In the spirit of ‘less is more’ we look at some of the digital marketing basics that every affiliate marketer needs to master. A lot of this stuff is common sense yet many still struggle with it. The increase in new technologies and channels doesn’t make our jobs any easier, but again it is better to focus your time and resources on doing a few things well than several things 50%. Getting these few things right will make a big difference to the effectiveness of your site, emails, newsletter or blog down the line and ultimately your income stream.
Your website: Your website is still the core of your campaign. It’s better to have one website than multiple. Do not fall into the “waterfall” method of development, where you have a major new website launch with 100 features. Instead, get the list of your core 10 features that a client needs to have and launch with those. Then use feedback to improve your website over time and offer information/services that are requested.
Social Media: Only start with social media that you can maintain. If your core audience is on Facebook, start on Facebook. If your core audience is on Twitter, then start on Twitter. Go where your audience is and kill it on those networks, whether it’s LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ or any other number of networks. You don’t have to sign up for several hundred networks, unless you just want to waste time or reserve your name for future use.
SEO & PPC: Select specific keywords that have high traffic volume and lower competition. Sure, you can go after competitive terms, but it may take a while. I always recommend grabbing the low-hanging fruit first. It builds traffic quickly and you can use that to pour in more resources. The same goes with PPC. Don’t start a bidding war that exhausts your budget. Instead, start with non-competitive terms to drive traffic.
Content: It’s better to focus on a few critical practice areas and write in great detail, than to write 50 pages of “light” content. Detailed content will rank higher in search and become a long term resource for your clients. If you are simply putting out simple, light content, on a variety of areas, it probably will not rank high or receive much traffic. It’s better to focus on making your newsletters great, instead of spreading yourself thin and also trying to create a podcast, videos, etc. Nail down the basics of your content and then start expanding into the harder bits.
Good luck!
The Publisher Team
