I’ve made this guide to show you how to start your affiliate campaign.

This is a Beginner’s Guide to CPA Affiliate Marketing.

Some people may have trouble starting their own PPC Affiliate Marketing Campaign.

I will try my best to push out more campaigns on a weekly/daily basis. I currently have only 1 campaign online.

I am working on others. In the process, I decided; I should show others how I would go about creating a new campaign.

This is my way, of creating a campaign.

Please post your tips and suggestions if you feel my guide is off.

Starting Your New Campaign

1. Check Your Affiliate Network for an Offer to Promote through PPC.
2. Research Your Competition
3. Purchase a Domain Name
4. Add Your Domain to Your Hosting Account
5. Keyword Research
6. Cleaning Up Keyword List
7. Dump Into Adwords Editor
8. Edit & Review
9. Convert to ANY Top 3 Search Engine (www.export202.com)
10. Launch Campaign

More coming soon… this post is still in the making, as I am still working on my new campaign.

These are the steps that I go through to promote an affiliate offer from an affiliate marketing network.

Copeac.com Aff Offer to Google Adwords
CPAEmpire.com Aff Offer to Yahoo Search Marketing

Main Steps In This Guide

1. Steps Before Starting
2. Steps To Launch A Campaign
3. Steps for Managing, Optimizing and Scaling a Campaign

I have listed the steps I do launch campaign after campaign, after already signing up for Affiliate Networks & PPC Search Engines.

Steps Before Starting

1. Sign Up for PPC Search Engine Networks
   *Recommend 3 PPC Networks
   • Main 3 PPC Networks (Recommended)
     • Google Adwords
     • Yahoo Search Marketing
     • MSN Adcenter
   • 2nd & 3rd Tier Networks
2. Sign Up for CPA Affiliate Networks
   *Recommend 3 Affiliate Networks
   
   • CPAEmpire.com (Recommended)
   • Copeac.com (Recommended)
   • CXDigital.com (Recommended)
   • ComissionJunction.com (Recommended)
   • ShareASale.com
   • MaxBounty.com
   • HydraNetwork.com
3. Sign Up for Web Hosting
4. Buy Domain Names
   • 1and1.com- .com’s for $6.12 a year

Steps To Launch A Campaign

1. Find An Offer To Promote
   • Know Networks that are promoting the same offer
   • Know Payouts for the offer from all networks
   • Get Sub-ID URL to the Offer
   • Use AffSpy.com or OfferVault.com to help you
2. .com Domain or Sub-Domain
   • .com Domain Name
     • Purchase Domain Name from 1and1.com
     • It costs $6.12/Year
   • Sub-Domain
     • Related Terms
     • RelatedTerm.DomainName.com
3. Direct Link or Landing Page
   • I use Tracking202.com for DL and LP’s
     • Create an account at Tracking202.com
     • Watch Tracking202.com Videos
   • Direct Linking
     • PPC Search Engine link through Tracking202.com on the Get Trackers Page
   • Landing Page
     • Create a Directory for Your Landing Page files
     • Using Dreamweaver, or another WYSWYG HTML Editor
     • Create a 1-5 Article Page Website
     • Create Site Pages (In Fixed Pop-Up Window)
       • About Us, Privacy Policy, Contact Us
4. Install Tracking (Tracking202.com & Google Analytics)
   • Tracking202.com
     • Create Aff Campaign, Aff Text Ad, Aff Landing Page (If Needed)
     • Add T202 Javascript
     • Create goto.php Redirect page
     • Get Ad Code (Use this for PPC Search Engine URL)
   • Google Analytics (Benefits of Landing Page ‘Bounce Rate’)
     • Add this to your landing page or redirectpage
5. Keyword Research (On Offer I Am Promoting)
   • My main keyword researching tool is SEOBook (WordTracker Alternative)
     • Other I Would Use: (I think SEOBook is all you need)
       • WordZe
       • Compete
       • SpyFu
       • Keyword Elite
       • GoodKeywords
   • I mainly use targeted keywords ONLY.
     • Open up Windows Excel
     • List Phrases, Terms on top.
     • Search keywords on SEOBook
     • Export list of keywords
     • Copy & Paste onto Excel underneath phrases & terms.
     • Search on Google, Yahoo, MSN & Links - Internet Surfing
       • Start w/ Searching for related terms on the landing page you are using
     • Use your head to come up with more words.
     • Gather list of 1k, 3k, 5k, 8k, 15k, 20k, 30k list of keywords
6. Keyword Skimming (Big List of Keywords)
   • Create Negative Keywords List
   • Delete Any Adult Keywords
   • Delete Any Non-Related Keywords
7. Create Ad-Groups & Duplicates
   • Use Google Adwords Editor to Create Into Ad-Groups
   • Deletes Duplicates Automatically
   • Organize Keywords to Related Ad-Groups
8. Create Ad Copy & Bidding
   • Ad Copy
     • Create a Unique Ad Copy (2-5 Ads) Per Ad Group
   • Bidding
     • *These figures are used as guidelines.
     • Use Google’s Traffic Estimator
     • Paste Links From (Adwords Editor) to (Excel)
     • Copy Keywords to Traffic Estimator
     • Select High Traffic Keywords
       • Bid $0.60 Cents
     • Select Low Traffic Keywords
       • Bid $0.30 Cents
9. Create PPC Search Engine Tracking Link
   • Using Tracking202.com ‘Get Trackers’ Page
   • Create New Links (if, use correct links)
     • Different Aff Offer
     • Different PPC Networks
10. Overview Launch of Campaign
    • Check Campaign Settings, Negative Kw’s, Ad Copy, Tracking Links/Codes, & Landing Pages.
    • Launch Campaign on Google
11. Submitting Campaigns to Yahoo/MSN/Google
    • I Fix/Change Ads & Links In Google Adwords Editor
    • Copy The Working Campaign
      • Name it -Yahoo -MSN -Google
      • Or -Y -M -G
    • Export that Campaign
    • Upload Export to Export202.com
    • Download either Yahoo/MSN/Google
      • Yahoo - Email Support to Upload .CSV (Takes 1-3 Days)
      • MSN/Google - Directly Upload .CSV File
12. Check Stats The Following Day
    • Optimize & Scale Campaigns

Steps for Managing, Optimizing and Scaling a Campaign

1. Check Stats
   • Stats - Should be Logged Daily
   • Log in Excel
     • You can create an excel stats file weekly or bi-weekly.
     • I check stats, once a day. The Morning when I wake up.
     • 1st Row
       Date, Campaigns, PPC Network, Impressions, CTR %, Clicks, Avg CPC, Total Cost, CPA Offer, CPA Network, Leads, Payout, Total Comissions
       • The ones that I update daily are:
         • Impressions, CTR %, Clicks, Avg CPC, Total Cost, Leads, Total Comissions
     • 2nd Row
       Net Profits, Total Advertising Costs, Total Comissions
2. Check Keywords on Tracking202
   • Tweak Keyword Bids
     • Increase Bids for Profiting Keywords (Test the Limits)
     • Decrease Bids for Non-Profiting Keywords over $10-$20 (Test the Limits)
3. Add/Edit/Delete Ad Groups
   • 20-30 keywords in an an ad group
     • 3-5 keywords in ad group is more reasonable.
   • List -1, -2, -3, If you have lots of keywords
4. Keyword Research/Tracking/Stats
   • Add More Keywords
     • Mis-spelled Keywords
     • 2,3,4,5 word combinations
     • Product Names
     • Company Names
     • Manufacturer Names
   • Use Google Analytics to your advantage
   • Use Tracking202.com to your advantage
   • Use Tracking Analysis, to improve your odds.
5. Ad Copy & Landing Page
   • Optimize Ad Copy
     • Test Ad Copy
   • Optimize Landing Page
     • Test Text, Banners, Locations, Heat Maps
   • Optimize Speed of Loading Up
6. Expand & Scale Website
   • Create More Articles/Pages
   • Reviews, Articles
   • Tutorials, Guides (Post on Free Tutorial Sites)
   • Rank on SERPS for Popular Terms
   • YouTube.com Videos
   • SEO the website
7. Increase Traffic
   • Add More PayPerClick Search Engines
   • Advertise Using Image Ads
   • Buy Links
   • Trade Links
8. Check & Study Stats

Rinse & Repeat Steps

I’ve listed a list of Affiliate Networks, you can join to get started so you can promote internet offers.

I haven’t tried all of these just yet. I will write a review once I test each one. I’m currently only using 2 Affiliate Networks. I want to keep the amount of Affiliate Networks that pay me down, so that way I can get weekly payments and my money isn’t being sent to me from to many networks.

CPA Affiliate Networks

• CpaEmpire.com (I’m Using)
• Copeac.com (I’m Using)
• AzoogleAds.com
• HydraNetwork.com
• RocketProfit.com
• NeverBlueAds.com

All Products Affiliate Networks

• ComissionJunction.com
• ShareASale.com

Digital Products Affiliate Networks

• ClickBank.com

I will keep this page updated, as I continue to use more Affiliate Networks.

I’m really only interested in telling my readers about the affiliate networks that do make us affiliates money.

In Affiliate Marketing, tracking your keywords is a must.

By knowing more about your keywords. You can find out, what exact keywords are converting well for you.

You can also find out which keywords aren’t converting at a profit and either pause or delete that campaign.

What should I use for Keyword Tracking? You may ask.

The best and easiest way I think to setup your Keyword Tracking for your PPC Campaigns would be to use Wes Mahler’s Tracking Software called Tracking202.com

I have met Wes Mahler in person at the Affiliate Summit West 2008 in Las Vegas. He’s a great guy and is very dedicated to making Tracking202.com a very well known Tracking Tool for Affiliates. Wes & The T202 Team are planning on creating additional useful tools for affiliates. They’re second project is called Export202.com, Which exports your current campaign into either of the 3 networks. I will write a more detailed post on Export202.com once I use it.

I am currently using Tracking202.com for all my PPC Campaigns and this has been very helpful for me.

Tracking202.com is 100% FREE and has already MANY Features for the 2 months it has been online.

They have worked hard on creating Online Video Tutorials to use their software. You should check these out, they explain every detail perfectly.

This PPC Affiliate Tracking Software, is the control panel to view all your stats from all your PPC Networks & Affiliate Networks.

Which organizes it all in one central location, instead of having to login manually to each one site.

The Most Important Feature in this tracking tool is it’s ability to Track Keywords and Keyword Conversions.

What is this exactly?
Tracking Keywords - You want to know which keywords (kw’s you bid on ppc search engines), triggered the visitors to go to your website.
Keyword Conversions - Tracking202.com will tell you how much you Spend & Made from each keyword, so you can further analyze your campaign data.

By knowing and tracking your results from your campaigns.

This allows you to Increase Profits and or Increase/Decrease your PPC Spending.

A List of the Features of Tracking202.com

• Ability to Add All Your Campaign Information
  • PPC Accounts, Affiliate Networks, Affiliate Campaigns, Landing Pages, Text Ads
• Ability to Generate Tracking Links
  • Get LP Code, Get Text Ad Code
• Overview
  • 
  • You can get automatic stats & color graphs with tons of different options on how to view things.
• Analyze
  • Analyze Keywords In Depth
• Visitors
  • Analyze Your Visitors
• Spy
  • Real Time Spy on Your Visitor

Thats just a brief preview of the features, they have many features that’s too much to list.

Go take a look at Tracking202.com & Sign Up.

It will help you track & monitor your campaigns.

Don’t forget to check the Tracking202.com Videos to further understand how to use T202.

Watch Tracking202.com Videos

A big question, for most new webmasters.

Is, Where should I buy a Domain Name?

This post was created for those who don’t know, where to buy domain names.

I buy all my domain names through www.1and1.com.

They charge $6.12/Year for .com, .net, etc. Domain Names.

I choose www.1and1.com because they offer ‘Free Private Domain Registration’. What is this, exactly?

Private Domain Registration makes it so my Personal Information Details aren’t shown when someone does a Who Is Search on my Domain Name. The information that is shown is 1and1.com’s business information when people search on the Whois.php.

Search using WHOIS Look Up. <CLICK HERE>

What is Who is? Whois.php? WhoIs allows you to search the Domain Registration Owner Details. By searching for them, if they are not set to Private Domain Registration. It will show their Home Address or PO Box Address.

So Other’s don’t see you and spy.

You would use Private Domain Registration on your domains so your Personal Information isn’t searchable through Who Is.

The following are different tools that can be used for Keyword Research.

• Google Adwords: Keyword Tool (Free)
  
• SEO Book: Keyword Suggestion Tool (Free)
  
• WordTracker (Monthly/Yearly Subscription)
  
• Keyword Elite (One-Time Fee)
• WordZe (Monthly Subscription)
• Compete (Analytics)
• SpyFu (Monthly Subscription)
• KeywordSpy (Monthly Subscription)