As a segment of online marketing, search engine marketing centers around the promotion of the links through search engine ads. These are ads put in the search engines previously, by, or after the organic search results.
Affiliates are allowed to publicize their affiliate links through most channels available in online marketing, including search engine ads. In this case, an affiliate could create a search engine advertisement as a part of affiliate promotion. For example, Google AdWords can be utilized to create search engine ads for Google or YouTube.
The affiliate would be in charge of campaign settings, just as campaign objectives, keywords, targeting, booking, etc. Through the affiliate link in the advertisement it is possible to follow the changes back to the affiliate who promoted the link utilizing search engine ads.
In spite of the fact that it is a paid campaign, affiliates may at present find it gainful, which is the reason for them to pick this sort of promotion.
Merchants are not directly associated with this promotion, despite the fact that it is a paid campaign. However, most merchants are leading SEM campaign themselves.
Read Also: How Does a Search Engine Site Earn Money
This is the reason merchants more often than not restrict the utilization of specific watchwords for the affiliates in paid campaigns. These keywords ordinarily include organization name, site URL, etc. just as generally incorrectly spelled varieties of those keywords.
Affiliate Marketing is completely different from Search Engine Marketing.
Search Engine Marketing is all about Optimizing Organic Search Results, Paid Ads through Google Ad words, Local Search, PDF optimization for search etc. while Affiliate Marketing is all about Banner Ads, Link Ads.
Affiliate Marketing is a on page activity where you get paid when somebody clicks your ads while search engine marketing helps driving organic traffic to your website and blog. Affiliate marketing is a paid activity.
Top Affiliate Marketing companies include Amazon and Clickbank.
Both these techniques can be used to drive traffic, sell products, earn revenue.
- Search Engine Marketing
- SEM vs. SEO
- How Businesses Benefit From Search Engine Marketing
- How to Earn From PPC Search Engine Affiliate Programs
- 13 Ways to Find Affiliates
- Are Affiliate Links Bad For SEO
- How Many Affiliate Links is Too Many
- What to do Before Adding Affiliate Links to Your Blog Posts
Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing is the practice of marketing a business using paid advertisements that appear on search engine results pages (or SERPs). Advertisers bid on keywords that users of services such as Google and Bing might enter when looking for certain products or services, which gives the advertiser the opportunity for their ads to appear alongside results for those search queries.
These ads, often known by the term pay-per-click ads, come in a variety of formats. Some are small, text-based ads, whereas others, such as product listing ads (PLAs, also known as Shopping ads) are more visual, product-based advertisements that allow consumers to see important information at-a-glance, such as price and reviews.
Search engine marketing’s greatest strength is that it offers advertisers the opportunity to put their ads in front of motivated customers who are ready to buy at the precise moment they’re ready to make a purchase. No other advertising medium can do this, which is why search engine marketing is so effective and such an amazingly powerful way to grow your business.
SEM vs. SEO
SEM versus SEO: What’s the difference?
Generally, “search engine marketing” refers to paid search marketing, a system where businesses pay Google to show their ads in the search results.
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is different because businesses don’t pay Google for traffic and clicks; rather, they earn a free spot in in the search results by having the most relevant content for a given keyword search.
Both SEO and SEM should be fundamental parts of your online marketing strategy. SEO is a powerful way to drive evergreen traffic at the top of the funnel, while search engine advertisements are a highly cost-effective way to drive conversions at the bottom of the funnel.
How Businesses Benefit From Search Engine Marketing
1. It’s Instant Brand Awareness in Search Engines
As stated, SEO and unpaid social media take time. Google says it can take up to a year for a quality site to scale the rankings. And your ability to do so depends on strategies applied and what the competition is doing.
In contrast, SEM positions you at the top or bottom of page one. A business that has no current visibility or brand recognition can instantly get some attention.
If you have the right systems in place to turn this visibility into paying customers, that’s a huge impact on your revenues.
2. It Can Generate Revenues Quickly
With the right ad copy and strategies in place, see sales coming in the same day. It doesn’t need time to rev up. It’s really easy to get started with something like Ads.
It does, however, require maintenance to get the right SEM ROI.
3. It Grows with Your Business
What is SEM? It’s incredibly scalable. It’s easy to start small. Test things out. See what works. Keep costs low if you have a very limited budget.
Then as revenues go up thanks to SEM, increase the number of ads. Remove ads that aren’t working. Refine your campaigns. And increase your daily ad spend.
In Ads and most other PPC platforms, you can set a daily budget of as low as $10. This way you never get surprised by a really high bill for advertising.
4. It Reaches People in the Right Place & Time
Nearly half of the world’s population is now online. Over 93% of online experiences start with a search engine. Search engines drive more traffic to websites than any other source.
It doesn’t matter what your product or service is. With only some rare exceptions, their journey starts online.
Being visible in search results means being where the customers are. It’s also the perfect time to earn a new customer.
People use search engines because they’re looking for something. Being the one to deliver it, helps you build a trust bank account with that person. Even if that click doesn’t result in an immediate sale, it’s a touch point that furthers the person’s journey toward becoming a paying customer.
5. It Reinforces Name Recognition
When you get a new customer, you may think that person just found you and made a purchase. But chances are that journey started days, weeks, or even months ago. The way you consistently and repeatedly presented your brand during that time has helped turn a prospect into a paying customer.
Experts estimate that it takes 7-13 touch points with a business before someone converts. Each time they see you in social media, searches, on websites and in their inbox, you’re reinforcing name recognition with that individual.
Recognition becomes familiarity. People notice brands they’re familiar with over brands they aren’t. Most people would rather spend a little more with a brand they know than a no-name brand.
What is SEM if not a great way to improve brand recognition in the place 93% of people start each online experience.
6. It Reaches Your Prime Target
Search engine marketing allows you to get really focused in on your target customers in a way you never could with traditional marketing. Why? Because it would be insanely expensive the traditional route.
An ad in Ads doesn’t cost you anything until someone clicks it. You can create 10. Or create 100.
We don’t recommend you try to manage that many at first. But the more targeted you can make that ad, the better that ad will perform with customers.
When you target at this level, you connect at a meaningful level. Demonstrate that you’re not casting your nets wide and seeing what you drag in. Instead, you know exactly who will benefit most from a product or service. Speak directly to that person.
7. It Can Give You a Competitive Advantage
Through exceptional SEO, does your competitor already have a coveted top spot in the organic search results? You can appear above them with paid ads. Swipe a click that would have been theirs.
Is your competitor also using paid ads? You need to as well to cancel out that competitive advantage they have on you.
The vast majority of businesses aren’t using SEM to its full potential. They’re paying more and getting less because of it. Chances are your competition is one of these.
With a strong SEM strategy and compelling copy of your own, you’ll have the advantage over the less savvy competition. Have a smart competitor? The right strategies can also outsmart them to increase your own market share.
8. It’s Less Expensive than Traditional Advertising
Why is SEM so much more affordable than traditional marketing? It’s simple. Because, you’re in control. Here’s how.
You’re not paying $1M to reach 10,000 people who watch a specific program but may or may not be your target customers. Instead of very broadly targeting a demographic as you might in a TV ad, you can place a narrow focus to increase the conversion rate.
If an ad has a low conversion rate, you can pull it or fix it quickly. A traditional ad keeps running for the length of your contract. You have to get approval to change it. And it costs a lot more to do so.
If an SEM ad performs really well or you experience an unexpected decline in sales, it’s easy to scale up quickly. Increase traffic and revenues with just a few clicks.
Suspend ads if you get more orders than you can handle. It’s that easy.
Finally, it costs less because you know so much more about what’s working and what isn’t. You can directly attribute a sale to an ad.

You can see how people respond to the ad. Do they click it? Do they spend time on the landing page? Do they watch a video or click something else while there?
You can do all of this with digital marketing analytics and learn more about your customers. Make smarter decisions about how you spend your marketing money when you can make data-driven decisions.
How to Earn From PPC Search Engine Affiliate Programs
PPC Search Engines are search engines that allow advertisers to list their site within their search results on a pay per click basis. Advertisers bid against other advertisers for the same keywords or phrases.
The highest bidder will then have their site ranked #1 in the PPC Search Engine results for a certain keyword followed by the second highest bidder for the same keyword followed by the third highest bidder for the same keyword, etc.
When a visitor then does a search in the PPC Search Engine and clicks on an advertisers bided link, the advertisers account will then get deducted for that click. This only happens once per unique visitor. So if that same visitor clicked on the same advertisers bided link twice, then the advertisers account will only get deducted for the first click.
Why is it easier to earn from PPC Search Engines than other affiliate programs?
PPC Search Engine affiliate programs are a good and easy way to earn some quick cash online. It is a lot easier to earn from PPC Search Engines than most other affiliate programs because you earn from your visitors click-thru’s to an advertisers site and not per action or sale.
Where can I find PPC Search Engines that offer affiliate programs?
There are only a few good resources on the Internet that lists a large amount of PPC Search Engines. Most of these are either outdated where they have a lot of PPC Search Engines that don’t exist anymore or only mainly gives information about a PPC Search Engines advertising offers.
If you were looking to join some PPC Search Engines that offer affiliate programs so that you can earn some quick and easy cash, then a useful resource to use would be http://www.affiliateseeking.com/ppcaff.php.
This is because it lists over 425 PPC Search Engines where you can easily compare what each PPC Search Engines affiliate program has to offer and you can even organize the PPC Search Engines results by Date Added, Minimum Payout, Earnings, etc.
I have joined a PPC Search Engine. How do I go about advertising it so that I can earn from it?
Once you have joined a PPC Search Engine, you can then easily get promotional links/material from the affiliate section of the PPC Search Engine account where you can then use them to advertise the PPC Search Engine that you have joined.
Most PPC Search Engines allow you to advertise them by using search boxes, an xml feed, text links, referral links, banners, a portal page, and more.
13 Ways to Find Affiliates
Finding affiliates is a combination of simply asking people and letting interested parties know about your program. In addition, you can encourage people to be an affiliate by offering excellent products, top-notch customer service, and a generous commission.
Direct Contact – Find competitors and others who market to your audience but don’t offer the exact products or services as you and approach them directly. Work first to build relationships with these people in online groups, via joint ventures, events, and more and you’ll be certain to get a percentage of them to sign up for your affiliate program and promote your products and services.
Customers – Your best affiliates can come from people who have purchased from you. Definitely, run an email series for your customers to encourage them to earn money by recommending your products to their friends and family. This is a great way to end up with a true fan as an affiliate.
Colleagues – Even if you work from home, you are likely part of a group of like-minded individuals online or offline. Ensure that you let these people know that you have an affiliate program so that they can choose to join if they want to. You can also give special commission percentages to people you know.
Movers & Shakers – You’ve seen them on Twitter, Facebook groups, and probably on numerous webinars, etc. These big earners shake things up. Work toward building a relationship with them, then make it super simple for them to promote your products. Offer to set it all up for them so that all they have to do is collect the money when they make sales.
Conferences – You can also meet potential affiliates at live events and conferences. Whether you’re a speaker or an attendee, you can meet people who want to offer your products to their audience. Make it worth their while to promote you, by also promoting them.
Print Publications – You can place ads in relevant print publicans such as work at home magazines and other magazines devoted to people who are interested in this type of income opportunity.
Social Media – If you join groups and friend people online, ensure that you also connect with potential affiliates. Take the time to get to know them. When it’s appropriate, let them know about your affiliate program. You can use social media also to talk about how excited you are about your affiliate program. The more enthusiastic you are about the program, the more they will want to join to earn money.
Blogging – Use your blog part of the time, to speak to potential affiliates. Your blog provides your audience with solutions to their problems. But, once you have an affiliate program, you can also mention how you want to help as many people as possible and your readers can help by becoming an affiliate.
Forums/Groups – Any groups you’re part of, online or off, can be great places to find affiliates. The best thing to do is to build relationships with people you think would like and promote your products. Offer to do things for them, make your program so inviting that they can’t resist.
Online Ads – Another way to attract affiliates is to advertise the program and its benefits. You can use Facebook, Twitter, or even Ad Words to market the program. This works very well, if you have a good product funnel, offer excellent commissions, and a wide range of products for your niche.
Your Website – Don’t forget that your website is the hub of your business. Keep reminder info and an affiliate program link in a prominent place on your site. This should be short and link to further information about the program details.
Hire an Affiliate Manager – Even if you’re just starting your program, hiring an affiliate manager can help you grow your affiliate program faster. Hire someone who is familiar with your niche, who has connections to promote to super affiliates and who understands the software you use.
Affiliate Networks – Another great way to find affiliates is to list your products in affiliate networks such as Clickbank.com or JVZOO.com. Marketers who are looking for a product to promote often go there to search for them. Make sure you offer a great program and a lucrative commission. Include tools to make promoting easy. These could include articles, graphics, emails, etc.
Are Affiliate Links Bad For SEO
Bad backlinks can hurt your SEO rankings and potentially lead to penalties for violating Google’s webmaster guidelines. If an affiliate link counts as a backlink to your site, that could negatively impact your SEO. But, do all affiliate links count as backlinks?
To answer this question, there are three main types of affiliate links you should be familiar with.
- Network links: If affiliates use text link based code from a trusted network and the URL code starts with a link that points to the network’s servers (not directly to your URL), it is not a backlink and should not affect your SEO. However, some of these can be considered backlinks if the redirects are not done correctly. Make sure to ask the network what types of redirects they use for links.
- Direct links with parameters: Direct affiliate links with parameters point directly to your website like a backlink, but they have parameters attached like ?=affid-XYZ. They are considered backlinks since they point directly to your site. But, they appear as paid links and should be no-followed (when a link is marked as “no-follow,” the receiving page sees no link equity – we’ll touch more on this further down).
- Direct link with no parameters: Direct links with no added parameters are backlinks that point directly to your site and not a network. These do look and act like genuine backlinks. They can be more SEO-friendly if they are niche and content relevant sites. But if not, you should make sure they have no follow links.
Do Affiliate Links Impact SEO?
For the most part, affiliate links do not directly help or hurt your SEO. Affiliate links through major program networks cannot negatively influence your SEO because they do not get indexed past the network. This means search engines will not pass any link equity to the receiving page (which is what boosts a page’s ranking authority and helps the page rank higher for relevant search queries).
Where they do help is by bringing a unique opportunity for your business to increase visibility, site traffic, conversions, and revenue. That being said, we highly recommend that you carefully choose which affiliate sites promote your business.
How Many Affiliate Links is Too Many
Technically, there’s no specific limit to how many links you can have on a page. I’ve seen instances where a 2,000 word blog post can have 20 or more affiliate links on a page and still rank #1 for their intended term. I think that’s way too many, but there are always going to be exception to the rule.
Each additional backlink on a web page dilutes the page’s overall link equity because you’ll be passing off a bit of your link equity to every external link. That’s why some affiliate marketers use the nofollow attribute to reduce link flow.
Reducing your affiliate link usage to just one per page is a bit extreme though. Multiple exits to a recommended product could be considered “good user experience”, which is one of the main criteria Google looks for when ranking web pages.
Each additional backlink on a web page dilutes the page’s overall link equity because you’ll be passing off a bit of your link equity to every external link. That’s why some affiliate marketers use the nofollow attribute to reduce link flow.
Reducing your affiliate link usage to just one per page is a bit extreme though. Multiple exits to a recommended product could be considered “good user experience”, which is one of the main criteria Google looks for when ranking web pages.
You can usually start off with 1-2 affiliate links on a page, then increase the number of links after it starts ranking.
Considerations When Using Affiliate Links
Links are a natural part of writing content for the web. There should be a balance of both internal and external links, regardless of whether or not they are affiliate links.
Consider the following from an SEO and UX (user experience) perspective:
- A website with too many affiliate links per page may irritate its visitors
- Linking to too many external websites may be an indication that you do not have enough valuable information on the page (“thin content”)
- Not linking enough may cause people to have to scroll up and down the page, which can be frustrating, especially on mobile devices
The number of affiliate links you have on a post will depend on its nature. For example, a top 10 products list article may require ten affiliate links and that’s perfectly fine. At 200 words per item, plus intro/conclusion, your blog post could be 2500 words or more. Ten affiliate links is not a big deal.
If you write a 1200 product review with two images, then just 2-3 affiliate links would be more appropriate.
Read Also: Make Money Online With This Affiliate Marketing Tips
Think about where your affiliate links will be going too. Ten links to the same page would be inappropriate for a short post on a single topic. But a diverse article could require multiple links to different parts of a vendor’s website.
For example, if you were doing an article about Weber brand grills, you may need to link to multiple different grills on the Weber website. It would be annoying if you just linked one time, and told you audience to visit the site and figure out which grills you were talking about!
What to do Before Adding Affiliate Links to Your Blog Posts
1. Add an Affiliate Disclosure Statement
Disclosure statements let readers or viewers know that your blog makes money off affiliate links. They are legally required by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) to protect consumers and ensure fairness in business practices. The regulation can be good or bad depending on which affiliate marketer you ask.
complete transparency to your readers is a good thing. Yes, you’ll probably have some readers who purposely use a different URL to avoid helping you make some money. But that’s all right. The positives outweigh the negatives. You’ll always be rewarded if you’re honest and actually help others.
Use clear and direct language that practically anyone can understand when putting together your disclosure statement. But keep your statement short and concise. Add your disclosure to every page that has an affiliate link. A site-wide disclosure statement might be a good idea if you’re regularly publishing plenty of blog posts with links.
Opinions differ on where you should display your disclosure. Most affiliates create a disclosure page, then link to that page in the footer or menu. Others will put their disclosure directly under their title image, or even next to each and every affiliate link. Use the strategy you feel most comfortable with.
2. Have The Means to Manage Links
Eventually, you’ll end up with a lot of affiliate links on your site so you need an efficient way of managing and tracking them. Typically, if you’re part of an affiliate network like ShareASale or Commission Junction, they provide tools for managing and tracking links.
However, you can use a plugin to simplify management and tracking too. ThirstyAffiliates is a WordPress plugin that makes it super easy to shorten and track your affiliate links. You can track clicks and compare them with your affiliate network or program’s data. Also, your links will appear more professional since it cloaks each URL using your domain name.
Simply install the tool, access it from your WordPress dashboard under “ThirstyAffiliates” (TA), and then click “New Affiliate Link” to begin.

The title of your affiliate link will become the slug after “recommends”. ThirstyAffiliates is a great link management tool because its link structure is built for transparency. That means you can avoid any claims of deception from your readers.

3. Publish Valuable Content
Your success as an affiliate marketer will be largely determined by the amount of value you provide to others. The same can be said for any other profession and life in general. Any content you publish needs to be directed at solving a problem for your target audience.
Never sacrifice quality just because you want to add more affiliate links to your blog. Building a loyal following of website visitors is more important than pushing out content for the sake of adding affiliate links.
Conclusion
Search engine provides a lot of opportunities to earn for both individuals and even businesses. If proper done a search engine affiliate can earn money and even build a career about it.