![Shady business man]()
Search Engines want Quality – not Crap!
Lately, I’ve been researching keywords and buying domains in efforts to create Amazon niche sites. What I’m discovering is that it’s not just about building a website that contains a lot of affiliate links. Oh the plugin that automates affiliate product posts is very appealing, and believe me, it’s also easy to setup and manage. You can have posts streaming to your website every minute if you chose to, but what the search engines are looking for is not what you have in mind.
In your mind, you’ve chosen the best keyword and secured a domain name with perhaps a long-tail keyword that has low competition and lacks a high number of sites on the web, and you were finally able to buy that expensive premium plugin that you’re sure will earn you money within an hour of building your website – wrong!
Put away that old bag of tricks
When starting out as an affiliate marketer, your main goal is to earn money. There’s nothing wrong with earning money, but the old way of doing it online is no longer acceptable. You see internet marketing has become huge. There are so many people doing it and some are not trustworthy. They’ll do anything to get your money. A lot of businesses online are hip to this and have changed how they do business with marketers. Google is one of them and I’m learning (as I tried to submit an article) that Ezine articles is another. That’s just two, and as an internet marketer, these two can cost you ranking and income.
In order to distinguish between the good guys and bad guys, Google is wanting their ads to be placed on websites that are relevant to their ads. They don’t want their ads on unscrupulous sites that are only after money. Hence, the Amazon affiliate sites that I built that are no where to be found in Google’s index. Google along with others want your site to be respectful and helpful. You see, your site must contain content that is relevant. If you really stop and think about it, it does make sense.
Flies don’t like vinegar
My mother used to tell me that you get more flies with honey than vinegar, meaning, when you do good, you get good. When you treat others as you want to be treated, you get treated likewise. What I do find interesting is that the affiliate sites that I have up that contain articles do rank in Google. In fact, I have one that ranks on the front page of Google. While the sites that I have that are loaded with only affiliate links are no where to be found.
Even though it is a bit disheartening to not earn even one dollar from my efforts of building a website or earning back the money that I spent for the plugin, domain name, and hosting, it’s a lesson learned, and it’s one that really didn’t cost me a lot. That’s one thing that I like about internet marketing. You can invest as little as $1.99 and earn $100 or more. But you can also invest up to your eyeballs and not earn a penny.
Do it right from the get go
It’s funny, I wrote another article titled Don’t follow the money, but that’s what I tend to do. Hopefully this lesson will teach me to stick with what works and make the extra effort in creating valuable content. It should be my desire to help others and provide information that’s helpful and not only products.
Currently, I’m working on building two more affiliate websites. Instead of loading them with content, I will take my time and fill them with information first. Once I have good standing and rank, perhaps then I’ll include some links. Don’t worry about money so much. Focus on building your website right the first time and avoid the mistakes that I’ve made in building an affiliate niche site the wrong way.