I’ve been all about Facebook advertising for a very long time. In fact, it accounts for probably 95% of my income since I’ve started internet marketing. It’s time to take my eggs out of that basket, and lately, I’ve been heading over to other traffic sources. I tried MSN and while it converts very easily, there is little to no traffic (However, with Bing, that will probably change). Yahoo is just a shit-pile of a mess that is profitable if you can stand to use their interface. Google search has lost me 100s in a mere 5 minutes. The Google Content Network is looking very promising.

What Google Content Network does is take all those websites that are running Adsense on them, and basically allows you to run ads on them. You have the choice to run text ads or image ads on these placements. Quality Score is, supposedly, based more off of your CTR (click-through rate) meaning that it is harder to get slapped than a search campaign. It is also very cheap. You can target niches that cost 3 dollars for clicks on search for 50 cents on the CN. Let’s get more in depth on some of these topics.

Text Ads vs. Images Ads on the Google Content Network

Text ads aren’t always the best choice. The problem is unlike search, where people are actively looking for something, people that see these ads are on a website looking through the information available to them. Text ads don’t always hit the right spot as they are very difficult to target right. Most likely, users aren’t in buying mood or looking to be sold anything as they browse these sites. Text ads don’t get a lot of attention. However, in some cases they can still be effective if you can target the right sites.

Image ads can stick out from website content a little better. Generally, you’ll see a much higher CTR with images, which will inturn increase your QS and decrease your click costs. Make sure you split test all your ads, and use at least 2 of each size ad to do so. This is because not every site will use just one size for their Adsense placements. Here is a list of ad sizes you should make:

• leaderboard (728×90)
• banner (468×60)
• skyscraper (120×600)
• square (250×250)
• small square (200×200)
• medium rectangle (300×250)
• large rectangle (336×280)
• wide skyscraper (160×600)

Set up tracking for each different ad and notice which one converts better. Knock out the ad that gets a lower EPC. One ad might get more clicks, but fewer conversions and a lower EPC due to this. If this is the case, split test a new ad similar to the higer EPC one until you can get the CTR up, otherwise you could put your quality score in serious jepordy. If your CTR stays too low for too long, Google will automatically stop running your ads unless you increase bid prices.

Lowered Click Costs On the Google Content Network

I’m testing the Google CN with one niche I tried in search. In search, I was paying about $1 – $2 a click. I’ve moved the failed campaign to CN and now am averaging 36 cent clicks. Thats quite a savings. However, it might take twice as many clicks as in search to get a conversion, I’m still saving money, but you have to realize, people clicking your CN ads aren’t neccessarily wanting to buy anything. Your landing page is very important for getting this done right. Your image ad should also be highly relevant and help increase conversions with a nice pre-sell.

Structure of a Good Google Content Network Campaign

The way you build your campaign is very important. You can choose to run ads on managed placements (you select which sites you want to run on) or let Google pick for you using keywords. Either way, use the 50-rule. Select 50 websites or keywords tops for each ad group.

Keyword groups need to be better organized. Google will use these to try and select a theme for each for each ad group, allowing for more triggers to pop off your ad. Make sure you build a decent list of negative keywords that won’t show as Google CN only allows your ads to be triggered by broad matching standards. This can help you increase conversions by knocking out shit that you know won’t convert. (Words like free, pictures, information, etc are good starters)

For each as, make sure you track them with a Google conversion tracking pixel. This will help you figure out what ad converted on what page. You can use Prosper202 for this, as well. I usually use a sub-id on the ad like ?=image-ad-1-{keyword}. This also helps me track what keyword fired the ad to pop-up on the page and whether or not that keyword converted.

The best way to get the most impressions here is to build a structured keyword list of more than 2000 keywords. Some people say don’t stop until you hit 5000, but I’ve had success so far with just 2000. Organize them into ad groups with 50 keywords per group and run this. Split test ads and landing pages. Notice what referrers (what domains) are giving you the most conversions. Organize these into another campaign and individually target those websites working for you. Optimize bidding for each site. Increase CTR to decrease your click costs. Then, get paid!

So the Google Content Network really isn’t that hard to make a profit from. The best way to start making bank is to just try it! My first few days on CN I’ll always fail and lose money, but if I stay persistent I can ussually make it all back within a week. One campaign I started running recently saw me lose 75% of my investment the first couple days. I am now breaking even after light optimization. Within a day or two, I should be running a very hefty and lucrative profit in my favor! Gotta love my job…

And for all you guys that need an excuse to jump into internet marketing, be sure to check out my blog giveaway with Tatto Media!