Realistic expectations?
So my WA extended family, I have a question & comment and would like your honest feedback.
Since rejoining WA in Jan / Feb of this year I have been trying to learn the affiliate marketing strategy for making money online. No joy so far ☹
I have been focusing on generating content on my websites to the point where I am 'no longer in the top 200'... But tbh while I genuinely appreciate the chattiness I am primarily here to generate an income.. ;)
I have 2 websites up and running (successfulachiever.com and schooltriumph.com) plus a siteruberix.com which, according to a set of recent answers is not a ‘real’ site but just one that I can practice website building on. TBH I am not sure if I have got the right information on this.
I became an Amazon Associate but have just been told as I didn’t achieve any sales in 90 days they are going to remove my association if this remains so in the next 90 days…
This world of ‘Meta tags, plugins, SEO compliance and long tailed key words’ is really quite a challenge for me to comprehend … However I have been trying some tweaking using Site Kit and adjusting ‘site names, meta descriptions’ in accord with my (very limited) comprehension.
I think I liken associate marketing to planting an orchard so the expectancy to gain ‘fruit’ quickly is probably unrealistic – although I do see ‘traffic’ and ‘clicks’ occurring. I have gotten to use the Hubs and generate AI posts …. But I see it’s a balance between ‘improving site health’ with frequent ‘AI vanilla’ posts and my own slowly generated but ‘rich’ content.
So what IS a realistic expectation for me to grab hold of? I am loathe to spend more money on websites when I haven’t generated a single sale to date… because I am not too sure of what I am doing? Am I expecting too much too soon ? (I suspect now I should have waited before getting a Amazon Associate capacity!)
I welcome all advice - however ‘direct’ - and any mentorship that’s freely available !
Recent Comments
10
Simplify.
Focus your efforts on one website.
Use hubs to create content for that website, no vanilla post or filler content. Every post you write is one you write with intent to deliver value. Fully answer the question your audience is asking that led them to your article.
Remember, you're creating content that is the answer to the questions your target audience is making. So take that as a responsibility to deliver that value.
Every bit of SEO is just a method to get your content seen, to get it ranking, to get it in front of your audience, that's all. SEO is dynamic, always changing, so you flow with it.
The key is putting more and more hooks in the water. Each piece of content you create is a hook, so never stop putting them out there. 👍🏼
Thank you Eric…I do feel that I am doing that!
As a fisherman I do really understands the ‘more hooks in the water’ concept….
I have no intention of stopping what I am doing…I just want to be sure I am focusing on doing what is optimal!
I can relate to you, James! It all depends on how much you want it. The world is constantly changing, so you must persevere!
Jeff
Thanks Jeff... I fully intend to 'go for it'... but I just want to know that I am putting effort in the right direction.
From what I can see I am getting 'traffic'... and the niches I am using (in essence: how to succeed in sales and how to succeed in school) should be of interest to a wide range of folks.
I don't know (through lack of experience I guess) what is a poor / average / good visitor rate. I do understand the concepts of letting a site 'mature' and frequently adding new content.
What throw me are things like 'improve site speed by deleting unused java scripts' or what are 'really good / really awful plugins' ( I thought 'a really good plug' stopped water draining out of my bathroom sink!)
Any thoughts old chum would be most welcome :D
See more comments
Hi - as Eric says, you have essentially spread your content across two sites, and you should focus on only one.
So, you have ended up with two sites, neither of which have enough content yet, to start convincing Google of your authority.
You need to now decide which site is to be your priority.
As regards Amazon, if you don't meet the target, then you can apply again, but will have to change your links.
That'd one question that I have …. IS ‘enough content’ …. How many posts?
Unfortunately, it's not a linear, mathematical process.
You can't say, when you hit X number of posts, you will start getting traffic.
It depends on so many variables - your keyword research, whether people are searching for your content, whether Google deems it better than your competitors, etc.
Personally speaking, I like to aim for an initial 30 posts, on a specific aspect of my niche subject, before checking my analytics to see what is happening.
Let me know which of your sites you intend to pursue, and I will take an in-depth look at it tomorrow.
Hello Diane
I am taking note of all that has been said here .... SO helpful ,,,, and I have decided that my successfulachiever.com website seems to be the most productive (33 visitors in the past 30 days as compared to 7 on my 'schooltriumph.com one ...)
Any thoughts you may have will be most welcome!!!
I am 'discovering' Google images that are nice and FREE and how to simply 'copy image' then paste; also Bing/create is another FREE resource I am using now... both because of the great tips I picked up from the WA family :)