Learning how to grab those extra affiliate sales and earn extra money is very important for bloggers to master. You cannot simply sit calmly, watching a sales page lose sales gradually with age, without jumping up and taking action! I simply ignore how old and actual article is and if I see potential, I go for it!
Often webmasters are too caught up in creating new content and promoting that, neglecting the true money spinners, the old established posts. I am not saying you should not create fresh content, I am just letting you know that you can earn extra money from the pages that are showing you they have potential.
Please note that this is a private post sent to my subscribers only. If you found this in Google search, please let me know what search string you used so I can optimize for that!
First Tips to Note
- Always check the landing page for your affiliate link code. Is it landing on a page with more information or a direct shopping cart?
- Make a custom affiliate link if possible. Clickbank allows this and many other affiliate sites do too. This is how I know I made 6 sales from this one link.
- Don’t be an obvious seller like a used car salesman. I hate cheesy sales people and so does most of your website visitors.
Example of How to Earn Extra Money
It is far easy to optimize an established post that has statistics to show than it is to do this with each new fresh post. Knowing the stats give you an insiders view which will actually tell you how to optimize your post for even more traffic and sales.
OK so lets work on this theory. People visiting this page accidentally are not generally the buyers. Therefore I am looking for targeted keywords to focus on.
In the video below you will see the actual post I have researched here.
Earn Extra Money with Extra Affiliate Sales – Video Tutorial
In this video I am using a real article I wrote about an eCommerce WordPress theme.
How to Find the Keywords That ARE Bringing the Visitors
1. Go to Google Analytics for your website.
2. Click on the CONTENT menu in the left sidebar. Then click on pages. See the screenshot below.
3. Find the page you want to investigate. I usually press CTRL and F on the keyboard so I can type in what I want to search for on the page. Just remember it might be on the next page.
4. When you find the page or post click on it. You will be taken to its details page.
5. Next to the “Secondary dimension:” click on the drop down arrow. As shown in screenshot below.
6. Now choose Traffic Sources from the drop down list.
7. Then choose keywords from that list.
8. Now you can see the keywords that brought people to this exact page.
I found that this page had very high competition but I was ranking for some longtail keywords that is the gold I was looking for. There are four keywords there so now I will use this to my advantage.
Now I will use Scribe to optimize for those keywords I have discovered. The keywords that do not relate directly to my article are not included in this optimization.
Here is a video showing how I use Scribe. You can get all this information yourself if you like. You can also find more info on another article I wrote about how to dominate Google search results.
Earn Extra Money - Tips Shown in The Video
- Research your keywords. Minimum of 200 [exact matches] in Google keyword tool.
- Write an original and interesting review adding your point of view.
- Have an affiliate link in the first or second line of your article.
- Make all pictures link to the affiliate site.
- Make tracking unique links so you can tell where the sales are coming from.
- Promote each post when you publish it. Give the new post a fighting chance.
- When you discover a page is making sales, optimize it to its full potential.
- Use my top SEO tools to get the most traffic for your target keywords.
- Study any affiliate marketing tips you can!
Lets Go Deeper to Earn Extra Money
- Lets promote this article once or twice a month with article marketing.
- Lets update the article to keep it current.
- Lets continue to backlink to it once a month. (Internal links on new posts)
- Continually check out the competition to see if your article is still got the best info.
- When the post gets old create another that will do a similar job and link to it in the first few sentences of the old post.
Provide the best information you can, be honest and helpful, include relevant text links to your affiliate program within your great content and you’ll make a lot more sales. Then when you know a page or post is working…OPTIMIZE IT!
How do you grab those extra affiliate sales?
Related posts:
Random Posts
This post was written by...
mitz – who has written 190 posts on Wordpress Website builder.
I am addicted to internet marketing and making money online. Who wouldn't want to live that life? I started out with one website as a hobby and now have over 20. Come and join in the fun and share your knowledge about building Wordpress Websites. If you are interested in guest posting for this website click here to see more details.
Dennis Marshall (11)
Dennis (4)
Becca (2)
Brenda Macalino (2)
David (2)
Jeremy (2)
Julie (2)
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
@ Katie Woodard:
I never used the affiliate marketing but reading these articles and comments like yours, I want to start early.
PS. sorry, but reply function didn’t work on my browser.
Well Mitz, I’ve now read several of your articles you have on Wordpress Website Builder and I must admit they have all been first rate. This post on how to grab those extra affiliate sales and earn extra money is certainly no exception. Thanks for all of your helpful information.
Ellie
Ellie recently posted..Prevent Anxiety Attacks
Thanks Elllie! Glad you are enjoying my articles!
mitz recently posted..Content Is Not The Only King Of WordPress Website Building!
Affiliate marketing is definitely a great way to make money online. My blog is a Hip Hop music site where I just put up the latest music and videos and such, and just on the side I have affiliate ads, so I am able to do what I love and make money from affiliates. It is so simple.
Katie Woodard recently posted..Lil Wayne – That’s What They Call Me – Download
I’ve been looking for a good e-commerce site for some time now that’s a clean design and easy to use to sell t-shirts. Still can’t find it. This is a great resource for bloggers looking to make some extra $, though!
Chris recently posted..Where To Find Owner Financed Homes Austin
I haven’t have a comment for quite time. Hmmm… There are a lot of way to increase or earn extra money. As affiliated links works to increase the profit, I may also suggest PPC banner ads. I think this is effective too! What do you think Mitz?
Juphet Mislang recently posted..Six-Point Priority Site Audit For Large Websites on a Post Panda Update
Well I studied PPC and was doing it for a while but I felt the whole process drained my brain. IT was too much to think about for me. I hate maths. Yes I made money but I can do that with free traffic from SEO. I would have been making money but I definitely would not enjoy it.
Yeah, in PPC you have to be good in math. a lot of numbers are involved here.
Juphet Mislang recently posted..Six-Point Priority Site Audit For Large Websites on a Post Panda Update
Yes I hate maths and bookkeeping!:)
Now that Analytics is changing their format, I need all the tips like this I can get. Great information.
Clara recently posted..Depression and Nutrition
Hi Mitz -
I have to say, I think your posts are absolute gold. A couple of weeks ago, I started tuning a few of my blog posts per your suggestions in another thread – and my overall site has seen a ~30-40% increase in traffic. I have much more tuning to do on many other posts: but clear and tangible impact. Having just read the above and watched your videos — I also just signed-up to follow you on Twitter and enabled Feedburner delivery. As soon as I followed/subscribed, you sent me customized automated responses; I didn’t even know that could be done. I now have two more things to add to my to-do list! (The list getting so BIG.) Just wanted to thank you publicly for what you’re doing here – outstanding material. Still looking for that first affiliate sale, but I know I’m heading down the right track. Thanks again!
Mark
Mark Russo recently posted..Hall and Stairway Trim Work – Low Maintenance Shadow Boxes
Thanks very much Mark! I really appreciate your feedback and I am very glad your are an action taker. Your website is looking great. I think you have an eye for design as nothing looks out of place! I have looked at the links in your latest posts and I am very impressed at how you have placed everything. You have added in a decent amount of affiliate and internal links without looking over doing it. Everything looks like it is meant to be there. Great job!
Affiliate links is another ways to increase sales. Just one quick question, is it okay to add affiliate link even you blog is free. I mean one of my blog is still a subdomain, it still has wordpress.com. Will I earn extra bucks with it? Thanks
You will have to check out Wordpress.com’s rules as sometimes if you do the wrong thing they can close your blog. You can add links in a blogger blog and on your own hosted Wordpress blog. But any-time you are using free services you should always check your terms and conditions.
Mitz what are your thoughts on your SEOpressor after Panda? Do you still see it as efficient for ranking for keywords? I deactivated it on my blog…
Dennis recently posted..9 Things You Can Get Done For 5 Bucks That Will Greatly Help Your Blog, Online Business & Brand
Yes it still works for me.It is the only plugin that will show the ratings in my face and make me feel bad if I put something out with low scores. I have other plugins too..Scribe, Yoast, etc… Whatever I am doing is working great.. My traffic climbs higher everyday!
All these will only help you spread the word about your great content. I absolutely never listen to others when they say something does not work because you really do not know how they are using it. For example, people say article marketing is dead.. I say bull.. I submitted an article yesterday to Ezine.
Mos of the time we talk about how a website is ‘not doing enough’ to grab affiliate sales. However I remember one of my first websites, i was actually doing too much. Not only was I trying to get people to click on my affiliate link but I would have an optin-form in the sidebar and at the end of the post, plus a bit of adsense!!
I was giving the visitor too much to think about, resulting in them taking no action what-so-ever. After taking out the optin forms and removing the adsense blocks, my sales nearly doubled.
Great info!
Chris
Yes I think we all start out like that… I remember doing that too!
Great information Mitz!
It’s a bit like the 80/20 rule. If you analyze what is actually working or has potential on your site, you can maximize it.
When I checked my pages The most popular source was “(not set)” do you know what that means?
Danny recently posted..(Pole)Chainsaw 101, Everything you need to know to buy, use and do maintenance like a pro!
Well there is “not set” and “not provided” and it is annoying. This is why people are going for other stat providers. I am not sure what it stands for..It could be odd longtail keywords or something… It is nice when you get some keywords set in stone.
I am not much for the 80/20 rule and I hate that this exists. I am going for better percentages.
I wouldn’t mind “not set” or “not provided” if it is just somewhere in the middle, but when it’s the most popular it would be nice to know what got those people there.
But yeah it could also be several different sources that couldn’t be recognized and put together, so not that important.
LoL you want better percentages? Isn’t that why we got the 80/20 rule? You see 80% of your income coming from 20% of your clients/work, then you drop the other 80% and try to expand the 20% group.
Many books and “gurus” (bah I hate that word) that try to enhance productivity use the 80/20 rule, but just call it different. Last thing I read was about someone dividing the work he does into $10,$100 and $1000 an hour jobs. And then outsourcing or dropping the $10 an hour first etc. etc. I think it’s usefull. But if everybody was thinking like that then fb would probably be not that crowded during work time
Danny recently posted..(Pole)Chainsaw 101, Everything you need to know to buy, use and do maintenance like a pro!
I am definitely dropping the easier jobs but the best ones to drop are the expensive ones…Then you can recreate that job over and over…and make more money from less work.. I do not like the 80/20 rule because it is a rule!!!
There is so much great content in this post. I find that I keep bookmarking all your posts. AND I do go back and reread everything until I understand and am applying whatever I can at the time. As I get more and more into this, I can see how everything that you explain applies to me sooner or later. Your sites are truly great resources for me. For that, I thank you.
Take care,
Donna
No problems Donna I love to hear that I am helping people.. I know how hard it is to figure details out and why not take a shortcut and learn by others mistakes.
Hi Jan
I think the site will look completely different because you will have different pictures for starters. Also there are so many other options to adjust it is sure to look unique.
When you ask about alternate blog layout…I hove found this crucial for eCommerce and mini niche sites. For example I would always be adding fresh content to my mini sites in the background even though everyone would be coming in on the landing page. (sales page)
This gets you higher up in Google for a lot of keywords which can mean more sales.
mitz recently posted..7 Good Reasons Why Your Blog is Not Making Money
Hi Mitz
I actually had a really good look at all of the themes in Elegant themes and found three that would be great for my proposed sites – but not boutique. So when I am ready to do my next site which should be very, very shortly if I can get myself organised I am definitely going to subscribe!
jan recently posted..Blue berries and other superfoods
Hi Mitz – how timely I have been looking for an e commerce theme for a few weeks so I think I have found one, what excellent timing. In your post about it your say that it has an alternate blog layout which allows you to run a separate blog to add content to – does that mean you can put posts on the site as well as sales pages and can you mix the two? I want to do a sales site but want to add in some personal stuff as well as write some information articles. Also can you change the site a lot to make it quite different to other sites or will it look like the picture?
Scribe looks absolutely awesome – so will put that on my future wish list, it’s like SEOPressor on steroids!
Also thanks for the information on Google Analytics – I will now be able to find my keywords easily!
jan recently posted..Kindle vs iPad 2 comparison