|
Back to previous page
What is Affiliate Marketing and How Do I Get Started?
by Monica Faircloth
Definition of affiliate marketing:
Affiliate marketing is taking someone else's product or service and
advertising it using your own affiliate website or link in order to make
money. The owner of the website/product/service will pay you a percentage
of each sale generated through your unique affiliate link or website.
Sounds a bit confusing, but in reality is a very simple process with a
win/win situation for all parties involved and a fun way to make money
online.
How to get started:
You have two options to consider when doing affiliate marketing, whether
to have a website or to simply advertise using your unique affiliate link.
Many affiliates will create an informational website to be used as a basis
for related affiliate links. This can be a great option, due to the fact
that you would only need to advertise one website in order to make money.
To go this route, think of something that you are passionate about or
something that is a hot topic right now. Once you have determined your
theme you need to decide on a website name. To find ideas and keywords to
be used as a URL, or domain name, I would recommend using
http://wordtracker.com/ to find appropriate popular keywords related to
your theme. It is good to use a popular keyword as your website and domain
name so that you will rank higher in search engines.
Once you have your theme and have chosen a name, you need to register your
domain name and obtain website hosting. I recommend using Yahoo for your
website hosting needs. They offer a free domain name and website builder
that does not require knowledge of html when you purchase website hosting.
They also allow you to pay monthly rather than having to pay a year in
advance which helps you save with upfront costs.
Your next step would be to build your website and fill it to the brim with
great information related to your theme. A great and easy way to do this
is to get articles from free article websites like the ones listed below:
http://www.1st-in-articles.com/
http://www.advertisingknowhow.com/
http://www.amazines.com/
http://www.articlecity.com/
http://www.articlehub.com/ http://www.articles911.com/
http://www.articletrades.com/
http://www.marketing-seek.com/
http://www.parentclicks.com/
http://www.zongoo.com/
Then, once you have a great website full of information about your theme,
your next step is to work on search engine optimization. Do a search on
Google for SEO and you will find lots of free information on how to do
this. You also need to offer a free newsletter so that you can establish
repeat visitors.
When your informational website is complete and fully optimized, submit it
to all of the major search engines. Google's "submit a URL" can be found
under "About" Google. This is the main one and the best place to start.
Yahoo charges a fee to submit your website to them so this would be
something you could do later.
Now you are ready to start adding affiliate links to your website so you
can earn money! Sign up at these free websites and find appropriate
websites to affiliate with:
http://www.linkshare.com/
http://www.cj.com/
http://www.shareasale.com/
http://www.clickbank.com/
Also, add Google Adsense to your website for added revenue. Advertise
using Pay Per Click such as Google.com/Adwords and Overture.com. Continue
to add a page of information to your website daily. The more information
you have, the higher your chances of ranking with more keywords on the
major search engines. Have fun maintaining your website and watching your
traffic...and your revenue grow! Affiliate marketing is a great way to
make money and your earning potential is almost endless. Affiliate
marketing is something you can get started doing today to earn money
online.
About the Author: Monica Faircloth is a freelance writer and work
at home mentor, as well as the owner of: http://www.themommysite.com/ and
http://www.homebasedmommy.com/ and http://www.work-online.org/
| 
