Long gone are the days of thrown together a single page web page to test a Google Adwords campaign and affiliate offer. Google dominates ‘search’ and nowhere more so than in the UK, so to be successful in affiliate marketing you need to keep the Google gods happy and create a website that ticks all the boxes.
Ill admit that i have been a lazy affiliate, so it probably took me longer than most (denial) to realize that i was going to have to work hard for my money if i was really going to be a successful internet marketer. Many people deciding on affiliate marketing as a career do not fully appreciate the effort and time successful marketers devote to their online projects. Times have changed and affiliate marketing has evolved, a single web page of below average content is no longer enough to make money online, Google especially has campaigned for this change by implementing many hurdles to regulate website quality and many penalties for those not adhering to their definition (of quality). With every change comes opportunity! If you have the drive, skills, determination and above all the correct mental attitude to learn what makes a great website you are already one step ahead of the crowd.
So what is Google looking for? They are looking for you to provide value to your reader!
Google themselves offer some insight into what they are looking for by defining four major categories that they consider when deciding an appropriate quality score for your website, these are: Relevant & Original Content, Transparency & Navigability.
Relevant and Original Content
Google wants webmasters to provide unique well written content that provides users with information that they may not be able to find on any other website. If your web page is made up of mostly ads you need to add more content.
Tansparency
Our business information
Every website or landing page must include information about the website owners summarised in an ‘About Us’page. Ths page should also contain contact information (the more the better). You should also summarise your service in an open manner.
Your site’s interaction with a visitor’s computer
This information can be added to your website by adding a basic ‘privacy policy’ explaining what information is collected from visitors to your website and how this information will be used. To write this page you may want to consider analytics tracking & cookies, also information on any downloads from your website.
Visitors’ personal information
Both Google and visitors to your website like to know how any personal information you collect will be used. This information can be included in your ‘privacy policy’ and should also include how third party advertisers (your merchants) will use customer data.
Navigation
Make sure your navigation is visitor friendly and does not include any obtrusive pop-ups or pop-unders. Also Google likes your page to load quickly, for information on how to improve this visit here. Turn to Google’s Webmaster Guidelinesfor more recommendations, which will improve your site’s performance in Google’s search results as well.
Your Landing Page Should Include The Following Pages
About Us
You should describe the purpose of your website and your service, you should also give information about the people or business operating the website.
Privacy Policy
As described above your privacy policy should include information on how you handle customer data, affiliates will need to give information on how there merchants handle this data.
Terms & Conditions
As explained in detail above, click here for further resources.
Contact Us
Even if you are an affiliate your customers want to know who you are and ow they can contact you if they need to. You should try and provide more than one way of contact and i possible provide a full postal address.
Sitemap
Your sitemap should be accessible from all pages on your website.
Consider Including The Following Pages
1. News – add newstories fromyour niche or subject.
2. Blog - editorial comments here and opinions.
3. How To or What Is Guide – pages with detailed unique content describing the product/service you are promoting and how they work.
4. FAQ’s – think of every question related to the product or service and list them here with informative answers.
5. Glossary - create an A-Z of industry specific jargon here and define it.
6. Deals/Offer pages – list any offers available from your merchants.
7. Individual product/pages - Offer other products and services related to your main product or service.
8. Submit your review – offer your users the opportunity to submit their own product/reviews.
If you create your landing page with your potential customers in mind and are not just acting as bridge between the customer and merchant you should soon have an authority site for your niche. Content is King!
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