If you want to end the struggle and actually start to get GREAT RESULTS with Adwords advertising, there are a couple things that you need to really learn to do besides just manage your Adwords account.

If you are failing to get the results that you desire, learn how to track your clicks and conversions. And how to split-test your ads and landing pages.

Personally I want to make sure I’m tracking everything down to a keyword level. This way I know when I get a conversion exactly where that conversion came from and what keyword(s) to concentrate on. So you don’t just want to know what ad group or what campaign a conversion came from. You want more detail then that!

This will help you trim your costs and focus on those things that are making you money. Sometimes you’ll only get one conversion.. if you have thousands of keywords and don’t get a conversion again for a while, you might waste a lot of money trying to get that second conversion again. If you knew the exact keywords, then you could pause or delete what didn’t convert (and save massive costs sometimes) and concentrate your efforts on the winner!

And learn how to Split Test… this is very, very important!

I have to wonder how many marketers set up a campaign, point it at a landing page and didn’t get the results that they desired. And how many just shut down that campaign deeming their efforts a failure!?

Your next step should be to create identical copies of that landing page, and then modifying those copies and making a lot of different variations until you do get the results you desire; even changing the offer and message! For instance if I’m going to send traffic to a squeeze page, I want to have multiple versions of that landing page so I can split test them continuously until I get the results I desire - or beyond!

If that squeeze page is performing at only 5% conversion rate, I’m not going to just dump it. I’m going to figure out why it’s not performing well.

Don’t just give up! I think too many people do!

Also, I think what happens sometimes with marketers online is they are taught certain methods and ways of doing things, they are given templates to apply to their business and shown how to approach things.. but unfortunately not every approach works in every market or situation; you still need to test!

Everything that you’ve been provided or have learned in the past is just a guideline. It is your job to start there, but then to adapt it and improve it until you get the results that you desire or need.

If you are tracking and split testing, you will learn a lot more about your traffic, you’ll know what to concentrate on, and you will have more control over your results and in the end your profits!

– Matt Levenhagen

P.S. If you want to get serious about testing check out: Small Changes; Big Profits! (at least pick up the free 20 pages… I guarantee it’ll be worth the effort)

Before I answer that question, first let me ask you this..

Would you run a business off-line without building a prospect, customer or client list?

I was an insurance agent in a former life (I am still a licensed agent).. Before I was a full-time Internet Marketer.

My ‘client list’ was my most valuable asset; still is. Second only to my prospect list.

My prospect list was valuable because I could follow up, follow up and follow up with these people. And often they didn’t buy a policy on our first meeting or chat. But at some point a percentage would..

My customer and client list not only was important because I could continue to provide the service and valuable advice, tips and content over time that an agent provides, but because the cheapest sale in the world is the cross-sell or up-sell.. and retaining your current business.

So that seems obvious right? And it’s that way with many businesses.

So now you find yourself on the Internet trying to make some profits and build a business.

Why is building a business online any different?

It’s not!

If you want to be a BIG SUCCESS in business and with affiliate marketing, start building a list today!

Can you make money without building a list?

Yes, you can. In fact, almost all those following my Blast Method start out without list building in mind (because they start out just testing markets). And they start building profits before they even think about list building..

And I’ve known plenty of people that don’t focus on it and make money.. I’ve always wondered how much more could they make if they did?

In today’s online environment there are extensions of your run of the mill e-mail list buliding.. you have Web 2.0 elements.. blogs and rss.. forums.. and other ways to build a community and following.

So ALL those things come into play and are important.

And all of them give you an opportunity to establish your expertise and build a relationship with that market! That’s what I did (and do..) with my clients as an insurance agent.

And that’s what I do as an Affiliate Marketer and with my other online endeavors.

We are in the business of building relationships.

The sooner you embrace that idea, the faster your profits will rise, the more sales you’ll make and you might actually build a long term, stable income!

-Matt Levenhagen