In this post, I’ll give some affiliate marketing tips for beginners.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I would’ve approached affiliate marketing and getting ranked on Google if I had to start all over again. What would I’ve done different, what would I’ve doubled down on and what would I’ve wished people tell before I got into affiliate marketing.
I’ve made a list about the good, the bad and the ugly of my journey with the hope that it’ll be easier for those thinking about starting affiliate marketing or just got started.
So here’s my list with 11 affiliate marketing tips
1. Don’t Waste Time Thinking About The Perfect Website Name
I learned this when I created my first website. I was so focused on coming up with the perfect brandable name that I borderline went on this spiritual journey. When I finally came up with what I thought was the perfect name for my website I wasted 6 weeks I could’ve invested in doing more meaningful tasks.
I always think of something Gary Vaynerchuk ones said about coming up with a name for your company. I’m paraphrasing now but he said something along the lines of people put way too much importance on the name of our business but it really doesn’t matter. He said wtf’s a Google nobody knew but through their actions, they made that name something. People often think it goes the other way around. You make your name, the name doesn’t make you.
If you spend more than 2 days on the name of your website you’re doing too much in my opinion.
2. Mediocre Posts Won’t Get Ranked High
I underestimated other people trying to rank on search engines and thought getting ranked would be easy. I learned the basics of optimizing content for Google and started targeting keywords by using them in my posts but I never looked at what the competition on the first page was writing about. I just thought I could write simple posts targeting low competition keywords and eventually I would get ranked on the first page.
When I started looking at the competition and saw people like Neil Patel, Brian Dean from backlinko I got a wake-up call. The aim should be to give more value than the competition on the first page. If their posts don’t have pictures put pictures in yours, if their posts are 1000 words, mine will be 1200, if they aren’t using video for their post you can bet I’m making a YouTube video and putting it in my post.
3. Getting Ranked Is A Long-Term Thing
Most people that get into affiliate marketing try to get their content ranked so that they don’t need to pay to get people on their website and people will get directed to their website 24/7 without having to do anything. Most people that are completely new to this underestimate how much time it takes to get to this point.
I’m willing to bet more than 90% of people quit because they don’t see results in the first three months. Dependent on your niche it can even take more than 14 months before things start to get rolling but when you get to that point you will see that the time investment is more than worth it.
4. Focus On Creating Quality Content First
The moment you receive your affiliate links is very exciting. From that point, you can officially make money online and it’s really tempting to start putting all kinds of links in your content but this is literally the worst thing you can do. Google ranks quality content, not pages that are just one big promotion.
This is why I advise focussing on getting ranked first by creating quality content and as soon you’re on the first page you can start creating pages with affiliate links where you can direct your other pages too.
5. Find Communities With Likeminded Peers
On the journey to getting your website ranked and making money from it, there will be a lot of roadblocks and all of them have been overcome by other people. This is why you should find communities with like-minded peers that make it possible to cut the learning curve drastically. This list would’ve been a lot shorter if I reached out to peers earlier for advice.
6. Don’t Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
SEO is a long-term strategy. It’s not something that’ll get you money within two months. Most of the time there’s this long period in which you don’t see any result at all. This doesn’t mean you can do other things to promote your website though. Get into social media. Start a YouTube channel, promote your stuff on Instagram and Pinterest.
To get a decent following on social media is also going to take a lot of time but at least while you’re growing your audience some people get to see your website and might turn out to be your first conversions.
7. Don’t Focus On Getting More Than One Website Ranked At The Same Time
When I got introduced to doing affiliate marketing by creating websites I might’ve gotten a little overenthusiastic.
I created 5 websites all in different niches based on flimsy interests I had. I figured doing 20 posts per week might be challenging but definitely do-able. The moment I found out what effort people put into creating quality posts I realized that starting multiple websites and trying to get them ranked is probably one of the most difficult things you’ll ever do.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t run multiple websites. Running an established website is a lot easier because the whole foundation is in place. Creating that foundation with 5 websites at the same time is a great formula for making your life miserable.
8. Stop Rehashing Content With A Few Differences
When I started out with my website I made it a priority to be consistent but there were a lot of times I just didn’t know what to write about so I a lot of the new content I would post was kind of the same as the old content but with a few differences.
Can you imagine subscribing to a blog and every post is almost the same they just have different headlines and are written from a different perspective. Not really valuable content is it?
A problem that also can come from this is the dangers of creating duplicate content which can affect your rankings.
I had to learn how to generate fresh content on a consistent basis. If by any chance you’re interested in learning how to never run out of ideas check out this post I’ve written not to long ago.
9. Learning About Direct-Response Copywriting
Writing quality content with the goal of promoting affiliate products gets a lot easier when you learn about direct-response copywriting. Good copywriters are experts in putting themselves in their reader’s shoes and guiding them towards buying their products.
It doesn’t matter if it’s about creating a satisfying reader experience, stimulating emotions or spurring their readers on to take action copywriters to know how to do this because of all the time they spent learning about the psychological process behind people buying products and experimenting with it in real life.
I’d highly advise you to at least read some books about the basics of copywriting and learn about the psychological rules of selling.
10. The Real Money Is In The Email list
You wouldn’t believe how many affiliate marketers that have their own affiliate marketing course say they became rich because of affiliate marketing. I’m not here to say that they’re all lying but they also aren’t giving you the full truth. It’s possible to make money promoting affiliate products but the real money is in customer retention.
There a lot of scammers out there so the moment they buy a product from you and they had a good experience they’ll be more prone to buy products on your recommendation in the future.
By adding them to your email list you’ll always have a way to get in contact with your previous customers and that one client that you would’ve got a commission from one time you can refer to all kind of other products. This way you might even earn 2 or 3 times as much money per customer as you would’ve done if you didn’t have an email list.
11. Learn How To Become Internally Motivated
Getting a brand new website ranked can take a long time and because of that it’s easy for doubt to creep into your mind. Especially since you don’t get a lot of positive feedback while you’re trying to get your website ranked. You’re just creating content without any quick return of investment.
People around you might lose faith and will try to convince you to try something else, you might get thoughts like maybe affiliate marketing is over saturated and think about quitting because of this or thousands of other reasons.
This is why you have to learn to be internally motivated. I once heard the saying greatness starts where the good quit. Every time I thought about quitting I just saw it as a roadblock that made a lot of people quit and I overcame it by not going that road and every roadblock gets me closer to that small group of people that actually succeeded and are thriving right now.
Take these tips and hopefully when you write a post about your mistakes in affiliate marketing 2 years from now you won’t be able to come up with any.
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That’s all for today. If you have any questions or you just want to show some love leave a comment in the comment section (Believe it or not it helps).
See you at the next post!
I love this post so much. It hits the nail right on the head. Especially found the first one hitting home. The name of your business and the domain for it doesn’t mean as much when you begin. Jot down some ideas, pick one and move on.
The same goes for a niche really. I spend 2 years spinning my wheels deciding and undeciding niches and the way I really want to take this. But right now I finally just did something. So start before you are ready and just do it, is a great extra tip as well.
Hey Linda
That a very good point that it applies when it comes to niches too. The moment you know how the landscape is in your niche and if there are products to promote you should just start.
True, and sometimes you just have to pick something and figure out it wasn’t for you. You may see it as a waste of time, but it is not in my opinion as you learn heaps from it.
If I had just done that, I probably would have had more clarity by now and be further along in the process.
So the old addage definitely applies “fail fast and fail forward.”
I totally agree!
People are too afraid to fail nowadays while most of our greatest triumphs come right after a failure.
Hello Rogier,
This was a great read. You have hit on the basic yet VERY important points about affiliate marketing. I am so glad that you included the mindset – yes, consistency is key and ‘sticking to your guns’. You should not feel overwhelmed by things not going the way you would ultimately ‘prefer’ – it does take time. However, as you write, you have to sow the seed and allow it to grow.
When I was starting out online, yes, I thought I could do more than one websites. Sure you can, but effectively – no – unless you have help such as a VA – virtual assistant. And of course, being a newbie and on a budget, this might not be an option.
SO, yes, your points are on the money, Rogier, no pun intended.
Keep up the good job.
Michelle
Hey Michelle,
Thanks for the comment. I think mindset is the most important aspect. I’ve know a lot of people that quit pre-maturely and wished they hadn’t. Consistency and Persistence are key!
Hello,
Thank you for your post. Good to have this at this time. Honestly, it’s kind of tough having good quality content but it’s with whatever efforts one puts into it. I 100% agree with the tips you gave, in fact the base line is not even getting ranked but having the quality of maintaining the position and being able to give value to whatever content you create. It may take time but I think there is no time spent in building quality that is ever a waste.
Sticking with forum where like minded individuals are will also help and I bet you when you read other people’s writings, it develops your writing ability.
Hey Olonisakin
I agree reading other people’s writing helps a lot. Lately I’ve been trying to get more into reading fiction because a lot of writers always make the weirdest things look interesting.
I think your #9 tip should be #1. I believe that copywriting is that important and should be the first skill to learn. It impacts your content as well as your email marketing. Joseph Sugarman is a legend in copywriting. His book, “The Adweek Copywriting Handbook,” should be a book everyone should read if they are to succeed with their marketing efforts. In my case, I waited too long before focusing on copywriting. Consequently, many of my first posts had to be written again.
Heey Glen
I agree! You gain such a huge advantage by focussing on copywriting. I’ve heard about the adweek copywriting handbook. I’ll might pick it up tomorrow and take a look.
Thanks for the helpful tips on internet marketing, a few of them really stood out and gave me a lot to think about my own marketing efforts.
I was taken by the fact that you always outdo your competition with word count on your articles – is there a sweet spot for the length of articles that will rank?
I myself aim for somewhere between the 1200 – 1500 words but there’s also a danger in this. I remember trying to fill up my post with fluff when I didn’t feel like I had enough words. This caused the reader experience to drop a lot which I could see in the session time. The thought behind the length of a post was that more context could be provided to the subject you’re writing about. So I would just aim for giving more context.
This was really a good read! All your tips are so hands-on and true. I get it now! Affiliate marketing isn’t going away so consistency is key. The money is out there if you are willing to put in the work. Thank you for sharing your mistakes so that hopefully other people won’t do the same thing.
Heey Pet,
The people that say affiliate marketing is saturated are most of the time people that aren’t in it. People will always buy products and companies like profit. So affiliate marketing isn’t going anywhere.
Hi Roger. Thanks for sharing these awesome tips. Affiliate marketing seems saturated but it isn’t. Many quit on the way because they don’t get what they want. To become successful as an affiliate marketer, one needs to be focus, learn and take massive actions. Many Affiliates fail because they think it’s easy to make money online. Top Affiliates don’t seem to tell them that it wasn’t easy getting to the level that they’re in. All they do is flash screenshots of their sales and sale fake courses for those eager to make it.
Thanks for sharing these tips. Keep sharing
Hey BEazzy Shifts,
Thanks for the comment! I agree a lot of people make it seem easier than it is. Sure you can create a passive income but laying the foundation to do that takes just as you said massive action. If you stick to it all the hard work pays off.
Yeah