Affiliate marketing is everything it’s cracked up to me. If you do it right. In a nutshell, Affiliate Marketing involves empowering others by sharing the products and services you’re passionate about all while earning an income for yourself. The best part about being an affiliate is that anyone can do it. So where do you start? One of the most popular and successful ways to kickstart your promotional journey is to get an affiliate blog up and running. But this can be tricky so we’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll outline the steps you need to create a free blog website for Affiliate marketing.
What is an Affiliate Blog?
When the concept of blogging (short for weblog) first took off, it was a web journal where the blogger (you) would create and share information and content on an array of topics. These included arts, lifestyle content, and design to name a few, taking an informal and conversational tone. It hasn’t changed much. An affiliate blog is a blog where you add affiliate links to the content you share. When visitors click and make a purchase through these links, you earn an affiliate commission from the business or advertisers who provide the links. With an affiliate blog, you are ultimately using the power of words to sell and promote another company’s product or service.
This sounds easy enough but unfortunately, many people don’t know even how or where to start when creating a blog.
Benefits of Using a Blog as an Affiliate
Firstly, you may be wondering if there are other platforms you can use as an affiliate. There are, but being an affiliate marketer without a blog or website is not recommended. Here are a few reasons why you should create a blog to grow as an affiliate marketer.
- A blog allows you to create useful content. You’re not limited to a character limit so you can provide your readers with more information about the products and services you are promoting.
- A blog helps you generate more traffic to your Affiliate links. A new audience can find you through search engines such as Google. More eyes on your page means more opportunities to get conversions.
- A blog is primed to promote your affiliate link through emailing lists, special offers and discounts, reviews, and other marketing techniques you can use.
How to Create an Affiliate Blog
The good news is, you don’t need to be a tech expert or know anything about coding to create a blog. Anyone can do it.
- Identify your niche
The first step in affiliate blogging is knowing your niche. This is the market segment you want to appeal to. It’s an important step because if you get it wrong, your affiliate marketing career won’t take off and yield the results you hope for. In finding your niche, you need to take time to research what people are interested in, which topics are oversaturated (high competition), and which products or services have a high sales volume. For example, you initially think of a blog about shoes, which is a broad category. You can, however, narrow this down and create a blog about mules which is much less saturated but is growing and has lots of interest.
- Put a name on it
What’s in a name you ask? Everything. This name is your address on the internet. It’s where people will find you when they search the web. Some domain names are more expensive than others so it’s imperative you search different hosts to see what names are available and suit you best. A host like NameCheap is a great and affordable place to start. You want to choose a domain name that is memorable yet easy to find and one that relates to your niche.
- Choose a host
Now that you have a name for your blog, you need to decide if you want a blogging platform like WordPress or Bluehost or an independent website to host your blog. Each option has its own pros and cons, but you need to read through their affiliate marketing T&Cs and guidelines to decide which host you want to make your home in. With an established blogging platform, you can choose from their selection of templates for a look and feel that suits you. Or if you choose to do it all independently, you have full creative control over the design elements but, this may cost you a small penny if you aren’t skilled at building websites.
- Create content
Once you’ve built all the important pages on your blog, for example, on WordPress, it’s time to post your first piece of content. The content you create, and share is a critical part of your success as an affiliate marketer. There are thousands of other affiliates and blogs competing for clicks. Therefore, you need to put out content that sets you apart from the rest. Here are some tips on creating memorable content:
- Make sure your content is search-optimised content. This means using natural language and ensuring your content is full of keywords that are related to your niche. There are plenty of free keyword research tools to use, for example, Google Trends.
- Create content with intent. All content you create should be written with your audience in mind. Ask yourself if you are answering their questions or providing them with valuable insights and information on the topic.
- Stick to blog-style formatting. Blog writing is different from magazines, newspapers, and your regular social media posts. Use headings and subheadings, bullet points, and add images and videos to your posts.
- Make it engaging. Check your blog tone, be lighthearted, and if you can, share anecdotes that will make your readers want to come back again.
- Get help. If you are struggling for inspiration or suffer from writer’s block, ask ChatGPT to help you. You can use this tool to help you write a first draft and then put your own personal touch on the final article to make it your own.
- Find an Affiliate marketing programme
Once your blog is up and running and you’re starting to see traffic, you can take the next step and add affiliate links. You need to ensure that the affiliate programme you sign up for suits your blog’s niche and has a product or service you genuinely believe in. It may all be online, but your audience will smell if you’re being disingenuous about what you’re promoting. Additionally, you want to make sure that the affiliate programme you sign up with will support your affiliate journey, is reputable, has a reasonable cookie duration, and finally, that you understand their terms and conditions to ensure it’s the best fit for you.
How Alison’s Affiliate Programme Works
It’s easy to become an Alison Affiliate. Once you’ve created your Alison account, you can sign up to become an Affiliate.
- Register an Affiliate
Go to our Affiliate Page and click the button “Become an Affiliate”. Once you accept the T&Cs, you are fully registered. It’s that easy! You can also join one of our informative webinar sessions and speak directly with an Alison representative to learn more about empowering others as an Alison affiliate.
- Invite
Using the Affiliate link generator, share your Affiliate links online with your friends, family, colleagues, neighbours, and anyone else you can think of who might benefit from our free educational and professional tools.
- Earn money
You will receive 20% of the revenue generated by the new learners who come to Alison through your Affiliate links.
But remember, using a blog for affiliate marketing doesn’t automatically mean you will be swimming in your affiliate commission once it goes live. The truth is it will take some time. And it’s only if you push through the hard part that you will reap the benefits. You need to put in the time, patience, hone several skills and be persistent in putting out good quality content. And doing this consistently. Happy blogging.
