landing pages?
• Are you getting the best out of your traffic? Do you have a squeeze box in place to gather your leads’ information?
• Are you cross-selling on your landing pages?
• Have you identified areas that can lead to traffic leakage?
• Do you have an idea what CPA keeps your business profitable?
• Do you have a forecast to show you what numbers you need to hit to break even?

There are plenty of other questions you need to ask before and during your campaigns to make sure you get the most bang out of your advertising bucks. I am not suggesting that you should over-think things. That could only slow you down. But don’t jump in and start spending $1000 a day on a campaign without having some plan. Google Adwords can be the best way to burn a lot of money in a short period of time if you don’t plan ahead. It’s not convenient but it’s a necessity.

A lot of dummies books turn people off due to having a title that is not so complimentary to readers. But people at Wiley have done a wonderful job with the dummies series. Every-time you pick up a dummies book, you do so with a certain set of expectations. You do expect to get the best tips and training on a specific topic. Google Adwords for Dummies is no different. It’s a wonderful book that is written to help anyone interested in the pay per click marketing industry to get a good handle on Google Adwords and what it takes to set up successful campaigns, design better campaign structures, and save money on your bids in the long run.

Google Adwords is not that complicated of a system, but at the same time, you need to know what you are doing if you want to avoid paying through your nose for your top keywords. Google is notorious for slapping certain accounts with higher bids, and that could definitely run you out of business if you are not too careful. Learning how to create campaigns from scratch and restructuring existing campaigns is not too complicated, but having someone show you how to get it done the first few times certainly help. Google Adwords for Dummies shows you what it takes to get started with Google Adwords as fast as possible. The book is designed for beginners and those who do not feel that strong about their Google Adwords knowledge. It walks you through the basics and shows you a few cool tricks to set up your 1st page bids and get the best ad structure in place. (more…)

In case you haven’t been paying attention, there have been a lot going on in the search industry. First, we have Facebook pickup Friendfeed, and then change its advertising system to allow you to target others by their birthday or their connection to your pages. And then we have Google showcasing Google Caffeine. You can’t forget about Google Adwords latest changes to include related ads in the sponsored section. So let’s see what has changed in detail:

Facebook:

As you can see, Facebook has added a few new fields to its ad form, making it so easy to target customers by their birth date. So you can essentially give out discount coupons for their birthday. Another interesting Facebook Ads feature is two brand new fields that help you target people who are and are not interacting with your fan and product pages. For those who are not part of your fan club, you can use Facebook Ads to target them and give them some incentive to join your club. And for those who are a part of your fan page community, you can put up ads to make them interact more with your pages. (more…)

ClickBank needs no introduction. It’s the home for many sellers who make a living from selling their informational products online. I have never been a fan of informational products, but one thing is certain about them. They sell well, and they don’t cost too much to maintain. You won’t need a place to store them, and the transaction is done easily over the Internet. And with Clickbank you can get a lot of affiliates to sign up and promote your products.

For affiliates, Clickbank could be tricky. Not all CB products are created equal. People behind these products come from all walks of life. Some know how to develop killer landing pages. Many have no clue how to write a newsletter. So if you are an affiliate trying to make money online from these products with pay per click, you are going to do some research to find products that convert well, don’t come with a high refund rate, and give you the best chance to make the most money in the long run.

CB Engine is a very useful Clickbank analysis service that lets you keep track of the latest developments in CB community and find products that will make you money in the long run. Not everyone’s going to make money even with the best products, but it’s good to know that others are doing it. That way you can focus more on improving your tactics and optimizing your campaigns, than worry about not converting much.

CB Engine will let you know about the products that have just been released to the market. So you can go through their landing pages and offers to find out whether they are worth a consideration. You can also keep track of the removed products and avoid promoting them. But my favorite feature by far is the mowers and shakers section. There, you can find out about products that are hot and those that are cooling down. There is no question that you’ve got to be agile about the process, but it’s good to have that information handy.

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