1976write: Building Traffic to Your Blog for Affiliate Sales

It takes time and work to get your affiliate marketing up and running.

Part of starting a website is having a plan set in place and an idea of design. This will help people see what your business is about and what you're selling. This means you need an easy-to-find website that's simple to use.

If you haven't done so already, you need to sit down and plan out what you need to do before you can start making any money from your affiliate marketing.

Once you've decided on a website design you can start looking at how you're going to attract traffic to your site to start generating those sales.

Let's take a look at some useful points to get you started.

Let the World Know Your Website Exists Using Social Media

You won't get any kind of traffic if you sit doing nothing, you need to start creating profiles on social media sites and get your brand and website out there for the world to see. You can use social media to market your content and make sales. It's a very efficient way of working and can be easily capitalised on.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Use social media like you're talking to your friends and family, don't try to sell. Instead offer your audience something useful.
Be regularly active on social media platforms, and don't let any of your accounts get stagnant.
Post regularly, and create a routine that you can stick to, and manage.
Make all content relevant to your niche, don't post random stuff.
Always be willing and able to interact with your online audience. I know this bit is hard, but in the long run it will turn into trust and then sales.

Use Different Social Media Platforms to Promote Your Content

There are a number of different platforms to choose from, depending on the audience you want to target. Sign up with as many of these sites as you can. You'll probably find that not all of them will suit your needs over time, but it will help you find your voice and start the ball rolling.

Every platform suits a different need:

Instagram is good for promoting images or photographs
Pinterest is good for creatives, and is perfect for writers
LinkedIn is a site for professionals from all corners of life
Tumblr is good for promoting your thoughts, videos, images, and brief blog posts
Reddit is good for starting discussions and getting opinions from your audience

There are websites that apply to different parts of the world and are more suited to a particular country. You're better off sticking to the bigger platforms you know than trying to reach audiences with a language you can't speak.

Create a Social Media Handle that Relates to Your Website

Your social media handle allows people to find your website.

Use keywords and hashtags in your social media handle and content to help people find you. Keywords like "writing tips", "writing", "blogging tips" are just some of the keywords used by people to find the information they need on social media, and make you more visible.

If you can, try and use the exact name of your website, this way there won't be too much confusion when people start looking for you on social media.

Each social media platform will have a limit to the amount of characters you can use, which means you may need to be creative to stay within those limits.

Don't Stick to Long Blog Posts All of the Time, Vary Them

You should always aim for evergreen blog content if you can, but you'll probably find that not every blog post is as popular as the last. 500 words is a good place to start, bare in mind that Google wants original content.

Decide When You Want to Post Each Week

Some people find it difficult posting more than once a week, this depends on the kind of posts you want to produce. If you want to create higher quality content you need to spend time on each post.

These are things you need to think about, because consistency is going to be the key to your blogging success.

Utilise Different Story Formats for Your Marketing

Writers have different ways of putting their messages across, some like to include video, others audio. If writing is your medium, stick with that.

There are a lot of different ways you can reach your audience, especially if you're an author. You can include infographics and other formats to get your marketing across. All of this shows your audience that you have a passion for what you do, and that you know the mechanics of your chosen subject.

Consider Using Long-Tail Keywords in Your Content

Long-tail keywords are different to keywords because they usually contain three to five words and are more specific.

Examples:

nonfiction writing prompts
tools for writers
blog about writing
blog post ideas
blog names for writers

These long-tail keywords are aimed at a particular area of writing or blogging. You can spread these throughout your website and social media, and will help draw-in more traffic.

Guest Blogging

A lot of website owners use the guest blogging route to gain traffic.

This involves writing something that relates to your website, while bringing visibility to your brand. If you want to guest blog here are some points to think about:

1. Give a brief explanation of who you are and what your website is all about.

2. You need to articulate what you know about the site on which you want to guest post.

Before you're accepted by the blogger they want to know what you have to offer their website.

3. This is when you give a clear explanation of what you want to write about.

You then clarify how long the post will be, and the style of writing you'll be using. The blog owner needs to know why your blog post will bring a positive impact to that blog.

4. You must include an author blurb on your blog post so the audience knows who you are.

Avoid making your blog post sound like an advertisement for your own website.

Be aware that the website owner has the right to edit your post before it goes public, so make sure you agree with any changes made.

Allow Other Bloggers to Post on Your Website

You can use the same tool and use guest bloggers to post on your site. The same rules apply if you decide to allow guest bloggers on your website. Which means you can edit and check through the guest post before it goes live. Always make sure that the writer is fine with any editing that is necessary.

Keep Up-To-Date With Your Websites Health

It's really important that your website performs well and is within the rules of Google when it comes to website health.

Your website will be seen mostly on mobile devices.

There are three main errors to watch for:

Performance
SEO
Mobile
Security

You can get a free checkup with websites like websitegrader.com, which will give you a general breakdown of where your blog is failing or winning.

All of the four points above ensure that your site is performing as it should, and people are able to find you online when they need to. You can make website testing a part of your regular blogging plan to ensure that everything runs smoothly all of the time.

Page Speed

Page speed doesn't come from the device, it comes from the website itself. If your blog is bloated with too many large images, and inefficient cache (to name a few things), then chances are your blog is in trouble.

People won't come back to a website that runs too slow or takes ages to load up.

Here are some useful points to think about:

Make sure your images are the perfect fit.
Keep your page layout simple.
Beware of certain plug-in and third party apps, they may crash your site or slow it down.
Remember to test your website regularly.

Create a Community

Create a community of like-minded individuals that can come to you when they need help. Soon you'll discover a steady stream of followers who'll appreciate what you have to offer, and will give real feedback.

Use your blog posts for Q & A's, always make sure you're creating valuable information for your readers, try to answer any problems you think people are having.

Lookout for spammers, they can be a problem. You'll find strange links that don't belong to your blog, or comments from people who just want to advertise their own website. Either way keep your website clean from any problems as much as you can.

Add Share and Follow Buttons

Most bloggers customise their buttons, and people use blog urls to spread blog posts. This is great for trust, and building relationships online.

All you need is a set of follow buttons at the top or bottom of your homepage, and share buttons on each blog page and post.

Create Your Own Videos

This isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if you have the technical knack you can create just about anything online these days. Videos are a great tool and can be used to inform your audience just what it is you do.

You can create videos about:

Products or services
Current news stories
Tips and guides relating to your blog

People even create videos outdoors or on the move, to tell their stories.

Add a Transcript

If you created a video or podcast you might want to include a transcript for that particular episode. People love reading, and it encourages people to listen to the podcast or audio file.

Create Your Own Audio Files or Podcasts

If you prefer the format of audio you might want to think about creating your own regular podcast for your audience to tune into. You can use it to talk about anything.

Things like:

Telling people what you're about.
Reviewing some of the newest products or services in your arena.
Giving people news and current events.
Interviewing the people you admire.

Find Your Voice and Create Unique Content

If your website is unique enough it will stand out from the crowd and have people interested. Part of finding your voice is showing the human side of your blog, this will show people who you are, and help set the mood..

You can create any kind of content you like. Once you find your voice the audience will start trusting you and then start buying.

As I mentioned before, your content doesn't have to be uniform, but it does need to be informative and interesting. You can't go wrong with simple content.

Be Consistent

Consistency covers everything from tone to your blog posting schedule. If you make a change of pace in either of these areas you start rocking the boat.

One of the main reasons people visit a particular website is because they expect regular high quality content.

If you sound too casual or too boring people stop reading. Lighthearted and fun works well for some blogs but not all. People visit blogs for all different kinds of reasons. All of these things need to be thought out before you even start.

Examine Your Competitors Websites

This is a good exercise to do when you're starting a blog, it's definitely worth doing early on. You can get some really good ideas by looking at your competitors' sites.

With a carefully constructed website, high quality content and the use of social media, you should draw in a lot of traffic.

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