Fox Marketer

November 30, 2009

Effective Keyword Strategies To Boost Your Affiliate Sales

Filed under: Affiliate Marketing — Tags: , , — FoxMarketer @ 4:24 pm

This is a subject and area that I spent many hours researching, because during my early days as an internet marketer I learned very quickly that in order to make money online you had to target the right keywords.

It is essential that you understand not all keywords are successful. Some keywords may have a high conversion rate (meaning that visitors coming to your site through these keywords often convert into buyers) while others have low conversion rates (meaning it takes hundreds of visitors just to make one sale).

Obviously, keywords that have a high conversion rate are the keywords you want to target as they are the keywords that will generate sales on your site.

You may be wondering is it hard to identify these keywords? I have found the short answer is no. In fact, there are many affiliate marketers who understand the buying cycle and take advantage of these keywords so that it puts them in the best possible position to make a sale.

Understanding The Buying Cycle

If you’re an affiliate marketer then it’s absolutely essential you know the buying cycle and when people are looking to buy. By knowing this simple strategy you will be able to maximise your site to boost your income stream.

It’s generally accepted that when someone visits your site they are looking for information. This information could be for any number of reasons such as reviews on a particular product, or advice on a particular brand. It is your job as an affiliate marketer to provide this advice to the searcher and then point them in the right direction – to an online store where they can make a purchase.

Take the following keyword as an example:

Searcher types in keyword: Dishwashers

“Dishwashers” is a very broad keyword and it is therefore difficult to know for certain what the searcher is looking for. For example are they looking for reviews on dishwashers? Do they want their dishwasher repaired? Or maybe there is a specific brand of dishwasher they are looking for? Often broad keywords like this one have a low conversion rate as it is difficult for an affiliate marketer to provide information on dishwashers when they are unsure what information the searcher is looking for.

My recommendation is to stay clear of these keywords as you are unlikely to make many sales with them. Instead my advice would be to focus your efforts on targeting more specific keywords like the following.

Searcher Types In Keyword: Miele Dishwasher

As you can see this keyword is more refined than the search “dishwashers” which means you are clearly able to identify the user is searching for a specific brand of dishwashers – Miele dishwashers.
You can also tell from this keyword that the searcher is looking for specific information regarding Miele Dishwashers.
So, as an affiliate marketer you would need to set up a page outlining the different models of Miele Dishwashers available for purchase, along with reviews of each of the different models. It would also help if you could try and recommend one dishwasher in particular that really stands out compared to what else is available. It always helps to try and point the searcher in the right direction and to provide your visitors with value on your website.

Most searchers will be looking for guidance and recommendations of the best Miele Dishwasher. If you are able to indicate to the searcher you have the knowledge and a reasonable amount of information about dishwashers then you will gain their trust and assume you’re an expert on the subject. By gaining the confidence of your searchers they are more likely to take your advice on board and perhaps buy what you are marketing on your site.

Searcher Type In Keyword: Miele Dishwasher g2470

These types of keywords are gems. This is because in most cases the searcher is in the second stage of the buying cycle and has identified not only a brand of dishwashers, but also a model number. As you can see this keyword is more refined than the previous, as we now know exactly what model the searcher is after. This allows the affiliate marketer to provide a page dedicated to this dishwasher in particular – Miele Dishwasher g2470. These are always the types of keywords marketers take a keen interest in because they have high conversion rates.

As an affiliate marketer you would create a page or website, dedicated entirely to this brand and model of dishwasher. This will cause your conversion rate to drastically increase basically because your website is dedicated around this one search.

Searcher types in keyword: Buy Miele Dishwasher g2470

This is the absolute ideal keyword you want to target. This is the final stage of the buying cycle. The searcher has identified the brand they are interested in, the model number and with the keyword “buy” we can conclude the searcher is looking for the best place to buy this brand and model of dishwasher – can it get any better than this?

The other thing about these keywords I want to mention is they are ‘long tail’ keywords meaning you can in most instances rank in search engines fairly easily.

However, you must remember that these longer keywords often get searched for much less than the broader keywords like “dishwashers” or “Miele Dishwashers”. Nevertheless. they are very high converting keywords which make them a potential goldmine for affiliate marketers.

Conclusion

You will find keywords like ‘Miele Dishwasher g2470” and “Buy Miele Dishwasher g2470” are excellent keywords to target because they have the potential to bring in sales.

As mentioned above, these keywords are also long tail which makes it much easier for them to rank on search engines compared to broader keywords like “dishwashers” which would be much more competitive. Generally, these keywords may not be searched for very often, but when they are searched for you will find them to be very high converting.

Therefore, it is well worth remembering that by targeting keywords where the searcher is at the later end of the buying cycle, you are putting your site in a much better position to make a sale.

Fox Marketer

November 20, 2009

5 Ways to Generate Income From Your Website

Filed under: Affiliate Marketing — Tags: , — FoxMarketer @ 4:36 pm

moneyEarning an ongoing income stream from a website is important for webmasters and is the impetus to continue producing good quality content for their readers.

Over the past few years webmasters have exploited many methods to monetize a website to produce income such as through text ads, Google ads, affiliates etc.

Here are 5 different ways which you can earn an income from advertising on your site.

1. Text Ads
Text ads can either be pop up ads which you hover your mouse over to get presented with ads, or they can be in a visible section of text that’s placed on your website – like in the sidebar of below your posts. You will find that each time a visitor clicks on an ad in your site the webmaster earns a small commission ranging from a few cents to a few dollars.

Google Adsense is one of the most popular forms of text advertising that is widely used and depending on the market you are in, you can earn a modest amount of money from displaying adsense on your site.

Other text based advertising networks:

Google Adsense
Infolinks
Kontera

2. Promoting Affiliate Product – CPS
Affiliate products are one of the more popular choices that webmasters use on their sites.

Affiliates sign up to an affiliate network and have access to a wide range of products which they can promote on their own site.

Every time a consumer visits the publisher’s site through your link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission on that sale.

I have found from my own experience that monetizing a site with affiliate links will earn more money long term, but text ads (like Google adsense) will earn recurring income daily, although again this will vary.

Affiliate networks:
ClickBank
Commission Junction
PepperJam Network
ShareASale

3. Audio Ads
This is relatively new to the internet world, but I have found that advertisers are taking a new approach.

You will find that Audio ads that are placed on sites are designed to play every time the user opens the site. When this happens the website owner earns commission on the number of times the audio ad is played to its visitors.

Generally, I would not recommend that you use audio ads on your site. The commission is quite low compared to other revenue sources (sometimes 0.01cents!) and hearing a voice when you open a web page, can scare off visitors.

4. Cost Per Impression Ads

These are similar to audio ads in how the webmaster gets paid and are based on how many people the ad is displayed too. In a nutshell the more visitors you get to your site the more opportunity there is for you to earn money from your ads.

Be aware though there can be a downside because cost per impression ads can come in the form of pop-up ads which load every time a visitor opens a webpage and this can detract people from visiting your site.

5. Advertising/Selling Web space
If your web site is popular then you may get approached by other businesses or webmasters asking if they can buy an advertising spot on your site.

Depending on your page rank and current traffic that you are getting to your site you can approach them with a suitable price per month.

Again, if you have a more popular site with an active audience then more people will come to your site, and businesses will be more likely to want an advertising spot on your site.

Conclusion:

In my opinion you should choose the type of ads that would be the best fit or in other words based on what your site is about.

For example, if your site manages to get loads of traffic daily then obviously you have the ability to earn recurring income through cost per impression ads or even audio ads.

If you have a review site on the best online survey sites on the web you may want to make use of affiliate links to direct people to the survey sites you review – it’s up to you to make the choice on which form of monetization fits with your website.

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