Instead of complaining about people breaking trading rules, I have decided to be proactive about making the process of trades going live even simpler so, I have created an online checklist for you to follow. The idea is that you will complete and submit this checklist every time that you would like a trade reviewed to go live.
Once you have submitted the checklist it will come through to Matt and I and we will automatically know to go and check your trade. Before I give you the link to the checklist here are some things you need to test:
Tier 2 Pay Per Click Provider Items To Check
It is important in your trading set up to ensure that you check all aspects of your Pay Per Click account for each keyword. Here are the major items to check:
Campaign Max Cost Per Click – When setting Cost Per Click on certain Tier 1 and Tier 2 networks they will ask you to set a Campaign Max Cost Per Click. This cost per click setting needs to be set at the same cost per click setting as the Keyword Max Cost Per Click. If this is not done the Tier 2 network will default to make you pay the amount that is highest.
When checking the Campaign Max Cost Per Click ensure we have approved the amount you are spending, as you may end up spending too much for a click and end up with an unprofitable trade.
Here’s a quick video on how to do this on www.ask.com:
Setting Cost Per Click Campaign Maximum from Shaun Stenning on Vimeo.
Keyword Max Cost Per Click – As above, the Keyword Max Cost Per Click must be set at the same rate as the Campaign Max Cost Per Click. The highest Cost Per Click price that you set will be the amount that you spend.
Here’s a quick video on how to do this on www.ask.com:
Setting Cost Per Click Keyword Maximum from Shaun Stenning on Vimeo.
Daily Spend Budget – It is critically important that you set the daily spend budget at the right amount. If you set it too high you could risk losing a significant amount of money. Remember that in the first 30 days of trading you should not be setting a budget that is more than $10 per day, per keyword (unless expressly approved by me). Also remember that time and money limited trades should never exceed $10 and 24hours.
Here’s a quick video on how to do this on www.ask.com:
Setting Pay Per Click Daily Spend Ask.com from Shaun Stenning on Vimeo.
Destination URL - When setting up your inbound traffic campaign it’s important to ensure that all inbound traffic goes to the correct URL. I know you’re probably laughing saying “How could you possibly get the URL wrong” – sillier things have happened before. Traffic to the wrong URL will result in no return on investment. So ensure that you have the right URL and that you test that URL in your browser to ensure it works.
Keyword Targeting – The specific keyword that you are targeting your advertising to needs to be allocated against your campaign as an “exact match” keyword. This will ensure that the right traffic will go to your Destination URL.
Ads Are Correct – The ad that you have pre-written must be copied into the Tier 2 Provider correctly. If this is not done you could get a lot of untargeted visitors to your site resulting in lower conversion.
Here’s a quick video on how to do these things on ask.com:
Creating New Campaign on Ask.com Part 2 from Shaun Stenning on Vimeo.
Pay Per Click Advertisement Items To Check
The advertisement is one of the major factors in the success of your trade, here are the major items to check:
Headline – The headline is important in making the reader of the advertisement stop and take notice. There are a few things that you need to check here and they are:
- No more than 25 characters long (yes some providers will allow more, but we like to write to this guideline so that the same ad can be used across multiple networks)
- The keyword that your advertisement is targeting must be contained in the headline
- Use title case in the headline
Here’s a quick video on how to do this:
Writing a Good Pay Per Click Headline from Shaun Stenning on Vimeo.
Description Line 1 – This line is important in making the reader re-assured that the headline was a valid statement. It is used to further convince the reader that clicking on your advertisement is in their best interest. Here a few things that you need to check:
- No more than 35 characters long (yes some providers will allow more, but we like to write to this guideline, so that the same ad can be used across multiple networks)
- The keyword should be repeated in this line or the Description Line 2
Here’s a quick video on how to do this:
Writing a Pay Per Click Desription Line 1 from Shaun Stenning on Vimeo.
Description Line 2 – If a reader gets to reading this line, this is really your last chance to use sales copywriting techniques to convince the reader to visit your site. This is also your major call to action line. Here are a few things that you need to check with this line:
- No more than 35 characters long (yes some providers will allow more, but we like to write to this guideline so that the same ad can be used across multiple networks)
- They keyword should be repeated in this line or the Description Line 1
Here’s a quick video on how to do this:
Writing a Pay Per Click Description Line 2 from Shaun Stenning on Vimeo.
Misleading Advertisement – In no way do you ever want your ad to be misleading, so any claims or promises that you make in your advertisement must be available on your landing page.
Landing Page Items To Check
The landing page is the place where you make your money, so this could be the single most important place that you check. Here are a few things to look out for:
Relevant Advertisers – The advertisers being shown on your landing page must be relevant to the keyword that you are targeting. A quick check on your landing page in both Firefox and Internet Explorer will be fine to do. In doing so it would be advisable to ensure that you have cleared your private data. This will ensure you don’t have any caching problems.
Keyword Density - You need to test that your page has a keyword density of 5% - 7%, which will help in increasing relevancy.
Here’s a video on how to do these items:
Landing Page Items to Check from Shaun Stenning on Vimeo.
That is everything that we would expect you to check when setting up and activating your trade, we have made a checklist for you to do this, just click here to use it
