This guest post is by Peter Lawlor of B2Web.
The more articles I publish on my niche websites, the more knowledgeable I become about keywords, and more importantly, the search habits of my target audience.
During the early days of my affiliate marketing business, I would write a post promoting a particular product or service as an affiliate and move on. That was a big mistake, but one that is easily solved.
My “Aha” moment as an affiliate marketer
As I dug deeper into my niches, I realized that people use different search phrases and terms when looking for the same solution.
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This was a major eye-opener to me and presented a profitable “aha” moment. I discovered in one instant how to leverage my existing content and get far more eyeballs on my affiliate links. The result was a more revenue from my blogs.
Affiliate marketing is a numbers game. The more people who see your affiliate links, the more clicks you’ll garner and the more commissions you’ll earn. Granted, your pre-selling must be up to snuff as well.
One simple technique to increase the number of eyeballs on your affiliate links is to write a series of posts segmenting your target audience.
Segmenting your target audience
No matter how narrow or broad your niche, your audience can be further broken down into groups.
It’s a no-brainer that exhausting the keywords in your niche is a good idea. However, there may be more keywords when you segment your audience. If you get creative, you’ll be able to expand the profitable keywords you can target with audience segmenting.
How do you segment your target audience?
You can segment your target audience by:
- solution sought
- price
- best of…
1. Solution sought
Segmenting by solution sought means thinking about the different uses or purposes the product you promote can meet.
For example, if you promote washing machines, people look for different types of washing machine such as “washing machines for apartments” or “small washing machines” or “stackable washing machines.”
Voila, you have three new ways to promote a washing machine or a product line of washing machines. In fact, you can create posts that feature the “top 5 washing machines for apartments”, “top 5 small washing machines”, and “top 5 stackable washing machines.”
2. Price
Segmenting by price is particularly effective if you promote big ticket physical products. Many consumers search for big ticket items by price. Returning to the washing machine example, there are sufficient monthly searches to warrant a “washing machines under $500” post. In the post you feature washing machines under $500.
3. Best of …
Many consumers begin a search with the word “best.” So why not create “best” of articles with your affiliate promotions? The post could feature a single product or several products you deem to be the best.
Combine segmenting techniques
You can often combine the “best of” segmenting technique with “price” and “solution sought” techniques. For example, you could create a web page targeting “best stackable washing machines.” This keyword is actually a combination of two decently searched keywords being “best stackable washing machines” and “stackable washing machines.”
Taking it further…
The aim of any blogger should be first and foremost to provide valuable information for readers. One way to do this is to link to other resources, including other posts on your site.
In your segmented posts, you can link to individual reviews or posts profiling a particular product.
For example, if you have a post featuring “washing machines for apartments” and list ten washing machines, why not link from each featured washing machine to a dedicated profile or review?
This way you:
- enhance the readers’ visit
- keep them on your site longer
- build credibility with your knowledge of washing machines
- improve the odds visitors will click your affiliate links.
The result: you leverage your affiliate promotions
If you are an affiliate marketer, you know it takes time to become familiar with a product or product line and publish quality content. When you segment your audience with multiple posts as set out above, you leverage your existing content resulting in more eyeballs on your affiliate links.
Do you segment your audience with multiple posts? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Peter Lawlor is a contributor to B2Web which is a site all about using WordPress which includes video tutorials, in-depth video-based reviews and theme recommendations such as the Genesis Theme by StudioPress.
