4 Steps To Making A Successful Affiliate Website

Posted: 26 Sep 2012 12:36 PM PDT

Written by: Simon Slade, Guest Author

Building a profitable website is never going to be a walk in the park. If it were that easy, every man (and his proverbial dog) would be in on the action. Whilst it may in fact be very easy to build any old website, actually creating one that makes you real affiliate cash can prove to be a far greater challenge. Today you're going to learn how to make a successful website as an affiliate marketer. I'm talking about building profitable websites that fill your ClickBank account with those pretty little (or in this case, big) sales bars.

In particular, you are going to learn the tested formula for building successful and profitable websites that both your visitors and Google will find irresistible. By following this formula, you are going to see higher search engine rankings, more traffic, more opt-ins, and even greater numbers of sales.

So what is this magical formula for building profitable and successful affiliate sites?

Great content
Attractive design
Powerful opt-in forms
Top-notch customer service

If you can nail all four of the above factors in the "successful sites equation," then you'll be on to a winner.

Now don't worry for a second that I'm going to leave you hanging without actually explaining each of those factors further. It's time to put on your learning cap, and get ready to find out exactly how to build successful affiliate websites.

Adding Great Content

When it comes to creating profitable affiliate websites, you need to focus on adding great content that your readers will love and appreciate. I'm not talking about filler content that doesn't add any value or teach anything useful; instead, you need to be building your sites based around cutting-edge information, advice, and resources for your visitors.

How many times have you done a Google search for some information, only to come across a website that doesn't actually offer anything useful? In this situation, you are far more likely to hit your browser's back button in disgust, never to return. On the other hand, if the website offers content (articles, blog posts, videos, pictures etc) that actually give you what you are looking for in the first place, you will be far more likely to continue reading and maybe even purchase from that website.

Here's a very simple checklist that will help you to ensure you're providing quality content:

Think about optimizing your content for human readers, as opposed to search engines
Thoroughly research every piece of content that you create
Make sure you teach or give what you promised to give (for example, if your article is about five ways to lose weight, make sure it provides five different ways people can lose weight)

By adding great content to your site, you will have the first (and most important) factor sorted for building a successful affiliate site.

Using Attractive Website Designs

It's not 1999 anymore. The days of ugly websites laden with tacky animated graphics, frames, and gaudy banner ads appear to be coming to an end – it's time to rejoice! However, I still see many affiliate marketers using sites that appear to be straight from the 1990′s.

If you want to succeed online, then it is absolutely critical that you have a great looking website that inspires confidence and makes people trust you more. Think about the biggest authority sites in the world; invariably they have attractive site designs that are clean, professional, and easy-to-navigate.

Creating a beautiful website that is a true work of art no longer requires complex coding knowledge, nor expensive website design software. Many affiliates and webmasters have now caught on to the fact that you can build professional quality websites with mere mouse clicks, by combining the amazing power of WordPress with an attractive theme.

There is no excuse for an ugly or dated looking site. This may sound harsh, but it's a truth you need to realize if you want to build a successful website.

Powerful Opt-in Forms

They say that the money is in the list. Although there are some exceptions to this rule, generally it is a very solid framework for getting the biggest bang for your buck from affiliate marketing. By encouraging visitors to opt-in to your list, you can build quality relationships and dramatically increase your profits with effective pre-selling and multiple sales per customer.

Of course it's not actually as easy as it sounds to set up a profitable list. One of the biggest hurdles that seems to topple many affiliates is implementing your list into your site with opt-in forms and squeeze pages that really convert. All too often you can see affiliates who might have fantastic content and pre-sells for their list, only to wind up with virtually no subscribers because of ugly, clumsy, or misplaced opt-in forms.

You need to create powerful opt-in forms by combining these two things:

A list hook that makes people want to subscribe (for example, a fantastic report that would normally be worth $27, but you're giving it away for free!)
Opt-in forms and squeeze pages that convert – they need to be attractive, well-placed, and designed with high conversions in mind.

Get this "mini formula" right, and you'll have an unstoppable opt-in magnet.

Top-Notch Customer Service

Let's imagine there are two websites; Site A and Site B. Now these sites are absolutely identical, apart from the fact that Site A has terrible customer service, and Site B always goes that extra mile to make sure customers (even visitors who don't opt-in or buy) are looked after.

Which website do you think will be more popular?

If you guessed Site B, then congratulations, you're in the same league as Einstein.

The final factor in the formula for building profitable affiliate sites could be viewed as the most important. No matter how attractive your website is – regardless of how great your content is - people won't want to come back and buy from you if you do not treat them with courtesy and respect.

Make sure you reply swiftly to email inquiries, blog comments, or complaints and you should be fine!

In conclusion, if you want to build a successful affiliate website and load your bank account with commissions, then you need to get your formula right. Just as a good baker never leaves out a single ingredient, you need to make sure that everything is added in the right order to make a fantastic website.

About the Author

Simon Slade is the CEO of Affilorama, an affiliate marketing training portal that offers free video training, education, and internet marketing tools to both beginning and advanced affiliate marketers. If you want to create your own affiliate website that handles all of the above then make sure you check out AffiloTheme, our premium WordPress affiliate theme.

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