Monetizing Websites
One of the reasons I had for joining the Wealthy Affiliate program was to learn more about how to monetize existing websites using affiliate programs. Here is what I have been up to with my new-found knowledge.
Finding An Affiliate Network
First, I was finally accepted by the AvantLink affiliate network after I directed my request through REI instead of directly to AvantLink. The great people at REI liked what I was doing with explore.globalcreations.com and, before I knew it, AvantLink approved my application and I was off and running. Once accepted by AvantLink and REI I needed to be accepted by other businesses within the AvantLink network. That was easy, apparently because I had already been vetted by REI.
I have worked with other affiliate networks like ClickBank, eJunkie, Share A Sale, LinkShare (Rakuten) and JV Zoo. None of them compare to the professionalism of the brand managers that work with AvantLink or the online tools that AvantLink offers to help monetize my websites. Apparently none of them particularly care about your website either.
Promoting Relevant Affilates
As you can see, I feature REI on the home page at EXPLORE! Other pages and posts feature a variety of related businesses in display advertisements (that automatically rotate when a post is opened), some contain product links and some contain specific ads for specific firms or products they offer. In all my posts I include a text list of current deals from my key sponsors. This list is kept up to date by the businesses, I need to do nothing more with it.
One major rule for me is to keep the ads on EXPLORE! relevant to my outdoor recreation niche. There are lots of websites that include ads for everything under the sun. To me that reflects lack of professionalism and care about a personal brand.
If EXPLORE! were to advertise Wealthy Affiliate links, it wouldn't be EXPLORE! On the other hand, when I complete my Wealthy Affiliate training I will put a full review on my blog at globalcreations.com/blog/. That blog includes a lot of really technical stuff that is only of interest to web developers - the kind of people that could really benefit from Wealthy Affiliate.
Search Engine Optimization
When I first started EXPLORE! and long before I had ever heard of Wealthy Affiliate, I had done some research on the kinds of things people would be searching for when I want them to find EXPLORE!. That's why you will see several articles (posts) about National Parks (Crater Lake in particular since I get there a lot). Now, with knowledge gained from Wealthy Affiliate, I work important key word phrases into my articles to enhance EXPLORE!'s ability to be found by Google and other search engines.
Publish - Publish - Publish
Obviously the articles in EXPLORE! require significant experiential research, so I don't publish nearly enough of them. Late last year I added a "Blog" to EXPLORE! that offers a post three times a week about some topic of interest to outdoor recreationists. Those that choose, can sign up to receive the posts by email as they are published.
The posts sometimes include internal links to specific products, but not so often that my readers feel like I'm trying to force them to buy something. Not only does this create another audience for the information I offer, but it is building an email list of interested people.
E-Mail Lists
For those that are also interested in outdoor news, I started publishing a weekly outdoor newsletter that, after the news items, includes a list of available, short-term, deals from my sponsors. This is a separate email list and is not associated with a blog.
As a enticement for people to sign up for the blog and/or newsletter lists, I have established a Discover Club (discoverclub.net). Members get access to several free ebooks and other information of particular interest to them as well as the choice to sign up for either or both email lists.
Conclusion
So far, I have approached monetizing EXPLORE! from all of these angles. Traffic is gradually growing and I will increase my efforts to build that traffic while maintaining the efforts described above. It's a lot of work, but I love to write and I love to see others get out and explore - especially with the products my sponsors offer.
Recent Comments
1
Sounds like you have a plan in motion, keep at it!