Affiliate Marketing: How To Increase The Profitability Of Your Aff liate Marketing Part1

The following article is one of a series of articles which focus on Affiliate, Article and Internet Marketing. All of the articles are based on real experiences and research done over twenty years as a personal and business coach. They are also written in response to questions which I have been asked as well as address common challenges that people have with affiliate marketing, article marketing, internet marketing or running an online business in general. I sincerely hope that you find the following information of value. One idea, one tip, one clue can make all the difference.

Affiliate Marketing: How To Increase The Profitability Of Your Aff liate Marketing Part1

It is important for all of us involved with affiliate and internet marketing to keep up to date with those techniques that are proving to be highly successful. Hopefully some of you have benefited from incorporating audio into your site. Now the focus seems to be on using video, either your own or 'borrowed' from sources such as Google and YouTube.

These are great techniques as long as they add value to what already is a welcoming, user friendly website. No amount of audio, video, flash intros or any other marketing trend that may come along will give you the results you are looking for unless you get the basics right.

Get the basics right, then you can look at different ways to complement a site that is already working for you.

So, what are these basics?

1. Give Your Visitors What They Are Looking For

Visitors have arrived at your site because they have a need and they are hoping that you are going to provide the solution to that need. Let them know they have found what they are looking for. Your home page must include clear and concise information that explains what your site is about. Content will always be king but don't ramble on.

Engage your visitors with value-added content and convince them with a few seconds that they have come to the right place. Through whatever means you have used to get these visitors to your site, it's crazy not to want to keep them there.

As soon as they feel you may just be the answer to what they are looking for, you will have ample opportunity to guide them through your site and to whichever call to action you wish them to take.

2. Make Sure Your Site Loads As Quickly As Possible

You may be the best copywriter on this planet but that won't be worth a cent if your visitors have moved on through frustration waiting for your site to load.

I know, flash intros, animated images, slick affiliate program banners may look fantastic but they all take time to download. Less of a problem than it used to be, granted, but even the latest technology has its off days. Look at it from your own experience when surfing the 'net and then trying to access a slow loading website - how long is your waiting time before you move on? Mine is no more than a few seconds.

All of that hard work you have put into convincing your visitors that your site has the solution to meet their needs is pointless if they are not going to wait until the page loads.

3. Keep Your Website Simple

I recently received some feedback on one of my sites that basically said that technically the site was brilliant but confusing for the user.

Sit back and critically look at the pages you have created. Does the flow make sense? Are you running the risk of frustrating your visitors because they don't understand what they are meant do next? Are they actually having to guess what some of your links are for?

Again, think about it from their perspective. You are a customer, you make buying decisions or are looking to get even more information. So, how easy do you want it to be? Now make it just as easy for your potential customers.

4. Make Sure All Your Links And Navigation Are Crystal Clear

It is all part of the same theme, making it easy for your visitor. Imagine how successful or otherwise a huge shopping mall would be if visitors (especially first time visitors) could not find what they were looking for.

Make it easy for your visitors to a) find the links and b) move around your site - minimize the number of clicks they have to take to get to the information they want.

Typically, navigation bars and text links can be found vertically down the left side of the page or horizontally along the top. One other suggestion I have is to also include the most important links such as returning to home page at the foot of the page instead of making the user scroll up and down looking for a link.

By making it as easy as possible for your visitors will encourage them to stay awhile.

Thanks for reading. Look out for 3 more ways to increase the profitability of your affiliate marketing in part 2.

If you are still unsure if you have what it takes to run a successful affiliate marketing business, please don t worry. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by visiting us at the link below.

By: Andrew Gowans

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Our primary theme and overriding goal is to provide you with the right choices that fit your needs, solve your problems. So, stop struggling now.

If you are looking for more than just an affiliate program, please visit Your Affiliate Marketing Coach where we go into considerable depth on some of the more important aspects of affiliate programs, how to choose the best one, and How To Make Money Online