Affiliate Marketing And Free Content
Affiliate Marketing And Free Content
Most people get into Affiliate Marketing to earn passive income. Most people don’t tell you that Affiliate Marketing is a long game. Simply posting a tagline with an affiliate link on social media will not cut it.
First, you will have to choose a niche product or service. Then, it would be best to build a website or blog to post weekly content about your niche.
Since your website or blog is new, you will want to write content that does not officially promote any individual product or service. The first article you write will be general about your niche. Let’s discuss why it’s essential to do Affiliate Marketing and Free Content.
Why is it essential to do Affiliate Marketing and Free Content?
When you first build your Affiliate Marketing site, you want your site to seem like you are providing vital information about your niche. If you want to gain loyal readers for your blog, writing articles that provide free and essential information is the way to go.
When visitors come to your site and see that you are passionate about your niche, they are more likely to become repeat visitors. Think of it this way: if you start off writing three articles a week, two of those articles should be for informational purposes only.
This way, Google and visitors to your site will feel like you are the authority in this niche. Once you have proven, you are the authority in that niche. People will be more likely to purchase the products and services you promote because they trust you.
Why is offering free content so important to Google?
Unless you have an e-commerce site and are directly selling products or services, Google does not like Blogs or Websites with too many affiliate links. Google considers this to be spam. When you first begin your website or blog, you want Google to think you are offering more value and not just trying to make a sale.
Google’s AI engine knows if your blog is about Affiliate Marketing based on how you write and the links you add to your blog post. Remember, your first goal is to get Google to index your site in its search engine.
If Google never indexes your site, then how will people interested in your niche find you? I know what you’re thinking. Well, I can just post affiliate links to Facebook and Twitter.
If the only content Facebook or Twitter sees from you is affiliate links, you will be considered a spammer. It’s rare to get kicked off social media, but it can be unpleasant if it happens to you!
An excellent example of a great blog or website?
Before I get into what type of free content to offer, let me give you an example of a niche website or blog. My favorite thing is learning about new technology. Back in the late ’90s, I came across a website called CNET that specializes in technology.
If you are of a certain age, this was before smartphones and when personal computers became popular. At first, Cnet would offer articles and posts about using your computer, the latest software, etc.
Once Technology companies realized that Cnet was the authority in new technology because of all the repeat visitors to the Cnet blog, big tech companies began to advertise on Cnet. CNET became so successful that CBS, an American broadcasting company, purchased it, and the rest is history.
What Type of Free Content should I offer?
When you are new to building a blog or website, most of your content will be free. Therefore, you should already begin writing content that is not a sale.
For example, let’s say your niche is indoor plants; a lot of your posts may be about what plants are great for indoors, how to care for plants, what indoor plants need a lot of light, and what indoor plants need a lot of water, to name a few.
Let’s say you produce three articles a week on your blog. You should only add affiliate links to one of the articles to make some income. Then, make the other two articles link-free that just focus on giving your readers some solid, helpful content.
After six months to a year, you can write two posts that include affiliate links and one for free. Once you get visitors to your site, you can offer a PDF, eBook, or Newsletter for people who subscribe to your email list.
How can free content help you get approved for Affiliate Programs?
As your website or blog grows, you will come to the point where you will need more products or services to promote. Therefore, looking for Affiliate Networks to find additional products or services is essential if you want to make your site profitable.
Applying to Affiliate Networks is usually relatively easy. However, applying to the Affiliate Programs within the Affiliate Network may not always go your way. When you apply to an Affiliate Program, you are trying to get a contract with a business that offers products or services for your niche.
Each Affiliate Program will look at the profile you built on the Affiliate Network and evaluate your website or blog. Think of your website or blog as your resume.
Furthermore, your website or blog should show that you are the authority in that niche. If the Affiliate Program feels you are the authority in that niche, they will be more likely to represent their product or service.
When can I stop offering Free Content?
As an Affiliate Marketer, you always want to offer free content. Remember, your blog or website is not an e-commerce site. Some of your posts can be product or service reviews.
However, you don’t want all your content to be filled with affiliate links. It’s always a good rule of thumb to offer free how-to content.
For example, you may have one article about how to water a plant properly that is purely for informational purposes. The other article may be about the best dirt to buy for a particular plant. The article about “The best dirt to buy for a particular plant” could include affiliate links to different soil and seeds that your readers can buy online.
In Conclusion
There is more to Affiliate Marketing than posting Affiliate links on social media and running Ads on your website or blog. Becoming a successful Affiliate Marketer involves building a brand.
Building your brand will show you are the authority in your niche and can be trusted if done the right way. Once you have a trusted brand and prove you are the authority in that niche, you can monetize your site from affiliate links and ads.
This is such a great post and one that I truly hope new affiliate marketers pay attention to. It is so important to write helpful content if you wish to become an authority in a certain niche. I love your rule of thumb about writing two free articles for every one affiliate review you do. I have made the mistake of using too many affiliate Links when starting a new website and those sites never went anywhere. However when I picked a niche I was passionate about and started writing articles without thinking about how to put the affiliate links into them the traffic came more naturally. I think the most successful people in affiliate marketing today are people who had a passion about a certain niche, decided to share that passion with the world, and then as a result were able to make money by adding some links. So thank you for putting this into writing and I really appreciate your article.