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I accidentally stumbled upon this thread while searching for "web statistics" in Google and I am totally fascinated about the whole concept of affiliate links.
It was one of my New Year's resolutions to make money from the web. I've been designing websites for 3 years and now I'd like to design one for myself selling something.
However, I checked out some links, refer-it.com, befree.com, and I just don't understand how it works. I thought I would see a site with hundreds of products for me to choose from to sell on my site, but they seemed like sites that help you organize affiliate links.
Some questions:
- Where do I find the products that I want to sell?
- I guess I should be thinking of a theme first, and sell products related to that theme?
- Why would people buy from me, and not from the original seller?
- Could I get some examples of sites that have affiliate links?
- Is this the sole purpose of the site - affiliate links? Or is it just a small part of the website?
- It seems like people really make money from this. Alot? A little? The more links the better?
Thanks for any input.
Risa
- I guess I should be thinking of a theme first, and sell products related to that theme?
Yep. Toupees or Trans Ams… find which one fits.
- Where do I find the products that I want to sell?
Having decided what you want to sell, or what the theme of your site is, you can either look to the networks that bring affiliates and merchants together, or you can go to your search engine of choice and search on ‘productx affiliate’ or ‘productx join affiliate’ or similar to find a merchant for the product.
- Why would people buy from me, and not from the original seller?
Because you came up ahead of the merchant in the search results for whatever keywords the buyer searched for, and then helpfully referred the buyer on to the merchant through one of your affiliate links. (They don’t usually buy from you – you just refer them on).
- Could I get some examples of sites that have affiliate links?
Nope. Not here. :) but you can go to your search engine of choice and type in ‘productx join affiliate’ to find a merchant.. look through the merchant’s site and choose a product, then type the exact product name in quotes into your search engine of choice and you should see the merchant’s affiliate sites showing up.
- Is this the sole purpose of the site - affiliate links? Or is it just a small part of the website?
Depends. There are all sorts of models – most notably ‘content’ vs ‘sales’. You need to pick what suits you.
- It seems like people really make money from this. Alot? A little?
The vast majority make very little or nothing, some make some nice supplementary pocket money, a few make a nice or very nice living, and a very few make out like bandits.
The more links the better?
If you haven’t got it down right, then no.. a few links that don’t convert become a lot of links that don’t convert.
Once you nail that secret sauce recipe, then absolutely yes.
Just to use your example - let's say I wanted to do a website about Toupees. Are these the possibilities?
- A website with content such as articles about toupees, testimonials, recommendations, reviews, a forum, expert advice, Q&A's and affiliate links to different touppee products such as glue (?), special brushes, vendors, etc.
or
- A website that sells these products only with no content, only serving as a resource pulling together only touppee related products.
When you say:
" Depends. There are all sorts of models – most notably ‘content’ vs ‘sales’. You need to pick what suits you."
Do you mean, how much time I want to put into it, or how excited I am and personally interested in the topic, or the format that is most conducive to making money?
Should I be thwarted by another site that is similar? Or should I be confident that as a web designer, and a beginner at Search Engine Optimization, that my site would rise to the top, if good.
I got out of bed at 1:30 am last night all excited to research some of my ideas, only to find that there are similar (but not pretty looking, nor interesting) sites out there.
If I want to design a site that catalogues Touppee products, should I wait until I have 20,30,40 or 100 products, or get started right away and add as I go along?
Thanks for your advice. I appreciate it.
Risa
All very good questions :) Hope I can do em justice.
- A website with content such as articles about toupees, testimonials, recommendations, reviews, a forum, expert advice, Q&A's and affiliate links to different touppee products such as glue (?), special brushes, vendors, etc.
or
- A website that sells these products only with no content, only serving as a resource pulling together only touppee related products.
You’ve just nailed content sites vs sales sites. Bear in mind that sales sites do have content though – every word or piece of text on the page is content… the product description is content, the page title is content, the alt tags on pictures are content. The trick with a sales site is to make the most of these. (incidentally – mea culpa on this one… widgets is our ‘phony product of choice’ here.. but I don’t think anyone will object if we stick with toupees for the moment.)
When you say: " Depends. There are all sorts of models – most notably ‘content’ vs ‘sales’. You need to pick what suits you." Do you mean, how much time I want to put into it, or how excited I am and personally interested in the topic, or the format that is most conducive to making money?
Both. I think some products probably do suit one format or the other better – my experience honestly isn’t broad enough to say, but I believe that there is room for both types with practically all products. Certainly for a start though, I find it easier to get going on a site that I personally have at least some level of interest or curiosity about the product – I couldn’t fathom at this point doing a content site about something that just left me cold. And of course there’s no better way to sound like a complete twit and turn your aficionado visitors off than trying to write something in depth or technical about a product you just don’t understand – stick to sales sites for those areas.
Should I be thwarted by another site that is similar? Or should I be confident that as a web designer, and a beginner at Search Engine Optimization, that my site would rise to the top, if good.
I got out of bed at 1:30 am last night all excited to research some of my ideas, only to find that there are similar (but not pretty looking, nor interesting) sites out there.
Deflating, isn’t it? You know, I was stymied for years after I read some very convincing stuff in the mid-90s that essentially said, “if you can’t bring something completely new and really valuable to the net, you’ve no right to be on it. You are a spammer and will be part of the net’s downfall.”
Bollocks. Utter balderdash. Wish I’d never read it. Took it to heart and it cost me forever. Still have to kick it out of my brain now and then.
Do you think the big burger chains think ‘ohoh.. Hungry Harry’s Homemade Hamburgers is already in that town.. there’s no point us setting up there’. Crikey no! They’re rubbing their hands together and thinking “Oh goody.. presold customers. They know what hamburgers are.”… and then they go and set up four doors down.
Find a product. Find an angle. Go for it.
As for being a beginner at SEO. Stick around and read everything you can here. You won’t be a beginner for long. Just having found this place puts you ahead of 90% of the people out there.
If I want to design a site that catalogues Touppee products, should I wait until I have 20,30,40 or 100 products, or get started right away and add as I go along?
“He who hesitates is lost”… or in internet terms, ‘last’… in the serps that is. Get started as soon as you can. A lone home page with an “under construction” sign is a no-no, but if you can get your first 10 pages together, then go for it. It takes time to get your site listed in the search engines, time to find link partners, etc, so start sooner rather than later. Some things (getting a DMOZ listing for example) need to wait until you’re more up and running, but starting with a smaller site and growing just means more fresh content for the search engines.
Or someone might buy from you simply on impulse upon seeing something interesting advertised while visiting your site for other reasons.
So it isn't always a matter of coming up first in the search engines; content sites often take a different route to making sales. First they try to lure people to the site, THEN they try to sell something. Coming up high in search results is a good thing but it isn't the only thing; the best strategy, if you can manage it, is to get people to bookmark your site and come back to it regularly.
So I've got my site, I'm ranked very well, I have decent traffic and good (and growing) content. My problem is how to incorporate the ads. I want my content to be more important than advertising because I want repeat visitors.
I've tried banners, text placement, etc. and I get a fair CTR but no conversions. Does this mean I have not targeted my ads as well as I should have?
What's the best way to present an ad if it relates to your content?
Is it feasible to set up an affiliate link with a vendor who doesn't have a program in place? Let's say I discover a product that I would like to link to from my site. Do I approach this person and try to set something up?
Risa
