How Not to Set Up an Affiliate Site (and Also How to Do it Right)

I recently came across the following site and thought I share this with those of you who plan on setting up an affiliate site. To protect the privacy of the site owner, I won’t disclose their domain or business name.

If you want any chance at a sale, do not do this! This site looks like a site from the 90’s when webmasters used to throw a bunch of banners up on a page and hope to get some affiliate commissions. Back then, it probably worked because the Internet was still young and innocent.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I find this site:

There are several reasons why this approach won’t work in today’s affiliate marketing:

• This page offers no value to users. It’s a bunch of banners thrown together with no content. Anyone can do this.
• SEO-wise, it’s a no-no. There is no content here… it’s nothing more than a page filled with affiliate links and banners. This is what Google would consider a very thin-content page.
• Users are already banner-blind, so having a bunch of banners thrown together like this will only make them leave your page quicker.

In order to provide value for your readers, you need to be offering something. For example: product reviews/ratings, comparison charts, advanced product search, hacks, tips or advice, something! Remember what is good for users, is usually good for search engines as well.

Since I gave you an example of what not to do, I should probably give you an example of what to do:

I am not even sure if this page has any affiliate links or not, but that isn’t the point. The point is how they present the products and information that will ultimately lead to a better engaged audience. This post does several things right:

• First and foremost, it is a fairly lengthy post. This is good for both users and search engines.
• The author starts off with a simple title and introduction so you know what to expect in the post.
• The post offers unique images and a description to each product. This page has lots of good content for the search engines to index. It is also visually appealing to readers.
• There are easy call-to-action buttons for each product.
• Then, at the bottom comment section, you have feedback and testimonials from other users which leads to higher conversion rates.

This is just one example. There are other ways to properly present products, services, and information. Take for example, Amazon and sites that offer reviews or comparisons of products. They figured out how to sell products and keep users engaged.

Do you have any advice or examples on how to set up an affiliate site?