| BigStart - A Guide to Affiliate Marketing |
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Chapter 6: Creating a Successful Affiliate Website |
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Synopsis Key concepts of affiliate websites including the importance of theme, content, and design. |
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Chapter Contents |
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A good website targets a specific market. You can do this by choosing a theme for your website, and using it consistently. Many affiliate marketers fail because they try to promote everything to everyone at the same time. Meaning, if you just throw a bunch of unrelated stuff on a web page, no one will be interested. But if you incorporate affiliate links that are related to the theme of your website, you will have a better chance of success.
When choosing a theme, you want to make sure there are some affiliate programs available that are related to your theme. If you have not already done so, sign up for an affiliate network and take a look around. Once you have a theme in mind, see what kind of affiliate programs are available that relate to your theme. (If there are no affiliate programs related to your theme, you will have to pick a new theme.) Affiliate programs have become so popular that almost any product or service you can think of will be available to promote on your website.
The most popular products will also be the most competitive. So sometimes choosing a less-popular "niche" product (example: toothbrushes, plant seeds, cell phone batteries) can lead to a high volume of sales because you will be one of the few competing in that specific market space.
For instance, one of our companies co-founders made an entire website about electronic toothbrushes. He had no expertise or previous experience promoting toothbrushes. One day after seeing a commercial for a sonic-powered toothbrush, he decided to look into the possibility of promoting these toothbrushes on a website. He searched the Internet for an affiliate program offering these toothbrushes. He found a company that offered an affiliate program for toothbrushes, and was impressed at the commission offered. He built a simple one-page website with information about this particular toothbrush, and a link to purchase one, and within one month made a substantial profit.
It is always a good idea to check out your competition before you decide on a theme. Do a few searches related to your theme and see what others are doing. You may find that market is already saturated (and thus highly competitive). However, competition can be reassuring because it validates that someone else agrees your idea is a good one. You may also get some great ideas from others that you can improve on!
After choosing a theme for your website, you must consider content. In order to attract and retain visitors, your website will need to have some content that relates to its theme. Content is simply the material that makes up your website. Content can come in many forms, and it all depends on the theme of your website. Here are a few examples.
Writing a review of a product is a very easy way of generating content. In order to write a review of a product, you will have to collect information about it. Start with the manufacturer's website, and collect all product specifications. When possible, you can go to your local shopping center and try out the product for yourself. This information should be enough to write a short review about the product. And people love reviews!
Sometimes just the specifications of the product can be enough. For example, if you offer information about five different credit card applications, your site will allow people to compare different credit cards for themselves in one place. This makes your website a valuable resource for a person searching for credit. Finding detailed information about products is easy. Simply visit the website of the company that offers the product.
Your entire website can be based on a subject you're are familiar with. Take your knowledge of a subject and use it to create content. Offer products related to your website's subject matter.
Although not entirely necessary, a pleasing design can help your website succeed. Visitors may be more likely to stick around if your website looks professional.
Providing easy access to information is another thing that will help your website succeed. If you are promoting a product, it helps to have information about that product located right next to it, on the same page. Imagine yourself shopping online. You are interested in buying a digital camera. You find a picture of one on a website which includes a name for the product, and a price, but no additional information. Do you purchase the camera, or do you move on to another website to search for more information about it? Providing all the information you can in an easy to locate area will help you increase your sales.
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