10 Commandments For Affiliate Blogging

1. Consider Your Reader:

Always try to approach your blog with the reader in mind. What would encourage them to make that purchase right here, right now or to ensure that they will bookmark your blog for a second look later.

2. Be Honest:

There's a saying that goes "if you can fake sincerity you'll have it made." Best selling salesman turned author put it another way: "You can't sell a product you don't believe in." People can usually tell if someone is giving them the strait scoop or just pushing the party line - keep it real and give your honest thoughts.

3. Quality Above All Else:

This goes along with #2 above. Do your research for the product or services you're advertising. Make sure the company can deliver on EVERY aspect of their business. A little homework will help you find great products and companies that are an asset to themselves. And happy consumers may come back to your blog to leave laudatory comments!

4. Give Them What They Want, When They Want It:

Don't think that a couple of banners on your blog will start drawing clicks, in fact you'll be lucky if you get any. We've become so used to the sight of them, we hardly notice them anymore. To get readers to click your ads, they need to be relevant to what they came to read, and most effective if they are in the text itself. Consider reading Affiliate Programs - Get Paid Per Click. Now aren't you more likely to follow that link, than if I had put a banner in the sidebar?

5. Consider Ad Placement:

People don't read a blog like they do a book, their eye wanders and they skip and jump around. Place your ads in the hotzones. Top left and middle right are the first two places your average reader looks, followed by the foot of the page.

6. Build Traffic:

Making money online is mostly a numbers game. Given that a certain percentage of visitors will convert into sales, then the trick isn't so much converting more sales as garnering more visitors. Brush up on your SEO to make sure you're making the most of your blog as you can. Also, consider regularly posting to relevant blogs and forums, including a link to your blog in the signature.

7. Diversify:

Sell different things in different places. Sponsors sometimes pull products, or have unfavorable changes in their payments and policies. Hosting accounts sometimes get hacked or experience downtime. Try to have as many irons in the fire as possible, so one setback isn't disastrous.

8. Sell the Product:

Write good copy about the product you're selling and offer the reader the choice to make that purchase. If a page offers a link touting a video of the product in action, but instead goes straight to the buy page you've just lost that customer. They now want to see that video and will look elsewhere to find it.

9. Multi-Task:

Better monetize your blog by integrating various programs. In addition to the product you're selling, offer image and text advertisements for other related products or services. Having arrived at this page, should you decide you're not interested in purchasing Affiliate Programs - Get Paid Per Click, you might be intrigued by one of the links in the Google ads and decide to follow it instead.

10. Learn What Works Best For You:

Most blogging platforms have an analytics program included which you can use to track where your visitors are coming from and what search terms they used. This can be used to decide what products might be better served for an additional spotlight, or even their own separate endeavor. Likewise, affiliate programs offer the same insight for traffic generated to their sites, and where the sales came from.