Affiliate Marketing Guide

This short guide will discuss ten proven steps to become an affiliate marketer. There are literally thousands of affiliate marketing programs, products and sources to choose from. The overwhelming amount of information and misinformation can become disorientating and lead to a start heading in the direction of failure. These ten steps will be used as affiliate marketing guide to a successful start in the process of internet marketing.Step 1: Finding your niche?The general definition of a niche is a specific target/area in any given market. Your job is to write down a list of things you have preferably have knowledge in. A example could be fitness and fitness products. Such as exercise equipment or some type of herbal supplement. The idea is to find your personal interest and what you have good knowledge in. Something that you could think, read, talk and write about all day. With the endless amount of products and services out in the world today the list endless. Write down five niches on a piece of paper.Step 2: Obtaining the right affiliate marketing programs.Affiliate programs are all over the internet. Companies start affiliate programs so that you can bring in business. In turn for bringing in buying customers you earn a percentage of the purchase. Plus the major advantage of the companies getting large amount of product promotions and advertising. Take each one of your niches and type them in a search engine such as Google or Yahoo. Then start checking out the different websites/companies dealing with your niches. When you are on a website look for as “affiliate” link on the website. Make sure to read through the terms, conditions and the amount you are being paid for the product. A great tip and rule of thumb to follow look for companies offering 40-50% payout. This was you insure your work and through out the process is worth your while.Step 3: Advertising methods and publication of productsEach affiliate program will most likely offer your promotional materials and guides. From pre-built websites, new letters and even freebies to offer the customer to help aid with their decision of their purchase. The next part of applying these materials given is only part of the process. We will discuss this later throughout the steps given.Step 4: Quality of your contentQuality of the content you build to help your customers decide. From blogs, forums and websites you will be writing, designing and promotion quality content. People have not care for someone only trying to advertise to them. They are research, seeking and making a decision on buying a product. Your job is to promote/design quality written articles/websites. No worries if you are not a website/html guru because you do not need to be. There a ton websites allowing you to sign up for free. Giving you access to blogs, forums and website template/designs which take you through a step by step process. The whole idea is to take your time when writing up descriptions of what you are marketing.Step 5: Your affiliate links plus contentWhen you design your websites, blogs, forums and articles on the internet you will need to implement advertising of the products. This comes from banners and links. Each company will give you your own personal id. This id will be listed in your affiliate link which insures for you to get a sale. Through out your articles you will post/publish your affiliate links and banners on your sites. Do not over do this process! Your are simply offering the buyer a solution and resolution in their decision process to buy. Posting links through out your pages will end up becoming spam. Plus the search engines will pick up on this and give you a poor rank and most likely stamp you with the label of a spam site. Be professional and tasteful with your links and banners. Remember this is about quality not quantity. Quantity of quality will lead to your success.Step 6: Keywords/Targeted trafficKey words are the bread and butter to your marketing venture. Without the picking and choosing the right keywords you are endangering of not getting traffic. Even if you get traffic you want quality traffic and that would be customers looking to buy the product you are promoting. http://adwords.google.com this is Google key word tool/link which will allow you to pick/choose the proper keywords for your affiliate products.Step 7: The keyword process”lower blood pressure” this is a keyword that seems to be popular. So when you type this in the keyword tool it will give you a break down. The breakdown will show this search and similar key word searches people are using. The goal is to pick a keyword that is getting estimated total of 5000 searches and nothing over this. The reason you want only 5000 searches or less because you will have an easier time of getting a good rank. A good rank in the search engines will allow traffic coming to your site. Some keywords will show hundred of thousands of searches and this means to much competition. Remember do not short keywords such a “blood pressure” because the amount of searches on this is for research. A person typing in “herbs to lower blood pressure” this would be someone interested in finding a product. Your job would be to pull a list of 3-5 keywords dealing with your niche.Step 8: Getting indexed/listed in the Search enginesYour keywords will lead to your sites getting found in the search engines. When you writing your articles/descriptions on your websites you will implement your keyword in them. A rule of thumb is to title your website/articles with a chosen keyword. Then through out writing your articles implement your keyword phrases in them. Do not over do this staying within 2-3% of listing keywords on your sites. This will keep you from getting listed as spam within the search engines. It will also lead to you getting a higher ranking in the search engines.Step 9: Keeping updated and maintainedYour websites must be kept in good working condition. Your information needs to be up to date. No broken links, banners or errors should be found on your the websites. The information you first listed could of changed and there might be new information on the product. Keep up with your sites and check on them from time to time. This will ensure you are generate quality content.Step 10: Determination and DedicationAffiliate marketing is about being determine and dedicated. This is not an over night process nor will these steps lead you to the gold. This is a general affiliate marketing guide and something to follow throughout your learning process. You need to stay educated and learn from the right sources. To become an affiliate marketer you really need to stay focused. There will be times you will get angry, upset and stressed. Stay focused with your intentions, goals and practice make perfect. Most important educate yourself from the rights sources. A marketer does his/her research and takes the rights steps to his/her success. I wish you the best of success and hope to see you obtain your dream/passion of bringing in wealth, happiness and prosperity.