I was asked:

“What is your opinion on using Google Content Network, and what would you consider as “good results” (when it comes to CTR and conversion rate)? Did you have any success with the Content Network?”

Google Content Network is an advertising platform that allows you to use banner ads and text link ads on websites that have Adsense placements on them. The only thing you need to do to use the Google Content Network is have an Adwords account. Both search and CN ads can be placed via Adwords.

As far as my opinion on it, I think its a great place to get started with affiliate marketing. There is a bit of a learning curve, and with the recent crackdowns on affiliate marketers, Google doesn’t always make advertising on their platforms easy. I do know there is a ton of unfound potential, though. What I really love about Google content network is this -

• You can direct link to offers
• Ability to target by keywords and URLs (targeted placements)
• Banner ads can generate huge CTR
• It is cheaper than Google Search marketing
• There are millions of sites created every year that use Google Adsense to monetize themselves
• It is a good gateway in to media buying.

CTR and conversion rate is always difficult to talk about. You can have a campaign with ads that create a .1% CTR but a 25% CVR, or ads with a 25% CTR and a .1% CVR. It essentially comes down to how far you split test everything. Always, always, always split test! Banners, ad copy, landing pages, offers and new traffic, these will all help you find, essentially, the best EPC you can get on an offer.

If you are looking for a number on what kind of ROI I’m looking for, I generally will stop running things after a week if I can’t get it up to 25+% with over $1000 spend per day. If I can’t optimize it further, I’ll let it run on its own, because the margins are just too small to even bother with it. For ad CTR, this can vary depending on your target and banner design. Always split test these as they are probably the most important part of the campaign. An average campaign might see 1-3% CTR, but I’ve had some do much better.

Success on the GCN can be hard to obtain for a new affiliate marketer, but just like any other type of marketing, it takes hard work and good research to cook up something that really works out for you in the end. With persistence, you can turn it into a cash cow. And with every marketer and they’re mom hitting up Facebook, PPV, and media buying, you know the amount of affiliates on Google is decreasing. The only hard part is finding the right niche and targeting.

If you are in need of a tool for the GCN, I’d suggest Keyword Rockstar. I use it and it does everything I need to start up a campaign. It scrapes the Google Keyword Tool, sets up my whole campaign, finds targeted placements, and it can even create banner ads itself. Not sure if the owner of the product is allowing any more users, but you can join his mailing list and be informed when the next set of openings for the tool is available!

This question was received in my Ask Away post. There you can ask any questions about affiliate marketing and I will answer them with their own dedicated blog post. Alternatively, you can email me with your questions.