How to track keywords... Easiest Way...

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Diorex said:
Heed this advice at your peril. I have very solid evidence that plurals and singular keywords require different ad copy and convert at vastly different levels. I also know that certain terms that otherwise seem exactly the same can have hugely different conversion rates.

I am not saying you need to track every single keyword, but in most campaigns less than 50 keywords drive a huge percentage of the volume. If you are not willing to set up separate tracking URL's for these words then you are probably not maximizing your revenue or profits.

Small subtle changes can mean absolutely huge differences in CTR and conversion. Not every keyword should be treated alike.
Click to expand...


I have decided to take the quantity not quality approach. Tons of campaigns with slimmer margins will product more revenue as a whole for an affiliate then a few carefully tuned campaigns with meticulous keyword analysis.
If you focus too much effort on a few campaigns you'll max out at a few thousand a month. Its no secret that success in the industry comes with trial and error. The more campaigns you put up and test, the more opportunity for profitable campaigns you'll find. Personally, I have been much more successful with volume, I could careless if i squeeze the most out of every dollar spent. My time is much better spent looking for profitable campaigns. I run 500+ campaigns on 10+ networks, volume is key to my income.
 


if you're using multiple ppc firms, you may want to track them also, so you can see how each performs (Adwords vs. Adcenter, etc)

Use this

http://x.azjmp.com/XXXX?sub={keyword}-google

results will show up as:

keyword-google
keyword2-google
keyword2-msn
keyword-msn
 
tons of campaigns & no tracking vs individual keyword tracking?

I'd say for most people on this forum (lurkers, beginners, and those just getting by), do a hybrid for aff programs.

Put in all the keywords you can get approved, see what brings traffic, then come up with individual landing urls that use your keyword.

Even if you have the budget to keep throwing stuff up until it sticks, it probably won't help you the most over the long run.

Most aspiring marketers have the drive, but little discipline and even less experience. Focusing on a few things at a time will help you get a system down. Scaling is the key here for all the beginners. Find out what works, then replicate the results as fast as you can. The trick here is finding out what works. Most noobs want to do it backwards. I understand breaking most out of that train of thought is wishful thinking so I recommend the hybrid.

There is a somewhat automated technique that is a little different if you don't want people snooping on your keywords like mentioned in earlier posts
  • set up a spreadsheet and have your keywords running down one column
  • In another column, Fill down with sequential numbers for each keyword you're tracking
  • put your basic aff url in yet another column
  • use the concatenate function to combine the url and your tracking url.
  • paste the newly-formed urls into your campaign
That is all cut-n-paste stuff. This way you have tracking urls for every darn keyword you ever use, but you can just pull out the few you want to test.
 
threehundred said:
if you're using multiple ppc firms, you may want to track them also, so you can see how each performs (Adwords vs. Adcenter, etc)

Use this

http://x.azjmp.com/XXXX?sub={keyword}-google

results will show up as:

keyword-google
keyword2-google
keyword2-msn
keyword-msn
Click to expand...

Does this work well? I usually use a landing page but some time i go straight to merchnt. I thought that is the refferer was more than 1 word it would show up correctly if you did http://x.azjmp.com/XXXX?sub={keyword}-google.
Ill try it out
 
I don't know why you would NOT track all your keywords when it's so ridiculously easy. One of the easiest ways to boost your conversion ratio and reduce cost is to either get rid of keywords that aren't converting, or make separate landing pages for them.

This is completely automated--just grab the keyword as it comes in, put it in a database (or increase the hits column for that keyword), and then increment the conversion column when someone lands on your thank you page (unless you're doing direct to an affiliate, in which case it'd be slightly more difficult to automate).

Anyway the code is really simple. If anyone's interested I'll post it.
 
Joey said:
Anyway the code is really simple. If anyone's interested I'll post it.
Click to expand...

yes joey - i think even a new tracking for dummies thread is needed if your that ambitious. i'm trying to figure out how to tie in my 7search/adwords/adcenter traffic together now in addition to keywords.
 
Yea, it would be helpful. I assume it's some sort of HTTP_Referer script, but I'm not a script guru otherwise I would whip something out.
 
Okay im totally confused....how would I track a keyword that goes to my landing page and clicks on my link to the offer?

I see Adword provide a tracking link option for every keyword on your list, but that would only work if it going directly to the merchants landing page, if your using the ?subid=X (correct me if im wrong)

Say I have 20 keywords in my Adgroup....how do i track which keyword was use to get to my site and converted..

sorry im still trying to learn the ropes of PPC, and really wanna track everything i do to fine tune it...because PPC is no JOKE...you can make a killing or be broke!
 
Greenvy - I use a keyword tracking script (using PHP/mysql) that a friend put together for me, he might be making it available in the near future I believe.

Basically it works like this, a surfer clicks my PPC ad and hits my landing page. As the page is loading, it has recorded what their search keywords were, what search engine they came from and a few other useful details - and it assigns that unique visit a SubID number, say "1234".

The actual affiliate offer links on my landingpage are another part of the tracking script, so that if the surfer clicks on the affiliate link, that is also recorded, and the correct SubID is automatically added to the outgoing surfers click.

Then, if the surfer actually completes the offer/lead form etc, that subID (1234) will be recorded in my affiliate SubID reports. I can then lookup which keywords were used for SubID1234 in my tracking reports.
 
StrangeProgress said:
Greenvy - I use a keyword tracking script (using PHP/mysql) that a friend put together for me, he might be making it available in the near future I believe.

Basically it works like this, a surfer clicks my PPC ad and hits my landing page. As the page is loading, it has recorded what their search keywords were, what search engine they came from and a few other useful details - and it assigns that unique visit a SubID number, say "1234".

The actual affiliate offer links on my landingpage are another part of the tracking script, so that if the surfer clicks on the affiliate link, that is also recorded, and the correct SubID is automatically added to the outgoing surfers click.

Then, if the surfer actually completes the offer/lead form etc, that subID (1234) will be recorded in my affiliate SubID reports. I can then lookup which keywords were used for SubID1234 in my tracking reports.
Click to expand...

hey...i thinks thats exactly what i'm looking for!

let me know if your friend gonna release the script...

as for now anyone recommend a free keyword tracking script?
 
You don't need all that coding, here it is. You have to have the most basic php knowledge.


greenvy said:
Okay im totally confused....how would I track a keyword that goes to my landing page and clicks on my link to the offer?
Click to expand...


Set up your link in your ad as follows (change payperclick from google to yahoo or msn or whatever you want)

http://www.domain.com/landingpage.php?keyword={keyword}&payperclick=yahoo

Place this code in your PHP landing page, near the top

Code: 
<?php

//This grabs the keyword variable
if(isset($_GET['keyword']))
{
    $keyword = $_GET['keyword'];
}

//This grabs the payperclick variable
if(isset($_GET['payperclick']))
{
    $payperclick = $_GET['payperclick'];
}

?>
Then somewhere in the page, you need to put this for your affiliate link, if you are using Azoogle, for instance

Code: 
<a href="http://x.azjmp.com/XXXX?sub=<?php echo $keyword . " - " . $payperclick; ?>">Click here to buy my Shit!</a>
You can get much more involved and do like the guy above me said and track your own clicks and everything. Its easy if you know PHP, not so easy if not. This small setup will help you track your clicks.

Your subids will show up like this...

keyword1 - google
keyword2 - google
keyword2 - yahoo
etc.

Same as before, like I mentioned. This is just an example of how to grab the variables using PHP and pass them on to your affiliate link.

More info...
PHP Tutorial - POST & GET
 
threehundred said:
You don't need all that coding, here it is. You have to have the most basic php knowledge.





Set up your link in your ad as follows (change payperclick from google to yahoo or msn or whatever you want)

http://www.domain.com/landingpage.php?keyword={keyword}&payperclick=yahoo

Place this code in your PHP landing page, near the top

Code: 
<?php

//This grabs the keyword variable
if(isset($_GET['keyword']))
{
    $keyword = $_GET['keyword'];
}

//This grabs the payperclick variable
if(isset($_GET['payperclick']))
{
    $payperclick = $_GET['payperclick'];
}

?>
Then somewhere in the page, you need to put this for your affiliate link, if you are using Azoogle, for instance

Code: 
<a href="http://x.azjmp.com/XXXX?sub=<?php echo $keyword . " - " . $payperclick; ?>">Click here to buy my Shit!</a>
You can get much more involved and do like the guy above me said and track your own clicks and everything. Its easy if you know PHP, not so easy if not. This small setup will help you track your clicks.

Your subids will show up like this...

keyword1 - google
keyword2 - google
keyword2 - yahoo
etc.

Same as before, like I mentioned. This is just an example of how to grab the variables using PHP and pass them on to your affiliate link.

More info...
PHP Tutorial - POST & GET
Click to expand...

would it still work if my landingpage is a .html and not a .php?
 
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