Amazon Affiliates - Which One Is More Important to You?

by dreamtoreality

Posted: 11 years ago 14 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Do you place more of an emphasis on search volume (Google's Keyword Tool), or the where the product sits in the Amazon Best Sellers Rank?

#affiliates #amazon #important

greenowl123 11 years ago

I place more emphasis on exact searches using the Google Keyword Tool, then on how strong the competing sites are on the 1st page of SERP

If I am promoting a $2,000 product then I can choose a product kw with less than 1,000 exact searches a month and still make good commissions. But.. if I am promoting a $50 product that only gets 1,000 exact searches a month, that is a different story.

If the product has at least 5 to 10 positive reviews on Amazon, then that is usually sufficient to ensure sales.
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wolfmmiii

11 years ago

Neither. I'd rather rank for 20 lower competition products that, collectively, generate the same traffic as one higher-competition product because it's easier (and more enjoyable) to create content that ranks right out of the gate than it is to create one piece of content for my own site and then 50 other pieces for someone else's for backlinking purposes to get the higher competition product info to rank.

It's the classic "many long-tails" vs "1 head term" situation.

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dreamtoreality

11 years ago

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

Yes, Wolf, we all know. You love your long tail, low competition products that require no backlinks to rank, even if you have no idea if the product is in demand or not.

Personally, I think it's absurd, and have no idea why people follow such a time-consuming strategy, particularly when spending 30 minutes to an hour writing 1 review may result in having nothing to show for it. Multiply that by twenty, and you get the point.

There is no need to write "50 other pieces for someone else's for backlinking purpose" either. For a start, if you have your own private network then all these articles aren't going to waste. It's more like 2 articles anyway, depending on how strong your private network is.

To each his own, I suppose, but time is money.

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wolfmmiii

11 years ago

Quoted from you back in September:

Congrats, very motivating post. I'm also starting to see some success now that I've gone down the low competition route. Getting the same unique visitors as you, but only made 4 sales so far, but hey, at least we know that this model works.

Sounds as if you purchased Wolfmmii's blueprint, like I did. Definitely going to follow it to a tee on my next site, as I started my current one before I bought the guide. Hope to replicate your success.

Originally Posted by dreamtoreality

Yes, Wolf, we all know. You love your long tail, low competition products that require no backlinks to rank, even if you have no idea if the product is in demand or not.

It wasn't posted for YOUR benefit. Also, do you think I'm the only one who espouses this strategy? There are some heavy hitters in this forum that promote the exact same strategy.

Personally, I think it's absurd, and have no idea why people follow such a time-consuming strategy, particularly when spending 30 minutes to an hour writing 1 review may result in having nothing to show for it. Multiply that by twenty, and you get the point.

Multiple issues with that statement. For starters, I can knock out a review in under 30 minutes easily so "time-consuming" is a poor description. Secondly, "nothing to show for it"? Not EVERY piece of content you add to your site is going to generate income nor does it have to. "Nothing to show for it" implies the content has "no value" unless it is directly generating income. Quality content ALWAYS has value for a website. ALWAYS. Your statement indicates that you completely discount internal linking value or simply do not understand it.

There is no need to write "50 other pieces for someone else's for backlinking purpose" either. For a start, if you have your own private network then all these articles aren't going to waste. It's more like 2 articles anyway, depending on how strong your private network is.

So, you're saying you only submit 2 articles to your private network (which requires time to maintain) and that guarantees that you'll rank for a high-competition term? And that they are MORE VALUABLE on your PBN than putting them on your money site? Also, how many newbies have the time/money to build out a PBN? Sorry, disagree.

Also, you did not address the "multiple long tails vs 1 head term" comparison.

Let's assume I target and rank 100 low competition products, each drawing an average of 100 searches per month. Those 100 reviews will take me 50 hours to write (assuming 30 minutes per review). Simple math tells me that I've now spent 50 hours (about one week of work) to get my piece of 10000 searches per month. Not only will I have access to all that traffic, but since they are all low competition products, I'll have to do very little else to maintain that traffic. The fact that the terms attract late-stage buyers, my conversion rate is higher than normal as well.

Now, conversely, let's assume I target a broad (non-buying) high-competition term with a search volume of 10000 searches per month. Page one (my competition) is loaded with PR5+ sites with strong link profiles. How much time am I going to spend trying to rank for that term? How much content (that I could be adding to my site) is going to be posted to a "non-money" site? How much ongoing maintenance is going to be required to maintain that ranking?

Oh, and don't forget, for every piece of content that fails to generate traffic, another one will generate 100 visits per day. That's not theory either. That's my experience over and over again.

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dreamtoreality

11 years ago

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

It wasn't posted for YOUR benefit.

I know, it was posted for YOURS. Most people post to help the creator of the thread. You, on the other hand, couldn't wait to talk about your strategy and jumped at the chance to show your sig to more people, like you usually do.

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

If you can "easily" knock out a review in under 30 minutes (I take it that you are including research time in this), I can't help but question the quality of your content. Let's not forget that consumers want to know all the aspects of a product so they can come to an informed decision. Research alone can take 30 minutes. Perhaps our perception of quality differs.

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

Your statement indicates that you completely discount internal linking value.

You couldn't be more wrong. Internal linking is very important to the way I build websites.

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

If the two articles are posted on very high PR sites, yes. There are also varying degrees of high-competition.

Why can't a PBN site be a money site? That is the best way of building a network. Perhaps you should try creating a network one day. It certainly makes things easier and faster. It really doesn't take as long as you think.

Who said anything about newbies?

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

Also, you did not address the "multiple long tails vs 1 head term" comparison.

Let's assume I target and rank 100 low competition products, each drawing an average of 100 searches per month. Those 100 reviews will take me 50 hours to write (assuming 30 minutes per review). Simple math tells me that I've now spent 50 hours (about one week of work) to get my piece of 10000 searches per month. Not only will I have access to all that traffic, but since they are all low competition products, I'll have to do very little else to maintain that traffic. The fact that the terms attract late-stage buyers, my conversion rate is higher than normal as well.

Simple maths tells me that if I target three different keywords with 3,333 searches each the result is 10,000 searches - well, 9,999 actually. By the way, I'm using three keywords here to make a point of varying degrees of competition and not many articles needed for your PBN network.

Let's say that the 3 posts for my Amazon site take me 6 hours to complete. The 2 for my PBN take an hour each. That's 8 hours in total.

Theoretically, not only are we getting the same amount of views/traffic, but I know that the products are in demand and are sure to sell, as the competition is high - often a good indicator of whether there's money to be made or not - and they are on the Bestsellers list. Furthermore, my review which took me more longer to write and research is more useful to the consumer and therefore of higher quality.

Oh, and let's not forget that your strategy, aimed at newbies who don't have the "time" to build a PBN, takes 42 hours longer. Doesn't sound very time efficient to me. In fact, it seems to void your argument.

Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and spend a little money to make money.

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

Now, conversely, let's assume I target a broad (non-buying) high-competition term with a search volume of 10000 searches per month. Page one (my competition) is loaded with PR5+ sites with strong link profiles. How much time am I going to spend trying to rank for that term? How much content (that I could be adding to my site) is going to be posted to a "non-money" site? How much ongoing maintenance is going to be required to maintain that ranking?

You're assuming, although I suppose you have to to make your argument and strategy fit/sell. Why not target a high-competition buying keyword, or three 3,333 keywords with easier competition (varying degrees of competition, remember?)

Why should page one be loaded with PR5+ sites? Choose a different buying keyword. It's not about creating a challenge for yourself, it's about making money.

You seem to make a lot of assumptions.

As I said, time is money. But each to his own, I suppose.

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wolfmmiii

11 years ago

Originally Posted by dreamtoreality

You asked a question and I answered it. Sorry, that's how forums work. It was posted for the benefit of those who are new to the forum. It's always funny when people point out my sig for me. You DO realize that you just put more eyeballs on it. Thanks for that.

If you can "easily" knock out a review in under 30 minutes (I take it that you are including research time in this), I can't help but question the quality of your content.

I stay with niches I know and am knowledgeable in. As such, it's not very difficult at all to create good content in short order.

Why can't a PBN site be a money site? That is the best way of building a network.

If that's the case, you are further discounting the time involved to maintain a network.

Who said anything about newbies?

I did since that's who my strategy caters to.

[quote]

Let's say that the 3 posts for my Amazon site take me 6 hours to complete. The 2 for my PBN take an hour each. That's 8 hours in total.

You left out maintenance. Two articles to rank a competitive term with no maintenance to keep that ranking is the exception, not the norm.

Furthermore, my review which took me more longer to write and research is more useful to the consumer and therefore of higher quality.

Say who? You? Posting "opinion" as "fact" doesn't make it so.

Oh, and let's not forget that your strategy, aimed at newbies who don't have the "time" to build a PBN, takes 42 hours longer. Doesn't sound very time efficient to me. In fact, it seems to void your argument.

I'll certainly dispute the time comparison because I don't believe it but it's not just about time. It's about knowledge, time, and money.

I have plenty of clients who would disagree with your assessment.

Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and spend a little money to make money.

I agree. The problem is that many newbies (you were one 6 months ago) don't have money to spend.

You're assuming, although I suppose you have to to make your argument and strategy fit/sell.

I don't have to make anything "fit". You still haven't pointed out any holes in the strategy. You are more intent on telling me how much better other strategies are rather than why the low-comp strategy DOESN'T work.

Why not target a high-competition buying keyword, or three 3,333 keywords with easier competition (varying degrees of competition, remember?)

The whole point of building a site based on lots of low comp stuff is to slowly build into an authority in the niche. People SHOULD be targeting higher competition products as the site grows.

Why should page one be loaded with PR5+ sites? Choose a different buying keyword.

It was an example.

You seem to make a lot of assumptions.

Well sure I do given the lack of concrete evidence.

At the end of the day, you were a complete newbie 6 months ago (based on your post history). You are now passing yourself off as an expert, which I find suspicious. And in the process, you seem to feel the need to disrespect me with snide comments for some reason, even after I provided you with assistance just 6 months or so ago when you were a newbie. I find that peculiar.

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elperuanito

11 years ago

Is there anyone making decent money with this strategy exactly i.e. no backlinks at all or private network (other than GGpaul)? I have built a single site with the process (50 reviews or so) and am going to build a couple more, just to keep testing. I've only made $50 or so in a few months and don't get that many views, even though most of products are ranking on page 1 (don't get too many views on them in Google either, so they do click through when they search the keyword). BUT - - am happy enough with the progress for now and think it might be the niche or the fact I got the products as part of the package I bought (perhaps researching my own stuff will be better).

However, the only positive reviews I have seen so far are from people saying things like:

"I made my first sale! Thanks so much!!"

"Already two sales in my first few weeks!"

Are there people making a decent side-income from this? Can they please come forward? It's just annoying that no one comes back with actual successful figures. I don't really think making an initial sale counts as success, though it's certainly better than other WSOs. I'd love to get more encouraging information considering I am choosing to invest more time into it.

I do agree with wolfmmiii that it's much easier for newbies to do this than getting their heads around private networks. There's so much to think about. C-classes and hosting, unique content, having no footprint, how to do your links, anchor text, etc. So it's not easy. However, in the long term, probably the way to go. But if wolf's strategy works it might be a good way for a newbie to build up knowledge and money to build up their own network to then go on and scale.

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wolfmmiii

11 years ago

Originally Posted by elperuanito

I do agree with wolfmmiii that it's much easier for newbies to do this than getting their heads around private networks. There's so much to think about. C-classes and hosting, unique content, having no footprint, how to do your links, anchor text, etc. So it's not easy. However, in the long term, probably the way to go. But if wolf's strategy works it might be a good way for a newbie to build up knowledge and money to build up their own network to then go on and scale.

And that's really the point. There are multiple ways to earn money online. For the newbie, it's one of the easiest ways to start making money online. There are two ways to scale the strategy - up and out. I personally own about 10 of these kinds of sites (each with between 50 and 100 reviews on them) and do very well.

What you want to do is start targeting more competitive products as you build your site. Unfortunately, what many people wind up doing is stopping at 20 or 30 reviews and doing nothing else. Eventually, the site will stop earning. That's just how it goes.

To properly build up a site, you want to begin targeting more and more competitive products. You also want to add articles, videos, etc. The low-comp strategy is definitely not a PASSIVE strategy.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you have to target a niche where people actually search for reviews. Most people aren't searching for reviews of the "thermos x2400 hot/cold mug".

As for recent successes, you may have seen me mention elsewhere that a brand new site that I just took over has already earned me $40 in the last 7 days with just 10 awful reviews posted. You also have to remember that MANY people(maybe MOST?) will fail with it (and any other strategy) for various reasons. What it DOESN'T mean is that the strategy doesn't work.

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kokjaywin

11 years ago

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

To properly build up a site, you want to begin targeting more and more competitive products. You also want to add articles, videos, etc. The low-comp strategy is definitely not a PASSIVE

Since your strategy don't do backlinking at all, can the more competitive products be ranked at page 1?

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dreamtoreality

11 years ago

Originally Posted by wolfmmiii

Quoted from you back in September:

Congrats, very motivating post. I'm also starting to see some success now that I've gone down the low competition route. Getting the same unique visitors as you, but only made 4 sales so far, but hey, at least we know that this model works.

Sounds as if you purchased Wolfmmii's blueprint, like I did. Definitely going to follow it to a tee on my next site, as I started my current one before I bought the guide. Hope to replicate your success.

I see you added this bit in just now; it wasn't there last night. Well, as you can see, I said that "I've gone down the low competition route" as well as "Definitely going to follow it to a tee on my next site, as I started my current one before I bought the guide."

When I posted that I wasn't using your strategy ("going to follow it to a tee on my next site, as I started my current one before I bought the guide") I was simply targeting low competition products, which I don't think anyone has the right to call their strategy. Low competition isn't anything new.

When i followed your strategy "to a tee on my next site," in fact, for 2 to 3 sites, I barely made any money. I used your template, your way of writing reviews, and even your no backlinking strategy.

You may say that I did something wrong or didn't know how to convert readers to buyers, but considering the success I've had since, that is unlikely, especially when you take into account that I write reviews in a very certain way, until I started using your strategy, that is. How I wrote reviews 6 months ago is how I write them today.

Ok, as Elperuanito said, your method may help people make their first few sales:

"I made my first sale! Thanks so much!!"

"Already two sales in my first few weeks!"

However, I still think that's it's incredibly time inefficient and there are much better, simpler, quicker, and easier ways to make those first few sales.

Everything else you posted has been responded to here: http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-...ling-up-3.html, although I'm sure you've already seen it.

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wolfmmiii 11 years ago

Originally Posted by dreamtoreality

I see you added this bit in just now; it wasn't there last night.

Actually, I didn't add anything today or tonight. That was all there last night. It doesn't really matter though.
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GGpaul 11 years ago

I'll be honest. I haven't posted jack shit in a while just cause 1) My best friend past away, and 2) Been working at my new job. I have devoted maybe 2-3 hrs a week at the most with wolfmmii's strategy and yet the income still flows.

Research the right products. But for me, I am testing out new ways as well. It's all about testing.
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elperuanito 11 years ago

Cool. I've written 50 new reviews that are being drip fed. I've also a new list of products that my bro is using to build his own sites. I will be making 1-2 more myself. So in a couple of months I will know. I didn't want to do more than the original 50 before seeing at least some money coming in...

I agree most people don't push on and properly test so I'm going to invest in that now and let you guys know. Wolfmmiii - thanks for the tips. Do you add more reviews to the 10 sites you have or do you let them site once they reach 50-100 reviews?
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- wolfmmiii 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by elperuanito
  
  Wolfmmiii - thanks for the tips. Do you add more reviews to the 10 sites you have or do you let them site once they reach 50-100 reviews?
  
  Once a site hits 50-100 reviews, I'll typically only add a review or two per week. The worst thing you can do is let a site sit.
  
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