Knowing how to hunt down the most profitable affiliate schemes on clickbank or commission junction is one skill. Though, unless you can back that with strong search engine optimization skills, you are not going to compete with the top internet marketers today.
Let's look at the points that separate an affiliate with Search Engine Optimization skills from one whom is currently not spending the time to learn SEO. An affiliate marketer with SEO skills will:
* Use SEO for Firefox to check the rankings of every site found from the keyword list
* Monitor site traffic and popular pages using Google Analytic's
* Run organic Search Engine Optimization methods until the web page ranks higher than competitors using popular keywords
* Constantly add new blogs and article pages that continue diverting traffic to a landing page
* Be constantly aware that the pages need to be in the top 10 to 20 results on Google,Yahoo, Bing and other smaller search engines
SEO strategies succeed in allowing high volumes of traffic to pass through site pages so maximizing the CTR (Click through Rate). This is the first step towards an effective plan that targets high conversion rates.
High rankings on the search engines simply mean that a prospective customer is more likely to click through to your site. This is why ranking high on the top engines is vital to an SEO plan. This can be complimented by using email marketing. Internet marketers whom use email campaigns will plan out a baiting technique e.g. offering free stuff in exchange for visiting a site or arousing curiosity around a topic creating a buzz on the web.
PPC (Pay Per Click) campaigns like Google Adwords can be expensive, though if the keywords are strong, you will see a listing in the paid ad columns on Yahoo and Google. The experienced affiliate with search engine skills will be using these as front line campaigns for a high ROI. For example, a sale off the back of a click through can result in being paid up to 80% of the advertiser's price.
The flip side is that even if your site is receiving streams of traffic daily, unless it is converting traffic i.e. visitors are buying then the lack of revenue being generated can send an SEO plan to the trash. It's a good idea to enroll on courses from experienced marketers so that you can follow their footsteps on how they did it and simply emulate their methods. The best marketing course at the moment is called Wealthy Affiliate and is highly recommended if you want to join the ranks of the top internet marketers.
To summarize:
1. Learn to choose the best key phrases
2. Learn how to activate conversions
3. Submit articles on your product to high ranking directories like goarticles.com with your web site URL in the bio
4. Outgoing link to high traffic relevant sites
5. Submit your web page URL to web directories
Become a successful affiliate with search engine optimization skills, and have fun.