Cricket,

Recently, because of economic reasons, I had to focus more on my associate and affiliate programs. I researched good key phrases which the people are using to find products and services related to the theme of my web site. From these good key phrases that I obtained, through your teaching methods in SEO, I produced many associate and affiliate pages for the purpose of marketing and eventually making a sale. And, true to your word and ethical guidelines, those pages made very well at the SERPs. Now that they are more visible in the leading search engines, there is more opportunity to make a sale.

My question is: you have taught in general about web site credibility for those who have merchant accounts. But for my web site which is not a merchant web site but a simple information and educational site, that has simple affiliate pages, what does it take for an affiliate page to be credible and thus lead to a sale?

Dennis Cabrera, owner
Catholic Internet Mission
 

Hey Dennis!

Many of the same things that instill website credibility for a business may also be necessary for an informational website. Above all, you will want to focus on a professional appearance and providing unique quality content.

Do not even consider affiliating with a company or product that you do not believe in 100%. Give your visitors quality information about the product or service, such as legitimate straightforward reviews that benefit your visitors.

If you are using a program such as Google AdSense that gives you only limited control over which ads will be displayed, at the very least use their editing options to help the ads blend into the page a bit, while still being readily available. Do not create pages for the sole purpose of having more pages to post the ads.

The public has come to accept that informational sites are likely supported through advertisements. Sometimes though, you will find that “less is more”. Carefully look at each page and ask yourself if the content is still the primary visual focus. When advertising becomes the primary focus of a page, visitors will often leave quickly.

I WILL DEFINITELY SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Ask Cricket Small Business Marketing Consultant and SEO Training Specialist
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