Affiliate site and interest

[su8898]

I'm a newbie in OM. Seems like everybody is starting niche affiliate sites on their area of expertise! If it's not so, how do you guys keep on writing? How do you write posts as if you are experts in that niche? Do you just google about the niche and find subjects/topics to write about?

 

[blackwar85]

Pretty much yes, nowadays everybody can make a impression of being a expert in particular field, because all the information is just a search away. So being it yourself is not necessary, but is certainly helpful.

Or you can just hire some writers who actually have the knowledge and expertise.

 

[JosValle]

How do you write posts as if you are experts in that niche?

Practice makes perfect. Research the hell out of anything you're writing about from multiple sources. If you're writing about something: Google it, read 3+ articles on it (this can also help when structuring your content; fix what you think the original author messed up on and elaborate), and then write your piece.​

Do you just google about the niche and find subjects/topics to write about?

Yep. There are a lot of topic generators out there which you can use, but I find it best to find someone who's doing it right, and improve upon it (parasite content). And then think about areas you can expand upon or create yourself.
​

If it's not so, how do you guys keep on writing?

Whatever niche you choose, go into it with the mentality that if you aren't an expert, you will become an expert (…or eventually hire other content writers who are / will do that for you).​

 

[su8898]

Thanks so much for the advise @blackwar85 and @JosValle. I am trying my best to write everything myself. It's been 3 weeks now and I've only been able to finish 4 posts. 2 of them are between 700 and 800 words long. So far I haven't got any visitors to my site except of course myself . I've setup twitter and G+ accounts. I'm now looking for ways to add backlinks to my site.

Do you think it's okay for me to write about a product in Amazon for my niche and put affiliate links in my next (ie: 5th) post? When do we know that it's time to put our affiliate links?

 

[CCarter]

So far I haven't got any visitors to my site except of course myself

How are you promoting your site or the articles?

 

[su8898]

@CCarter So far I haven't done anything particular to promote my site. I thought it would be a good idea to build some content before I start to promote the site. I've read this in many affiliate forums as well. What do you think?

 

[CCarter]

@su8898 - If you've done nothing to promote your site, how can you potentially state or be surprised that you are not getting any visitors? The reason I state this is because your comment sounded like you are working off of a "build it and they will come" mentality - no one is coming to your site without marketing - SEO is not magically going to draw in millions, thousands, hundreds, or even dozens of visitors without marketing. If you were told you can sit back and "add backlinks to your site", and magically all this traffic is going to come... I've got some bad news for you...

Talk to @badya122 - he was doing what you were doing from Jun 2014 to Aug. We started talking about traffic leaks and basically marketing - he comes back in one week stating he got 800 visitors in a single day... That's not traffic leaking, that's not magic - it's simply marketing.

 

[JosValle]

Do you think it's okay for me to write about a product in Amazon for my niche and put affiliate links in my next (ie: 5th) post? When do we know that it's time to put our affiliate links?

There's never really a "time" to add affiliate links; there's a time to put links in — and it's when it's relevant to the user.

Does the content help the user? Does the link help the user?

If you write a piece that ends in helping the user solve a problem and a link/product is that solution, link it. The links are the action the user should take, the action should help the user — this brings positive brand recognition and returning users.

The word "affiliate" becomes kind of pointless in this thinking. Add your affiliate tag to everything, link when it results as being positive for the user.

 

[su8898]

no one is coming to your site without marketing - SEO is not magically going to draw in millions, thousands, hundreds, or even dozens of visitors without marketing. If you were told you can sit back and "add backlinks to your site", and magically all this traffic is going to come... I've got some bad news for you...

@CCarter - Thanks for the heads up. I am reading about traffic leaks now. I've never marketed anything in my life but I think it's time for me start doing it. I don't want to remain as an employee all my life.

The links are the action the user should take, the action should help the user — this brings positive brand recognition and returning users.

Wow thanks for this. It really struck me when you said "The links are the action the use should take". I think I must address a problem that the reader is facing and then present a solution to it. Or introduce something to the user and then show her with a way to get it for herself. Never thought about it this way before. I was trying to make content so that I could put my affiliate links in it. Great stuff. Thanks again.

 

[ddasilva]

For my affiliate sites, I'll usually do one or more of the following:

1. Post job on Elance, requesting writers with experience in XYZ niche. You'll often find people that have written a lot of content for some of your biggest competitors, or might even have their own sites within the same industry as yours.

2. Look at competition, look at what they're writing about, and try to do it better yourself.

3. Contact authors from other blogs within your industry, and offer to pay them to write for your blog as well.

 

[qwianghomingh]

I wouldn't worry about affiliate links as long as they are masked.
Raw affiliate links might scare people away, but masked ones just look part of the site URL structure.
I don't know any better, I'm just new to the world of IM.