Using Content To Boost A Blog's Affiliate Earnings

Using Content To Boost A Blog's Affiliate Earnings
by Jeff Alderson

Many blog publishers who come across fun, interesting and valuable new affiliate programs often feel like they've hit the jackpot. They quickly sign up, put their affiliate links on their sites, add them to forums and even mail them out. Unfortunately, that's about as far as many take it before expecting big financial rewards to come their way.

Sadly, while money can come from the above measures, the reality is it often takes a little more work than that to make these programs pay off. Getting involved with a great affiliate program is just the starter for making it pay off. Putting links up in forums, on one's own site and e-mailing people about the program is a good step to take. There are, however, quite a few more things you can do to increase affiliate program potential. Content is often the key to boosting earnings.

Proven methods are available for bloggers and publishers to take advantage of to increase their potential earnings from affiliate programs. If the affiliate program happens to be new, the potential can be even higher. The amount of elbow grease that needs to go into a promotion will depend on the site publisher's choice of action and willingness to work somewhat.

Should an affiliate program be new to the market, it can be very easy for publishers to gain an early advantage by creating relevant content. If the content is interesting, accurate, informative and even a little opinionated about the product or service the program offers, it is quite possible a site will gain quick and high ranking on the subject. In essence, a site can become an authority on the topic. The trick here is to be as truthful, informative and even useful when writing about the subject. Working the right keywords into the article or post - especially in the title - can be very helpful here. If the opportunity to be among the first is present, take it.

When you write about the topic at hand, there are a few things to keep in mind. Those who write posts that are objective, conversational and informative, tend to do much better. The idea is to become the authority. This means if others have already written a piece, do better than they did. Go for more in-depth reviews, added information and so on. Quote and link other authority sources, too. Just make sure your angle is different from what else has been done. Honesty is always a good policy, too. No one wants to read a sales piece. Include the bad with the good if bad is there.

Keywords are important to articles on affiliate programs, but they are not the be all and end all. Don't let them bog the piece down too much. Instead, focus on working the main words into the title. Put them elsewhere in the piece where they fit naturally. The posts that get read the most are those that have a clear voice, are easy to read and offer something readers need or want to know.

Should other articles be available, consider linking to those you use or particularly enjoy. When you do this, you can earn a trackback. This puts your website's link on the site you're linking to. That site's visitors can see it and click through to your site. This is particularly useful if the site linked to happens to have a lot of traffic.

Other ways for boosting affiliate income potential exist. Some site publishers create their own presell pages. These pages have their own separate URL and are used to entice and encourage visitors to click through to an affiliate. Good ones, however, do this by providing relevant information, not high-pressure sales tactics. The benefit of these pages is that they help keep a home page free from tons of affiliate links. They also are wonderful for gaining their own search rankings. This is especially so if the content is relevant and balanced.

Borrowing traffic from other relevant sites isn't at all uncommon. It might not be the most popular way to gain attention for your affiliate links, but it can work. This method involves setting Google Alerts for the topic. This way, you know when others write about the affiliate subject. Once they do, visit their sites and write a few comments, drop a link to your presell page or related content and move about your day. Those who are interested in more information on the topic will likely click through.

Increasing a blog's affiliate program earning potential doesn't necessarily require a lot of advertising. The right content can often make all the difference in the world.

About the author: Jeff Alderson is an entrepreneur and online marketer. He is an expert on search engine strategies. To boost sales, Jeff advises using a keyword research tool when conducting keyword research

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