Affiliate Programs, Ad Trackers, Link Popularity & YOU

by Russ Moore


When promoting affiliate programs, many people make the common mistake of linking directly to the url they are promoting. Yes, this can and will earn you commissions if your advertising and the site's sales copy are effective.

However, by placing your ads (and your affiliate partner's url) all over the web, you are building link popularity ONLY for your partner. This, of course, does YOU absolutely no good at all beyond the potential sales.

If you've placed their url in 20 places, they now have 20 links pointing to THEM... and you have NONE pointing to you. It's just not fair. That's allot of work, and if they go out of business, or change their affiliate link format... your links are DEAD.

If you have a site of your own, you are far better off to create a folder and use a simple redirect to the affiliate url.

For example:

Instead of... http://www.somesite.com?affiliateid

Use... http://www.yoururl.com/somesite

The index.htm file in your "somesite" folder redirects to the affiliate url.

Now with the same effort, you have 20 links pointing to YOUR site, and only one link pointing to theirs (the one in your redirect file). Yet your promotion still functions the same. The link gets clicked, the promoted url gets a visit, and you get paid if the site makes the sale.

This is a much better option as it not only increases your own link popularity, but it gives you control. If your new partner goes belly up while your ads are still floating around, you can change your redirect and point it to a similar program with very little effort.

Now, being the intelligent marketer that you are, I'm sure you are tracking your links... right? Of course you are. How else would you measure your results? How would you know if the ads you are running are working, or they are just a waste of your valuable time?

Since you are tracking ads, your affiliate partner isn't gaining link popularity from your efforts. If you are using link tracking software hosted on your site, YOU get the link popularity.

BUT... many marketers use an online ad tracking service, and in this case the ad tracking service get the links. And once again, YOU get the headaches if they close their doors.

Fortunately the fix is nearly the same. Now you setup your redirect files to point to the ad tracker, which then links to the url you are promoting.

Keep in mind that by doing this you will also have to set it up so you can tell which ad sent the hit by creating multiple redirect files (one for each ad).

Now your ads point to:

http://www.yoururl.com/somesite/somepage.htm
http://www.yoururl.com/somesite/somepage4u.htm
http://www.yoururl.com/somesite/mysomepage.htm

You get the idea, right? Good.

You can either use a different tracking link for each one or add a key to the link in your redirect so the ad tracker can accurately measure the results of each campaign (read your ad tracker's instructions for ad key setup).

Yes, it does take a little time and effort, but it's worth it if/when the affiliate program owner OR your ad tracking service decides to pull the plug.

Total control = no wasted advertising.

This is even more important if your links are in viral ebooks and articles that can circulate for years to come.

Note: This also gives you the ability to go back and add a page to grab the visitor's contact info on the way to your partner's site. But that's another article.


About the Author

Russ Moore, Parkersburg, WV, USA
Learn more about ad tracking for affiliate marketing
As the internet's equivalent to the "Jack of all trades", Russ Moore is a net writer/publisher/techie with more than a few tricks up his sleeve. Pay him a visit for a cool, free ad tracker. http://www.WizKlix.com

Affiliate Programs – The Fast Track to Wealth

Copyright 2005 Peter Dobler

Remember the day when you made the ultimate decision to
change your life? Yes, it was the day when you decided to
start your own home business. Gosh, I remember the anxiety
when I uploaded my very first web site, waiting for
something to happen. It’s like going onto a stage and
performing in front of a large crowd.

Ok, what has this to do with affiliate programs and how to
make money with them? Not much other than this is the
primary reason why people spending money online. Emotions
are the number one selling factor, period. And newbie web
masters are loaded with emotions.

When you started your home business, did you have a product
to sell? Neither did I. That’s why affiliate programs are
perfect for startup home businesses. In a nutshell, an
affiliate sells products from somebody else and keeps a
commission from each sale. An affiliate id responsible for
all the advertising and only gets paid whenever there’s a
sale.

Take a break and think about this for a minute. Every day
there are thousands of people online, searching for
products and ideas to make money with. They know that
there’s big money to make and they are eager to get
started. When you started your home business it probably
never crossed your mind to sell your own products and to
run your own affiliate program.

If you’re in the online business for a while with mediocre
results it is time to switch sides. Why should you carry
most of the risk with your advertisement spending with less
than satisfactory sales results? Not to mention that you’re
at the mercy of somebody else’s reliability to send you
your hard earned money.

If you don’t have a product to sell, go out there and
search for products with master resale rights. This will
grant you the exclusive rights to sell the product and keep
100% of the profits. Selling the product through affiliates
doesn’t violate this, because you’re paying your affiliates
for the advertising efforts, the final sale is still made
by you.

Of course there are a million products with master resale
rights available. Choose your product wisely. You don’t
want to start an affiliate program with products that are
already over marketed and maybe available for free or as
part of a bonus package. This takes some time and research,
but it is well worth the effort.

One source is to research the public domain sector and
compile your own information product. There are numerous
publications available on this topic. Another source is to
join a membership program that sells master resale rights
products. Make sure that they offer unique products and
check their rules. Many offer a trial membership, take
advantage of this.

Once you have your product start your affiliate program.
Don’t join one of the many services that offer affiliate
program services for a monthly fee. Here’s why. Having
thousands of affiliates advertising your product is a great
thing. Having thousands of free links to your web site is
priceless.

Create as many advertising samples for your affiliates as
possible. Have these samples point to different entry
points to your web site. Banners are the worst advertising
tools, but newbie web masters love them. They are easy to
implement. What do you care, you got your free link to your
website. Make sure that you use search engine friendly
affiliate links. Affiliate links with a “?” are recognized
as such. Better are the affiliate links that look like a
directory structure. The easy way to implement this is to
use PHP as your language of choice.

Guess what will happen after a few months running your own
affiliate program from your website? Your own web site will
skyrocket in rankings on any search engine, because you got
so many links to your web site without having a link farm
on your own. This is every web masters dream. Now you have
a choice. You either aggressively promote your affiliate
program or you promote your products. Either way you win.

If you’re still skeptical, go to Google or Yahoo and search
for links pointing to your favorite affiliate program.
Simply type ‘links:’ and your affiliate program’s domain
name into the search field. Make sure you don’t have any
blanks. This will return all the websites that are linking
back to this affiliate program. Check out the number on the
right upper corner where it says ‘Results 1 – 10 of about
x’. x stands for the total number of links. Now do the same
for your website. Hmm, you got nothing? Well, that’s the
difference. I hope you see the power of this by now.

Before you go out there and slab together your own
affiliate program. Do your homework and research as much as
possible. You want to get it right the first time.

Good luck to you all,
Peter Dobler
© 2005

Peter Dobler is a 20+ year veteran in the IT business. He
is an active Real Estate Investor and a successful Internet
business owner.
Learn more about wealth building methods at
http://www.thefasttracktowealth.com


<< ------------- End of Free Reprint Article ----------- >>

Affiliate Marketing Website - How to Direct Target Traffic.

by David Cooper


The World Wide Web is an incredibly large market place, and a very tough one for any business to survive in unless you find ways to direct target traffic to your affiliate marketing website. We're going to show how to target your main audience and bring them into your affiliate marketing website with a few cyber techniques that should translate into increased sales for your business.

First, let's define the term 'target traffic'. Much like shooting an arrow into the center of a target, your target traffic is the core of your customer base, the people who are truly looking to purchase your product if only they can find your website. While many visitors may stumble upon your affiliate marketing website and pass through it, not all of them are interested in purchasing your product. Weed them out, and what you are left with is your target audience, otherwise known as your target traffic. These are your true sales prospects, so you've got to find a way to let them know you're here.

Now let's talk about search engines. Search engines such as Google and Yahoo afford internet users a way to find what they are looking for. All a potential customer has to do is type in a few key words about the topic or item they are looking for and a search engine will provide them with pages of websites that contain at least some of that search content. Once they open up a particular site, they become part of that site's target traffic.

Upon these search pages, websites will be listed from top to bottom according to how closely they match the key words typed in, and how much related content is found at their site. Since online users typically only check out the first five websites listed, you want your website up in that top five. That's basically search engine 101. Now let's examine the two main types of search engines and how they operate in order to put your company in the top five listings and increase target traffic flow into your website.

Organic Search Engines

Organic search engines operate mainly on the keyword system. The key words a potential customer types into the search bar determines what sites will be brought up for their perusal. Simple right? This type of promotion for your website is basically free, so how can you use it to your advantage and direct more target traffic to your affiliate marketing website? Enter keyword articles.

Keyword articles are written about various subjects that pertain to a common topic, with a selected target keyword or keyword phrase strategically repeated throughout a certain percentage of the article. For example, if your affiliate marketing business sells ATV's, then articles about ATV's, ATV clubs, ATV trails, and ATV accessories would provide relevant information while at the same time using the keyword 'ATV' repeatedly. Post these articles on your ATV website, and search engines will automatically bring more ATV target traffic to your door.

You can further expand your target traffic by posting your keyword articles to E-zines that focus on your field of interest, in this example the ATV sport. Readers of these online magazines are already interested in ATV's, so getting them to your website should be a breeze once they know it's there.

Further keyword article exposure can be gained by linking agreements with other websites in your field of interest. For example, you might want to agree to a little sponsorship of an ATV club's website in order to have a direct link to your own articles and sales pages. This is just one more way to reach potential customers and drive target traffic back to your website.

It really doesn't matter what you're selling, just design your articles around your product, post them on your website, and submit them to E-zines that share your target traffic in order to increase your sales.

Pay Per Click (PPC) Search Engines

Think of this type of search engine as paid advertising. You and other online companies in the same line of business will bid against each other for temporary ownership of the best keywords and keyword phrases. The highest bidder will then have target traffic sent directly to their website when the keywords are used in that search engine, but you will pay your bid price to the search engine company each time the keyword is used. This will certainly increase your target traffic, and hopefully boost your sales as well, but it also eats into your profit margin.

Which type of search engine participation is best for bringing target traffic to your website? The quick answer is either one, but it really depends on how large your operation is, how much work you really want to put into increasing your target traffic, and how much you feel you can afford to pay for it. For large online businesses, PPC search engines are quite convenient, and a large budget may more easily absorb pay per click fees.

However, organic search engines are basically free. All you need do is come up with your keyword articles and you're sure to increase your target traffic. And if you aren't sure you can write your own keyword articles, there are companies with the expertise to provide well written, inexpensive keyword articles in the proper percentages to get you ranked high in the listings without getting you thrown out for keyword over-saturation.

Either way, knowing how to use and manipulate both types of search engines is a sure way to bring target traffic to your affiliate marketing website. The rest is up to you.


Webmasters and Ezine Publishers:

Free Content for your newsletter or your website!

You are invited to use this article in your newsletter or website. The only requirement is the inclusion of the following, after the article:

David Cooper is the editor of the Affiliate Marketing Articles Newsletter. David specializes in helping people achieve affiliate marketing website success by offering real world tips and strategies. Subscribe to his FREE newsletter at: http://www.affiliatemarketingarticles.com