Improving Affiliate Program
Performance
Ok, you've joined some affiliate
programs. You've added valuable content to your site. Your getting some decent traffic
(but, don't stop promoting!). You've added links on your site to the affiliate vendors.
Yet, when you check your daily stats on each of the programs, you keep seeing a paltry few
dollars in the commission column. If this sounds like a common occurrence, than this
article is for you.
Many webmasters and netreprenuers
make the mistake of simply adding an affiliate program's banner ad or button to their site
and expecting the money to begin flowing in easily. Perhaps if your site received
thousands of daily visitors this may work, because then it is simply a numbers game. Even
if 1/10th of 1% of your visitors clicked-through and purchased something, you would be
receiving daily commissions. However, most sites don't receive that level of traffic,
making it important to be able to increase the probability that your visitors participate
in one of the affiliate programs you host.
There are several simple methods
you can use to help improve the response you receive from the affiliate programs you host.
The most important are:
1- Target your audience
I have said this before, and I am
sure I will repeat it again. Targeting the affiliate programs you host to your site's
audience is THE most important factor in determining your success. Only through targeting
will you be able to receive respectable levels of success. If you are promoting products
and services that fit in closely with your visitor's interests and wants, you stand a good
chance to be able to succeed. If, on the other hand, very few of your visitors are
interested in the product, you will find it very difficult to sell or promote, even if it
is a great, high-commission affiliate program.
Virtualis web
hosting, as good as that affiliate program is. Better choices
would be books and CDs (teenage consumables), clothing (obviously--if
it fits their style), and a program such as Magazines.com,
which would allow you to offer free trials of magazines they might
be interested in.
It seems that the concept of
targeting audiences is strictly followed in the offline world, but regretfully, often
seems to be overlooked on the Internet. So, before joining and promoting a program, ask
yourself a few simple questions. Will your site's visitors be interested in this
product/service, will it help them or fulfill a need, and will they be willing to spend
money to receive that help?
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