SEO FOR AMAZON AFFILIATE SITES --- BEYOND BACKLINKS

Transcription

1 SEO FOR AMAZON AFFILIATE SITES --- BEYOND BACKLINKS 2015 version 1.2 KICK BUTT MARKETING

2 Inroducion Many websie owners and markeers are members of he Amazon affiliae program. The program is easy o join and Amazon offers hundreds of millions of producs o promoe. I is probably he mos popular affiliae program in he world. Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im Despie his populariy in paricipaion, many affiliaes fail o gain racion in he search engines o drive raffic o heir websies. Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies For many Amazon producs, search raffic, especially from Google, is a criical and ofen irreplaceable raffic source. You are no going o ge his raffic from Facebook, and no from ing afer acquiring addresses via a squeeze page since, ironically, if ofen requires SEO raffic o ge someone o he squeeze page. In his repor we are going o review a checklis of facors you can use o boos your Amazon affiliae sie in he search rankings. There is no magic bulle, bu here are common misakes which can clobber your search rankings. Wih his guide and checklis you can avoid hese mishaps and make money from Amazon. Alhough backlinks are an imporan SEO facor, he focus of his repor are non-backlink facors you need o use o boos your rankings. Good backlinks can help your rankings. Bad backlinks can hur. If you are unsure, don' make he backlink. I have found he facors in his repor are ofen enough by hemselves o creae good rankings. 2

3 No Duplicae Conen One of he bigges problems plaguing Amazon markeers is he "easy and fas" pah o success failure. This means using auomaed sofware programs o copy produc conen from Amazon and puing i on your websie. These sofware programs and sore builders are a dime a dozen. Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im If you are having rouble geing raffic o your websie, and you have 500 web pages auomaically creaed for you using sofware, his is a problem. Having 5 pages, 500 pages, 5000 pages, and 500,000 pages is meaningless if hey are all buried a he boom of he search rankings never o be seen by anyone. Consider your compeiion: Amazon - If your web page has he same conen as an Amazon page your chances of ranking higher han Amazon are slim. If you were a search engine wih wo pages of idenical conen: one from one of he mos auhoriaive and respeced websies on he plane, and he second from you, which do you hink would rank higher? If you see someone saying here is no penaly for duplicae conen ha is a red herring. Google may no direcly penalize a sie for having duplicae conen, bu he issue is when having muliple pages in is index wih he same conen, which one does Google choose o show? Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 3

4 The resul: Google showing Amazon and no your websie - migh as well be a penaly even if here is no echnical penaly. Jus Google deciding which pages o show. Google has said i essenially akes all he pages wih he same conen and pus hem in a group. From he group Google hen decides which one, or ones, o show. Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im Some have said o sor ou which is he bes page ha Google uses a PageRank "ransfer" sysem for duplicae conen. For wo duplicae pages he PageRank for he lower page may be ransferred o he higher page. In par, his is o preven someone like you from ranking higher han a respeced sie like Amazon by copying is conen. Example: Assume he Amazon page has a PageRank of 2. Your copied web page has a PageRank of 1. Google "gives" your PageRank o Amazon, whose page now has a heoreical PageRank of 3 (his is for illusraion only, PageRank is no addiive like his) and you now have zero. This is simplisic, bu i is ough o bea Amazon wih he same conen. Oher Affiliae Websies - I is no jus you agains Amazon baling for search engine supremacy. There are millions of oher affiliaes from around he world also using auo generaed conen o creae web pages. Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 4

5 Some of hese pages are on websies ha Google respecs. Some of he pages may be on malware sies and some of he wors places online. So wha do we have when using auo generaed conen: - Duplicae conen wih Amazon - Duplicae conen wih 10,000 oher affiliae sies, some of which are ruly awful places. Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im - Your websie. Tell me? Wha do you hink your odds of appearing in he search resuls are? Why would Google pick your sie, if any sie is o appear in addiion o Amazon, from everyone else using he conen generaors? The soluion is o have unique conen on your websie. Wih unique conen when a search is made and Google is evaluaing wha sies o rank and show for he search query, here is a cluser involving Amazon plus 10,000 affiliae sies, and from ha cluser here is one lising, hen here is your sie, plus oher websies wih unique and relevan conen. There is sill no guaranee your sie will appear, bu a leas you are in he game and no being lumped in he Amazon / affiliae mosh pi. Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 5

6 The mos popular websie o check for duplicae conen is hp://copyscape.com Use i. Check your web page conen and sar rewriing if you have a duplicae conen issue. Keep rewriing, adding and/or deleing conen unil you are unique. Yes, ime consuming, bu do you wan o spend ime and make money? Or say on he easy and fas auo generaed duplicae conen pah o failure? Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im Check Your Search Daa for Blah In a search lising a searcher is going o see hree hings abou your sie: 1. Page ile 2. Domain / page name 3. Descripion Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 6

7 You wan all hree o be compelling and enice someone o click o your websie. You do no make any money unless someone clicks o visi your sie. Click hru rae, or CTR, is a meric Google measures and i is a ranking facor. The beer your CTR he beer your rankings may be. Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im In my personal experience, he hree daa poins are lised in order of imporance. This is me personally, I have no researched his. Bu when deciding wheher o click a lising I look a he ile firs. If i looks like a winner I check he domain / page name for auhoriy or if i looks like malware. I usually ignore he descripion when searching. Bu ohers may so I pay aenion o i when creaing my web pages. Think of your page ile as a headline o a sales page. immediaely grab someone and ge hem o click he link o your sie. Use bold words. differeniae yourself. Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies You need o Evaluae he oher lisings Google shows and ry o If your produc is he Acme Blender, 10 lisings simply saying Acme Blender or Acme Blender Review are hard o sand ou from. Be differen: Acme Blender - The Complee FAQ Page Acme Blender Review - OMG! You'll Love I Ge he poin? 7

8 Your page ile is driven no only o answer a quesion he searcher has - so pu yourself in he searcher's posiion and wih your page ile ry o deliver wha hey are looking for - bu you also wan o sand ou from he compeiion. Wha you don' wan is blah. This is where someone sees your lising and skips over i because i is boring and uninformaive. Use "Side Door" Rising Tide SEO Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im Some producs and niches are going o be harder o rank han ohers. If you have a more difficul produc here are easy seps you can use o boos your SEO rankings and ge more raffic. Iniially, wo imporan facors for SEO are he auhoriy of your web page and he auhoriy of your websie (domain). Example: if you pu he same web page on Wikipedia and a new domain, he Wikipedia will rank higher (and faser) because he Wikipedia domain has significanly more auhoriy han a new domain. Wha his means is ha boosing he auhoriy of your websie overall can boos individual pages. Think of i as a rising ide lifs all boas. The ide is your domain and he boas are individual web pages. Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 8

9 Wha you do is creae some pages ha are no moneized, using nonmoneary keywords, which are easier o rank for. Example: if your produc is he Acme Blender maybe you creae a page abou cool drinks o make kids on ho summer days. You are no selling anyhing on he page. I is more like a recipe page. These are much easier o rank for, ge raffic, and backlinks on heir own. On your drinks page you include a link o your Acme Blender page as a suggesion if someone needs a blender o make heir cool drinks. Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im This gives your Acme Blender page an inernal link (yes, hose coun for SEO), some raffic, and when your drinks page is seen by Google as being valuable i will help he ranking for your blender page. Don' blow off non-moneized pages. They can be golden. This is wha I call "side door" SEO because you are using pages easier o rank and ge back linked o boos sie auhoriy which hen booss your money pages. Tip: Link o auhoriy sies on your non-moneized pages. For your money pages you wan o drive raffic o Amazon. For hese oher pages don' worry abou losing visiors o anoher sie. You wan o show you are par of a communiy of auhoriy sies. Kick Bu Markeing When you link o anoher sie I have found sending he sie owner a quick message leing hem know ofen resuls in a link back o your sie, wihou you even asking. SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 9

10 Creae Long, Sicky Conen In addiion o having unique conen, I am a believer ha more ofen han no, whoever has he mos conen wins in Google. Ohers agree. Brian Dean of Backlinko highly ous his "skyscraper" model, which says you look a he websies you wan o bea in Google. Then you build a page ha is longer and has beer conen. Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im I's an arms race. Dean also suggess sending s o persons in your indusry asking for a link back o your new, awesome web page. For mos producs on Amazon ha is no realisic and our focus here is no backlinks. Here are some ips o adding conen o creae longer, sickier, and more valuable pages visiors (and Google) will love: 1. Use Liss. Example, if your produc is Acme Blenders: he Top 7 Acme Blenders. Or he Top 7 Smoohie Blenders. Or, 7 Cool Drinks o Make wih Your Acme Blender. ex. Liss creae chunkable iems. Each chunk can have a heading, picure, and Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 10

11 The longer he lis he longer your page. You jus keep adding o i and i looks perfecly normal o keep adding o a lis. 2. Describe Picures. You've heard he saying a picure is worh a housand words. Well, spell i ou in he housand words. All you have o do is use produc picures provided by Amazon and/or he manufacurer. Then describe wha you see in he picure. In excruciaing deail if necessary. Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im 3. The 5 Ws and H. This is he Who, Wha, When, Where, Why and How. Sar hinking up who, wha, when, where, why and how issues someone may have when considering a produc, and answer hem. 4. Creae an FAQ Page. Similar, jus call your page, or par of your page an FAQ secion. Then sar asking quesions and answering hem. There is ofen good fodder for his in Amazon's produc reviews. This is anoher secion you can jus keep adding and adding o and i can never ge oo long. Anyone can do a "review" page. No everyone creaes an auhoriy page which is more han a review. In my experience, hese are he ypes of pages ha can bea he pans of Amazon in he search rankings. For more conen ideas check ou he Produc Review Formula - only a buck! - hp://kickbu.im/677 Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 11

12 Use Trus facors Google Wans Have a conac page and privacy policy on your websie. Every ime. If you need a privacy policy, disclaimers, legal erms, ec., you can ge hem a - hp://inernemarkeinglawcener.com. Use coupon code WSOFTC (all CAPS) for $50 off. Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im Imporan: make sure you ake any privacy policy form and cusomize i for your websie. Mos policies by defaul say you will proec any personal informaion you obain. If ha is no your policy hen change he language and simply sae wha you do wih any informaion, such as an address. disclosure. The privacy policy page would be a good place for your Amazon affiliae In my view, as Google coninues o move away from using backlinks o se rankings (and Google has o move away from backlinks because so many backlinks are now "no follow") rus facors are becoming more imporan. No social media. Google's mos recen guidelines for websie raers include growing secions on Your Money or Your Life which reflec ha websies which are rusworhy are o be given beer rankings. Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 12

13 Eliminae he Amazon Affiliae Disclosure The saring poin for his secion and he nex is o undersand Google haes affiliae sies. The markeing forums are liered wih housands of affiliae markeers who have painfully given up heir dreams of making money online all because Google will no rank heir sies. I isn' jus SEO. I's pracically an immediae and permanen ban o direcly link o a ClickBank produc from AdWords. Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im One of he op dogs a Google once said affiliae sies are an unnecessary obsacle beween buyers and sellers. Google's inernal websie raers guidelines have expressly said affiliae links are o be considered spam regardless of he qualiy of he web page. Tha's why SEO exper Aaron Wall a SEO Book has said "Google hae[s] affiliaes in heir ecosysem and has shown a consisen disdain oward affiliae sies. Affiliaes are geing orched for no being a real merchan" So wha are you going o do abou ha? Keep geing orched? Heck no. The firs hing we are going o do is address a major red flag ha ells Google you have an affiliae websie. Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 13

14 saes: The ypical disclosure Amazon requires affiliaes o have on heir websie "This websie is a paricipan in he Amazon Services LLC Associaes program, an affiliae adverising program designed o provide a means for sies o earn adverising fees by adverising and linking o amazon.com, amazonsupply.com, or myhabi.com." Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im The wording may change bu he core he disclosure is a saemen he websie is an Amazon affiliae earning morning by linking o Amazon. Wih Google on he warpah agains affiliae sies, and wih concerns abou duplicae conen, le me ask you: why would you include his disclosure everyone else uses on your websies? You're jus posing a huge sign on your bu for Google o see ha says kick me o he guer. Your answer may be: I include his disclosure because Amazon says I have o and I do no wan o lose my affiliae accoun. Fair enough. Now consider his: Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 14

15 Same disclosure bu insead of red-flagged ex he disclosure is in a graphic. A bi more difficul for Google o "read"! You can download a copy of his graphic a: hp://kickbu.im/graphics/amazondisclosure.jpg Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im Recommendaion: Use his graphic or make your own ha blends in wih your websie. Replace your ex disclosure wih a graphic disclosure. This could be in your page fooer or websie disclosures / erms and condiions. Why make i easy for Google o idenify you as an affiliae? If you have an Amazon or oher disclosure ha could harm your search rankings, pu i in a graphic. Use Elf Links or Squeeze Links The nex place where Google quickly and easily idenifies affiliaes is from heir affiliae links. Affiliae links are supid easy o spo in a web page. Even if you use a redirec or "prey link" ha visually makes a long affiliae link look more appealing, i sill redirecs o Amazon and he Googlebo simply sees he redirec wih he affiliae code. Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 15

16 Redirecs and prey links no designed o proec you from Google. They are designed o presen a more appealing looking link o websie visiors. There are wo producs specifically creaed o address his problem, and have been used by hundreds of markeers. Elf Links is a WordPress plugin. Here is wha a million dollar affiliae markeer has o say abou Elf Links: Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im "This is a goldmine of a plugin ha s no well-known. I use i every day. This brillian piece of coding makes your affiliae links invisible o Google. I s loaded wih precauionary feaures. I m convinced ha Google does no like pages loaded wih affiliae links. Wih Elf Links I m able o creae ables and galleries loaded wih affiliae links which conver very, very well. If you use any affiliae links, I recommend his plugin." - Jon Dyksra Elf Links has been reviewed and approved by Amazon. Some Elf Links users have repored dramaic SEO urnarounds wihin a week afer changing heir hml links o Elf Links. One user repored i finally enabled him o ge an affiliae page approved hrough AdWords. Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 16

17 Squeeze Links is a differen mehod o accomplish he same goal, bu does no require WordPress. Many of he Squeeze Links proecions have been incorporaed ino recen versions of Elf Links, so eiher sysem will proec you. The boom line is you mus do somehing abou your affiliae links. You've go he grea conen. I is unique. You have backlinks. Your pages should conver buyers ino sellers when hey hi Amazon. Don' wase all your excellen and hard work because Google is orching affiliaes. hp://elflinks.com - use coupon code elfdeal on his page: hp://elflinks.com/jvz.hml and ge 50% off! Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im hp://squeezelinks.com The Inerne Markeing Caalog Ge your free caalog of Inerne Markeing producs here: hp://kickbu.im/caalog.pdf Periodically updaed, here you will find some of he mos useful and creaive producs, repors, plugins and sofware for your online business. No rehash, everyhing is personally used o make money online. Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 17

18 Join he Kick Bu Newsleer Wha? An Inerne Markeing newsleer ha is no a daily pich fes of affiliae offers? Tha has conen, freebies, and acionable informaion? Yes! hp://kickbu.im/newsleer.hml Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im The Kick Bu Newsleer subscripion is handled by AWeber, so you know you can unsubscribe anyime. Tesimonials and Feedback If you liked his repor please provide a esimonial. If you didn' like i, or hough i could be beer, le me know! The suppor desk can be reached here: hp://kickbu.im/suppor/ Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 18

19 The Back Page Visi he Kick Bu websie a hp://kickbu.im Copyrigh February 2015 by Brian Kindsvaer, Inc. All righs reserved. Reproducion, copying, disribuion, rewriing or ranslaion of any par of his work in any form wihou wrien permission is unlawful. Kick Bu Inerne Markeing hp://kickbu.im This publicaion is designed o provide useful and eneraining informaion. I is sold wih he undersanding ha he auhor has no been reained by you and is no engaged in rendering legal, accouning, ax, or oher professional services for you. No represenaions or warranies are made as o he accuracy or compleeness of anyhing saed in his publicaion. There is a specific disclaimer of any implied warranies or finess for any paricular purpose. All warranies are disclaimed. There is no claim you will make any money from his informaion. Links hrough he Kick Bu Markeing websie should be assumed o be affiliae links. Suppor requess and quesions should be direced o he suppor desk a hp://kickbu.im/suppor/ Kick Bu Markeing SEO for Amazon Affiliae Sies 19