Affiliate Marketing Tips: Traffic & Sales

Next in the Affiliate Marketing Tips series, is how to get traffic and make sales with your niche affiliate sites…

@TaylorMarek: How to get eyeballs and people to buy?

I could start out by giving you specific internet marketing strategies, and I’ll share a few of those with you too.

But the key is actually in how you approach the market. It’s not complicated, but it is unique to each market and to each type of niche affiliate site. I’ll share some methods that I use to create a winning marketing plan for any site…

Step One: Market Research

Market Research is not the same as Keyword Research. That is where it starts, but not where it ends. Keywords tell you two things – they tell you what people are searching for, and they tell you the depth of the market.

Let’s take a look at an example of that so you can see what I mean. We’ll go back to that french braid hairstyle example, and look at that next to quilting:

Comparing these two sets of results side by side, just from the first 20 keyword phrases you can see a major difference in the market depth. Obviously “quilt” is more broad than “french braid”, but even if you narrow that search down to “quilt patterns” you still get more than 10x the overall search volume.

You also want to look at variations of your primary keywords. In the case of “quilt” and “quilt patterns”, next I would look at the keyword phrases for “quilting”.

I realize these screenshots are small. Open WordTracker’s Free Keyword Tool and type in the words/phrases to see the same results in true size.

There are 2 types of keyword phrases:
informational and commercial

Informational keyword phrases are searches for information – and usually for free information. Examples: “how to quilt” and “free quilt patterns”

Commercial keyword phrases are searches for products and represent potential buyers. Examples: “quilting magazines” and “quilting supplies”

Both types of keyword phrases are important to your overall marketing plan. Searches with commercial intent are used to create money pages with a specific recommendation and strong call-to-action.

Informational search terms are used to create free content that appeals to your target market, strategically leading them into your funnel and ultimately into a buying decision.

Commercial = immediate sale.
Informational = build rapport and work up to the sale.

The search volume, or the market depth, is important as this is how you are going to reach your market. It’s also how you are going to figure out the best ways to serve that market.

If you choose a micro-niche with very few keyword phrases to work with, even if those phrases have great search volume, you’re going to run out of creative ways to reach your market.

A niche with market depth and a wide variety of keyword phrases gives you many more opportunities to reach (and ultimately serve) that market.

Every single keyword phrase is an opportunity to meet and engage with your ideal customer. You use that keyword phrase to determine exactly what they want, and to deliver that one thing to them. Each keyword phrase should be considered a mini-marketing plan in your overall business strategy.

Going back to our quilting niche example, which has great market depth, you would analyze the keyword phrases and separate the informational searches from the commercial searches. The information phrases will be used to reach your market, and the commercial phrases will be used to make sales.

You want to ask yourself 4 questions:

- What are they looking for?
- Where are they looking for it?
- How can I enter that conversation?
- How can I best serve this market?

The obvious first step is to optimize each page of your affiliate site to rank well in the major search engines, so your ideal visitors can easily find you when they search those keyword phrases. See: Web Page Optimization (free tutorial & checklist).

You’ll use the keyword phrases to create content, and to frame your offer so that it appeals to your target market. If they are searching for “free quilt patterns” you give them that, and offer a new free pattern every month by email (build a list).

If they are searching for “quilting supplies” you recommend specific products they will need and the best places to order them online (via your affiliate links, of course).

A keyword phrase like “how to quilt” can be used to create a content page that leads into your pages on free patterns and supplies. This might be used on your site, or may be used as an article you submit to EzineArticles.com or publish on Squidoo.

You want to group all of the related “how to” keyword phrases and use those to create lead-in content to your how-to page on your own site. Not every piece of content has to be a monster essay either.

Those keyword phrases might be used in the subject line of a new thread on a niche forum, a short 500 word article you submit to article directories, used in an email subject line for a ‘quick tip’ message (that gets archived online), or used to open a discussion on Facebook or Twitter even.

The goal is to create various types of web content that strategically lead your visitor into your list, or to your money page. The email list will use a softer approach, building trust and rapport with your readers so that you become their go-to source for all things ‘quilting’ (replace with your niche, of course).

So the short answer to “how to get eyeballs and make sales” is this: know what they want, meet them where they are searching for it, deliver a specific targeted solution. Period.

That is marketing. Things like social bookmarking, article marketing, SEO, paid advertising – those are just methods to achieve your marketing plan. Most people mistake the methods for the marketing, and use the methods without a strategic marketing plan at all. Don’t make that mistake.

Marketing is about knowing and serving your market.

The methods are a means to do that.

So let’s talk methods real quick before we close. I’ll share some resources & tutorials with you as I’ve discussed most methods in great detail already:

I have tons more resources, so if you have any questions at all simply leave a comment below. I’d be happy to answer your questions, or point you to a free tutorial here at ClickNewz.

Best,

p.s. Enjoy this post? Subscribe below for more free Affiliate Marketing Tips

Link Building Strategies & Content Marketing

Link building strategies aren’t just for SEO. The true purpose of building links is to market your content…

Your content may be a sales page, a product review, an article or tutorial with a strong call-to-action, or even a blog post or article that links to one of those pieces of content.

Regardless of what type of content it is, you need inbound links to market that content. Those links are a means of communicating with your target market, and an open door inviting them to view your content.

It’s too easy to get caught up in the mechanics of web content development and seo, and forget the true purpose – and the human element…

When we research keywords, we see search volume and profit potential. But behind those phrases are real people with real needs, typing those phrases into their favorite search engine. Someone’s mom, brother, or daughter. Maybe even yours.

Connecting with that image will help you frame your content, and your links in the best possible way. A way that answers their question, or offers them the solution they’re searching for. It will help you communicate with them more effectively.

Creating content isn’t a business. SEO isn’t marketing. These are simply tools to achieve your real objective: to reach and interact with your market on the internet.

Get your ideal visitor in mind. Are they a certain age? A specific gender? What do they need or want? What ways do they use to research and find that?

How can you best serve them?

Keeping these things in the forefront of your mind as you work on your business will bring you the success that you’re looking for.

It’s not about using all the right plugins, all the right link building strategies, or writing with an exact word count in mind. It’s not about on-page and off-page factors, or search algorithms. It’s about the people that surf and search.

Twitter is a good micro-example. You can set up auto-tweets to push your content out to Twitter, you can pull your tweets into web pages, you can automatically follow and unfollow people by the masses. There are all kinds of plugins and programs and tips and guides…

But unless you are out there actually having a two-way conversation with your target market (and their mother, and their friends), all that pushing and pulling is going to get you nowhere. Social properties aren’t just for inbound links, they’re an opportunity to interact with your ideal visitors and your potential buyers.

The same can be said for link building strategies. It doesn’t matter if you know the algorithms down to an exact science. If your links don’t ’speak’ to the reader in the right way, or if your content doesn’t open and close the conversation they are having in their mind, your conversion rate is going to tank.

Meet them where they are (find out where they are and place your links strategically). Engage them by addressing the thoughts and questions they already have (with well-written content that matches the intent of their search).

Lead them to a solution (with a strong call-to-action). Then keep that conversation going, even after the sale, by following up and continuing to address any ongoing needs they may have (via your customer list or autoresponder).

Your inbound links and your content aren’t just for search engines. Your customer isn’t just a sale. Put the human element into your marketing, and your link building strategies, to really make it work – both for you, and for them.

Best,

Web Page Optimization Checklist

Before we get started with the new Link Building Series this week, I want to make sure everyone understands basic web page optimization.

While link-building plays a big part in getting top search engine rankings, what you do on the page is going to dramatically influence your CTR (click-through rate) and your conversion rate. So – first things first…

Web Page Optimization Begins With Keyword Selection

The first step is to choose the keyword phrase you most want your page to rank well for in the major search engines. Each page of your site, or blog post, will be optimized for a relevant keyword phrase.

The main page is optimized for your most general keyword phrase, the categories slightly more specific keyword phrases, and your pages/posts should be optimized for very specific keyword phrases – called long tail keyword phrases.

Long Tail keyword phrases are phrases with 3 or more words.

Let me give you a quick visual example of how this would be set up on a website about nail art. Your first step is to use your favorite keyword research tool and type in the phrase “nail art”. You can use WordTracker’s free keyword suggestion tool:

http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com

Home/Main Page
- Nail Art
Categories/Navigation
- Nail Art Designs
- Freehand Nail Art
- Nail Art Supplies
Pages/Posts
- acrylic nail art designs
- professional nail art supplies
- nail art step by step

That’s a very basic example, and it will vary with niches and keyword depth, but the goal is to start general and then get more and more specific as you get deeper into your site.

Note: While long tail keyword phrases generally have less search volume, they bring in a more targeted visitor and result in much higher conversion rates. Longtail keyword phrases also contain variations of shorter keyword phrases.

To give you an example one of my blog posts is optimized for starting a free online business, but also ranks well for the shorter phrase: free online business.

As that example implies, you can optimize a web page for more than one keyword phrase. I choose a Primary Keyword Phrase (the phrase I most want my page or post to rank well for) and also choose a secondary keyword phrase (or two). We’ll get into this more during the Link-Building series.

Web Page Optimization 101

Now that you have selected your keyword phrases, it’s time to optimize your pages. There are 7 places on your page where you want to include your Primary Keyword Phrase on each individual web page:

File Name
Title Tag
Text Header
Sub-Headings
Within Content
Within the Meta Description tag
Anchor Text of Incoming Links

I’ll often name my images with my Primary Keyword Phrase as well, if relevant, but that’s as much keeping my images organized for which post they go to as it is “image optimization”.

I don’t pay attention to things like keyword density, keyword proximity, or any other fancy SEO terms. I simply use my Primary Keyword Phrase in each of those places, and a few times within the actual content. Usually in the first paragraph, the last paragraph, and maybe once more somewhere in the middle (a couple of times on longer posts/pages). That’s it. Keep it simple

Web Page Optimization for Blogs

Optimizing blogs is very similar to optimizing web pages. I don’t use any fancy plug-ins to achieve this on my own blog. This post actually stands as a visual example where you can see all 7 elements listed above.

Even though you are viewing this blog post in your browser, I’ll point out each of the elements here so you can get a better feel for how it is done. This post is optimized for the phrase “web page optimization” – a low volume phrase (around 9 searches a day, or 3,285/year).

With a blog, the title of the post also becomes the Title Tag or page title as well as the Text Header. As you can see, I’ve used the phrase in both the title and the file name:

If you look at the top of your browser, you’ll see the post title is in the Title Bar and you’ll also see it as the text header above the post. You’ll also see that I used the Primary Keyword Phrase in the sub-headings throughout the post:

Once you publish a blog post, the post title is also used as the Anchor Text for internal links throughout your blog – specifically to your post, from your archive listings. Your post titles will often contain additional words, diluting the keyword phrase in that Anchor Text. With this post, the additional word is “checklist”.

So my blog will create internal links to this post like this:
Web Page Optimization Checklist instead of Web Page Optimization (preferred).

This is where our link-building strategy will help, which we’ll focus on next.

How do on-page factors affect CTR & Conversions?

Ahh yes – I almost forgot to come back around and explain that.

Before anyone ever arrives on your web page, they run across your link – either in the search results or on another website. What they see in the search results is your Title Tag and your URL. Or if they find your link on a web page and hover over it, they see the Anchor Text and the URL.

Example:

What you say in those few words will determine whether they click on your link or not. A compelling title may grab their attention in the search results. Or a descriptive file name may encourage them to click through to read the topic.

As for increasing your conversions, that’s all in selecting the right keyword phrase. You want a very strong message to market match between your keywords and your content. Meaning your phrase defines what they can expect.

With this post, the phrase “web page optimization” very clearly defines what a visitor will find when they click through. This will increase your chance of gaining a new subscriber or making a sale (ie increase your conversion rate) – versus the other option: they click the back button.

Recommended Reading:

What I have given you here is a basic overview of web page optimization. For a more in-depth understanding of SEO I highly recommend that you download (and read!) SEO Fast Start, a free search engine optimization guide by Dan Thies.

Grab it while it’s free!

Best,

p.s. Also see my tutorial on writing SEO Content that outlines how to choose the best keywords & phrases for individual blog posts or web pages.

Stay tuned – this Link Building series is going to be fun

SEO Content: Choosing Keywords & Phrases

Yesterday, during our live webinar, Rosalind Gardner and I discussed creating websites for people – not search engines. What this means is that websites should be designed for the human visitor: provide solutions, easy to read, easy to navigate.

This is in contrast to designing around shady search engine tactics that promise server-crushing traffic, but in the end don’t engage human visitors or result in decent conversion rates – and can ultimately get you delisted from the major search engines altogether.

The search engines prefer visitor-friendly sites. Human searchers are their target market, and their goal is to provide them with ideal results.

Does this mean you shouldn’t write SEO Content? Not at all! In fact, choosing keywords & phrases very strategically will help you strike that balance between search engines and human visitors.

In this quick tutorial, I’ll show you exactly how I do that…

Writing SEO Content begins with choosing keywords & phrases. Your target market (human visitors) will reveal exactly what they’re looking for by typing keywords and phrases into the major search engines. Tools like WordTracker allow you to analyze the popular keyword phrases and their search volume:

http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com

That link will open in a new window, or a new tab. I keep it open in a separate tab all the time, and refer to it a dozen times a day or more. There are a number of keyword research tools and software programs you can use, and most are fine, but I find this free WordTracker tool to be simple and fast…

As an example, let’s say you have a website all about bass guitars. You type in bass guitar into the field at WordTracker, and see these results:

This is a nice little micro-niche, don’t you think?

Looking over this list, we are choosing keywords & phrases that might inspire some good ideas for SEO Content. Any of these phrases will make for great pages on your niche website, but we’ll assume you already have a website and you’re looking for creative ideas for providing something new & valuable to your visitors.

The image above does not show the whole list you will see at WordTracker, but as I scanned down through those results a word stood out to me: chart. If we add that to our keyword search, we see these results:

A quick search on Google shows a good number of pages, images and even PDF files for bass guitar charts. This might immediately put most people off, but it’s also an opportunity. Your target market is stuck wading through all of those options, so one idea is to help them out and write a blog post series reviewing the available charts and pointing out the best charts to use.

If you have a mailing list for your site (and you should), you could send them a download link to the best chart and also a link to your series of chart reviews. Would they appreciate that and look forward to future emails from you? You betcha!

A mailing list manager like Aweber will archive your newsletter issues or broadcast emails, which will also get indexed and show up in search results. Here’s an example of one that I found on Google. That’s an easy way to create relevant backlinks to your content pages.

That’s just one idea of choosing keywords & phrases, and then leveraging the competition to create your own unique and valuable SEO Content.

Obviously free charts are not a commercial search, or the type of content you can easily monetize. If it were me, I would provide great value in the reviews and selections and then encourage visitors to subscribe to my blog or newsletter for more great resources. You might even provide a short report (a PDF file) listing the 10 best bass guitar charts as a bonus for those who subscribe. Great matching call-to-action!

Now let’s look at keyword searches with more of a commercial intent.

Scanning through our keyword list again, I’m choosing keywords & phrases that show an intent to buy. One such phrase is “bass guitar accessories”. One look at the Google search results shows that this phrase is pretty competitive. Without doing any major competition analysis, you can easily see that there are a lot of sponsored listings and well-optimized results:

Competition? Good! This means you can write up a nice little blog post, optimized for “bass guitar accessories” and expect decent payout on strategically placed Adsense. While it may take you awhile to compete in the actual search results for this phrase, established bloggers or website owners would do well to send a note to their list with a link to this post, using the title: Best Deals on Bass Guitar Accessories.

You could also use this in article marketing, writing SEO Content titled “Buying Bass Guitar Accessories Online” and linking back to your page or post. It would also make a great signature link in guitar or musician forums, of course.

Now if you actually sell bass guitars and accessories on your own website, this is not the best approach. Obviously that would work well for someone with a niche community or content website. So next we’ll imagine that you have an affiliate site that promotes these physical products.

So You Want To Sell Products?

The best way to sell products online through SEO Content is by using longtail keyword phrases. Longtail phrases are keyword phrases with 3 words or more. In these phrases, your target market is telling you very specifically what they would like to buy. That being the case, these longtail keyworde phrases result in a much higher conversion rate than general search terms.

Scrolling back through my original keyword list for “bass guitar” I find the word “beginner” in the mix. I decide to explore that a bit, so I click on it to see the results with that word included:

Hmm. There are only 47 searches total on this topic, and only 22 searches for the main phrase “bass guitar for beginners”. I guess it’s not really worth creating a blog post or a web page for that phrase. Right?

Wrong!

A quick look at the Google search results for this phrase shows that it is not at all competitive. The top search result only has 11 inbound links outside of it’s own domain, and another of the top 10 results only has ONE backlink (and it is an internal link from their own domain at that), and there is even one link in the results that goes to a placeholder page.

Bottom line: It would be VERY easy to rank in the top 10 on Google for the phrase “bass guitar for beginners” (yes, without quotes).

While it’s true that phrase is only searched approximately 22 times a day, that means that it is searched more than 600 times a month – or close to 8,000 times a year. Would you like 8,000 opportunities to sell a bass guitar with an easy top ranking? Would it be worth a couple of hours working on a nice piece of SEO Content for your site or blog to be in this position? Of course!

Most of your competitors are fighting for top placement with broader keyword searches, or more competitive keyword phrases. Choosing keywords & phrases that are less competitive and more specific not only make for easier rankings, but they also convert better for you!

What about the other phrases in that list, with only 1-8 searches a day? Again, it’s worth 10 minutes or even 2 hours of your time to write the SEO Content once, and let it work for you forever.

All you have to do is invest a little time upfront (or outsource the writing, even) and that little piece of content could trickle traffic in for years.

Using Keyword Qualifiers in your Keyword Research

I like to have a little fun with my keyword research, and try adding various qualifiers to the phrases to see what I come up with. They will vary between niches, but some of my favorite “keyword qualifiers” are: buy, order, get, find, products, download, deal, best, reviews, compare – just to name a few.

By the way, “bass guitar reviews” is another phrase that is not very competitive in the top 10 Google search results.

Speaking of qualifiers, like the word “buy”, did you know there are over 1,500 searches a day for… buy mini muffin pans? And did you also know that the #1 organic result for that phrase (without quotes) is an article on articlebase.com? Yeah… I’m serious. If you don’t believe me, take a look for yourself.

Let’s say you want to sell designer handbags. Take a look at these keyword results:

If I were choosing keywords & phrases to optimize my page, I would choose #3: “buy womens designer handbags online”. Talk about qualifying their intent! Cha-ching! That is one beautiful 5-word longtail keyword phrase.

And guess what? The #1 organic result on Google… only has ONE inbound link (excluding their own internal links). The #2 result is a blogger blog with less than 15 inbound links (total).

See? It’s Easy!

Writing web content your visitors will love is not rocket science. It’s all about choosing keywords & phrases that match what you offer, to the people who are searching for it.

Creating properly optimized SEO Content will make both search engines and visitors happy, and will turn your blog or website into a passive profit generator.

Best,