Ask Shawn Collins: Tracking PPC Arbitrage Conversions
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I drive affiliate traffic through pay per click search engines straight to affiliate links without a landing page. How can I track which keywords are converting best?
It’s actually a fairly easy method. I’ll tell you what I do to track the effectiveness of my pay per click keywords in affiliate campaigns.
I use sub-IDs for each keyword. Most any affiliate network ought to offer the ability to do this – it’s a string of alpha-numeric characters that you add on to your affiliate link. I would suggest using each keyword as a sub-ID, so you can evaluate the reporting quick and easy.
For example, here is an affiliate link through Commission Junction to promote 1&1 Internet Web Hosting:
http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-1544023-10365666
If I were running a pay per click keyword campaign to promote this affiliate program, here is an example of a link with a sub-ID I could use for the keyword “web hosting”:
http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-1544023-10365666?SID=web_hosting
The structure of the sub-ID varies for each affiliate network (CJ calls it SmartRewards), so check with the respective affiliate network about how to create sub-IDs for their links.
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- Posted in Ask Shawn Collins
8 Comments
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On March 15 @ 1:53 pm posted[...] Shawn Collins tells you how you can track the conversion rates of keywords in your PPC Arbitrage campaigns. [...]
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On March 16 @ 6:20 am posted
[...] Tracking PPC Arbitrage Conversions sub-ID tip (tags: arbi ppc) [...]
Another way to use sub IDs is to delimit the info so you can also include the search engine and keyword. In your example Shawn, if an affiliate bought the keyword “web hosting” in both Google and Yahoo!, they could add a “g” and a “y” so it would look like this:
http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-1544023-10365666?SID=g_web_hosting
and
http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-1544023-10365666?SID=y_web_hosting
reply to this commentI’d like to point out that this is Affiliate Marketing, not PPC Arbitrage. The title is wrong to call this PPC Arbitrage.
reply to this commentWhy is it wrong? This affiliate is making a hedged investment in ppc traffic with the intention of effectively selling that traffic to a merchant, for a profit, in the form of a referred transaction.
reply to this commentRight. The affiliate isn’t selling the same “product” that he’s buying. He’s buying PPC traffic to sell something completely different.
Buying PPC traffic and sending the user to PPC ads is PPC arbitrage. You’re buying a product at a low price and then selling the same thing at a higher price.
Buying PPC traffic and sending the user to an affiliate product is affiliate marketing.
In any industry, buying widgets at a lower cost than you’re selling them for is arbitrage. You’re not selling the same product that you’re buying when you do affiliate marketing.
reply to this commentI have to agree with DR on this. I didn’t find what I was looking for when I arrived on this page. PPC Arbitrage is something different.
reply to this commentI think that ppc aribitrage guys should use some affiliate links on their sites (if they are not ahppy with their ppc earnings), but it is risky for affiliate site owners to show ppc ads, as these often pay lesss per click tha you get 'per sale' plus other affiliates can target your site with their onw ppc ads (content network/site targeting)!
Like Shawn, I do actually promote http://www.1and1.comas an affiliate, but I keep my affiliate sites clean of ppc ads…
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