Is Pay-Per-Click Affiliate Marketing Worth It for Beginners?

Let me guess. You're reading this because you don't want to create a website to make money with affiliate marketing. It;s just too difficult. And... you would rather do pay-per-click advertising. Am I right?

The question is though - is pay-per-click advertising worth it? And... especially if you're a beginner?

In this article, I am going break down the basics of doing affiliate marketing using PPC ads. You'll learn how to do it and if you should actually push forward with this business model.

But first...

An Overview of Pay-Per-Click Advertising

The beauty of pay-per-click advertising is that you can get started with very little knowledge or experience.

You don't have to worry about setting up a website, writing content, and all the other stuff that goes along with running a website.

Instead, you just need to choose your ad platform (Google Ads, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.), set up an account, create your ads and then start paying for clicks on those ads.

Another great thing about pay-per-click advertising is that you only pay for actual clicks on your ads so there's no wasted spend. With other types of affiliate marketing, you're often stuck paying for impressions or visits to your website that may not result in any sales.

Lastly, pay-per-click advertising is an incredibly efficient way to get new customers and make money with affiliate marketing. You can target very specific audiences and quickly scale your campaigns as needed. This makes it ideal for those who want to see quick results from their efforts.

So if you're a beginner looking to get started with affiliate marketing, pay-per-click advertising could be the perfect solution for you!

How to Start Affiliate Marketing With Pay-Per-Click Advertising

1. Find an Offer

Your first step is to find an offer. An offer is typically a product or service that will pay you a commission for each sale or click made. You can find offers by searching through affiliate networks like Clickbank or Commission Junction.

2. Choose a PPC Platform to Work With

Once you've chosen your offer, you'll need to decide which ad platform to use. Google Adwords, Bing Ads, and Facebook Ads are the most popular platforms but there are many others as well.

3. Set up Your PPC Account

Your next step is to set up an account on the ad platform of your choice and create your ads. Here again, it's important to be specific about who you're targeting in order to get the best results from your campaigns.

You'll need to set up tracking and analytics so that you can measure the success of your campaigns and optimize your ads accordingly. You can get this info from the platform you decide to work with.

4. Do Not Link Directly to the Salespage

Most pay-per-click advertising does not allow you to link directly to the offer. Back in the wild west days of Google Adwords, this was allowed and it made it super easy. All you needed was your affiliate link and to create an ad that took 2 or 3 minutes tops.

Nowadays it's a lot harder. You need to create a landing page that is optimized for your offer. This can be a time-consuming process, especially if you're just starting out.

However, there's great software out there like Clickfunnels or Leadpages that creates great-looking landing pages in minutes. These do cost money, but since there are so many landing page options you can choose one that fits your budget.

5. Create Landing Pages for Your Offers

To build landing pages, you can certainly use page builders like Clickfunnels or Leadpages as I mentioned above.

Personally, I use Thrive Themes. This is because there are no monthly fees. You pay for your yearly subscription and it works out to just under $25 a month. This works out to be much cheaper than any other landing page option.

And - they've got a ton of landing pages to choose from.

It is hosted on WordPress though, so you'll need a domain name and then just name each landing page you create like this - yoursite.com/landingpage1, yoursite.com/landingpage2, yoursite.com/landingpage3, and so on.

The only other cost is a domain, which is about $10 a year. I like Namecheap because you don't need to pay extra for domain privacy.

Like other landing page builders, you don't need any coding skills. It's all just drag and drop. You can start from scratch or just choose one of the many pre-made sales page landing page templates.

6. Put Your Landing Pages to Work

Ok, so you've got your offer and you know know how to create a landing page.

What's next?

This is where you are going to look at the sales page for your offer and without copying the text, try to bring that same message onto your landing page.

Remember, your landing page is a sales page. It has to entice your reader to buy the product. To accomplish this, it must reach the right audience and it must list the BENEFITS. Don't talk about features much, focus on benefits.

You'll notice that on the sales page, there will be a few main points that they drive home.

You'll want to include these on your landing page as well. It's also important to have several call-to-actions throughout the landing page so that people know what to do next - buy the product or click through and find out more information.

If you're able, it's also a good idea to add reviews and/or testimonials from previous customers who've had success with the offer. This adds social proof to your landing page which is often enough to convince people that this offer is worth their money.

How to Get The Best Results From Your Landing Pages

The best landing pages have some kind of freebie that readers can download. You don't have to do this but imagine this scenario:

Landing page 1 is done right, lists all the benefits and some features, and has some great call-to-actions.

Landing page 2 has all of the above, and also a downloadable ebook. To get the freebie, people have to enter their email addresses.

Which page do you think will bring in more leads?

Exactly! So, if possible - add a freebie that readers can download as soon as they enter their contact information. This is a great way to get the most out of your landing pages.

After that, you would have their contact imported directly into an email autoresponder which will then send out emails convincing them to buy the product or service.

So where do you get these downloadable freebies?

You'll be happy to know that you can get these for free. Just do a Google search for PLR content and you'll find a ton of places you can download an ebook for free.

Creating Your Ads

Once you've chosen the ad platform, it's time to create your ads. This is where the copywriting comes in - crafting a message that will get people to click on your ad and take action. The key here is to keep it simple and focus on the benefits of what you are offering.

I like using Jasper for my ads. I'm not a good copywriter but this AI copywriting tool sure is.

Make Sure Your Links are Correct and Working

When creating your ad, make sure it links to YOUR landing page and not the sales page for the offer.

Be sure that the links in the landing page work and that your unique affiliate ID is working properly. You can test this by checking to see that it actually goes to the offer and by logging into the backend of the affiliate program to see if the link was tracked.

This will vary from platform to platform but all legit programs have some sort of tracking where you can check on your progress.

Pros and Cons of Pay-Per-Click Advertising for Beginners

With any business, there's always going to be some pros and cons. Here are some of them.

Pros:

  • You can get started immediately
  • You can see results quickly
  • It's a great way to test different offers
  • You can target your audience precisely

Cons:

  • It can be expensive if you're not careful
  • It can be difficult to track results
  • You need to constantly tweak your ads to get the best results

Tips for Success With Pay-Per-Click Affiliate Marketing for Beginners

Becoming a successful pay-per-click (PPC) affiliate marketer can feel intimidating at first, but there are some basic tips you can follow to help get you started.

First, pick a niche that interests you.

Knowing your area of expertise helps you to create the best ads and choose the right keywords.

Next, do your research.

Learning who your target audience is and becoming familiar with their online processes will help you to design effective ads. Additionally, it's important to track your performance and make changes as necessary. Don’t hesitate to adjust your bid amount or tweak the wording of your ad in order to refine the results.

Finally, staying organized and studying analytics helps keep everything in perspective; successful PPC affiliates must be able to define what is working and what isn’t quickly in order to stay profitable. 

Anyone can have success with the right approach, so don’t be afraid to start exploring pay-per-click affiliate marketing.

Charting a path to success doesn't have to be overwhelming if done step by step; remember that trial and error are part of any good learning process.

What is the Best Course for Pay-Per-Click Affiliate Marketing?

Personally, I like Commission Hero by Robbie Blanchard. Robbie is a super-successful online entrepreneur and affiliate marketer and his course provides step-by-step instructions for creating, running, and optimizing profitable PPC campaigns.

The main focus of the course is on effective Facebook and Google Ads campaigns, but he also covers other important topics like choosing the right offers to promote, setting up landing pages, managing budgets, and tracking results. The material is easy to follow with several case studies that illustrate good strategies.

If you’re looking for an online course to help you get started with pay-per-click affiliate marketing, then Commission Hero is definitely worth checking out! It will give you the knowledge and skills needed to make money as a successful PPC affiliate marketer.

Is Pay-Per-Click Advertising the Only Way to Make Money With Affiliate Marketing?

Of course not.

You can also make money with affiliate marketing through other methods such as creating content, reviewing products and services, or running email campaigns.

Content creation through a blog is a great way to build an audience and attract potential customers. You can create blog posts or videos about the products you’re promoting and link to your affiliate page in these pieces of content.

The best part is that you don't have to pay for traffic. People will find your posts when they perform a search on Google. However, it can take time for you to rank.

Reviewing products is another popular method used by affiliates. Writing honest reviews on product pages or even creating video reviews can help garner trust from potential buyers.

Finally, email campaigns are also a great way to generate leads and sales for your affiliate offers. With this technique, you send emails to potential buyers highlighting the benefits of the product/service you’re promoting and include links that lead to your affiliate page.

These are just a few of the many ways you can make money with affiliate marketing, so don’t be afraid to try different strategies and see what works best for you.

Pay-per-click advertising is one way to drive traffic and sales quickly, but there are other methods that can be equally effective with enough effort!

Conclusion

As you can see, pay-per-click advertising is an excellent way to get started with affiliate marketing as a beginner.

With the right offer and some optimization of your campaigns, you could see quick results and start making money with affiliate marketing quicker than ever before!

So don't hesitate to give pay-per-click advertising a try. Just stay within your budget and stay on top of your ads. If this all seems too much to take in, invest in a good affiliate marketing course.

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Drew Mann

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