What is it about blogs? They’re all the rage these days, the search engines love them, and a ton of “Web 2.0″ sites deal only with blogs.
In fact, some say, “static sites are dead!” I disagree with that statement, but blogs ARE all the rage, and they have certain advantages over static sites, especially when you’re blogging for affiliates.
Search engine love. Once upon a time part of the search engine game was getting Google to look at your site and then get listed. It’s a little different today. You can post an article to an established blog and it’ll get listed in the big G is under an hour.
At least part of the reason is that many people blog several times per day, especially on political blogs. All the search engines, and Google especially, love fresh news and info and blogs are perfect for posting that.
Once a blog is set up you don’t have to worry about templates, layout, formatting, etc., it’s all handled by the blogging system.
Of course, all the usual linking and traffic building strategies apply, but when you’re in the blogging for affiliates game you want to add a couple. Such as:
* Post often, daily if you can, and post good content. Not just ads, but something people might recommend to a friend. The posts don’t have to be full length articles, but a few should be.
* Link and Ye Shall be Linked. Quote other blogs that are in your topic, add some of your own witty commentary, send them a trackback, and often they’ll give you a link back.
* Make good comments on related blogs. Don’t just say, “Cool blog, dude. Come see mine!” Comment on the content of the post, add your data, contradict his data, start a discussion (not a fight.)
* Comment on the news. Use Google News and Yahoo News as sources, find topics related to your topic, and discuss them on your blog, with a link to the original. You may find your blog popping up in the search results for that topic.
Blogging for Affiliates, step 1: The Blog:
But I don’t know how to make a blog!!!
Yes you do, it’s easy. In fact, this blogging for affiliates thing may be easier with blogs than with other types of sites. You can go to Blogger.com, set up your own blog, and be posting in about 5-10 minutes.
You’ll want to graduate, at some point, to using your own domain, instead of Blogger’s. You’ll need to buy a domain name ($10-20 bux) and web hosting ($3 a month and up.) Once you have your hosting go into your control panel and make a MySQL database (it’s easy, really. Google it if you don’t know how.)
Download WordPress from WordPress.org, upload it to your server, and follow the directions. You’ll have a blog in no time. Give it a template you like and you’re off and running (templates are easy and you can download thousands of them.)
Blogging for Affiliates, Step 2: The Topic:
So let’s say your blog is going to be “Saltwater Fishing – Anywhere, Anytime.” Do some research, make a long list of ideas for topics that you can post (the longer the better) and start posting! Get your affiliate programs in order (tackle, trips, charters, books, ebooks…) and make a recommendation every now and then.
Get links to your blog, especially from other blogs and Web 2.0 (look it up) sites, and you’ll be off and running. You’ll probably find that your affiliate blog will get traffic and traction faster than any static site you could set up.
In fact, if you do everything right you’ll need to upgrade your hosting service. I know a couple of heavy duty political blogs that use expensive hosting that runs $300 and more a month! But we don’t need that to start. Whew!
Blogging for Affiliates, Step 3: Get Started Now!
If you don’t start it’s not going to happen. I’m setting the timer. Get yourself to Blogger.com, make an account, start a blog. You have 15 minutes. Go!
The Tauren Chef has her own blog where she takes the delicious in-game World of Warcraft Cooking, and brings it into the real world of your kitchen and dining room. Come by and eat like a Tauren!