Guess the most contagious thing in this world! No, it’s not flu. It is Passive Income. Wouldn’t you welcome inflowing bucks for something you did a year prior?
Speaking of such revenue generation sources, Affiliate Marketing tops the chart. All you have to do is market the merchant’s products and persuade your site visitors to buy them. Kudos! You’ll be earning a commission so long as your promotion bears fruit.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Neil Patel defines affiliate marketing as:
“The process of spreading marketing and creation of products across different parties, where everyone receives a share of the sales according to their contribution.”
Is it that simple? Really!
Well, you have better luck finding sapphires than the tendency to trust in strangers. Therefore, you have to target more and more people to increase your sales. This leads us to SEO – Search Engine Optimization.
Why is SEO indispensable for Affiliate Marketing?
SEO increases your content visibility on search engine’s organic listing that generates more traffic. Ultimately, it translates into a higher conversion rate. Many affiliate marketers take SEO as optional while it stands crucial for their success.
If we only pick WordPress statistics, 24 articles are uploaded every second. Don’t ask about other content management systems working on Google and beyond.
The top five search results take away 67.6% of all CTR. You can invest six hours in developing content. But avoid 15-minute SEO, and no one will even land on it! So, now you see the importance of Search Engine Optimization for Affiliate Marketing.
Step-by-step Guide to Master SEO for Affiliate Marketing
After all, it boils down to how! Whether you’re building an affiliate site from scratch or cursing your constant failures, these six simple steps will guarantee your success.
Step 1: Know your audience.
The first and foremost duty is to pick a specific niche. You can’t write for tech-savvy and a climate activist simultaneously. Before turning to host and domain, know your audience and avoide doing these mistakes.
Strike a balance between your passion and people’s interest.
Remember, affiliate marketing is a long-term venture. You can’t skip one or two months after just starting out. And failing the first step will tempt you to do so. Thus, choose niches that excite you.
Make a list of related keywords in each one of them. Then, find out their search volume via Google Keyword Planner.
Step 2: Promote valuable products
Once you’ve made up your mind in favor of a niche, move on towards selecting products that you’ll promote. This second step is the defining moment of your whole journey.
There are generally two types of online products: tangible and virtual.
Suppose your niche is “health and fitness in teenage girls.” Here, you’re targeting young girls who are conscious about their health. Now, you can sell them physical products such as supplements or digital ones like e-books.
We’d recommend using Clickbank for narrowing down your product search. Afterward, sign up to Amazon Associates and get affiliate links to promote.
Step 3: Research magnetic keywords
If we have to describe SEO in one word, it would be the keyword. It is the phrase people write in their search bar. Google runs a search on all pages and presents the most relevant ones.
However, you have to do some keyword research for your affiliate products.
The bottom line is to target an exact keyword having high search volume but low competition. It is where long-tail phrases lend a helping hand.
Use Keyword Planner to find out the search volume and competition of a particular keyword. Then, get a deeper insight using Ubersuggest.
Step 4: Write detailed guides.
Where the above three steps were limited to individual aspects, the fourth one is the blend of SEO plus marketing skills. Once you have a good product and the focused keywords, it’s time to open your laptop and get started.
Marketing is not about fancy words – it is a heart-to-heart conversation. DO IT YOURSELF!
Avoid keyword stuffing because the search algorithm doesn’t work that way. In any case, write an easy-to-read article. Cover every aspect of your topic, and stay true to your readers.
Try writing >1500 words for every keyword. Google favors the information-dense contents. They tend to get higher SERP ranking, backlinks, and social media engagement.
Step 5: Add value to your content
When we suggest writing lengthy content, it doesn’t imply beating around the bush. For one, your visitors will leave your site. And for another, the search engine won’t invite you to the party either.
Bluffing sacrifices both SEO and AFFILIATE MARKETING!
Reinforce the visual appeal of your written piece. Add infographics and reliable statistics to present yourself as someone serving the customers, not money. Creating YouTube videos and Facebook posts is a huge plus in terms of customer engagement.
Step 6: ‘No follow’ the affiliate links.
Whenever you add any external link to your blog, the search engine establishes a connection. It usually strengthens SEO. In the case of paid links, however, it removes them from organic link authority.
Affiliate links are a variation of paid links since a commission is closely aligned.
That’s why it’s pertinent to add rel=”nofollow” tag to each affiliate link. For Amazon and widely popular networks, it’s added automatically.
“Even though we handle the vast majority of affiliate links appropriately, I would go ahead and just add the nofollow because you might be earning money from that,” said Google’s Matt Cutts in an interview with SMX Advanced in 2012.
You’re all set now!
For Affiliate Markets, SEO is not up for compromise. Content is the king! Its optimization to reach out to a broader audience is the coronation.
Keep in mind that off-page SEO also influences overall ranking. Your email connections, site layout and speed, featured snippets, internal linking, and guest posts can increase your affiliate conversion up to several times.
In any case, use these 6 SEO hacks for affiliate marketing. And the revenue will flow like a stream in your direction. But the eventual satisfaction of helping out your customers outscores monetary incentives.