GoTo.com has jumped on the scene as one of the fastest growing web sites, and one of the Internet's top search destinations. Last week we looked at the GoTo.com affiliate program, and how you can join to earn $0.02 per search that originates at your web site. This issue, we will take a special look at how you can use the GoTo.com search engine to cost-effectively promote affiliate programs you have joined.
If you are not familiar with GoTo.com, their premise is simple. Instead of ranking web sites on some complex algorithm to determine which sites are most closely related to a keyword search, GoTo.com allows webmasters and owners to bid on search terms, with those willing to pay the most per click-through ranked at the top.
The main use of this is that you can 'purchase' keywords closely related to the content of your site, and choose what you are willing to pay for visitors to click-through. Bids can start as low as $0.01 per keyword. This concept can be taken a step further however, and combined with affiliate programs to turn the money you spend to promote your web site into additional profits.
Using GoTo.com, you can bid on specific keywords directly related to products being sold through affiliate programs you have joined. For example, if you are selling the movie Titanic from your web site, you could purchase the search term 'titanic movie' for only $0.04 to be ranked number one (1867 searches performed in February). Or 'titanic the movie' for only $0.03 (167 searches). Then, when someone searches using these terms, your site will be the first they see, and the most likely to click.
This can be a particularly cost effective way to draw targeted traffic to your site, especially if you are making a $1.52 commission on each video sale from Reel.com. You could afford to pay for approximately 50 click-throughs for the commission you earn on one sale.
Now, at this point, you might say that 2% of visitors would need to purchase to simply break-even. Which is true. So, there are several important tips that can improve your conversion rates, while at the same time decreasing your GoTo.com click-through costs:
1) Use very detailed titles and descriptions for the keywords you purchase. Make sure a GoTo.com surfer knows exactly what they are going to see when they come to your site. If you are simply trying to sell them the Titanic video, let them know purchasing the Titanic video is what your site offers if they click. This will help reduce the number of people who click-through that aren't really interested in making a purchase.
2) Bid carefully on search terms. Only bid on terms closely related to what you are trying to sell or promote. This will improve the focus of your visitors, and again, reduce visits from those not really interested in what your site offers.
3) Bid on a variety of keywords, including common misspellings. For example, 'free stuff' has a top bid of $0.33 per click-through, because it is a commonly searched on term (15753 searches). However, 'free web stuff' can be bought for only $0.02. There will be less searches made on 'free web stuff' (only 52) but bidding on many smaller search terms can often produce comparable results, for a much lower cost per click.
4) Create an entry page so that the visitor is brought right to your offer, rather than to your home page. This will not only make it easier for them to find what you are trying to sell, but also fulfil GoTo.com's requirement that the search terms you bid on match the content of your site.
5) Focus on affiliate program offers that pay high-dollar commissions per sale. This will allow you to be able to afford more clicks, or higher bids, for each sale you make. Also consider pay-per-lead programs which have higher conversion rates than standard pay-per-sale programs.
6) Watch closely how many click-throughs you are receiving and monitor your commission reports to determine effectiveness. Drop search terms that don't seem to be producing results, and raise the bids on those that are working well.
If you would like to promote your site and affiliate programs with GoTo.com, visit their Client Tool Kit which offers a variety of free tools to help you get started. Perhaps the most important is the Search Term Suggestion List which will allow you to look for related search terms and see how many GoTo.com surfers searched for specific terms last month. It is available at:
http://www.goto.com/d/about/advertisers/clienttoolkit/
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