This turned out to be a bit of an epic, but here goes…
My initial advice would very much echo a lot of what has already been said, but there are other important points to consider, too. Here’s a top-ten that I’ve put together, but this is not the be-all-and-end-all:
1. Find your special niche and stick to it
2. Don’t run multiple sites in your early stages
3. Expect a gradual, steady income stream from the site to begin with. 6 – 12 months before the site starts to achieve its true potential is usually considered realistic. If there’s a lot of noise from other sites in your niche, then it can take a while for visitors to get used to what you have to offer.
4. If you’re on a rev share, don’t be put off by the prospect of big winners. Reputable affiliate programs will take the hit of any negative carry overs on your behalf. What’s more is that high rollers are likely to – in time – give you good results, as they are likely to put more money back in from their winnings.
5. If you feel unsure about the general profitability of whichever program you are joining, then opt for a CPA initially.
6. Remember the old chestnut: CONTENT IS KING. People are coming to your site to see something NEW, RELEVENT, and USEFUL. If your text and image resources tick these boxes for your market, then you’re going to get a decent visitor base. Your website should be a resource and not a list of banners and links.
7. The most basic sites can convert hugely if they offer a distinctive, user-focused service. Don’t get too hung up on the way your site appears, so long as it delivers value to your visitors. You may be familiar with a quirky little site called “Google”. This basic user interface delivers an incredibly useful service which I’m led to believe is a little bit popular…
8. Update your content very regularly to make the site perform in the search engines, and to make its content “sticky”.
9. Think about using a good CMS so that you don’t need to re-code the site every time you want to update it. WordPress is an excellent free resource that you can even host your site on if you wish. Joomla is another, more feature-rich CMS that allows you to add complexity to your “out-of-the-box” website. Joomla also has a
very funky list/community builder that allows you to talk directly to your subscribers and manage your website all from the same place. It’s complex, but it’s worth mastering.
10. You don’t necessarily need a difficult marketing plan for your site. A friend of mine runs a local music fanzine website. His “complex” marketing mix consists of leaving little photocopied leaflets in key places in certain pubs and clubs London. He has one of the best performing websites in his niche area! Combining offline media with basic SEO activities will strengthen this even further.
Hope this helps. 