How To Become A Data-Feed Super Affiliate

I am not going to describe what a product feed (or a data-feed) is. There is a lot of information out there about how to use one to build sites. Instead, I want to talk about how you can actually make more sales with data-feed sites.

The program that I manage offers a product feed, and I get a chance to see a sad picture of many good affiliates wasting their potential.

Here is my advice from the affiliate manager's perspective.

Whenever you join (or think bout joining) a program, you need to look for two things:

- Temporary or permanent opportunities

- Flaws of a merchant

Here is an example of an opportunity that was created by an outside factor.

Recently, we got removed from the Yahoo index because of a penalty. I have no idea when (or if) we will get included back in, but I do know that it makes one decision much easier for our affiliates.

Judging by the numerous posts on various SEO-related message boards, it looks like Google and Yahoo use very different algorithms to rank pages. So for any given site, you have a choice to make. You can optimize for Yahoo, for Google, or for both.

Since Yahoo and Google use different algorithms, it is going to be hard to optimize the same set of pages for both of those engines at the same time, unless you employ heavy cloaking. And the way I see it, for an affiliate, it is better to appear high on one search engine than to appear low on both of them in an attempt to optimize for different algorithms at the same time.

Imagine that you are one of our affiliates. Given the information I just told you, shouldn't you concentrate on Yahoo for that data-feed site that is being used to promote our products?

Why spend (at least) half of your time and resources on optimizing for Google when you know that we are nowhere to be found in Yahoo?

You have to have an extremely well linked and optimized site to get ahead of the merchant for the exact product-name search terms. The merchant is your biggest obstacle when it comes to the search engine traffic. So if there is a route that lets you get around that obstacle - take it!

Most of our well-performing affiliates did just that. Either intentionally or unintentionally, they ended up making much more money by appearing high in Yahoo results, while not being ranked high in Google.

So on a practical side of things, here is what you should do.

For your existing merchants, check if they are removed from the index in any of the major search engines, and if they are, then start reading and implementing SEO tips for that particular engine.

And if you are thinking about joining a program and can't decide between several merchants, then check if any of them is not in the index of either Yahoo or Google. If you find a merchant like that - drop everything else you are doing and jump on that program.

As far as theory goes, this was just a simple, but specific example of what you should look for to make your efforts pay off. There are many different opportunities to get ahead in existing programs with data-feed sites; you just have to look for them.

Now, let's talk about flaws of merchants and how you can exploit them to make more money and help consumers at the same time.

I will give another specific example, but you should be able to apply this concept to many different programs.

Our site has one huge structural flaw: we only list products by product-oriented categories.

In other words, there is no way to navigate our site by a specific occasion or by the purchasing intent of a visitor.

You can follow a path like:

widgets -> wooden widgets -> red wooden widgets

This setup works fine for some type of shoppers, but is a complete turn-off for others.

And the problem is that most affiliates simply mirror the catalog structure of a merchant according to their feed.

But if you structured your site to list widgets as:

- widgets for birthdays

- widgets for girlfriends

- widgets for those who are over 50

- the Independence Day widgets etc.

then you would attract different type of shoppers. You would no longer compete with the merchant, but instead you would complement them.

A visitor who is looking for a gift for his 50-something friend and has no idea that a red wooden widget would be perfect, will not travel down the path laid out by our catalog. So if he gets to our home page, we simply lose a sale. And if your data-feed-based site follows the same structure - you lose as sale as well.

Also, since the visitor does not know that he really wants a red wooden widget, he we not use those keywords while searching for a present on the search engines.

But if you attracted that visitor to your site, presented him with ideas for older friends' birthday gifts and guided him to that specific widget's page - then we would make a sale, you would make a commission, and the visitor (turned customer) would get his present with much less searching around. Everyone wins.

Such approach takes more work than simply cloning the merchant's site with a feed, but affiliates who actually do something to complement merchant instead competing with them make a lot more money. After all, if you create a copy of a merchant's site - you are not only competing with the merchant, you are also competing with all of their affiliates that use the same feed in the same way.

Konstantin Goudkov manages an affiliate program with a merchant that carries 2500+ gifts. If you enjoy working with companies that treat affiliates like valued partners then be sure to check us out.

You can find more information about our program at: http://www.genericgifts.com/affiliate_progr am.jsp

---

Google News Updated : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:05:30 GMT Tropical Storm Hanna aiming for Massachusetts - Boston Globe ABC News Tropical Storm Hanna aiming for Massachusetts Boston Globe - 3 hours ago By Andrew Ryan and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to churn up the Atlantic coast and lash Massachusetts this weekend with winds gusting up to 50 mph near the coast and up to four inches of rain. Video: Hanna Nears US, but Stronger Ike Looms AssociatedPress Area departments gearing up for Hanna's arrival Attleboro Sun Chronicle Sun-Sentinel.com - Opelousas Daily World - The Associated Press all 5,279 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:23:14 GMT Kilpatrick's rise and fall - Detroit Free Press Washington Post Kilpatrick's rise and fall Detroit Free Press - 37 minutes ago BY BILL McGRAW • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • September 5, 2008 Kwame Kilpatrick entered the mayor's office with extraordinary gifts -- charisma, savvy, flair, pedigree, connections, ambition and chutzpah -- everything a 31-year-old needed to make a ... Video: A Timeline of Detroit Mayor's Text Scandal AssociatedPress Detroit’s Mayor Will Leave Office and Go to Jail New York Times Chicago Tribune - San Jose Mercury News - DetNews.com - Wall Street Journal all 5,822 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:27:50 GMT Arthritis Drugs Linked to Risks From Infection - New York Times WNCT Arthritis Drugs Linked to Risks From Infection New York Times - 6 hours ago By AP WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration ordered stronger warnings Thursday on four medications widely used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other serious illnesses, saying they can raise the risk of possibly fatal fungal infections. Deaths Heighten Arthritis Drugs Warning WebMD Nation Digest 4 arthritis drugs get tougher warnings Seattle Times U.S. News & World Report - Reuters - Bloomberg all 491 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:38:34 GMT Jesse Jackson hospitalized for stomach pains - Chicago Tribune United Press International Jesse Jackson hospitalized for stomach pains Chicago Tribune - 1 hour ago By Jeremy Gorner | Chicago Tribune reporter Rev. Jesse Jackson was being treated Thursday in Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago after falling ill. Video: Rev. Jesse Jackson Hospitalized AssociatedPress Jesse Jackson hospitalized after stomach pains USA Today Atlanta Journal Constitution - Entertainment Tonight News - CNN Political Ticker - AHN all 328 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:00:48 GMT Stocks: A Terrible Thursday - BusinessWeek Washington Post Stocks: A Terrible Thursday BusinessWeek - 2 hours ago Major US indexes each tumbled nearly 3% as worries intensified over the health of the economy. All eyes are on Friday's jobs report Market players were probably wondering Thursday why they bothered to come back from their summer vacations. Stocks Are Broadly Lower Tracking Falls on Wall Street Wall Street Journal Stocks slide on economic worries CNNMoney.com Seattle Times - Los Angeles Times - Forbes - New York Times all 821 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:53:27 GMT UN warns of Haiti flooding crisis - BBC News BBC News UN warns of Haiti flooding crisis BBC News - 1 hour ago Several hundred thousand people need help in Haiti, which is suffering severe flooding after being hit by a series of tropical storms, the UN says. Attempts to Aid Desperate Haitians Hindered by Floodwaters Washington Post Storms line up to slam western Atlantic, southeastern US AFP Telegraph.co.uk - The Associated Press - Chicago Tribune - Bradenton Herald all 2,575 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:05:26 GMT House committee widens probe of Vytorin safety - International Herald Tribune ChattahBox House committee widens probe of Vytorin safety International Herald Tribune - 7 hours ago AP TRENTON, NJ: A House committee investigating the safety and effectiveness of the popular cholesterol drug Vytorin and one of its components is turning up the heat on the drug's makers. Many Questions About Vytorin New York Times Drug Scare Shenanigans FOXNews Reuters - U.S. News & World Report - Forbes - MedPage Today all 547 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:32:18 GMT RSS Software Website Traffic Promotion

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

The Key To High-Volume Web Sales

The quickest way to achieve high-volume sales on the web... Read More

Affiliate Revenue For Beginners

Affiliate programs can be a very powerful source of income... Read More

How to Join Affiliate Programs ? Affiliate Marketing

The first thing you may be wondering before you join... Read More

Affiliates Go To School!

It has been said that only 2% of affiliate marketers... Read More

Affiliating Correctly - Only Work With the Winners

You need to do a bit of research on which... Read More

Selling Merchandise On Your Website

If you take away poker, dating, and naked ladies, custom... Read More

6 Affiliate Mistakes Youre Probably Making...

Everyday I see more and more affiliates making the same... Read More

Accounting for Affiliate Marketers

If you are an affiliate marketer, then you are in... Read More

Your Own Affiliate Program

What better avenue to drive high quality and targeted traffic... Read More

Marketing A Single Affiliate Program is the First Key to Success

There are a lot of affiliate marketing programs out there... Read More

Looking For An Affiliate Internet Marketing Tip?

Here's a few affiliate Internet marketing tips that can help... Read More

How To Boost Your Affiliate Sales With Free Articles

Free Articles continue to be one of the most effectiveways... Read More

Affiliate Marketing Secrets that You Can Use

Affiliate marketing is a very hot topic on the web... Read More

Expanding Your Business With Affiliate Programs

Many people think that they can only get involved in... Read More

Affiliate is not a Dirty Word

It wasn't very long ago when the word "affiliate" left... Read More

Affiliate Marketing--Huh?

In my search for a presence on the internet, I... Read More

Why Top-earning Affiliates Have Their Own Domains And Websites

Many affiliate programs usually provide special web pages for their... Read More

10 Things WalMart Teaches About Affiliate Marketing

We already know about wal mart because of their ads... Read More

How to Write an Effective Product Review

How do you choose the products you buy? Do you... Read More

Affiliate Program Intro

What is an affiliate program? Everyone who surfs the web... Read More

What Was I Thinking

I often wonder what I was thinking by joining an... Read More

Instant Success - Yeh Right.

Join our affiliate-program and make your fortune overnight.Sound familiar ?How... Read More

Big Ticket Items - 6 More BIG Benefits To Selling As An Affiliate

Today, we're going to cover 6 More BIG Benefits to... Read More

The 5 Sure-Fire Ways of Building Massive Traffic and Making Thousands in Affiliate Sales

Why are those top affiliates able to easily make so... Read More

Where Affiliate Programs Fail and How It Can Impact Your Success

Recruiting people for your business opportunity or paid program by... Read More