Affiliate marketing is a fantastic way to earn a passive income. You can also grow your business to provide a full time salary for you and your family. The profits you are able to earn depend on your goals and your level of commitment. In order to succeed and help you achieve your affiliate marketing business goals, we’ve compiled a list of affiliate marketing dos and don’ts:
Do: Spend time finding the right domain name. Look for one that is memorable, descriptive and includes keywords that people would use when searching for the products and services you’ll be marketing.
Do: Research and know your keywords. Ideally, you’ll find a number of keywords that have low competition and high search volume. You can find this information by using a number of free keyword tools found online.
Do: Create a content plan before you launch. Make sure you have a wealth of topics to talk about or write on. Your keywords may be able to help you with this task. Content is your foundation. Create audio, video, or print content – whichever suits your market and your personality and skills.
Do: Consider a blog. Blogs have a knack for catching the attention of search engines. And they can be added to an already existing website to market your brand and personality.
Don’t: Just put up a website full of content and sit back. The more frequently you update your website or blog, the more traffic you’ll have. People like fresh content and the search engines do too.
Do: Strategically integrate affiliate links into your content. These links tend to work better at generating click throughs than banner ads.
Do: Use social networking to build your business. Social networking may be your most successful marketing tactic. It’s a fabulous way to interact directly with your audience and to increase awareness. Create an attractive and compelling profile page for each site, and include links to your website. This alone will help you get better search engine rankings and traffic.
Don’t: Merely promote on social networking sites. Interact. Visit other members’ profiles, add some friends, and join and participate in some groups or forums.
Do: Use a variety of content to promote your affiliate products and services. Options include but are not limited to:
Articles
Reviews
Reports
Ebooks
Online courses or autoresponder courses
Tips, quotes or information nuggets
Blog posts
Podcasts
Video content
Do: Consider using a pay-per-click advertising campaign. This type of program allows you to bid on keywords related to your business in order to get visitors to your site. You can set a budget that will not be exceeded, and you only pay for actual visits. The most popular pay-per-click provider is Google AdWords (Adwords.Google.com), but there are also several others to choose from.
Do: Use analytics. Find out what articles and information is attracting attention and what keywords people are using to find your website or blog. This information will help you fine tune your content strategy so you can provide more of what your audience is looking for.
Don’t: Join any and every relevant affiliate program. Only join those you feel strongly about and those which have good affiliate programs. This means good commissions, pay out times, customer service, and a quality reputation.
Do: Have fun! Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn a living. Your enthusiasm for your topic and your business will be contagious. You’ll attract a fun group of people who are as passionate about your topic as you are and you’ll build a profitable community of followers.
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make profits online. It’s a business model that supports many lifestyles. It’s also a great way to spend your day – making money talking about a topic you love.
ps. Check out our list of Affiliate Marketing Resources to help you get started.
