Affiliate marketers are always looking for ideas on how to get free traffic sources. They know how valuable this can be but also understand is not a quick response process. They know that to turn a quick profit they have to go to PPC (Pay Per Click) traffic.

At the same time, they shy away from it as the costs involved could represent a big expenditure on their businesses. PPC traffic costs for known keywords are not cheap any more and so most people tend to lose money on it.

If you stick to these core principles you will be able to create campaign after campaign, expanding your wealth accordingly.

1. Use desperate keywords
Do not pick generic information keywords. Keywords like “free information on (keyword)” , “No cost (keyword)”, do not guarantee a purchase but a gathering information search activity.

Instead, go for words like “comparison”, “buy”, “review”, etc. Also, use model numbers, book names and name of authors to get the best results.

These are the usual keywords people type in when they are ready or close to the purchasing cycle so you should concentrate on them for a better return on your PPC investment.

2. Testing and tracking for best results
Once you know where your money is being spent on advertising, you will be able to make changes that will greatly contribute to better returns of your money. Which clicks turned into sales and which ads get the most clicks and sales are only some of the methods used to gain control of your PPC campaigns.

If you do not have enough information on it, you will be running your PPC advertising department blind. You will also be paying for clicks which do not produce any sales.

Interested people that click into converted sales is what PPC is all about. And that is where the money is.

3. Spy you successful competitors
This is the best way to cover yourself against high costs and risks on your online advertising.

How often are they running their ads? What message are they using on their ads? Are they promoting other affiliate products?

These are some of the factors to look for when spying on your competitors. They are already spending their money so get some advanced knowledge by spying on them on a proper way.

Once you have those three points covered, you should be able to get ahead on the PPC business game and you will seriously minimize the costs and risks of online advertising.

Do not forget to duplicate your efforts on additional campaigns once you have a winner. That is the right way of doing PPC advertising.

A: With more than a hundred e-commerce shopping carts to choose from, selecting one is really a matter of preference with careful product evaluation. But what makes one provider stand out from the rest?

Features

Different shopping cart providers offer similar and unique features that are useful to the consumers and beneficial for you as a merchant. While choosing which features to have may depend on the size of your business, a good shopping cart provider offer a wide range of feature options for different business needs.

Integrated Online Marketing and Promotional Tools

With a right shopping cart, you can increase traffic and increase sales virtually over night. How? Shopping carts affect the costumer’s response to your website. The more useful tools it has, the more it can attract new costumers and persuade existing costumers to buy your products. Through integrated marketing and promotional tools like catalog and product comparison, your costumers are able to make easy and wise decision on which products to buy.

Promos, sale, discounts, free shipping and coupons are powerful marketing strategies that can attract more costumers. Shopping carts offer these features.

Product review is another powerful feature that can increase sales. In a study conducted by CompUSA and iPerceptions, 63% of costumers are more likely to buy for the sites with product ratings and reviews.

User-friendly Interface/Ease of Use

Costumers are very impatient when it comes to purchasing products and services online. The last thing your costumers want to you is figure out how to navigate your shopping cart. A user-friendly website is important to keep potential costumers browsing. A user-friendly shopping cart is crucial if you want to keep your costumers stay and complete the transactions.

Payment Options

Different online costumers prefer to use certain types of payment. While most would like credit cards, many are still hesitant to enter personal information online and choose other alternative modes of payment like Paypal, checks and money orders. A good shopping cart service should cover all these.

Hacker-Safe Ordering Page

Earning your costumers’ confidence is important in any business. That is why you have to make sure that your costumers are properly protected when they enter their credit card information to your website. Wise costumers often look for SSL certificate seal on a merchant’s website. This seal is a guarantee that the site is hacker safe. Make sure that you have one.

Full Order Management System

A good shopping cart guides costumers throughout the process of purchasing, checking out, payment and shipping. These services can be provided fully by a hosting company or are linked from different services. Payments can be through major credit cards, PayPal, money orders and checks. Shipping can be linked to major shipping carriers like UPS, DHL and FedEx.

Costumer Service/Support

One of the best ways to gauge if a particular e-commerce shopping cart provider has a good costumer service is by sending questions though their email address. How fast did they reply? Did you get a template reply? In business, time is money; and personal touch is a plus. Costumer service should reply a personalize message as soon as possible. Another way to test how good the costumer service is is through its technical support. In running an effective e-commerce store, the availability of good documentation is important.