Creating an Affiliate Marketing Website Around a Local Industry

by kk075
7 replies
Since a lot of people have asked me about how to create local affiliate opportunities from scratch lately, I decided to post a quick tutorial that should help marketers, web builders and writers alike. This is just a generic example of what I would do in 14 total steps.

1) Buy a domain, preferably “<county name><industry>.com” and have someone build me a basic Wordpress site.

2) Research the industry from authority sites and learn everything I can about it. This is by far the most important step, because you have to know the business inside and out to be able to anticipate who your ideal customers are and how to attract them.

3) Create a page for every possible industry service, then create sub-pages that go into even more detail.

4) Create a page for every local town within the area.

5) Create a YouTube page and make about a dozen 1 minute videos on how to fix common problems within that niche.

6) Write a FAQ page talking about all the most common issues, how to fix them, and then imbed the videos as walk-thrus.

7) Start a daily blog talking about this county…about 60% of the posts will be about the industry, the other 40% will be about the area in general.

8) Make a Facebook page and share the blogs, with links pointing back to this website. Place a “Follow us on Facebook for a 100% Free…” button on the homepage to capture emails and get fans. This offer will be something that’s generally free in the industry already, like an inspection or an appraisal.

9) Start a backlink campaign. This includes writing for authority sites within the niche, driving in as many local links as I can and reaching out to other local businesses.

10) Write a few press releases about the local community and how weather/season has created a need for workers within this industry.

11) I’m going to get a google local account and register a business within that niche, then I’m going to get 15-25 recommendations from my former clients in other niches.

12) Put a call to action on every page of my site explaining that I work with the best in the industry and always offer same-day estimates and inspections.

13) Contact about a dozen industry professionals, tell them you have lots of jobs, and interview them to see who is the most reliable with a great work ethic. Then pick the top three and keep them busy year-round.

14) Call each lead as they appear in your inbox, qualify it, and then give 2-3 pros a chance to go meet with the customer that same day. Then call the lead back in 24-48 hours, ask if all their questions were answered, and inquire about the pricing arrangement so you know what the commission should be. If the customer says something different than the affiliate, that person never gets another lead from me again. (In that case, return to step 13 to find a replacement).

Now, steps 1-14 are quite a bit of work…which is why I always tell everyone that affiliate marketing isn’t easy. So understand this- I’m not talking about easy money here. This is real work and something you have to stay on top of 24/7. And there will always be a need for more content, additional videos, questions to answer, etc. In fact,success will completely hinge on your professionalism to speak with clients, treating workers well and staying motivated to work hard while this site produces income and grows.

Anyway- that’s local affiliate marketing in a nutshell.
#affiliate #creating #industry #local #marketing #website
  • Profile picture of the author Mark Singletary
    Haven't you already posted this 3 or 4 times the last few days?

    Mark
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    • Profile picture of the author kk075
      Originally Posted by Mark Singletary View Post

      Haven't you already posted this 3 or 4 times the last few days?

      Mark
      I posted it once and the moderator (Flamekin) told me to re-post it without a specific example. So I made it generic and here we are.
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      • Profile picture of the author mikren6
        So, can we go into specifics, or does it get shut down when the thread goes this route, and it has to stay generic? I'm interested in pursuing this, but would like to see a model (Website) of some type to see how it works/looks.

        I've never blogged and not sure what the webpage would look like. I envision menu tabs across the top for each city, then menu tabs under each city for each industry, or is my thinking off on this?

        The idea is to have a lead generation site for Remodelers, Electricians, Plumbers, and HVAC companies covering my County.

        This covers the first 4 questions for now...

        I'm mulling this over in my head, so any guidance would be appreciated.
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        • Profile picture of the author kk075
          Originally Posted by mikren6 View Post

          So, can we go into specifics, or does it get shut down when the thread goes this route, and it has to stay generic? I'm interested in pursuing this, but would like to see a model (Website) of some type to see how it works/looks.

          I've never blogged and not sure what the webpage would look like. I envision menu tabs across the top for each city, then menu tabs under each city for each industry, or is my thinking off on this?

          The idea is to have a lead generation site for Remodelers, Electricians, Plumbers, and HVAC companies covering my County.

          This covers the first 4 questions for now...

          I'm mulling this over in my head, so any guidance would be appreciated.
          This is a weak example, but I don't want to show one of my own sites and make this a "follow me" type of thread- SunshineRoofingFL

          On the surface, it looks like a regular local roofer, but this is simply a local affiliate website that's selling leads to other roofers. Now, this guy is a contractor so he has that going for him, but all he's doing is paying for leads and selling them out for commission. I essentially built my sites the same way, except I give a lot more detail and go for organic traffic instead of buying it.

          I personally build one site per niche but you could definitely do a multi-industry site...it just won't rank as well unless you have hundreds of pages. Because the more you try to pack in there, the less Google can see what you're all about.

          What you were talking about is more like this site, but the guys who own Web.com are probably paying $20k or better each month for sponsored nationwide results. You can just look and see why it would never rank though...there's no real content there at all. That site is simply a money pit out of pure stupidity.
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          • Profile picture of the author mikren6
            OK, I need a beginners guide 101 for this stuff, I'm missing the boat on the content, any pointers, like SEO for Dummies. I see content on these websites, but again, I'm new to this, so I might not see what a veteran would see, or like to see.

            I see content, they talk about parts of a roof and types of damage.

            The other site goes into tips for a great backyard and advantages of tilt windows.

            Are you saying to dig deeper and offer more information and content via videos? You mention to talk about each town, such as history, or community events?

            Maybe it would be easier if you just wrote a book... lol
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            • Profile picture of the author kk075
              Originally Posted by mikren6 View Post

              Maybe it would be easier if you just wrote a book... lol
              Let's say you need a local expert for anything (roofing, plumbing, tutoring, landscaping, music lessons, etc). So you search online for someone that looks reputable-

              - What are you really looking for?
              - What questions would you want answered?
              - What would make you decide to choose one person/company over another?
              - What sites instantly make you hit backspace key and look elsewhere?
              - What makes the sites you find good?
              - What makes the others bad?

              That's the decision process that everyone goes through when they have a problem they want to solve online, you you need to go right through that process as well and identify as many of those questions as possible. Then you answer that stuff in detail (which almost no local business does) and Google places your site ahead of the ones that don't.

              In a nutshell, that's all anyone needs to know about SEO starting out- the best content wins with Google and it wins with consumers as well. So your job is to make sure that your website answer every possible question and covers every possible aspect of the niche you're promoting...and that comes from lots of content. I hope that helps.
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              • Profile picture of the author mikren6
                I'm trying to figure out how to lay the site out.

                Seems like I just have to sit down and start looking at different sites by entering "plumber in my area" and see the results.

                I have an odd feeling I'm overthinking this stuff. You just threw me off in steps 3&4 about a page for each industry and sub pages, then mention one site per niche.

                I'll be focusing on the following three: plumbing, electrical, and HVAC, plumbing first.

                Should the site have more of a blog feel, not sure what I mean by that, or more of pictures of plumbing products with headlines to stories and videos?

                I'll be Googling the next couple days for plumbers in my area to see what I find, and might answer my own questions...
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