Archive for August, 2006
My “Pay-Per-Free Account For Video Sites” Affiliate Program Idea Stolen…
Posted by Anik Singal in Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Programs Thursday, 31 August 2006 01:55 4 Comments
Ok…well, not really stolen, but I had this idea a few months back and thought it was neat and then I moved on. I guess I’m not the only “genius” who can think up simple affiliate program business models, because someone is actually doing it now…
The idea was a way for these new “user generated Web 2.0 video sites” to maybe have a chance at competing with YouTube.com (the absolute dominating “Google” of videos). A friend recently took a position as a COO of a company that thinks they have solved the major “business and revenue generation issues” that YouTube has and can launch and be far more successful.
So, I got to think about the best way he could market that site with a bang and of course my mind drifted to my favorite form of marketing – AFFILIATE marketing. But, since these types of sites are ad-revenue based, how can you have an affiliate program?
That was when I thought about Ebay’s program – when they launched they were offering something like $5.00 per free account! So, maybe these video sites can’t afford that much, but less – they have a chance at being the only “free user generated web 2.0 video company” with an affiliate program…
Anyways, I just read a post at TechCrunch.com about a company called Guba.com that is offering $.25 for every free account you send them.
My only argument here is that TechCrunch called this a “gamble” – I don’t know, $.25 to get a member doesn’t sound much like a trip to Vegas – I am 100% positive that they spend more than that per new user in their CPM deals…
What about you? You think it’s a gamble?
Is Keyword Density Still Important?
Posted by AC Editorial Team in Affiliate Marketing, Keyword Research Wednesday, 30 August 2006 18:16 4 Comments
Many years ago, before Google was important (can you remember back that far?), it was thought that the more keywords you had on a page, the better your search engine ranking would be.
That’s not the case anymore.
Because search engines can not check every page of a site, and developers get tired of spammers hiding keywords in the background (or in tiny print, or any other Black Hat way they could use to get rated high), keyword density became less important.
Keyword “positioning”, however, is very important.
Keyword positioning is placing the keywords in the title tags and header tags, as well as making sure they are related to your website’s main theme or niche. This is now far more important than how many keywords you have on the entire page.
Many of the website builder software on the market today know about this new rule. They usually design the software so you will have a way to check your positioning (or the program will tell you what it is). Here are some general guidelines to follow when you are building your pages:
- Your main keyword phrase should appear at least once in the page title or in the website title.
- The keyword should appear at least once in your page description.
- The total number of keywords should be less than 20 (on any single page).
- The keyword should appear at least once in the headings on your page, and at least once in the alt text of images on your page (which means you should give any images you are using names that use your keyword).
- Have keyword density of at least 1% on the top third of your body.
- Have keyword density of at least 0.5% in the body text as a whole.
- The total number of words in the body should be greater than 500.
Notice that it doesn’t matter anymore if you have a keyword list in your “keyword meta tag.” That went away last year sometime.
So, for now, it’s better if you concentrate on:
1) giving readers good, useful, quality content;
2) pay attention to keyword positioning, and…
3) make sure your keywords are relevant to your website’s theme.
What Color Is Your (SEO) Hat?
Posted by Jeffrey Perren, AC Magazine in Affiliate Classroom Magazine, Affiliate Marketing, SEO Friday, 25 August 2006 13:12 1 Comment
Get ready to pull off the saddle and take a break from your busy schedule. When you head out to the lake you’re going to want to take the August issue of Affiliate Classroom magazine with you.
Whether you favor Black Hat or White Hat, or something in between, find out how to keep your site safe and ranking high. We’ve got a full review of the latest techniques and show you how to keep your website from getting penalized and keeping it up on the SERPs.
We tell you the difference between White Hat and Black Hat, weighing the pros and cons of each.
Evelyn Grazini explains what Black Hat SEO is all about, and shows you how to keep from getting banned.
Brad Callen, a master of the subject, gives 5 Tips for SEO success. (And five from Brad is worth fifty from just about anyone else!)
And, as a special treat, read the highlights of the Affiliate Summit East, 2006. If you didn’t go, you’ll want to next time after finding out who was there and what they said. (Lots of links to video of the conference!)
So, hang up your spurs. You’ve got some readin’ ahead.
Should We Stop The Long Sales Letter Madness?
Posted by Anik Singal in Affiliate Marketing, Content Creation Friday, 25 August 2006 02:05 5 Comments
Over the last weeks I have been getting more and more tired of long sales copies. As a matter of fact, all the products that Affiliate Classroom sells are planned for a complete site re-do that involve no long sales copy.
Since I started online, I have seen nothing but long sales copies and so that is just what I started doing as well. Then, a few months back I sat down and thought about the things I buy and when I really read the sales letters…
I realized that I almost NEVER read the sales letter, as a matter of fact – it’s gotten so bad that when I want to find the price of what I’m buying I have to do a “CTRL + F” on my keyboard and SEARCH for the $ symbol.
But then that doesn’t work that great either! Why? Cuz of all those crazy “bonus value ‘oober goober’ stuff…”
I was so happy to see this posting by James D. Brausch titled “Long Copy Sucks And Other Heresies”
James makes mentions of various tests he did to prove that he is right – he even used the top selling products on Clickbank (the god of having products with long sales letters) – guess what he found?
The top selling products, a huge majority of them had SHORT sales letters!
I immediately went to check it out. I used the Money & Employment category first since it is also the most profitable category in the Clickbank marketplace. I went to each of the first 10 sites and did a �Print Preview� and shoved the page count into a spreadsheet. At the end, I graphed those 10 data points and then superimposed a linear line on the graph.
The original study data was confirmed. As we went down the list in order of receding profitability, we also increased in number of pages of sales copy on average.
I’m sorry big timer copywriters – I’m officially starting to move to the other side slowly 
Use Your List To Increase Traffic
Posted by AC Editorial Team in Affiliate Classroom Magazine, Affiliate Marketing, E-mail Marketing Thursday, 24 August 2006 15:03 1 Comment
Even if you’ve only been in Internet Marketing for a short time, you’ve heard that it’s important to build an email list. It’s so important, that the Affiliate Classroom Step Program teaches you all about list building in Step 9.
However, with ISPs/ESPs now doing more spam blocking, some people have given up on list building. They are fearful or frustrated that their message is not going out, and that they are wasting their valuable time.
If you’re one of these people, stop being afraid and keep building! Email technology is getting better, and this problem is gradually being addressed. If you are building a list the reputable way, using a double opt-in system, you have a lot less to worry about.
In the meantime, here are some things you can do to up the odds of getting your messages delivered. At the same time, you can increase the traffic to your site.
Make sure to send your list a message at least once every two weeks so they remember who you are. They’ll be more likely to open your email. And, make it a short message. People tend to scan emails for material they are interested in, so give them very little to scan.
Write a short line of teaser copy or give a sentence or two of your content, and then make the reader click to your site to read the rest. At your site you will provide the full Monty: contextual advertising, affiliate links, etc.
When I go through my email, I quickly scan the messages. If it is a sales pitch, and I’m not in the buying mood, I will go on to the next message and look for something more interesting.
However, if there is a small bit of copy that intrigues me, I will click on the link and read the article. Also, if I’m just quickly scanning my emails for cleanup, I am more likely to flag these emails and go back to them when I have more time.
I’m not sure why, but I feel more comfortable and less hurried when I get to a web site. Maybe because it’s easier to read, or more colorful, or whatever.
Whatever the reason, I’m more likely to stay there longer, which means the person who sent the email has been successful in his or her mission.
I went to their web site � which means their traffic count just went up. I visited with the intention of reading the content, which means their “stickiness” rate went up.
If all goes well, I’ll buy something while I’m there, or click on an AdSense ad on my way out.
Either way, the list owner will get what they want, by giving me what I want. That’s called a win-win situation.
