Direct Linking....First things First???
Submitted by GarySteven on Thu, 06/12/2008 - 18:29.
Hello,
As I continually look over my notes and action plans, I have questions that keeps coming up.
1. In finding my niche, is it best to be able to do Direct Linking with a way to track?
2. If finding a niche and the product advertiser(s) don't allow Direct Linking is it best to dump the project and find a niche with products that do allow DL? And then do research into finding an angle in that niche?
Did Jeremy do DL with the laptop project first? I don't remember this being talked about.
Even with all the research that is spelled out on finding a niche, isn't the best way to go about it is DL to see if you got a dud or not? Before putting all the energy into website building?
Any discussion in any direction on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Gary
I have the same question!
I know this isn't much help, but I have the exact same question. In fact, I got stuck and haven't been able to move forward because this step appears to have been left out! I was under the impression that one should do a test run using a direct linking campaign or a quick landing page to test the viability/conversion of the potential product. However, the lessons seemed to skip right over this critical step. I can't get myself to go forward with the lessons and action steps because I don't yet have enough confidence in the product I have chosen. FYI, my lack of confidence in the product is simply due to the fact that I haven't been very successful thus far with affiliate marketing and I need a bit of proof that the product can convert.
I really need a step by step detail of how to test out the product before I start conceptualizing, designing and building a site.
Jeremy - can you help us! I really want to get back into the groove and get this going, but I need this step to be covered before I can.
why not try with a small micropage
Why wan't you let a niche go down? I would be happy if I find a niche somedays, lol. I would at least try to setup a small wordpress based landingpage (there are tons of free templates out there) and track the action there :)
Give it a try you don't have anything to lose ;) The worst thing ever would be finding a niche but no merchants in any affiliate networks *fear*
Have you completed your
Have you completed your keywords list yet? I have come up with a list of 200 + keywords and I am currently in the process of picking the best ones. I have about an hours work left on my keywords then I'm going to sign up for those keywords using Google adwords. And I do believe when you sign up for keywords you provide them with the link to your merchants landing page for direct linking. And then you create an ad that will be displayed when someone types in one of the keywords you registered with. So if you have a keyword like "office chair" your ad will be displayed in the Sponsored Links section and the specific keyword in your ad will be bold and blue. When someone clicks on your ad they will be directed to your merchants landing page. And then its up to the merchant to finish the transaction for you.
I am new to this direct linking also so if I made a mistake in explaining this please correct me. I will let you know for sure how the whole process works when I implement it this evening.
I don't really know how my conversions will be because I'm using general keywords because the merchant doesn't allow you to bid on certain keywords.
I will keep you updated.
Starting out with a direct
Starting out with a direct linking campaign is a good first step; however, sometimes it's not always possible. If your merchants have good coverage on all your keywords in the big 3 search engines direct linking would be difficult.
If direct linking isn't feasible, I recommend building out a mini site with a highly optimized landing page. Keep in mind that your site might not meet Google's rigorous quality standards if the content is too thin. Yahoo and Microsoft are less critical.