Affiliates

Optimizing Your Affiliate Content for Search

Search referral traffic is critical for acquiring visitors and new customers in affiliate marketing. Thus, quality content that meets search engine requirements should take precedence in your online promotional mix.

The constant evolution of search engine optimization presents challenges. The following is a look at some tips on optimizing your affiliate content right now.

Know Your Audience

Using artificial intelligence, Google and other search engines examine page content in much the same way users do. By knowing your audience and crafting landing pages and blog articles that address common concerns, it is more likely that Google can detect your page’s purpose and value.

Along with demographic, geographic and behavioral traits, consider the problems your targeted prospects face. Create landing pages that address those problems and offer relevant solutions.

Write Clear Page Titles

Your page titles give search engines an important perspective on the relevance of your content to particular searches. Write the title as though you’re answering the question or query your targeted prospect is likely to enter into a search bar. This approach simplifies Google’s ability to match your landing page with the right users when delivering results.

Use an SEO Plugin

The majority of websites, including affiliates, are now built on a content management system. WordPress is the most popular. There are a lot of SEO-friendly plugins that simplify your ability to structure your site for SEO. Yoast is one of the best all-around SEO tools you can add to your WordPress site.

Create an XML sitemap within Yoast that makes it easy for search engines to identify the proper navigational flow through your pages, and to detect new content. It also helps with keyword optimization by allowing you to evaluate keyword effectiveness within each post prior to publication.

Leverage Header Tags for Proper Structure

In addition to a clear title for your page, effective structure contributes to Google’s desire to see consistency and cohesion throughout your page. Your page title should have an H1 header tag, which gives it precedence over other section titles.

Each key section within your page should have an H2 header tag, which suggests it takes secondary precedence in the page’s content hierarchy. Your section headers with H2 tags should identify content within that section, but also tie into the overarching purpose of the page (identified by the title). Any sub-points to these sections should have H3 tags.

Create High-Quality Content

Above all else, prioritize high-quality, useful and relevant content on each product page and article. Google uses AI to determine whether users are likely to value the content as a good match for a particular search.

Integrate targeted keywords naturally and as a secondary priority after you develop a thoughtful and effective page of content.

Conclusion

These are some of the best tips to help affiliate marketers optimize their sites for SEO performance right now. While a lot of elements in Google’s algorithm change, these factors tend to hold constant. Implement these effectively, and put your business on track for search referral traffic!

Collect affiliate commissions easily with Payoneer

Neil Kokemuller

Neil Kokemuller has been a college marketing professor since 2004. He has also been an active business, marketing and education writer and content media website developer since 2007. Kokemuller has additional professional experience in retail and small business, and holds a Master of Business Administration from Iowa State University.