Running a website or a blog does not have to be a side interest. The fact is that you can make a living off of your site, as long as you’re willing to put in the effort. This is possible through affiliate marketing, which is one of the easiest and fastest ways to make money online. As with any other online business, you can make money 24/7 and don’t have to adjust to regular working hours, as you get to decide when and where to conduct your business.

In this article, we will explain the different steps necessary for creating a site that provides revenue through an affiliate. But first, we will sort out the meaning of the term ”affiliate”.

What is an affiliate?

A simplified definition of affiliate marketing is as follows: the process of promoting businesses through online sales tactics and earning commissions from the sales made. Usually affiliates get paid for each new unique visitor redirected or for each click on your affiliate link that sends the visitors to the website. The commission percentage varies from business to business and can range from low single digits to three digits.

Affiliation marketing is commonplace in online retailing and can be applied within several different industries; the online gambling industry being one of the most lucrative ones.

11 steps to creating a successful affiliate site

1. Choose a niche

Before even getting started creating a website, you need to decide on which niche to target for your business. The products you’re promoting should be profitable so you know there is money to make. Profitable niches that never go out of style are online dating, diet/weight loss and online casino, to name a few. A great example of an affiliate website is LiveCasinoKings.com – which targets live casino players.

2. Choose the right web host

Web hosting is a service that allows companies and individuals to store their websites on the internet. Sure, you can create a simple blog without it, but by using a web host you will be able to ensure website security and choose between different publishing tools which will make your website appear professional. This is valuable in itself as professional-looking websites add credibility and trust, which in turn increase the number of visitors.

3. Buy a domain name

Your site needs a domain name which will be the same as the web address. Give extra attention to this step as the choice of domain name is very important when creating an affiliate marketing site; you want to make sure your website gets noticed.

We recommend the domain name to be:

∙ Short
∙ Brandable
∙ Pronounceable
∙ Memorable
∙ Self-explanatory
∙ Addressing its target group
∙ Not too trendy (we don’t want the name to become outdated in the future)

The price may vary between different web hosting companies, which is why we recommend you to compare them before making the selection. Preferably, your domain should end with .com as it is the most recognized and accessible top-level domain.

4. Select a publishing tool

Before you can start building your website, you need to choose a publishing tool. Some of the most well-known publishing tools are WordPress, Drupal and Episerver. We recommend you to use WordPress as it is fairly easy to use. You can either install the publishing tool directly in the website’s control panel or install it manually.

5. Build your website

Luckily, you don’t need to know how to program when building a WordPress website. WordPress will provide you with a range of complete themes and features that are free to use. You only have to learn how to use them in order to apply them when building your website. Make sure the website looks attractive and professional and that it provides high-quality content that is of relevance to your audience.

6. Invest in SEO

SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of improving internet traffic to your website through search engine results. Creating a SEO-friendly website is key if you want to become a successful affiliate marketer. By having your website rank as high as possible, organic traffic will increase and your site’s credibility will be boosted.

Unfortunately, competition is very high as everyone wants to achieve top rankings. Evaluate keyword competition in order to choose the right keywords for your website. The best possible keywords have great search volume and hardly any competition.

7. Create high-quality content

”Content is king” is a phrase often cited in the world of online marketing and it’s no wonder why. Producing consistent content that is both unique and interesting for your audience has proven to be extremely important from a SEO-perspective. Well-written copy not only boosts engagement, trust and brand awareness, but also strengthens your reputation.

8. Get started with affiliate marketing

Now, it’s time for the fun stuff! To get started, you need to join one or more affiliate networks. Affiliate networks connect publishers with advertisers selling all sorts of products and services. To launch an affiliate marketing venture, select an advertiser with a product or service that relates to your website. If the advertiser approves your application, you’re free to post one or several adverts on your website, or add affiliate links onto your copy and images.

9. Optimize your conversion

Having high-quality content isn’t enough. You need to be able to drive conversions from it. Running A/B tests on your website is therefore recommended as it will unravel which types of content improves conversions. Sometimes, all you have to do is change the placement of a button, replace a colour or add an image that grabs the visitors’ attention.

10. Use social media

Using social media to attract new visitors is becoming more important each day. By targeting social media, you will reach out to a completely new audience that is not on Google. Promote your domain name on social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and post content that is consistent and relevant to the business you’re promoting. Also, sharing the content among friends will increase your website’s search ranking and chances of reaching new, potential visitors that way.

11. Build an email list

An email list is a great marketing tool and a fast and easy way to reach out to people who want to hear from you. When building an email list, you first need to decide on which email marketing service to use. MailChimp is the world’s biggest marketing automation platform and is very easy to use. The next step is creating a signup form that is accessible on your website.

Now, the next step in your email marketing campaign is to start building your email list. One of the best ways of doing so is by creating high-quality content on a day-to-day basis. If the content become viral, people will share it and they will become more likely to sign up. Remember that the content has to be relevant to the business you’re promoting.

Good luck!