|
If you scroll through most forums in Adland (and at other forums) you'll notice that most people have affiliate links that look like this;
www.the-affiliate-program.com/affiliate-id
I know that's how the affiliate programs tell you to link. But, it's not the best way. At least, not for you! You should never use an overt (open to be observed) link. Here are the top reasons why;
1) You are helping to brand the name of the primary company. In making them memorable, you make yourself unmemorable. For example, I've seen "searchestate.com" here so many times, I don't need to click on anyone's link to sign up. You too?
2) Most people strip off the affiliate id and buy (or sign up) direct, or add their own affiliate link so they get credit. Why they do this, I have no idea, but it's a known fact that more people strip off the affiliate url than not.
3) If the affiliate site goes out of business (and plenty have) you'll have links all over the internet that you've worked to promote, and they'll go to a 404 (not found) page. What a horrid waste of your time and effort.
Even a one page website is better than using the affiliate link as provided. And - it's not as expensive as it used to be five or ten years ago. At GoDaddy.com, you can get a domain name for $8 and hosting for $37.92/year or $3.95/month.
Once you have a one page site, you have benefits that you didn't have with an affiliate url. Here are the top benefits;
1) You are branding one name - yours - instead of trying to promote several programs.
2) You can "mask" the affiliate url so that no one can strip off your id when they click your links.
3) If the affiliate program goes out of business (or doesn't pay well) you can change what's on your page and all your work to promote that url isn't lost.
4) You can submit your page to the search engines and use promotion methods that don't work with just an affiliate url.
5) You can write a small review on each product, which is the most effective way to pre-sell an affiliate product.
Setting up your own domain is actually beneficial to the affiliate program owner, too. Let's say you set up "Chris-online.com" and link to AdlandPro. Your domain becomes an external linkback for Bogdan, which is more value for him in regard to site popularity than just having his own domain with your affiliate id.
You work on branding your name (which is good for you) and prevent people from stripping your affiliate link (also good for you) while providing linkback for Adland. So, it's mutually beneficial.
A note on domain names;
Over the past years, a lot of people have bought up tons of domain names with intent to resell them. Usually they charge an arm, a leg and your firstborn. It can make it hard to find a domain name. But, I've found a couple of little tricks that make it pretty easy to find a good domain name.
First, search engines can't read "run on" words. A search bot will see a name like "weightlossdietplan.com" and think it's one long word. But, a hyphen is a "delimitor" that helps a search bot separate words. So, "weight-loss-diet-plan.com" is a better domain anyway. Adding hyphens opens up a lot of domain name choices.
Secondly, adding uncommon words like your name, or "reviews," etc., also opens more doors. For example, "Cathys-weight-loss-site.com" or "Cindys-health-reviews.com," etc.
A note on websites;
Most people think you have to have a huge site to get any decent search engine listings. And, that's not entirely accurate. While search engines do look at content, they also look at how many sites link to you. A 1 page website with 5,000 links to the site will rank better than a 20 page site that no one links to. If you read some of the goodies over at Peter's website design and search engine optimization forum, you'll see that, and can find more information.
And, a note on creating your new links;
Once you have a domain name, think of a teaser line. Imagine that you were writing a classified ad that millions of people would read, but you can only use one or two lines of text at most. Make it arouse curiosity to see more. Follow with a link to your domain. Then, everywhere that you post, use that as your "signature" file.
If you have any questions, feel welcome to ask! Happy linking!
P.S. If you'd like to create a one page site, but you don't know how, let me know. I'm pretty sure I can twist Peter's arm into creating a special price for that. Or, you could go over to his forum and ask. It's at;
http://community.adlandpro.com/forumShow.aspx?ForumID=7227
P.P.S. Once you have a domain of your own, do check out the "promote your site" book on my Adland website. (In the tabs above my profile) It's only $20, and will teach you the most effective promotion methods I've used in 10 years online.
|