Is the 'one product per site' model dead?

by wyppah
6 replies
Hi, I'm a newbie...

...If your still reading, I bought the Unstoppable Affiliate programme, which said there are 2 models for affiliate sites, one is one product per site, the other is mulitple products per site.

Anyway long story short, I set up a site, which got up to 11th on google, even before I started to optimize it properly, and then the Affiliate network told me they do not allow any domains that have the product name in the title.

I'm just wondering how common this is, if this is going to be the case with most networks, and if there is any way round it.

Any comments appreciated,

Paul
#dead #model #product #site
  • Profile picture of the author Hamida Harland
    It depends on the network. Most networks I work with DO allow the product name in the domain (as long as it's not a trademarked name).

    Commission Junction is one particular network that usually don't allow the product name in the domain, however there are plenty that do allow it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by wyppah View Post

    I bought the Unstoppable Affiliate programme, which said there are 2 models for affiliate sites, one is one product per site, the other is mulitple products per site.
    Hmm ... can't say I've though of it that way, much, myself but it's one way of classifying things, I suppose.

    I think of "single product sites" as the "Amazon type"/"SEO type", with which one is trying to attract people specifically looking for information about a specific product, and then trying to become the person through whose link they buy it. Not my business model at all.

    It's always struck me, with affiliate marketing, that because most sales are ultimately made for trust-based, relationship-based, strength-of-the-recommendation-based reasons, which necessarily involves list-building and communications, that it would be pretty wasteful only to have one product to promote. I select niches in which there are multiple products (especially if they're at widely differing price-points) to promote, because the "repeat business" is where the real money, and the real, long-term business-building is.

    Originally Posted by wyppah View Post

    I set up a site, which got up to 11th on google, even before I started to optimize it properly, and then the Affiliate network told me they do not allow any domains that have the product name in the title.
    No ... well, this is pretty common, I think? And understandable ...

    I always think of "sites", and, in my case, "articles", as being for niches, rather than for products. (I may be biased, there, because I syndicate articles for my traffic, and nobody's going to want to publish an article mentioning a specific product, in front of their already-targeted readers/visitors/subscribers whom I want to attract.)

    It strikes me that business that depend on Google for their primary traffic have two huge problems.

    First, for "making affiliate sales", SEO traffic tends, overall, to be about the least responsive, least successful, hardest-to-profit-from traffic there is, and I do significantly worse with it, overall, than with traffic from any other source.

    Secondly, as so many Warriors have found out over the last couple of years, and some indeed over the last few days, a business model that depends on Google for its primary traffic can never be more than one algorithm change away from a potential accident, or even a potential disaster.

    I'd apply the same reasoning to "specific product sites", too. Part of the advantage of being an affiliate is that one has complete flexibility of product selection, and can build a real, asset-based business that isn't dependent on the continuity and longevity of any individual product at all.

    Just my perspective.
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    • Profile picture of the author wyppah
      Thanks for the replies guys

      Originally Posted by Hamida Harland View Post

      It depends on the network. Most networks I work with DO allow the product name in the domain (as long as it's not a trademarked name).
      Is there a quick way to find out if something is trademarked? I would have expected most decent products to have trademarks

      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post


      First, for "making affiliate sales", SEO traffic tends, overall, to be about the least responsive, least successful, hardest-to-profit-from traffic there is, and I do significantly worse with it, overall, than with traffic from any other source.
      I think the idea is that you are targetting people who are entering the product name into google, so they are very targetted. Other than Internet Marketing, what niches are good for the listbuilding style?

      Thanks again
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by wyppah View Post

        I think the idea is that you are targetting people who are entering the product name into google, so they are very targetted. Other than Internet Marketing, what niches are good for the listbuilding style?

        Thanks again
        Other than the most trivial impulse purchases, people tend to go through a five step process when buying something. I call it the Natural Buying Process:
        1. Your prospect must first realize that they have a problem they want solved, or a desire they want filled.
        2. Your prospect seeks to educate themselves and looks for the options available.
        3. With an array of options now, the prospect tries to narrow down their choices to the ones they believe will best solve the problem or fulfill the desire.
        4. They decide on a course of action.
        5. They actually act on their decision.
        Single-product sites tend to focus on step 4 - people who have already decided to buy a specific product and are looking for either reassurance or a deal. This is actually the smallest pool of potential buyers, and thanks to guides which advocate single-product sites, the most competitive for affiliates.

        The multi-product site, and the list-building approach Alexa talks about, tend to aim for the much larger pool at step 2. Capture the prospect's attention and then their trust, and you can guide them through steps 3-5 without worrying overmuch about all the single-product (usually pretty thin) review sites fighting over 'buyer' keywords...
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        • Profile picture of the author wyppah
          Thanks again for the replies
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  • Profile picture of the author camuk
    Both systems work well. Get a product, find good keywords for it and off you go. I've done this loads of times and made money. Alternatively get a general niche and sell products around that niche! Both work and work well.
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