The question of how to best use Tracking202 with SpeedPPC has come up time and time again in the 202 forum, so I figured it was time to finally sit down  and create a detailed tutorial. So grab some coffee or your drink of choice, close all your other browser tabs, and pay close attention. This is going to make you some money if you follow along!

A couple of things to keep in mind before I begin:

-   The following tutorial assumes a working knowledge of Speed PPC, Tracking202, and the Adwords Editor. In the interest of time, I will not be detailing the setup or general usage of any of these tools. If you are not yet familiar with these tools, this tutorial will probably be a bit over your head. I highly suggest you first study the user documentation of each tool if any of this material confuses you.

-   Since Tracking202 and Prosper202 are essentially the same tool, this information will apply to both tools. For users of Tracking202 Pro, the process is even easier, but that will probably be another post.

-   Some assumptions are made about your affiliate marketing knowledge, including how to research and choose an offer to promote, keyword research, and writing ad copy. I will not be covering these topics in detail.

-   We will be working with Google Adwords using the Adwords Editor. The process for working with MSN AdCenter and Yahoo are similar enough to not be covered at this time.

-   I suggest you set aside enough time to read this tutorial in its entirety as it may get a bit lengthy. I intended to provide as much detail as possible.

Ok….now that our assumptions are out of the way, let’s get started! Read the rest of this entry

Google finally did something I had long desired be added as a feature of the Adwords Editor tool. They added built-in keyword research functionality, or “Keyword Opportunities” as they called it.

One of just a handful of new features in Adwords Editor 6.5, the Keyword Expansion addition makes finding and adding new keywords to your existing campaigns quick and easier than ever. You enter your search query, then select the keywords you want to add to either your existing adgroups or new ones. You can then simply drag and drop those keywords into your adgroups in the right-hand tree column.

Click the thumbnail view below to see a quick sample I generate based on the seed “online dating”.

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As you can see, there are columns for volume and competition, rated on a scale of 0 – 5. This obviously differs from the way data is displayed by Google’s online Adwords Keyword Tool, but its a start nonetheless.

The other noteworthy new addition to Adwords Editor 6.5 is the “Keyword Multiplier” feature. Simply put, you combine multiple columns of keywords into all the possible word forms in that order, to quickly expand your keyword list. I’ve used quite a few online and desktop tools that provide this functionality, but it’s nice to finally have it accessible in one interface.

As a quick example in the image below, you can see that I combined types of buyer keywords with name brand computer makers and the type of computer being searched (ie: laptop, desktop). When combined, these 16 source keywords quickly became a nice list of 80 new long tail keywords, ready to be added to my campaigns.

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My prediction: As Google continues to improve the Adwords Editor, some of the more expensive Internet marketing keyword tools will soon become obsolete. Tools like Keyword Elite, Speed PPC, and Keyword Companion will have to grow and evolve beyond their current featureset to compete against a tool that is in Google’s best interest to develop.

To see a full list of the new features added in Adwords Editor 6.5 have a look at the AE 6.5 release notes.