The death knell for affiliate marketing websites and blogs has been ringing for the better part of 10 years. And, yet, here we are still with people making plenty of money from affiliate marketing sites. Nobody is challenging the fact that the landscape has changed dramatically over the last several years. But, is the practice dead? Can you still make money as an affiliate marketer?
The simple answer, of course, is yes. You can still make money doing affiliate sites. The more complex answer is that you can’t continue making money by doing things the way you did five years ago. Even what you were doing last year won’t work.
Let’s take a look at how the state of affiliate marketing is looking and how things seem to be going.
Technical SEO is more important than ever
Every single aspect of building a site that is going to bring in traffic to buy products that you recommend is as important as ever. With technical SEO topping the list.
Google is now using more user experience metrics to determine how to rank a website. For example, just last week Google released some information on new parameters on page speed and how important it is for ranking a site.
Previously, you could skate by doing a few tweaks here and there, but now if you don’t have much technical know-how, your site will probably not rank. You’ll need a professional like The Ian Scott Group to get your site speed and UX in better shape to actually rank.
EAT is not a diet
Expertise, Authority, and Trust. Being an authority on a topic has always been important, but before you could learn as you went. These days, Google is looking into metrics that can show an actual expertise on a subject.
You’ll need to have a reputation online in many areas. A social media presence with lots of followers and, more importantly, lots of comments and shares. Also, a Youtube channel with good ranking, a podcast, and even mentions on other sites within your niche is more important than ever. Google wants to be sure that you are an actual expert and not somebody just rehashing what is already online.
Find the right network
Amazon has sent up a warning flare that things are headed for massive changes. In the middle of a pandemic and quarantine when half the world was shopping online, they cut their commission rates dramatically.
Is this the end of the cuts? Not likely.
What will probably happen is that Amazon will cut the commission rates for their partners even further in the not so distant future. If you want to continue to make money as an affiliate marketer, then now is the time to find some other networks or programs to join.
If there is a main product that your site is centered around then there could be an opportunity to work directly with the manufacturer to pay a commission that is higher than Amazon and with longer cookies anyway.
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