One the most common questions I continue to be asked is “should I use the Google content network?”
The Google content network is still one of the most misunderstood forms of online advertising. The confusion is understandable. At first all the experts and gurus said to “just turn it off”. It was thought that it didn’t convert for CPA offers. After a while people started realizing that it does in fact work quite well, it just requires a different skill set than normal pay per click advertising on Google. So where does the content network stand today at the start of 2010?
The content network on Google is alive and kicking and stronger than ever. Although things like PPV are getting a lot of press these days for cheap clicks, I still believe the content network is one of the best sources for cheap clicks. I am talking really cheap like .01 to .02 cents a click. Here are the some stats for a campaign we have running strictly on the content network.
For this one campaign Google delivered over 54,000 clicks for about $1,000. That’s among the cheapest paid traffic you can to buy. This example is obviously on the lowest end of the scale, there are other campaigns we pay up to $1.00 per click on content. But the clicks are usually much lower than you would pay for Google PPC.
Content traffic does convert as well. It’s just a matter of tracking everything, finding the converting sites that your ads are displayed on, and focusing your optimization on those sites. There are no specific rules for which sites to exclude from displaying your ads. For example, a lot of people say to exclude gmail.com, but I have seen conversions come from there. Just like everything else, you have to test for your specific niche.
Quality score is important on the content network, although I have found not as strict as normal Google Pay Per Click. So if you have a campaign that just won’t run on the PPC network, its possible Google will allow it for content. As you can see by the example stats, a .09% CTR would be horrible on PPC but runs fine on content in the 3-4 ad position range.
So as 2010 starts, I’d say the content network is still an excellent source of cheaper traffic and should continue to be for the foreseeable future. It doesn’t work for every niche and offer, but definitely should be tested to find out.
This looks all well and good but how do we
actually track which sites are converting?
I think thats the main problem with the content
network…. no one knows how to track it correctly
Run a placement report, sort by conversions.
That will show you exactly which sites are converting. (you have to have conversion tracking pixel installed)
Hey Chad,
I believe that I read a post you did about setting up a content network campaign. Has anything changed in terms of how you do it since you made that post? Also, what are your thoughts on directing that traffic to a squeeze page?
Not really, everything in that post still works. Squeeze page should work as well as anything, once you test. As long as you can get your tracking on the the confirmation or thank you page.
how do we avoid getting banned in content network…bunch of people lost their account for good.
what your advice.
I went through a phase of being heavily into social media and wrote a lot about that, then I became better at actually blogging so the blog turned into one of those ‘meta-blogs’ that is a blog about blogging and I’ve also touched on various other IM-related subjects on the way but as soon as I started serious work on my software project I ran out of stuff to say.
Chad…
So if I have read your post right, you are saying that you need to create a website versus direct linking for CPA offers to maintain quality score on the Content network?
Thanks,
Tom
The content network is still a great way to drive traffic if you know what you are doing. You have to be willing to spend some cash to test though.
Was nice meeting you in person Chad. Content network is awesome and I always found the traffic to be great. Like you mentioned you need to track everything, including targeting only countries such as USA, Canada and not include countries such as India, China etc. Also there is the option to not have your ads shown on mobile devices, which I turn on so my ads only appear on desktop computers (laptops as well). And make sure to turn on age targeting so your ads on not sown to people under 18 years of age.
It all boils down to knowing your demographic but content network has the ability to cut out all the crap traffic and enable you to focus on your demographic only. Less BS and more $$$ profit.
Hey it was great talking with you too Cosimo, keep in touch for sure.
Everyone check out his blog, he knows his stuff!
I also thought conversion ratio is very less from content network. Thanks for information about it.
i haven’t had much luck with google content network…what kind of offers work?
Wow thats a really low cpc rate. You can get so many visits for such a cheap price. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Yes those are impressive cpc stats. I admit that I was one of those people that avoided the content network for years. There were simply too many problems with click fraud when some joe blow is getting paid for the click instead of just google getting money. I guess you’re right that you really need to pay close attention to which sites are displaying your ads and which ones are actually converting. It’s just tough to spend a lot of time doing that you’re busy with other stuff like link building and other seo efforts.
If its great for driving traffic then i think its interesting for getting some good knowledge regarding it. I would like to have some details for knowing it completely.
Was nice meeting you in person Chad. Content network is awesome and I always found the traffic to be great. Like you mentioned you need to track everything, including targeting only countries such as USA, Canada and not include countries such as India, China etc. Also there is the option to not have your ads shown on mobile devices, which I turn on so my ads only appear on desktop computers (laptops as well). And make sure to turn on age targeting so your ads on not sown to people under 18 years of age.
Good tips. It is easy to waste money on PPC if you are not excluding irrelevant countries or demographics. It is also a good idea to turn your ads off for mobile devices, especially if your site has not been programmed for mobile accessibility.
I think that the content network is still a fab way to drive traffic if you know what you are doing. You have to be willing to spend some cash to test though.
I recently started using the Google Content Network, and I was getting lots of 1 – 3 cents clicks (my high bid is set at 5 cents). But, all of the traffic was coming from countries other than the United States. I tried targeting only the United States and the clicks stopped. I was wondering if the above example of 54,833 clicks is from United States traffic. Since the products I sell have a low profit margin, I need my CPC to be low, 1 – 3 cents. Is it possible to get 1 – 3 cents clicks from United States traffic only on the Google Content Network?
It is true that traffic from other countries is much cheaper. Narrowing your countries down to just the US will definitely limit your options. You just may have to bid on more keywords on the content network to target more sites.
When targeting the content network you have to change your keyword selection strategies a bit. When just using the search network there is a tendency to focus on long tail keywords and avoid generic short keywords. Meanwhile on the content network, it makes sense to mix in some of those shorter keywords. It can uncover some quality sources of traffic.
You can increase conversion rate with choose proper keyword selection with content network and it’s lower than ppc cost.
I guess you’re right that you really need to pay close attention to which sites are displaying your ads and which ones are actually converting. It’s just tough to spend a lot of time doing that you’re busy with other stuff like link building and other seo efforts….