Not All Affiliate Program Traffic is Equal

When it comes to driving traffic to your affiliate programs, it takes some work to get the right traffic. One of the mistakes made by those just getting started with an affiliate product, such as an information E-book, is that traffic is traffic, is they mistakenly think that if they just get tons of hits they will convert some to sales. The truth is that's a recipe for frustration. It's quite possible to buy thousands of hits and not result in a single sale when they are completed. How can this happen? It happens because many of the companies that sell hits aren't concerned with anything other than getting someone to click on your site in order to get your order filled, regardless of how long they stay. They deliver your hits, but they were hits that had no incentive before they clicked on your site to stay and see what the product that you are representing is all about. They weren't "Targeted" hits, and therein lies the problem.

If the company were truly interested in helping you succeed, instead of just selling you a bunch of worthless hits, they would have assisted you in targeting in on your market like a laser beam in order to get you the kind of traffic that stays on your site because they are already interested in what you are representing, before they get there. In order to get targeted traffic you need must do the following:

1) Know the product that you are representing. Many new affiliate marketers make the mistake of thinking that they can go to Clickbank, find a high commission product, become an affiliate and rake in big bucks without actually buying the product. This is a mistake, because by actually being a customer of the product, you become in tune with those customers that the product would benefit and that helps you tailor your marketing campaigns to bring in interested in what you have BEFORE they arrive at your website. Now that's a targeted customer.

2) Only buy traffic from vendors who allow you to use several criteria to target your market. If your vendor only allows you to select one broad category, such as Internet Income or something similar, leave that site and keep looking. Again, it will take time researching the traffic companies to find the one that is right for you, but the effort will be rewarded.

3) When buying pay per clicks from Google or a similar vendor, you're bidding on keywords. Don't spend money on the highest rated keywords associated with your product. Not only will these clicks cost more, but the competition for them is fierce, so your ad can get lost among all the others. Instead, go to the bottom of the ranking list of keywords and bid for those; the competition will be less, meaning your ad will appear at the top more often and the clicks will be less expensive, but no less receptive to your offer than the top keywords.

4) The best use of Google AdWords advertising as an affiliate is to target specifically for the name of the product you are representing and nothing else. By bidding on four or five specific variations of your product's name, you assure that you are paying for potential customers who are already looking for what it is you're selling. By utilizing this one tip, your conversion rate will go way up. You'll get fewer visitors than if you used a broad keyword, but those that click on your ad will be more likely to buy, and isn't that what you're looking for?

About The Author-- Dr. Richard Norris has been adding income from home via network marketing, affiliate programs and development of information products. To learn more: http://richardnorris.smmsite.com

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