It’s all about the first impression!
As they say, first impression is the last
one. Definitely true in this case, where retaining visitors is one of
the hardest part. Most people will judge your book by its cover. And
this extends beyond your bounce rate. If someone sticks around with you
after a few seconds of visiting your blog, i.e. if he does not bounce,
it doesn’t mean he likes your website. He still has your first
impression in mind. And he will remember this while you are trying to
promote your affiliate links.
Think of it like this. You meet a random
person in a mall, and strike up casual conversation. What if that person
later tries to sell you something? Will you buy the product based on
its usefulness, or on the first impression of him that you get? I’d
definitely go with the impression. I don’t trust this guy. For all I
know, he might be trying to sell a fake product which looks real.
Worse still, if the first thing that
person does is, try to sell you something, will you even continue
talking to him? This is how visitors treat a website that is cluttered
with ads, and ads is what they see when first landing on your website.
So first impressions are the most
important. You first have to build the trust of a visitor before he will
click on anything. Having a professional look will help along, but the
main thing to remember is that, you can’t be over-promotional.
Otherwise, no one will trust you.
Give details for the product
If you think putting up affiliate ads on
your website and leaving them there like other ads will generate revenue
for you automatically, then you are sorely mistaken. See, affiliate ads
are not like other ads. They need careful attention. If you
leave them be, then they are just like regular ads. You’ll have to do
much more than simply setting them up. You should provide some content
as well. Write about the product. Give the potential customers details,
specifications, features etc. Give them, a reason to buy the product.
Normally, writing a blog post is a good idea. But don’t write a post for
the sake of linking the product. Write on a relevant topic, and bring
up the subject whenever appropriate. For example, write about
photography tips, and suggest a macro lens for an SLR camera to others.
Don’t write a post that says in its title ‘Get better image quality by
using so and so camera lens’.
Use the products before promoting!
This is only logical. I mean, think about
it. If you are promoting an Android smartphone, while you yourself are
running an old Symbian, how fishy would that sound? You don’t have an
experience with Android. You won’t be able to explain things very well.
And what if someone asks a question that requires a technical answer,
one which only an Android user can answer? You can’t ignore that
question, because affiliate marketing is all about building trust and
interaction among the readers. Most probably, you will give a Googled
answer, which might not be what the questioner wants. You’ll lose a
potential customer right there!
Give your review!
This one is somewhat related to the
previous tip. The point is, you not only need to know what you’re
talking about, you also need to show the world what you know. Tell them
why you like this product, and why you recommend it. Share your own
experience with the product, and write about some of the cool stuff you
came across. Write a good review on the product, so users might know
just what they are getting into. They’ll like you and trust you more for
it.
Do some trial and error
As we always say, advertising is all
about trial and error. Some ads work better than others. Similarly over
here, some products might sell better than others. So keep rotating
product links on the main areas of you blog, and note down the success
of each product. Then use the most successful product at the most
important places to maximize your earnings.
Don’t advertise multiple products of the same type
This one is quite logical as well.
Suppose you recommend a good eBook reader to your visitors, say a Kindle
Fire, in a post. And in the next post, you recommend the Galaxy Tab.
And yet again in another post, you recommend the iPad just for the sake
of earning through multiple products. Some might think this is a good
strategy, but they couldn’t be more wrong! You just recommended almost
all the popular tablets available on the market. What message will this
send to our customers? They came looking to you for a recommendation to
make up their mind. Instead, you confused them even more.
This will make people lose trust in you,
since you yourself don’t know which of these tablets is best for eBook
reading. Your recommendations become less and less believable with each
new one that you make. But if you recommend one product again and again,
visitors might think you’re really on to something, and hence, chances
of your affiliate sales will grow.
Build a resource page
As I mentioned yesterday, having a
Resource page is must if you want to make any affiliate sales. A
resource page is one where you put links to services and products. These
might include the products’ home pages, sign up pages,, download links,
and so on. For example, if you are using HostGator or BlueHost as your
web host, then you might add a link to them on this page from where
others can avail their services as well. All the links on a resource
page are affiliate links. Hence, this page will be the major source of
your income.
These were some of the basic principles
of Affiliate marketing. If you don’t apply them, then you’ll just become
one of the people who say Google AdSense is a lot better than any
Affiliate program. And that’s a very pre-mature thing to say, especially
if you haven’t utilized the full potential of Affiliate marketing. So
go and get promotin’ fellas! :)
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