Anyone serious about making money as an affiliate marketer should have at least a basic knowledge of SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. In this article, we will discuss how using search engine optimization correctly can help you rank well in the search engines and get the greatest amount of organic website traffic possible.
But, first – What Exactly Is SEO?
Search engine optimization, commonly known as SEO, is a marketing method whose end goal is to increase your search engine rankings. The techniques used in SEO help people find your website easily when they search for its keyword terms. When this happens, you will see that your website’s traffic increases which can potentially boost your sales and income.
What Are The Benefits Of Using SEO?
For the most part, successful affiliate marketers and businesses get a majority of their web traffic from major search engines like Bing, Google, and Yahoo. Even though social networks are seeing continuous growth, search engines remain an essential source of high-quality traffic for most websites. In fact, search engines are the primary method of online navigation for most consumers and internet users.
SEO will help you generate targeted traffic from internet users who are searching for exactly what you have to offer. This kind of traffic will help you gain exposure, publicity, and increase your sales revenue which is a benefit any serious affiliate marketer will enjoy.
The only marketing method that converts organic traffic better is email marketing.
Why Do You Need SEO?
Search engines need a little help from webmasters to make sites visible in their search results, and no matter how advanced they are they do have a limit to their operations. It is the responsibility of the webmaster to make their website search engine optimized to gain the benefits that search engines offer.
SEO Basics
A search engine’s goal is to provide pertinent and useful results to those who are looking for particular information. This pertinence can be determined through the following:
1.) A Website That Is Correctly Optimized For Keywords & Topics
While it is important that search engine bots can interpret your topics and keywords, you can receive stiff penalties from Google if you over-optimize your website. Make sure you keep a good balance and do not ‘stuff’ your site with keywords. If you make a habit of writing for people and not search engines, everything should fall into place nicely.
2.) Content
Your website content should be relevant to whatever product or service you are promoting. Keep it fresh, unique and regularly updated as search engines feed on content.
3.) Load Time
I’m sure you’ve been on a site where you had to wait and wait for the page to load before you could even scroll down to find the information you were looking for. Don’t do that! Google loves websites that load quickly. Site speed performance has even been confirmed as a ranking signal in Google’s algorithm.
4.) Healthy Link Profiles
Backlinking came under the gun a few years ago when people were building thousands of spammy links to rank their websites on page 1 of Google. Needless to say, that’s no longer possible. Today you need to put a lot more thought into link building when it comes to SEO. Any links to or from your website need to look natural to the search engines. They must show relevance and appropriateness between related content.
5.) Having A Low Bounce Rate
Your bounce rate is determined by how long a visitor stays on your site once they arrive. Sites with lower bounce rates perform better in the search engines, especially Google as it uses this metric to gauge how users view websites.
6.) Having An Authority Site
Authority sites usually rank better than others, but it takes a lot of time, work, and focus on establishing one. The results for doing so can be incredibly rewarding, however, and you can create a very lucrative business in the affiliate marketing niche that will bring revenue for a long time to come.
In Conclusion
While search engine optimization can be difficult to understand and implement, especially if you are new to the idea, there are a lot of reputable online resources that can help you become an expert. With practice and determination, one can master the art and science of SEO which will aid you in establishing a viable and lucrative traffic source.
