To operate a successful affiliate marketing business, you must understand how to deliver high-quality traffic to your website. While employing search engines is frequently the most dependable method, it takes time to establish a consistent flow of visitors in this manner. Many marketers worry, “Can you use Google Ads for affiliate marketing?” is what many marketers wonder when they want to drive traffic much faster. 

This article will show you how to set up a legitimate campaign and send bought traffic to your affiliate links without violating any regulations. You will also understand the benefits and drawbacks of utilising Google Ads for affiliate marketing.

Can You Use Google Ads for Affiliate Marketing?

Contrary to a common belief, the strict policies of Google Ads do not actually forbid you from using ads to drive traffic to affiliate marketing campaigns. However, you still need to follow the terms of your advertiser and affiliate network, which sometimes prohibit paid traffic, especially bidding on brand names, websites, and keywords. Moreover, you should try using Google Ads at least once and see if this approach yields tangible results, as it already does for many marketers.

So, the key to successful marketing with Google Ads is finding the right approach. You cannot create direct ads to your advertiser`s website. However, there are many other things you can do to drive traffic and still generate clicks. For example, promote your website with affiliate links instead of promoting your brand directly. Let’s say we want to spread the word about the Lenovo Thinkpad deal. We are permitted to utilize the keyword “Thinkpad,” but not the brand name “Lenovo.”

The setup might look something like this, with two distinct ad groups. A ten-cent bid and the keyword “Thinkpad” would be included in one group. The alternative group might include “ThinkPad” with additional terms and a 30-cent bid. We would select a five- to ten-dollar offer for the daily budget. This will give you a few initial feelings, and, surprisingly, after the primary day, you can begin improving. In the monitoring and optimization section of this article, we’ll talk more about that.

How Can I Promote Affiliate Links Using Google Ads?

To begin promoting affiliate links with Google Ads, you must first create a Google Ads account. Now, let’s look at how you may use sponsored traffic to help your affiliate marketing firm.

3 Methods for Using Google Ads to Promote Affiliate Links

• Insert links into Google Ads directly.

The most obvious (but not optimal) alternative is to link directly to the deal. However, Google, like other marketers, frowns on this method. So, if you don’t want your account to be banned, look into alternative options.

• Paid traffic should be sent to a landing page or opt-in form.

To save time, some webmasters establish a secondary page and push sponsored traffic to it in order to collect leads before redirecting them to the offer. However, there is still another method to get blacklisted from Google Ads, as your page should still provide some value to the user rather than simply collecting their data.

• Affiliate links might help you promote your blog content.

In this instance, you may construct an ad and direct traffic to your website or blog via the affiliate link. Creating a website with high-quality content is a legal technique to run bought traffic for your affiliate marketing campaign while not violating any restrictions.

Not every page or website, however, assures success. You must ensure that you have adequate material and that your postings are of genuine value to users. Because Google’s algorithms are meant to favour helpful and high-quality material that assists visitors in solving issues, non-unique pages will never rank high enough.

So, before you launch a Google Ads campaign, construct an authoritative website that will organically attract people. Take the effort to create original material that will give enough context for you to include affiliate links later on. It is also a good idea to give your contact details and other information about your firm in order to develop trust with users.

To top it all off, an established website will assist you in driving organic traffic, improving your quality score, and reducing your cost per click.

Best Practices to Promote Affiliate Links with Google Ads

To create lucrative affiliate marketing campaigns using Google Ads, make sure to research and use industry best practices that have previously proven effective for other marketers.

Choose the Best Affiliate Programme

Trust is essential for the success of an affiliate business. So you want to build solid relationships with your audience and only promote high-quality items. The brand with whom you collaborate might be a worldwide brand or a local service provider, as long as it is relevant to people. To do this, you must first analyse your target audience before promoting trustworthy businesses.

Octaadsmedia provides over 100 partner programmes from reputable fashion, travel, and technology partners, so you don’t have to examine each offer manually before joining. Some brands are open to contextual advertising, while others are not. The authorised traffic types may be seen in the “About” tab on each programme page.

Follow the Google Ads Policies

In addition to reviewing the affiliate programme regulations, read the Google Ads policies. It sometimes boils down to the slightest things, thus it is always advisable to double-check such details ahead of time to prevent having your account suspended.

Google, for example, mandates you to declare your collaborations because you do not manufacture the products and services yourself.

Misleading representation

The following is not allowed:

❌Making misleading statements, obscuring, or omitting material information about your identity, affiliations, or qualifications

Examples (non-exhaustive): implying affiliation with or endorsement by, another individual, organization, product, or service without their knowledge or consent; an affiliate marketer advertising legal services without disclosing that they do not provide legal services; an unlicensed home contractor claiming to be a licensed provider; non fulfillment of product or service claimed in the ad due to a lack of qualifications

❌Providing an inaccurate business name or business name that does not clearly represent the advertised business or disambiguates from similar businesses in the ad or user interactions

Example (non-exhaustive): misrepresenting your business name in calls with users

Google also explicitly tells webmasters to follow the rules of their affiliate program when running ads on the platform.

Unfair advantage

The following is not allowed:

❌ Using the Google Network to gain an unfair traffic advantage over other participants in the auction

Examples (non-exhaustive): Affiliates that advertise on Google Ads against the applicable affiliate program rules; promoting the same or similar content from multiple accounts on the same or similar queries, trying to show more than one ad at a time for your business, app, or site

Note: Keywords should fit the target audience’s likely intent when searching. Each website or app that you promote should offer distinct value to users. For example: avoid promoting similar products and prices across related destinations.

Failure to comply with this policy will not get your account immediately suspended, but you will receive a warning. 

Avoid Any Misguided Claims

It is normal to discuss the benefits of the offer while writing content to promote your links. However, you must be practical and avoid using excessive superlatives on your website or in your advertisements. Essentially, you should avoid deceiving consumers, as this can result in account suspension, loss of audience confidence, and commission cancellation. No brand wants a high return rate, so don’t mislead them.

Track Analytics

Tracking the number of clicks and other statistics is beneficial for any affiliate marketing campaign, especially when you are paying for traffic.

First and foremost, do not use links with redirects or cloaked links to avoid account suspension on Google Ads. However, you can track your campaigns with Google`s UTM tags in addition to internal scripts from the affiliate program.

Now, let’s see which metrics you can track to measure the success of your campaign:

• Clicks. The more clicks, the more exposure your ad will generate. However, without an increase in sales, your audience will not be interested in the product you promote or your landing page will not correlate to the advertisement.
• Return on ad spend. This metric will help you assess the campaign if you are on a budget. You can calculate return on ad spend by dividing the affiliate revenue by the total amount spent.

Carefully Develop the Content Strategy

You must guide visitors to excellent content that will naturally attract readers to click your affiliate links in order to achieve conversions. Prepare a thorough explanation of the deal, gather good client feedback, or create any other form of content that will resonate with your audience.

Invest in Website Design

A clean design will make your website easier to navigate and will eliminate friction in the conversion funnel. In general, your website layout should have enough of white space, be simple to browse, and be loaded with optimised material, including pictures. Our blog has further information regarding SEO best practices.

Use Relevant Keywords

Make sure your ad displays the affiliate deal you’re promoting correctly. Otherwise, your visitors will immediately notice that your webpage does not match the advertisement, resulting in a high bounce rate.

What If Google Ads Are Not Allowed?

Even contextual advertising is prohibited by certain businesses. However, there are a few techniques to enhance the quantity of clicks on your affiliate link using sponsored traffic. Here are several possibilities:

• Native advertising. This type of ad aims to match the content of the page, so it rarely looks promotional. Native ads are often used on social networks and as recommendations.
• Targeted ads on social media. Based on your audience’s demographics and behavior, social networks can create personalized ads and efficiently target your customers.
• Display advertising. This may include text, image, or video ads that direct users to your webpage to increase your brand recognition and audience loyalty.
• Email marketing. This is an old-fashioned, yet still very efficient way to drive traffic. Make sure to create eye-catching forms to capture leads, grow your subscriber base, and share relevant content. With this approach, your advertising links will not look spammy.

Examples of Google Ads Done Right

We’ve compiled some examples of the correct advertising technique to help you develop a successful affiliate campaign with Google Ads. This will help you learn how to design content and advertising to generate legitimate sponsored visitors without violating any regulations.

Let’s look at some instances to see if it’s possible to operate an affiliate marketing campaign using Google Ads.

The Pros and Cons of Using Google Ads for Affiliate Marketing

Running Google advertisements to attract traffic to your affiliate company may involve a significant expenditure, so weigh the benefits and drawbacks carefully before investing. Here are the benefits and drawbacks of using Google Ads for affiliate marketing.

Pros

1. The most popular search engine. Because Google accounts for around 90% of search traffic, it is frequently the first site consumers use when seeking for a product or service.
2. Excellent traffic. You may target your best clients with Google Ads. You may choose the demographics, income, interests, locations, and so on. Ads will more likely deliver you visitors with purchasing intent, as opposed to social media, where people are generally looking for fresh ideas. Furthermore, advertising on Google may offer you a large number of traffic and significantly boost your reach.
3. Rapid outcomes. Google Ads may start sending traffic to your offer in hours or even minutes, but increasing search traffic would take months of consistent labour to reach the top of the search results pag
4. Easy-to-create ads. As huge as Google is, the platform is straightforward to navigate. Setting up an ad campaign on Google is faster than, say, on Facebook or other social networks. In our guide, you will find step-by-step instructions on how to sign up on the platform and create a campaign.
5. Easy-to-scale campaigns. As the leading search engine, Google can send you tons of traffic and grow your business quickly. Remember that you can also run ads on YouTube, Gmail, Android Apps, and more.
6. Customizable budget. With Google Ads, you can set up your daily and monthly advertising budget, as well as overall bid price and campaign budget. No minimum deposit is required, so you can start your advertising campaign without making any major investments.
7. Retargeting potential audiences. The remarketing feature allows you to reach users who have already visited your site but have not converted. It is also good for growing brand recognition.
8. Various types of ads are available. You can create ads with text, images, and videos to most efficiently target your potential customers.

Cons

1. Ads may be costly. The cost per click varies greatly depending on the specialty, advertising network, geography, and other considerations. You may examine rates for various keywords in the Google Ads planner to obtain an idea of the necessary budget.
2. Policies that are strict. Google Ads includes a plethora of regulations and restrictions. If you do not follow these rules, your account may be suspended. To avoid this, you must carefully study and adhere to the policies.
3. Learning takes time. Successful affiliates devote a significant amount of time to tracking and optimising their campaigns in order to get greater results. It will take some time to figure out how to best set up advertisements and boost conversions.
4. You require quality material. Aside from your advertisements, your website should be of high quality, from the design to the content to the navigation. You may have a steady stream of traffic from Google Ads, but no conversions if your website provides little value.
5. Conversions and clicks are not the same thing. It is important to note that you will be paying for clicks with Google Ads, but this does not guarantee conversions. This is why it is critical to design a strong website and not lose your ad spend.

wrapping Up: Can Google Ads Be Used for Affiliate Marketing?

Running a Google Ads campaign to increase traffic and clicks on affiliate links might be an excellent answer. It is one of the most popular promotion platforms, with powerful targeting tools and massive visitor quantities. When marketing your affiliate offer with Google Ads, it is quite feasible to get a good ROI if you strictly adhere to the platform’s restrictions as well as the requirements of your affiliate programme. Create an ad that will attract potential buyers and provide a link to prevent getting kicked off the network.