As a beginner, starting an affiliate marketing website does not need to be intimidating and can be pretty simple if you have the right mindset and examples to go off of. Some basic steps are:
- Find a topic of interest that you can share information and write articles about.
- Buy a domain name that is relevant to your general subject area.
- Create a free WordPress website, go through some training material (see below)
- Purchase quality web hosting to host your website on.
- Research products/services you can promote that relate to your site content.
- Find retailers w/ affiliate programs and apply to get your affiliate links.
- As you write content on your site, insert the links and recommend products/services.
- Learn about keyword research, on-page search engine optimization (SEO), and link building.
- Share content in forums, social media, etc.
Now obviously there are many details that go along with each point listed above, which we’ll try to cover as we go. But getting a broad overview and seeing examples first may be helpful before getting into specifics. One broad theme that is all-important is getting traffic (visitors) to your site. Otherwise your site won’t be profitable.
Start an Affiliate Marketing Website
In order to start a successful affiliate marketing website you need to think of it as a real business. Earning money with your affiliate marketing website is a process of give and take, where you give people what they need in the form of information on your website and they reciprocate with the action you want them to take; clicking on your affiliate link. Most visitors to your website will take you up on your recommendation and click over to see the offer. This is the ultimate goal you want to accomplish.
As you create your affiliate marketing website, your going to want to focus on getting free (organic) traffic from the search engines. This will then result in organic sales. And this is precisely why you need this website/blog. No worries though; creating sites with ready made templates and content platforms is really easy nowadays. It’s literally as easy as writing an email, attaching some pictures and sending. Instead of clicking ‘Send’, you click ‘Publish’.
What do most people want online? Content. In other words, solutions to problems or answers to questions. Where will this content reside? On your website/blog, of course.
Setting Up an Affiliate Marketing Website
One of the best platforms available to set up a website for affiliate marketing is WordPress. This is because it caters to a variety of needs for affiliate marketers. You can begin with the free version, experiment with the look and feel of your site and customize it with a unique domain, images, content and other audience-building tools.
Before you read any further, here is a video from my #1 recommended affiliate training platform / online community of successful affiliate marketers that goes into how easy it really is to set up a website and start affiliate marketing.”
(Join for free and go through all the video training courses above)
Like previously mentioned, setting up a website is easy these days. There are 3-step signups, 1-click installations … but few marketers are aware that you have to let your audience choose the right user experience for you. The host and website theme you use should match the type of relationship or interaction you want to have with your customer.
For content with a personal touch, a blog might be best. If you prefer a beautiful storefront as your landing page, e-commerce themes are recommended. A news and entertainment site might require a dynamic design theme.
Crafting Content That Sells Products
Content drives the web. Your customers require information that meets a specific need. It may come in the form of a step-by-step tutorial on how to change the oil in your car, commentary on global current affairs or the most hilarious cat video ever. As affiliate marketers, you should be picking topics that you enjoy and can write a bit about.
The bottom line is: behind every view, click, share and download, is a customer motivated by a need. It is your job, therefore, to discover what drives your audience and tailor content, as well as all other marketing efforts, to cater to it. You’ll be helping them attain the information they seek.
Building Organic Traffic to Your Affiliate Website
Hundreds, if not thousands, of websites are created daily. A select few go on to earn huge profit because they have mastered the key to online success — content marketing.
Take a moment right now and look for one product you would be interested in selling through a search engine. For example, search for ‘the best inflatable beds for camping’. The top-rated websites are usually authorities or trusted sites in the sale of that specific item. The review of a certain product may be a useful article on how to use the product in everyday life. Some marketers even take it to another level and include video, and post a YouTube series to gain free traffic back to their website.
Content on successful websites have certain things in common. Firstly, they know why a customer visits the site. These companies know through researching the specific keywords used by their customer to arrive on their site. Secondly, content is created around the keyword, meeting a customer’s need directly. Thirdly, the content feels organic, not too salesy or forced.
The keyword here is … keyword. Keywords are the words, questions or phrases web visitors search for on Google or Bing to find what they’re looking for online. A well-chosen keyword worked into your content is the foundation of effective SEO practice and drives organic online traffic to your page.
Go Beyond Your Website
To start an affiliate marketing website is just one facet, affiliate marketing is a whole discipline of it’s own. Think of your marketing efforts as a web or network where one tool supports and promotes another. For instance, you can add to your website traffic by using your social media accounts to promote your recommended products/services, or sell an e-book, etc.
Okay, let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. There are things you’re going to need to learn and doing so in the correct order will lead to much greater success. I suggest checking out the video above and going through the initial steps before proceeding, this way you’ll be positioned to see results quickly rather than stumbling from the start.
To start affiliate marketing without a website, you would need to have a budget for online advertising and various social media accounts, and even then people use landing pages to capture potential customer emails and get them to take certain actions; which essentially requires a one page site (landing page), domain name, and hosting. So in essence, you still need an online presence in the form of a website / blog for the best earning potential and outcome.
Learn more about your options and how to start affiliate marketing with and without a website from the experts. Wealthy Affiliate is a community (full company review) of professionals that offer free training to marketers with all levels of expertise. Access a world of knowledge that will make all the difference in your online career journey.”
* For being a valued reader, I’m also currently offering personal 1-on-1 coaching (at no cost to you) showing you exactly what’s involved with setting up an affiliate marketing website. You may sign up and take me up on my limited time offer here on my affiliate marketing mentor program page. Hope to see you sign-up and give it a try. You have nothing to lose and at least you’ll have someone on standby to help answer any more questions that you may have.
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