As you know, I’m a big promoter of affiliate marketing as a way for retirees and noon-to-be retirees to earn extra cash. As you are building your affiliate marketing website, you will want to promote it to get more traffic to it, and therefore more sales. I have put together a few pointers on how to advertise your website for free, so you can get more readers, which will lead to more click-throughs, and more commissions.
Make Your SEO Bullet-Proof
When you get your website up and running, be sure you are taking full advantage of “low hanging fruit” by checking the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on your keyword search tool (mine being Jaaxy). Remember that low hanging fruit is an average of around 40, and a QSR of under 100.
The average (Avg) is the average number of searches that the keyword receives per month. The QSR (quoted search results) is the number of competing websites ranked in Google for this exact keyword. Simple math tells you that you want a somewhat higher Average but a lower QSR.
Make that keyword your post title, then use the keyword again in the first or second paragraph of you content. Using this method on every post will get you indexed and ranked regularly.
Set up Email Marketing
WordPress has several good email marketing plugins that make sending out a news letter very easy. MailChimp is one of the most popular. They have several reasonably priced packages for scaling your business, including a free package for those of us just starting out. It’s basically a CRM (Customer Relations Management) tool that will help you keep track of your readers, their profiles, and their contact information.
Start a Blog
A blog (a truncation of “weblog”) is a discussion or informational website published on the Internet consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page. This is from Wikipedia.
My websites are basically already blogs, because the subjects (or niches) are such that I want my posts to tell a story. Other types of websites, such as product reviews or sales websites, may or may not include a blog. It’s a great idea to include a blog that you add to on a regular basis, because an audience will remain captive if you are constantly adding new material for them to digest.
Consider Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is a method used by the owners of blogs to increase traffic to their sites. Guest bloggers offer to write content for other, similar blogs in their industry as guest bloggers. In exchange, they receive links to their own blogs and an opportunity to promote their own names and blogs in their chosen industries.
You can guest blog for others’ websites, or invite others to blog for you on your site. The advantage is that you will have more eyes on your content and your website. But choose your guest blogger wisely. It must be someone you can trust that is willing the share the lime light with you, rather than steal it from you once your site goes viral.
Take Advantage of Social Media
Posting notifications of new website content on social media is a great way to get traffic to your site. It’s best to choose a few of the popular platforms and post regularly to them. I post my website updates to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Linkedin. Also, I post to my discussion forum on YouTube (which is under Google control), because it makes sense to put my content out there where Google will see it and be more likely to index and rank it.
Be careful though. Social media is a great tool, but it can suck you in and become a giant productivity killer. Be sure to put a time limit (and set an alarm) for your interaction on social media. Remember your goal is to post content, and spending too much time of social media won’t get you more content.
Submit Your Site to Online Directories
Website directories used to be the big thing for getting traffic to your site. However, now that SEO has become the standard, site directories aren’t as significant anymore. But they still play an important role for advertising your site, especially if you want to cater to local customers. Here are a few sites to register with:
- Yelp
- Better Business Bureau
- BOTW (Best Of The Web)
- Blogorama
- Chamber of Commerce
- Google My Business
- Bing Places
- Yahoo
Post on Forums
It’s a great idea to follow and post to forums that promote similar interests to your niche. Becoming a regular poster on these forums helps lend credibility to your authority on your subject matter. I just Googled my first niche, Plus Size Clothing and added “+ forums” and got several pages of forums about plus size clothing. A few years ago, I was a member of a forum on another subject, and it’s true! The more you post, the more name recognition you get, and the more you are recognized as knowing your stuff.
Your Signature is Your Bumper Sticker
Your email signature is basically an online bumper sticker, in that people are going to see it whether they care to or not. This, however, can very much be a good thing for you and your website. Make sure that at the bottom of any email that you send out (regardless to who) you place your business logo, links to your social accounts and website, plus any other contact information. This is a great online promo that can be set up to happen automatically within your email server and will definitely get your name out there.
Focus on Quality
Attention to detail, and a “quality over quantity” attitude can go a long way in promoting your website and your brand. Good grammar, correct spelling, and perfectly placed punctuation add an air of authority to anything your write. However, don’t let perfection paralyze your forward motion. Make sure it’s correct but don’t keep going over and over it and wasting your time to get it perfect. The goal is to get good quality content posted. Being too concerned with perfection might slow you down. Do your best and find a balance between “perfect” and “good enough”.
My Pitch For Wealthy Affiliate
You can put all the skills I mentioned above into your affiliate marketing blog, and learn many more skills for creating and maintaining your website. And of course the best place to learn affiliate marketing is at Wealthy Affiliate. See my review and other articles by clicking below.
Common Wealthy Affiliate Complaints
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In Conclusion:
As you can see, advertising and getting more traffic to your website doesn’t have to be hard. Follow the tips above, and you will get more clicks and more sales. Do this, and hone your marketing skills at Wealthy Affiliate, and you will have a successful affiliate marketing site up before you know it.
Please put your comments and questions below, and thank you for reading!
references:
https://www.wix.com/blog/2018/06/promote-website-free/
https://serpstat.com/blog/50-free-places-to-promote-your-website/
https://online4freedom.com/how-to-advertise-my-business-online-for-free/
https://themegrill.com/blog/wordpress-email-marketing-plugins/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-guest-blogging-3476279
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/web-directories-list/287799/#close
The essence of quality can never be overemphasized and I can boldly say that all of the information on here are top notch and spot on. First, the area I think I need to work on more is social media. I already get the concept of SEO and how to use it coupled with the use of email marketing but I dont use social media as much as the potential it holds. Thanks for giving me more insights to it and I’d surely make sure to exploit it henceforth. Thumbs up on this post and it is very helpful
Hi Shelley, thank you for visiting my website. I had to learn new social media skills when I first started my affiliate marketing sites. I was just a grandma on Facebook. Had to learn about Instagram and twitter! I am glad that the information helped you in some way. Thank you again for reading and commenting. Rhonda
Wow, this are really good tips on how to run your website. Not just run it but to get the site out there because if people do not see the website than it is of no essence and the contents created on the website is nothing but just a waste of time. I like how you have segmented this starting from the most important which is the search engines. I believe that so I’ll media can also be a good way to advertise your website. Nice one here!
Hello John! Thank you for reading and commenting on my post. I did want to put SEO first and foremost, because it is the most important. Thanks for noticing that. And you are correct. If you don’t get traffic to your site, what good is all the work you put in if nobody reads it? I am glad you see the importance in this. Thanks again for visiting and come back soon! Rhonda
Hello Rhonda, thanks for sharing this wonderful post. There are lots of people who are into the online world and have no idea on how to get their website out so people can know about it. And as we all know, as an affiliate marketer, we need our page to be visited to help us get some money in the affiliate market. Lookinhg at these steps you have given, I’m fully convinced if followed properly, one would get lots of people aware of their site. Best regards.
Hi Dane and thanks for reading my post. You are certainly right about people not knowing how to generate website traffic. I was one of them. I am sure learning a lot by researching and writing these articles, and I learned a few things myself while doing it. It is my hope that I’m reaching grandparents like me that want to earn extra money for their grandchildren, and helping them learn how to do affiliate marketing. Doing all I can to achieve that goal. Thanks again for your comments! Rhonda
Hi Rhonda. I have to admit that the title of your website really caught my attention. My wife and I have been grandparents for some time now and both of us are always looking for ways to make some extra income from the comfort of our own home. Your blog title was also very interesting.\ Whenever anyone offers something for free we are immediately interested in having a good look. You have really packed in a lot of information on your article. Blogging certainly is a fantastic way to create an online income, and you have mentioned all the requirements to do this correctly, from email marketing to social media and adding yourself to forums. Its fascinating stuff. Thank you. Jim
Hello Jim! I am so happy you looked around my website and found it interesting and useful. We grandparents need to stick together and help each other out, because it’s a pretty daunting world out there for us. Affiliate marketing truly is fascinating stuff, and I’m learning more everyday with each new post. I hope to see you again, Jim, out there in to Bloggosphere! Thanks again for your comments! Rhonda
What can be as sweet as advertising that content that you have written to people who are interested in it. This part is one of my best when it comes to searchi for conversion. I think you have written this so well with everything that has to do with websites. Some of this steps I make use of for my own website and some I don’t but I will give those I don’t use a try myself. Thank you for sharing here.
Hello again Henderson. Thanks for visiting my website again. I am so happy that you got something useful from what I have written. And it is really sweet to see your content reach and engage people! I feel like I have a lot to say, and these advertising tools help me to be heard. I love this work! Thanks again for your continued support in my posts! Rhonda
Thank you for your post. It is a valuable article for me. I started online business for a while now and am actively promoting my site, but the outcome is not good as expected.
You article gives nice suggestions on how to attract visitors to websites. Email marketing is one of the biggest setback. I used MailChimp for my list building-up. Unfortunately, my account was shut down since I promoted affiliate products using MailChimp and based on terms of service it is not allowed to promote affiliate products using the system. It was painful but I learn something and now I use trafficwavedotnet since it permits affiliate marketing promotion and also the price is reasonable with unlimited email lists.
It is kind of you sharing the useful tips.
Anthony, thank you so much for that information on MailChimp. I have not done any email marketing myself, just really learned about it when I researched this article. I will certainly look into trafficewavedotnet to see what they offer. And hey, maybe I can write an article about that too. Anyway, thank you for commenting, and thanks again for the info. Rhonda
For some of us from the pre-digital age, the computer can be quite daunting.It is however a reality of the world and reading your article gives us renewed hope and encouragement to take the plunge into the unknown. Now more than ever we can still make an earn well into our twilight years with out the back breaking and laborious jobs on offer for citizens who have already dedicated their lives to providing for their families and themselves.
I love how you have layed out an opportunity to work from home on a computer. It sounds almost too good to be true. What an opportunity for us to leave a legacy and impart some wisdom on the world. You’ve even suggested an avenue to explore with great reference to tools and platforms. Im excited about the future and being able to devote some spare time to a new project.
Hello Sam, thank you so much for your sentiments. You write beautifully, and I loved what you have written in your comments to my website. Yes, I am a child of that pre-digital age, but have been lucky enough to learn as I go. Not all people my age have had that opportunity. I hope I can shed some light for those who are just starting to use a computer, and know that even though it’s hard work, it’s rewarding work and a lot of fun besides. I too am coming into retirement with this new skill and am really excited to share what I have learned. Thanks again for reading and commenting. I really appreciate it! Rhonda
This article is really a life saver, I’ve been looking out for stuffs to read on how to generate traffic to my affiliate marketing website, but its not been really nice lately. I started training when I joined Wealthy Affiliate, now I have idea of how to advertise my website, also with this article, I now have additional information and knowledge of how to get my website out to the populace. Thanks for sharing this article, its ready helpful.
Hello Jones, and thank you for visiting my website. I am glad you got some help from my post. Good luck at Wealthy Affiliate(I can’t say enough good things about WA!) I hope you do well with your website, and I’m happy to help. Thanks again for your comments. Rhonda
As one who operates a few websites this type of information is always valuable to me, and I think people will really find great value in it. I’ve used Jaaxy before and I can highly recommend it. Readers who are looking to enhance their SEO game would do very well to click your link and see what it’s all about. Email marketing can be a powerful tool to expand your reach and I appreciate you referencing MailChimp. I’ve heard a little bit out MailChimp but haven’t had a chance to look into it, so I will definitely follow your link here. I really like your online directory references. These are places that can easily be overlooked so a reminder is excellent. I found lots of useful information here and I will save your post for what I have some more time to look at your links each thoroughly, thank you!
Hello and thank you so much for your comments. As I was researching this article, I too learned a lot about email marketing and directories. And I’m a big fan of Jaaxy! Couldn’t live without it! Thanks again for reading and commenting, and I will look for your future visits! Rhonda