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Want to Skip Screwing Up and Save Yourself Time and Money?

Before you jump in the pool, you want to make sure there is enough water. Well before you launch your Web site for your internet marketing program, you also want to make sure you have it right about the market outside your landing page. You may have your blog or Web site outfitted with banners, adsense, content and links all ready to go, but will it all work out? Will they come when you open the door?

Banners

Banners may have a purpose, but there is a strong position held by many Super Affiliates, that they are limited in appeal and effectiveness. Though you can and should test banners for your particular niche or market, a very little goes a long way. One commonly held rule among the super successful is to avoid putting banners on your home page. Instead, place them on your product landing page where they may complement the product or service you are selling.

Another point is to use banners sparingly, one or two for the header or footer but avoid creating a forest of banners that cry out oversell and will turn off your customers. There is data that questions the effectiveness of banners versus the use of text links. So go for anchor text and signatures with links where you can. You’ll find they may work just as well for you.

Product Selection

Offer your visitors a product selection that is carefully researched and displayed to offer what you know they are looking for. Make sure all your products are related to your target market. What is the problem or need they have and what are you offering as a service or solution? Is your pricing well thought out and do you fully understand your competitive position versus your competitors?

Know your product

Know what you are selling. In fact, buy it, use it, test it, review it and then sell it. It is a lot easier to promote something you know and believe in and your customers will pick that up immediately. This also helps build trust and confidence between you and your customer base. You will become the trusted resource they can turn to for legitimate, reliable information when they need it.

No Super Market

Avoid what Ros Gardner calls the super market pitfall. A super market site is a schmorgasborg of unrelated products that will make you look like the snake oil salesperson of old who had a remedy for everyone and no one. You want to avoid being run out of town by unhappy, oversold visitors who will smell the hype and dump you just as fast as a bad habit. That is no way to grow your affiliate online program.

These are some of the very basic mistakes to avoid. As simple as they seem, if you look through the Web, you will find examples of all of these pitfalls more often than not.

Track and Analyze

One final point is to test and retest your product or service sales to see what works and what doesn’t. You can track leads and conversions using autoresponder data from your autoresponder service. Google analytics will give you some extremely useful data as to who is visiting and how they are finding you. Some affiliate programs have affiliate centers that will also provide you with useful data to help you understand who is buying and who is flying away.

If you are planning an online affiliate marketing business, taking all of these points into consideration for your initial planning will help save you time, effort and money. They should make sure your goals are met sooner rather than later and that your profits will appear and grow over time. So give it your best.

May Your Travels Be Prosperous!

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