Confluence Of Search And Affiliate Marketing

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The Confluence of Search and Affiliate Marketing By: Kristopher B. Jones President & CEO Pepperjam

description

Specific case studies and examples of working strategically with PPC affiliates and SEM Firms to cover more real estate and capture more market share through search-engines.

Transcript of Confluence Of Search And Affiliate Marketing

Page 1: Confluence Of Search And Affiliate Marketing

The Confluence of Search and Affiliate Marketing

By: Kristopher B. JonesPresident & CEO

Pepperjam

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Affiliate Marketing Landscape

Search (Organic / PPC)Coupons / DealsLoyaltyContent / Niche / Forums / BlogsProduct Feed / Comparison ShoppingSoftwareE-mail

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Search-Engine MarketingSEARCH ARBITRAGE

Custom Landing / Splash Pages (Google’s landing page quality score algorithm makes this increasingly difficult, but if done correctly can be very profitable.)

Direct Linking – (Very easy to set-up and potentially very profitable, but some merchants disallow it.)

Targeting keyword buys to your content / coupon / product feed, etc. website

SEO Driven ArbitrageMFA Garbitrage

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Potential Network Partners

Traditional Affiliate Networks (Commission Junction, Linkshare, Performics)

CPA Networks (Azoogle, CPA Empire, Hydra, XY7)

Alternative Networks (Digital River, Click Bank, LinkConnector, ShareASale)

Contextual Networks (Google Adsense, YPN, Adbrite)

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Generating PROFITABLE Keywords

Yahoo Suggestion Tool

Google Suggestion Tool*

Rapid Keyword**

Keyword Discovery**

Keycompete***

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Building Landing PagesATTACK OF THE GOOGLE LANDING PAGE QUALITY SCORE ALGORITHM!

Pages must have “RELEVANT” and “SUBSTANTIAL” Content

Treat a user’s personal information responsibly – Have a privacy policy!

Develop an easily navigable site.

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Direct Linking

Easiest way to arbitrage (Research Merchant’s Affiliate Policy – if unclear, contact merchant.)

Merchants and Affiliates beware of Google’s display one ad per search query policy.

“For advertisers sharing the same top-level domain in the Display URL. This means that if you're an affiliate advertiser, your ad may not show for a query because another affiliate or the website that runs the affiliate program also has ads using the same (or a similar) domain in the Display URL.”

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Niche / Content Affiliate WebsiteKeyword Buys

What is your business plan? (ARE YOU: Content-Driven? Product / Service-Driven?)

Build keyword lists / affiliate relationships around your content or your product line.

Target your banner / text affiliate ads.Add product images / links / coupons to

your niche content.Review products. Review merchants.

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SEO Driven Arbitrage

Build pages with good content (content must be unique!)

Build a circular navigation structure / site map

Build pages around products (think long-tail). Automate the process, if possible.

Build external linksLaunch a blog

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MFA Arbitrage = Garbitrage

Made-For-Adsense (MFA) Search Arbitrage = Garbitrage

Sophisticated Affiliate Marketing Search Arbitragers provide significant value to both merchants and users of search-engines.

Affiliate Marketing Search Arbitrage is not Garbitrage.

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Kris’s Top Search Arbitrage Secret

Develop an affiliate marketing arbitrage strategy that works.

Replicate it.Scale it.Ex. $50 profit per merchant, per month.

On CJ alone (2,000+ merchants) you can generate $100,000 profit per month.

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Search Arbitrage Resources

Shoemoney.comPepperjamblog.comWebmaster RadioRevenews.comSearchEngineWatch.comSEOloser.com

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Making the Pitch

So you want to make big money usingsearch arbitrage? You’ll need to learn howto make the pitch to the merchant / network:- Approach the Merchant with a strategy- Build Your Case- Make Your Case Stronger- Convince the Merchant of your expertise

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Approach Merchants

Once you develop your arbitrage strategy, approach merchant partners, one by one.

Notify merchant that you are an SEM affiliate and request that you be given permission to use SEM to strategically promote their business.

Request a strategic partnership. Ask merchant to share their internal search data,

including providing you with high-converting keywords and historical information.

Develop a mutual search strategy with the merchant, including bidding rules.

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Build Your Case Approach merchants with a strategic relationship in mind.

95% - 5% (super) affiliate rule and slim profit margins.

In many cases, SEM affiliates are more sophisticated than you are at search.

SEM Agencies can be expensive or cost prohibitive; Professional SEM Affiliates work solely on a performance basis.

Believe it or not merchants can “control” what affiliates do. It’s all about better communication & transparency.

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Make Your Case Stronger “It’s a Land Grab”

Search results represent available real estate. Ex. Google offers users 10 organic (SEO)

listings and up to 10 paid listings. The more land you own, on average, the more

sales / leads you will generate. A strategic relationship with select affiliates like

you will allow the merchant to control more land. Tell the Merchant: You can’t be selfish if you

don’t own the real estate.

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Convince Merchants of Your Expertise

PRIOR TO APPROACHING THE MERCHANT:

Perform competitive research Develop a mutually beneficial search strategy

that is likely to complement the merchants corporate search.

Provide examples of other merchants you’ve successfully worked with.

Get “endorsed” by Linkshare, CJ or Performics.

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Conclusion

The Confluence of Search-Engine Marketing and Affiliate Marketing represents a lucrative opportunity for affiliates and merchants alike.

Affiliates should strategically approach merchants with a specific PPC strategy in mind.

Affiliates should build a case to the merchant for why it makes sense to allow them to perform paid search.

Affiliates must be able convince the merchant of their expertise.