Using PPC Advertising for Affiliate Sales

PPC advertising is an effective way to reach a group of people who are looking for information or products. While many people tend to complicate this type of advertising, it's actually very simple. This article will explain exactly what PPC advertising is and how to use it to sell products.

What Is PPC Advertising?

PPC stands for "pay per click." That is, an advertiser pays each time a person clicks the advertiser's ad. There are 3 elements to PPC advertising: keywords, ads and website pages that people are taken after they click an ad. Let's discuss each one briefly.

First PPC Element: Keywords

When people visit a search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.), they type in a word or phrase to find information or a product. For example, they may type "train my dog" or "lose weight fast." These phrases are called keywords. An advertiser bids on keywords. That is, an advertiser will agree to pay the search engine a certain amount of money when someone searches for a chosen keyword and then clicks an ad.

Second PPC Element: Ads

Ads are displayed on search engines when a person searches for a certain keyword. The advertiser chooses which keywords will cause his ads to display. For example, an advertiser may choose to have his ad displayed when a person types in "train my dog to sit" but not when a person types in only "train my dog." The advertiser has complete control over which keywords cause his ads to display.

A Quick Explanation Of The Parts Of A PPC Ad

PPC ads typically have four parts: a headline, a description, a display URL and a destination URL. Don't be intimidated. All four parts are very simple.

A "headline" is an ad's title. For example, a headline could be "Train Your Dog". A "description" is a place to give more information. For example, "Learn how to train your dog to sit. Informative book tells all." A "display URL" is merely the website that a person sees before clicking an ad. For example, "www.TrainYourDog.com". A "destination URL" is the actual page where people are taken immediately after clicking an ad.

An Example PPC Ad:

Train Your Dog
Learn how to train your dog to sit.
Informative book tells all.
www.TrainYourDog.com

Third PPC Element: Website Pages

When people click a PPC ad, they are taken to a website page. This is a page that tries to encourage people to buy a product. The page can include whatever an advertiser wishes. Some PPC advertisers create website pages that have pictures. Others prefer simple pages with a few sentences and a link to buy a product. The choice of what to include on the page is left entirely to the website owner.

Pay Per Click Conclusion

PPC advertising can be a powerful way to promote affiliate products to people who use search engines to find information. By choosing keywords that are related to the products, writing quick ads (like the example given above) and creating simple website pages that encourage people to buy, a PPC advertiser can get started selling almost immediately.