Basic Affiliate Marketing Plan - Step #2

This is a two-part basic affiliate marketing step...

First, your site has got to "help" people in some way.

Let's use a website about "dogs" for example.

Your dog website should give people valuable information on dogs; how to train them, best breed for families, benefits of social obedience classes, etc. - That's information dog owners will be searching for and they'll find extremely valuable when they find it on your website.

How do I come up with helpful information?

Think back to when you first started learning about the topic you've chosen. Now, ask yourself "What do I wish I would have known before I knew anything about (insert topic here)?"

That's the key to this basic affiliate marketing step...

Ask yourself that question until you've got a few good answers and you've got some powerful, valuable information people are already searching for.

A really fun way to brainstorm new subjects for your website is to use a more "visual" technique...

Try this...

Grab a pencil and paper
Write your topic in the center of the paper and draw a box around it
Think of your topic and write down the first subject that comes to mind
Now draw a box around the new subject and connect the two boxes with a line
Now think of the first subject box and write down the next subject that you think of
Connect them with a line

You can continue this process forever - and you'll have a huge list of new ideas in minutes.

I followed the basic affiliate marketing steps above and here's an example I did for "dogs":

Basic Affiliate Marketing Dogs

If you need more ideas, search your topic on Google and see what other people are talking about because you can talk about the same thing.

Now, don't copy them, just take the "idea" and write your view of the subject and add in your own opinions, thoughts and examples. That way you're site will feel like you.

Plus it will help people and it will be totally original.

I've always thought that the people I respect the most are people who have helped me in some way - a teacher, a coach, brother, sister or parent. Now you've got the opportunity to help hundreds or (hopefully) thousands of people who are searching for the information you already have.

The next basic affiliate marketing step is getting free traffic to your website

We'll do that with "search engine optimization." You've probably heard that term and it might sound scary, but it's a basic affiliate marketing strategy that's very easy to learn.

I'm going to use the "dog" website example again...

Basically, we're going to find a list of words people type into Google search or Yahoo search (also known as "keywords") when they're looking for information.

When we've got these magic keywords, we'll add them to your website.

That way, visitors will find your website in Google and Yahoo when searching for those terms.

In fact, using keywords is just like bait when fishing. Put the bait on the hook and the fish come to it. The keywords are the "bait" and people are the fish. And just like fishin' - if you've got lots of bait, you'll get lots of fish.

You need a big list of keywords because you want big traffic.

There are two ways you can find these magic keywords...

First, you can ask yourself which words you'd use.

Ask yourself this question:

"What would I type in Google if I was looking for information on dog adoption?"

Now, that might sound like a good idea, but it's not because it' takes way to long and it's just a guess. We don't want to guess on anything - this is your future affiliate marketing business - we need to find out.

So how do you find out which words people type into Google and Yahoo search?

(I know I said this was a basic affiliate marketing, but we've got to get a little more advanced now...)

Easy. You can use any number of different tools like Good Keywords, Wordtracker or Keyword Discovery.

I use the Brainstormer by SBI because it's free with my SBI account, but you're free to decide which works best for your budget. Here's an example I put together for "dogs" :

Searching the keyword "dogs"

basic affiliate - dog keywords

You can see the top keyword "dogs that do not shed" is an excellent place to start a basic affiliate marketing plan around:

Lots of demand - 2210
Very little supply - 37
Big profits - 59730!

As you can see, I've got a very big list of my magic keywords to use in the "dog" website. All of these keywords can be used in website as bait - to "reel in" big traffic every day.

No matter which keyword tool you use, make sure you grab all of the longer keywords. These keywords are known as "longtail" because they're long (clever name.)

Long tail keywords are much more valuable than shorter keywords because they're extremely specific. If you want a quick summary of the benefits of the longtail keywords, click here.

The Basic Way To Use Keywords

Basically, you'll take the keywords and mix them into the text on your affiliate marketing website. Simple right? It is.

Let's do an example...

We'll pretend you're writing a page about dog training. All you need to do is search your list of keywords and find 1 that fits with the dog training theme. "Dog training at home" works perfectly.

Now, you'll write a simple page on dog training, but make sure to use your keyword "dog training at home" several times in the text - just like I've been using basic affiliate marketing in this page - that's it!

In a few weeks, Google and Yahoo will find your page and begin to send people to your site when they search "dog training at home!"

Again, that's the very basic affiliate marketing way to use keywords - and there are more advanced tips for using keywords, but that will get you started.

Try your own keyword search using Brainstorm It now.

Next up: Basic Affiliate Marketing Plan - Part 3

Thanks for reading,

Untitled Document

Basic Affiliate Marketing Plan - Step #1
In this basic affiliate marketing step, I'll show exactly how to find a topic you'll love and use it on your money making website in two minutes.
Basic Affiliate Marketing Plan - Step #2
The second basic affiliate marketing step is to is to start building a website that helps people and gets free traffic from the search engines. Here's how
Basic Affiliate Marketing Plan - Step #3
The last basic affiliate marketing step is how to start building your affiliate marketing website. Just the basic steps for beginners.
Basic Affiliate Marketing Plan - Step #4
Google AdSense is a basic affiliate marketing stream of cash. Find out why it rocks and get some insider, advanced tips to make lots of easy money.