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I was curious is there anything that you would suggest to a new affiliate to do more of that would eventually bring them a better success rate? If you were giving a new affiliate a few pointers that would help them increase their odds at success what would they be ?
Thanks in advance for all replies your all awesome!! :hattip:
I said a little about this in my interview with Yvette which can be found here: http://www.casinoaffiliateprograms.com/rewards-affiliates.php
Basically, the first and foremost thing I would suggest is for a newbie to do their research. Find a niche. Don’t just generalise…
Also, stick to one site when you start.. Don’t try to do 10 sites at once. It’s better to finish one site and get it going, than to not finish 10 sites.
Once the first is done, it will be much easier to start and finish the next one.
Last but not least, don’t give up. It can sometimes take up to a year to see your first paycheck. So don’t think that because you didn’t make any money in the first month, or two or three, that you’ve been unsuccessful… Treat it like your own business because that’s what it is… If you opened your own shop for example, you would have to work hard to get it started.. same thing goes here.
Renee’s pearls of wisdom…right there ^
Pretty much the same from me. Ask yourself what are you interested in and can you write about it.
I tend to see a lot of sites that can be considered newbie sites (generalising there). A lot of new affiliates get wind of this type of industry and this that its as easy as make a web site, fill it with banners, go buy a yacht. If only.
As Renee said, build your first site, develop it and keep adding content and new features. If you are going to offer out reviews make them complete reviews and possibly score them out of 100 (for example). But in doing this you must test them all out first to give a fair representation of how the casino actually played, customer service, graphics etc. This will help towards improving player conversions. Offering up the casinos that pay you the most to be there wont ensure repeat or loyal traffic.
Get your visitors contact details, this to me is invaluable. Offer out newsletters or offer alerts and you will start to build up your very own contact list of players that want to know about the latest rooms with the best offers etc. But remember, dont spam the sh!t out of them and dont offer too much in the newsletters, keep em short n snappy.
Forums are always good to build up but they do take up a lot of your time so would need staff…probably something for later down the line.
Finally, read the forums and take advice from other webmasters. Dont be afraid to ask as most are pretty helpful :tongue:
Oh and always deal with me! :hattip:
10-4 sunbeam.
Thanks for taking the time out to post both of you!! I am sure your advise is going to help many newbies in the biz:hattip:
Choose carefully the niche you choose, but also stand out in the content you offer.
Propose some real added value to your players, be different.
Brand your website, just do not choose a keyword rich domain (although main keyword good to be in your domain). Brands tend to be trusted more.
Engage your visitors into a conversation (blog, newsletter) and keep them going back to your site.
SEO is not the only way to bring traffic to your site, think outside the box.And be patient.
Randy posted a good guide over in PAP recently that had better advice I would have given out myself.
More great advise thanks guys:hattip:
I definitely think one of the keys for new affiliates starting out is to really research what your competitors are doing (other affiliates) and see where you can fill in a void that is not being tapped.
In the poker niche, there are hundreds if not thousands of affiliates targeting bonus code type terms, but there are thousands of other keywords and terms that have very little competition that can drive some serious traffic to your site. Look for those terms. Think a bit outside the box and what people might type in. Use your own mind to determine keywords and then reinforce that research with your own keyword research.
Read player forums and really see what questions people have rather than looking just at what other keywords affiliates are targeting.
Mark
I definitely think one of the keys for new affiliates starting out is to really research what your competitors are doing (other affiliates) and see where you can fill in a void that is not being tapped.
Excellent idea Mark and thanks for the input!:hattip:
bonustreak;183391 wrote:I was curious is there anything that you would suggest to a new affiliate to do more of that would eventually bring them a better success rate? If you were giving a new affiliate a few pointers that would help them increase their odds at success what would they be ?Thanks in advance for all replies your all awesome!! :hattip:
Build a list or membership site so you can send these same people to various places – you make more money from the same player!
:santa2: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.
I definitely agree that news-letters can convert very nicely. A data-base of interested visitors can be a very powerful thing.
Besides that, when thinking of content, try to work backwards: What are you trying to sell. How does everything you do and write bring you closer to that goal.
Not very romantic advice, but the basics work. That said, the very best thing is to ask your aff manager for specific advice on your specific site. Most of the time the problem is that your site is not optimized (see point 2), which is something that is hard to address in a theoretical or general way.
PM me if you want me to take a look at your site. :hattip:
Thanks to all that have posted awesome advise to the newbies!
This is one of the best posts I’ve read on CAP in the past several months. Good advice coming from the members here and it’s cool to get a mix of AM’s and affiliates both.
One thing I have been advising affiliates to do recently when joining a new program is to take a CPA if the room/casino doesn’t accept US Players and take a rev share if they DO take US Players.
With Microgaming leaving the market in the States the players here have less choices than ever before on where to play. As a result they are now less likely to leave for a new deposit bonus at another room. Most of the avid poker players already have an account at Full Tilt, Stars and bodog.
On the other hand players in Europe have a lot more choices of where to play and can hop from room to room collecting new bonuses and freebies. To protect yourself against this a lot of affiliates will work on a strictly CPA basis for EU only programs.
Ask 10 affiliate managers if they’re committed to conversions and retention and all 10 will say yes; more than any other brand. Honestly these guys do work for the most part but when it comes to getting the most for your money player don’t have much loyalty when presented with so many options.
Purely an opinion.
@MNSandy 184535 wrote:
Build a list or membership site so you can send these same people to various places – you make more money from the same player!
:santa2:Or buy someone else’s membership list
Seriously though having good email data is nice and re-marketing to your players is a great, low cost idea for maximizing your return per player. Starting a forum is tough. Paid posts are usually pretty easy to spot so I’d stay away from that. Start a blog that encourages comments and collect email addresses to special offers (ie: reload bonuses, exclusive deposit bonus, freeroll, rakeback, etc).
