You might have heard stories about affiliate marketing like it’s taken from a horror movie but the things you have heard are just what they are, stories. But just like stories, there are always two sides to it.
The truth is affiliate marketing can be challenging but the myths surrounding it are not entirely true. It’s important that you know what they are so you fully understand how affiliate marketing works.
Debunking the Myths of Affiliate Marketing and SEO
It’s easy to believe in stories if you have no idea what’s it all about. The stories about affiliate marketing and SEO can be confusing but if you want to know the truth behind these myths, you need to read this.
Myth: Affiliate Marketing is Really Easy
Truth: There are a lot of people who say that affiliate marketing is the easiest way to start an online business. After all, you only need is a good website to run and affiliate links to set you up. While that sounds easy to do, the truth is that its not as easy as you think. Just like any other type of business, you need to invest time and money in order for it to work. And no, just because you have a website and affiliates to work with, you will be successful overnight. The biggest challenge for those who are in this business is to develop a website.
You need to have the right information that your visitors need as well as good content in order to attract more visitors. You must also develop keywords and apply the best SEO techniques to make sure that you are able to get good ranking positions. You must also have resources to use e.g. videos, links and written content to support your website. Not only that, you must also be well-versed in promoting the materials and content you have produced to social media. All of these are needed if you wish to be successful and earn from affiliate marketing.
Myth: Lots of traffic also means lots of money
Truth: According to stories, directing traffic to your website allows you to earn a lot of money. Truth is you don’t need to have lots of traffic for conversion. What good will it give you if you are diverting so many visitors in your site but there is no conversion? Keep in mind that by the time your visitors reach your site, their interest may also change and conversion will only happen depending on what you have to offer. So you don’t need that much traffic in order to make it work (although yes, high traffic helps too) as the conversion level is a lot smaller.
Myth: Affiliate Marketing is dead
Truth: Some say that affiliate marketing is dead but truth is it’s just changing and the trend today is a lot different when it was first conceptualized. Newer trends are more restricted and affiliates are now refrained from practicing link-spamming while banner displays are reduced. Google’s algorithm is also strict about contents as well as SEO practices and websites who fail to comply with the standards are shifted to the last part of the search results page. Banner ads are restricted as well simply because they are not compatible with mobile phones these days. The sizes of the images used alone are not as effective as they used to. Today banners are replaced with text links that you can find between blogs you read.
Myth: Your social media posts will automatically get many likes and shares
Truth: Social media is a great source of free advertising for affiliate marketing but keep also in mind that not everything in it is free as there are times when advertisements are paid. However in order for your posts/content to be shared or liked, you must post something that is also engaging. It must be something that can attract the attention of others. Writing an original post or curate content (however you want to do it) can help however everything on social media takes time but if you know what to do then consider each post as an investment that will make beneficial returns.
Myth: Only a few niches are profitable
Truth: It’s easy to say that some niches are indeed more profitable than others but you need to find the right niche so you can make money. All niches are profitable but how you promote and develop it plays a vital role in order for it to be successful. So over all, we can say that your skills are more important rather than the niche you have chosen. How do you find the right niche? Start with your interests or hobbies. What are you passionate about? If you know what these are then it will be a lot easier for you to promote and develop the niche you have.
Myth: It’s all about earning commissions and sales alone
Truth: The most important thing about affiliate marketing is attaining maximum traffic and new customers. Sales and commissions are all part of the numerous benefits that you can get from this business. It is not limited to commissions and sales alone as there are a lot of things to do when you are involved with affiliate marketing. You have SEO compliance, visitors, landing pages, leads and a whole lot of others to deal with.
Myth: Affiliate Marketing is a declining business
Truth: As I have mentioned, affiliate marketing is an ever changing business. Contrary to popular belief, affiliate marketing is not shrinking but the truth is, there is constant growth for companies who are using affiliate schemes mainly because shoppers who come to affiliate sites are most likely to spend more money compared to other customers.
Myth: Contents can stand alone with Affiliate Marketing and SEO
Truth: Yes, writing content is very important and while contents can deliver results, your work does not end there. In fact, you need to constantly produce quality contents if you want to be successful with marketing. This is the first step that you need to do with affiliate marketing. In order to do that, you need to write and post content regularly. Unique titles and images can attract readers, the same goes with adding videos. Besides images and videos, podcasts and sharing links on social media are also awesome ways to promote your content. So you see, content alone cannot stand; you need to be creative and have various ways to promote it.
Affiliate marketing is not a walk in the park; in fact, you need to take it seriously if you wish to make money out of it. Now that you know the truth behind these myths, make sure to take things into consideration first and plan your action before taking a leap. After all, a good plan could never go wrong, right?
Hie AJ ,
Your Post is enlightening ,
I am working In the SEO department and usually hear of misconceptions regarding affiliate marketing , where it is considered difficult to be a part of affiliate network,whereas Joining an Affiliate network is easy .
Affiliate programs can be highly effective channels for putting your carefully crafted brand messaging and promotions in front of influential bloggers so most of the advertisers consider it .
Hello Nikhil,
Thank you for your thoughts!
Affiliate Marketing definitely isn’t as easy as most people think it is. In fact, it can be really hard! Some people can write amazing content without knowing how to drive traffic. Others put all their efforts into getting visitors but can’t even make a single sale. It can really be a kick in the behind if you don’t set your expectations right.
I think it all comes down to proper planning, research, and a timely execution of those plans. It’s a gruelling process. But as they say, anything worth doing is worth doing right.
It was great hearing from you, Nikhil!
Let us know all about your Affiliate Marketing experience, if you have any. We love bouncing ideas with our readers!
Cheers,
Kleia