It always works out. Someone constantly says, “You gotta show me how to do this!” after I show them my site and how much money I’ve made from it over the years. Okay, I’ve had enough of
I’m not wasting more time discussing this; instead, I’ll jot down the essentials here and refer interested parties to this page.
To begin, perhaps some background is in order. About seven years ago, I started my blog after a friend informed me about someone he knew who was making around $60,000 per year from his. When I visited the website, I realized it was a referral link. When a visitor clicks on one of an affiliate site’s links and makes a purchase from the linked online retailer, the affiliate site’s owner receives a commission. I figured I understood enough about HTML to give it a shot because it seemed simple enough.
Due to financial constraints, I could not take many chances when attempting to launch a new firm. Until then, I had only ever made a free Geocities site, so I had no idea what went into making a “real” website. After investigating, I learned that launching a website and purchasing a domain name didn’t require a significant financial outlay. If you have an extra $150 per year and a few hours per week, you may launch your online business and start making money immediately.
Just how much cash are we talking about? I haven’t generated enough money from my website to announce that I can quit my day job (yet), but it’s helped a lot. In what way is it crucial? For a few months now, I’ve had zero income. I’ve made thousands in a single month. In 2005, my website brought in over $25,000, an all-time high for me. How much money you make is up to the whims of the search engine gods and how much effort you put into your website. Some people have become wealthy through affiliate sites. Still, I imagine they devote most of their time to maintaining and improving their site and learning the ins and outs of search engine optimization to compete successfully. Even though my site displays my lack of effort, it has brought in significant extra cash.
You want DIY instructions anyhow, right? How? Read on!
Initial Step: Study HTML
Most of my pals who have seen my site were already familiar with HTML. Don’t worry if you have no experience with HTML; learning the basics doesn’t take long. Building a website requires only the ability to create a primary webpage with some connections. Read a book like “HTML in Easy Steps” if you feel lost. The other books in the Easy Step series have been helpful to me. They’re short books that cost only $10 and provide all the information you need to get started without overwhelming you with theory.
Creating web pages can be done in a variety of free programs. Any text editor will do; even Notepad will do. You’ll get many options if you look for a “free html editor” on Google.
The Second Step: Creating Your Website
Now that you know the basics of web design, it’s time to get started on your site. Your website cannot exist without a web host. That organization provides web hosting services. If you know what you’re doing, you can save money on web hosting.
You should prioritize cost, language support, and database support when selecting a web host. If you’re solely familiar with HTML, then your only consideration is cost. More investigation is required if you require assistance with ASP, PHP, MYSQL, etc.
How much should I expect to pay for site hosting? While dedicated hosting can cost hundreds of dollars per month, a web host costing less than ten dollars per month should be sufficient for your site’s needs. When comparing web hosts, it’s also essential to see how much each one will charge to register domain names on your behalf. This can be obtained at no cost (excellent!) or for as much as $20 yearly.
You should have a simple time getting set up with your preferred web host. All that is required is basic identifying information and a credit card number. The most challenging step of creating a website is selecting a domain name. Most desirable short names have already been taken. Terms can be made up of a combination of existing or unique words.
So that’s how I settled on Bargainstrike.
Some websites use hyphens to link words together for search engine optimization purposes. [http://www.buy-cars-online-cheap.com] is an excellent example of this type of website. While this may improve your site’s visibility in some search engines, it’s not recommended. It’s a technique that will eventually be penalized by search engines like Google. It would be difficult to resolve an issue involving a domain name.
Step 3: Sign Up for Affiliate Programs
Affiliate networks act as go-betweens for you and internet merchants. They supply you with links to various retailers, track the number of clicks and purchases made due to your links, and pay you a commission. Since few major retailers operate their independent affiliate network, you can’t use an affiliate site without signing up with at least one Affiliate firm. There are many options available for registration, but only three essential ones are required. Linkshare, Commission Junction, and Performics are their names. In addition, Linkshare is the most valuable of the three to join. Since more big retailers with affiliate programs use Linkshare than any other affiliate company, at least 90% of my earnings come from clicking links provided by Linkshare.
After registering with an Affiliate firm, you must sign up with the businesses you wish to become an affiliate of. This isn’t easy, particularly at the outset. Some organizations review each candidate individually to guarantee that your web page meets their requirements. These businesses won’t work with you because your website doesn’t exist yet. The good news is that many companies accept all applications without question. At this stage of the game, you need these specifically. Register again with those who first rejected you after your site is up and running and receiving traffic.
Once accepted into an affiliate program, you can access promotional links for that company’s goods and services. Affiliate tracking tags are embedded in these links so that you can get credit for any sales you help generate. Ensure you grab the whole link code when copying them to your site.
Step Four: Create Your Site
Okay, now everything makes sense. Creating a website from scratch can seem daunting if you’ve never done it before. In what form should it take? Which hues do you propose using universally? How do I know which fonts to use? My most excellent advice for your website’s aesthetic is to browse until you locate a few sites whose designs you enjoy and then try to incorporate those styles into your own.
Remember that your website is not a final destination for visitors because you will only be compensated if they click through to another site. To put it simply, it’s a channel. It needs to serve its purpose and be quick. The simplest method to accomplish this is to use minimal visuals and a straightforward layout. If you’re unsure how to lay out your page, take a cue from Google or Yahoo.
Every page on your site should be accessible from your main page. Its primary purpose is to facilitate the spidering process by which search engines index your entire site. Users should have no trouble navigating your site and finding what they need, but they shouldn’t be tricked into thinking that. If you do an excellent job designing your internal pages, visitors will spend considerably more time there than on your homepage.
The money is on all the other pages of your site. Create a new web page for each affiliate network you join. TITLE is where you should include your company name and any keywords you want people to find on your page. Search engines place excessive weight on a page’s title when determining its ranking. Now, have the affiliate site this business employs provide you with some links, and insert them into the page. Provide some introductory text and a banner image for the company you’re promoting. Once you’ve done that for all the stores you intend to link to on your site, you’ll be ready.
When your site is complete, upload it via FTP. There are several free tools for doing this, but the one included with Internet Explorer works fine.
Finally, don’t try to fool your visitors using pop-ups, pop-unders, or any other sneaky methods. Don’t bombard individuals with messages. Those who act in such a way are jerks. Don’t be such a jerk.
The Fifth Step: Advertise Your Site
You should expect the cash to start rolling in now that you have an active affiliate site online. Not quite.
Before anything else, getting your site listed in search engines is essential. Start by submitting your URL to Sitesearchsubmit [http://www.sitesearchsubmit.com/] for free. Sitesearchsubmit is a tool that automatically presents your website’s address to several of the most popular search engines when you enter your URL and email address. The next step is to manually submit your site’s URL to search engines like MSN and Yahoo, which do not accept submissions in bulk.
Please wait. It can take up to four months for some search engines to index your site. Within a month, some search engines may have your site indexed. Once a week, check each search engine to see whether your site has been added.
After submitting your site, you can begin testing to see where you stand about other results for your chosen keywords.
Search here to get ideas for keywords you should prioritize to rank highly.
Learn as much as you can about search engine optimization. Since search engines often update their ranking algorithms, I won’t investigate that here. Wait for Google to re-index your site (they do this on average once per month) after making modifications to see whether they have any effect. Repeat this process until you achieve the desired rating or give up out of sheer exhaustion.
Google can be a fickle mistress. Receiving your first payment will take at least a year, so please be patient.
Don’t give up if the search engines suddenly stop directing traffic to your site. Without any intervention, I once had a year in which my site’s traffic plummeted nearly to zero, followed by a year in which it skyrocketed. You’ll do well financially if you stick around for the long haul.
Read also: What exactly is Business Growth Optimization?
