Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

[Girlonthehill]

Greetings fellow members and guests.

After reading lots about Affiliate programmes mostly about how they are scams I've done a little research of my own. In an effort to take on board very important points made by other members about improving a website by using 'decent' links I came up with, what I believe is a bonafide affiliate programme, called TradeDoubler.

I wanted to build a links page that was made up of links that would compliment my product and genuinely help my visitors. I sell greetings cards so I thought it would be nice to offer links that would help visitors with gift ideas, choosing and buying presents online.

I came across TradeDoubler whilst looking at 'High end' site affiliate details. You are not automatically accepted to host links and have to be 'vetted' by prospective partners. But if and when you are accepted they all pay for leads and sales resulting from your site. That, for me, was a nice little bonus.

TD allows you to choose links from hundreds of their clients in graphic, text or other mediums which sail over my head, which fit easily into my BV designed site using the HTML tool. You can tailor your links to your website theme too.

I'm not on commission for this (lol) but just wanted to share what I thought was a good opportunity to improve your website and maybe earn a little extra.

You are welcome to check out my links page at http://www.luxurybirthdaycards.com/links.html to see what I am talking about.

The link for TradeDoubler is: http://www.tradedoubler.com They are a Pan-European company.

I hope this helps some of you.

[Vasili]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

I also offered personal experiences and some simple suggestions for anyone interested as a post to Kevin's thread "Online Affiliate Scams Revealed" in this forum.

Hopefully, those interested in learning more about Affiliate Programs will get some information they can use in these threads. It is such an essential element of an evolved online business that everyone should evaluate the viability of participating with whatever program(s) that will work for them carefully, and with confidence.

Thanks for your help Amanda....I've learned a lot from you!

[beegud2]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

Hi Amanda,

I checked out Trade Doubler but are they only for the EU and American markets?

[Girlonthehill]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

Hi Amanda,

I checked out Trade Doubler but are they only for the EU and American markets?

Yup :

They are a Pan-European company.

Sorry, Bee. If you have a scout around, especially for high quality household names in your area, you will probably turn up something similar.
Good luck :o)

[beegud2]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

Hi Amanda,

N problem...happy with my affiliates and tough enough for me to keep up with the two I've got...lol. But thanks for sharing. Anyone interested...I have commission junction and bfree. I think Vasili mentioned them earlier. Both have proved to be excellent so far.

Thanks again Amanda.

[allstarfaces]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

thanks for sharing that mand i have made it a favourite and will take a look in the morn realy appreciate it, top banana

[Bethers]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

I'd like to hear how it works out for you Amanda - I've been given not so good feedback elsewhere regarding it - that it looks great, but didn't help with se's and didn't make them any money. And I'd like to see you do a links page set-up similar to how I have on A Child's Palace - as this really does help - I'm getting traffic already on a regular basis (and sales) from MSN and even Google. And I've just got it started.

[Girlonthehill]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

I'd like to hear how it works out for you Amanda - I've been given not so good feedback elsewhere regarding it - that it looks great, but didn't help with se's and didn't make them any money. And I'd like to see you do a links page set-up similar to how I have on A Child's Palace - as this really does help - I'm getting traffic already on a regular basis (and sales) from MSN and even Google. And I've just got it started.

Thanks Beth, I like the visual impact of the banners but understand your point with regard to the SEs. Do you think it would be acceptable to have both a text links section, like yours, and the visual one I have now?

[Bethers]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

Sure it would be - se's consider banners more as advertising - and they don't do you a lot of good for traffic and getting searches - but getting your link out there with good anchor text will help - but you HAVE to organize the page and make it so people can find things on it.

One of my pet peeves with banners is that they usually are there with no order or rhyme and reason - so I click right off those pages. When used discriminately - they work wonders - as the banner stands out.

[Vasili]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

Exactly! Having text that can be searched is the key...

Having a "virtual mall" is a lot of work, actually, and leaves nothing for creativity.... if ours (MyChoiceMall.com, a BV site still progressing) is to be an overall success, I needed to combine the utility of store organization and accessibility with fastest visitor conversion. I am thankful I do not depend on general web traffic to sustain it, having over 200,000 already-enrolled subscribers from my other businesses to market to.
I do, however, have some money put aside for a real SEO campaign, just to climb a few rungs higher on the ladder, and that campaign is only worthwhile based on content and natural traffic conversion. This requires me to pay attention to conversion specifically, unbounded by the design and organization of non-mall sites.

In otherwords, I had to list over 500 stores and do it with 'searchable' text, and offer visitors no more than a 1 or 2-click experience getting to them.

The Category pages (these are still being completed) is where I have the stores grouped alphabetically according to type (some are in multiple categories) with a short descriptive, "searchable" text. This is where you can find new and alternate stores. (example here)

The "QuickLink to Stores > By Name" (a BV go-menu) is the quickest way to 1-click through to the participating stores, if you know who you are looking for.

Content AND banners make it all happen. Placing them and organizing them properly either invites conversion or thwarts visitors, possibly even confusing them as to your site's focus. It's a fine balance that needs careful evaluation.
For instance, if I were either of you, I might simply create a separate page ("Our Partners", "Our Links", "Great Suggestions"..whatever) where you can have some introductory text alongside your PREFERRED LINKS, since if customers have drilled in this far and are comfortable still, they are more likely to act on invitation from an already trusted provider.... I could see that being both good and measurably successful: don't forget that natural links and reciprocal traffic influences ranking even these days!

Sorry, guys! I guess I went too far again...... Did any of this help??
I hope so. You have all been such great help to me that naturally I would like to offer the best from my experiences also!

Yes....Commission Junction, BeFree, and Linkshare are the top 3 affiliate networks, and will offer you the best and most choices for you.

Good Luck!

[allstarfaces]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

I'd like to hear how it works out for you Amanda - I've been given not so good feedback elsewhere regarding it - that it looks great, but didn't help with se's and didn't make them any money. And I'd like to see you do a links page set-up similar to how I have on A Child's Palace - as this really does help - I'm getting traffic already on a regular basis (and sales) from MSN and even Google. And I've just got it started.

hi bethers im a bit lost with this one ? i went to your site but couldnt find the link page to look at what you mean please help out a dumb man

[allstarfaces]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

ddeeerrrr found it its the resources button lol rite i see what you mean no big banners justt text links rite so you think this is better with a write up about them mmmmm im going to look into that . what about if i make the banner a bit smaller and above sya each one put a description etc?

[Bethers]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

Yes, you could do a combination banner with text link - the most important part is picking KEY WORDS as the linking text - and realizing that the text is what the se's will use to help the sites. SE's ignore pictures. So combining will work, yes. Then - put them in some order - so your customers can find what they are looking for.

You can also do things like I have with a friends site. She has a brand new site and I wanted to help her with the se's, but also wanted it to look good for my customers - so she added a picture of one of my small products - and alt text fitting of A Child's Palace - both linkable to my home page - from her home page. She won't keep that there forever, but will end up with just the text link on her links/resources pages. If you want to see it - visit www.ababysworld.com - scroll down for the frog.

By the way - your banners can help if you add alt text to all of them - with the proper keywords, of course. Banners without alt text or without clickable text with them of keywords - are useless to se's and are ONLY good if you really find people using them. A page of banners with no rhyme or reason to their order - really won't be used by your customers and has no value to se's - just can look pretty :)

I do have a link with an art store that I love their links pages - they only link with other art stores - and they put the text with a picture from the store - which is really kewl.

[allstarfaces]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

or thanks for that bethers realy appreciate it will get on to that

[Vasili]

Re: Bonafide Affiliate Opportunities

Having text that can be searched is the key...

Content AND banners (or even images of products) make it all happen. Placing them and organizing them properly (alpha, category, etc.) invites conversion.

Have some INTRODUCTORY TEXT for the section, as well as for each offering (with your affiliate's name and key words: products, services, etc.) alongside your PREFERRED LINKS (whether they be product images, banners, or simply text), which becomes SE searchable/rankable. Since customers have drilled in this far and are comfortable still, they are more likely to act on these types of invitations from an already trusted provider. Don't forget that natural links and reciprocal traffic influences ranking even these days! And, offering your customers valued additional options demonstrates your professionalism and increases your reputation, ensuring repeat visitor traffic (which is what you want). Being a favored resource to your customers has proven to produce more revenue in the long run...

Yes....Commission Junction, BeFree, and Linkshare are the top 3 affiliate networks, and will offer you the best and most choices for you.

Try it, you'll like it!