Affiliate Web Sites

The Size of the problem

Think about it; every affiliate system makes a profit for the founders by recruiting thousands of affiliates to create duplicate websites - and that's what you have done; you are one of thousands. So far from going the 'extra mile' or providing a useful service, your site - sorry, but it's true - simply clutters up the web; there's no advantage to visitors or search engines in having thousands of identical sites. Is there? And not much advantage to you, either.

Additionally, the central site of the whole scheme usually has a designed-and-built-in advantage - so you have little chance of doing much about it.

However good your site looks, it has congenital, built-in, Sick Site Syndrome

You'd be much better off thinking about what you want to do; plan YOUR site, choose YOUR domain name, and start planning YOUR content, then consider affiliations, adsense etc., as bolt-ons that do not dominate your site and make it a virtual clone.

Remember that a 'pure affiliate' site can never, ever be more than that; build YOUR OWN site, and you are in control of your future, you will always have options.

Affiliate marketing is far from dead - if you can provide a useful site - one that is unique, interesting, and goes the extra mile in meeting the needs of visitors. Do that - differentiate your site from the heaving masses - and you'll find the search engines are interested, too

If you have a template site from these folk, so do 1000 other people. So your job is to make yours unique and special - the best. Learn what controls you have, and which bits you cannot touch. Then set about improving 'your' bits - ALT attributes, more text, handwritten descriptions, and so on.

Content

Google - indeed, all search engines - set great store by unique content; which is only logical; you only have to look at a news search result to feel the frustration of 15 pages with identical, syndicated copy. By the time those pages are found in more general searches, a selection process has taken place.

To make things worse, many affiliate companies provide a template website - sometimes a subdomain of the main company site - which limits the member's ability to develop unique and interesting content

If the site is affiliated to just one company, that company may dictate the look and feel of your site - again, nice site, but can never compete; congenital Sick Site Syndrome.

To get over the inherited problems, it is vital that you use whatever freedom you have to individualize your site, adding interesting, relevant and unique content.

This makes for a better site, it differentiates you among a world of clone sites (Sorry, but it's the truth!). And it helps in improving your positioning.

If you are affiliated to a number of companies, you may have the freedom to develop an interesting, useful and unique site, and - if you put in the work - the site could do very well.

Links

Getting incoming links for a site with little creative freedom is always going to be a challenge. Directories are a good place to start, but do read guidelines carefully to ensure the site is eligible; it's easy to waste ages filling forms, only to get an instant rejection.

Take a good look at the category you are submitting to; if a sister site from the same affiliation is there, you site is unlikely to be accepted by a Quality Directory. If the 'parent' site is there, you really have very little chance of even being considered. And the final indignity is that many directories will not even consider a subdomain.

Search Engines & Human Visitors

All the above advice will make the SEO of Affiliation much easier - but notice also that everything I have suggested will make your site a better site for human beings, and so more likely to do buiness for you. There is rarely a divide between the needs of people and the needs of search engines; so plan the site around people, and watch it score better with the search engines!

Conclusion

Many affiliate sites are sick sites, simply because they are clones; and clones that have been created to serve the original site, not to develop their own individual personalities!

Affiliate sites are tempting at first, as you can use templates, other people's materials and launch quickly - but that's the ONLY advantage. YOUR OWN site will take more thought and planning, more effort to launch - then it starts getting easier; you are much more likely to get Quality Directory listings, less likely to get duplicate content problems, unlikely to get permanently held by a competitor or lost in the crowd.

In the medium to long term, you are more likely to attract 'free' links from people who like your site, more likely to get return visitors.

Oh. One more thing - much more likely to make money.

SEO Tip #3

Don't be seduced by Grey Hat SEO.

You often see suggestions that 'gray hat' methods are 'cheats' and 'shortcuts' that enable you to get to the top of the search engine results.

Not so. 'Grey hat' is black hat without the courage of its convictions.

There really cannot be a grey area; either you cheat, or you don't. If you use such methods, you could lose your Search Engine listings - and your income.

The SEO industry is not Black, nor is it White; It's Black and White (like every other industry!). Every webmaster has a clear and free choice.

See also: White Hats, Black Hats and SEs - More Tips