7+ Smart SEO Strategies for Affiliate Marketing

Looking to drive sales to affiliate products through your blog or website?

Want to boost your sales?

You’re in the right place.

SEO can be a game-changer for your affiliate blog.

No joke.

In this post, we’ll dive into smart SEO tricks.

Let’s get started!

Choosing your niche for affiliate marketing

When it comes to affiliate marketing, selecting the right niche is crucial.

You need to choose a niche or preferably a micro-niche, where you can find a wealth of profitable affiliate products to promote.

For example, if you’re in the broader wealth category, under digital marketing, narrowing it down to a sub-niche like email marketing can be more beneficial.

Within email marketing, you’ll find various products like ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, ConvertKit, and MailerLite.

Almost all email marketing software providers offer affiliate programs, making this a lucrative space.

To find these profitable niches, start by searching for affiliate programs within your chosen category.

A simple Google search using your niche keyword followed by “affiliate programs” can give a list of affiliate programs.

Once you have a list, use tools like Google Trends to check how these brands are performing.

For instance, typing “ConvertKit” into Google Trends can show you whether its popularity is on the rise. This can be a good indicator of a stable and profitable product to promote.

You can also use tools like Semrush to identify related keywords that are trending.

Entering a brand name like “ActiveCampaign” can help you discover additional related keywords that might be less competitive but still valuable for your niche.

When considering a niche, don’t forget to assess the competition.

Check if there are many established websites already ranking for the search terms you’re targeting. The more competitive the niche, the harder it will be to rank.

However, if the niche is profitable and has active programs, the effort can be well worth it.

Formats of blog posts

When writing affiliate blog posts, there are four main types of content formats you should focus on:

1. Listicles

Listicles are a popular format, especially when targeting keywords like “best [product] for [specific use].”

For example, you might write a post titled “Best Email Marketing Software for Small Businesses” or “Best VPN Software for Gaming.”

This format allows you to feature multiple products, providing readers with options while increasing the chances of affiliate link clicks.

Alternative keywords are also valuable here.

If a product in your niche is popular but expensive, people might search for alternatives.

For example, “ConvertKit alternatives” or “Canva alternatives” are potential keywords you could target. These posts cater to users who are looking for similar but more affordable options.

2. Individual product reviews

Review posts are another powerful tool in affiliate marketing.

These posts focus on a single product, diving deep into its features, pros, and cons.

For instance, in the email marketing niche, you could write a “ConvertKit Review,” “GetResponse Review,” or “ActiveCampaign Review.”

These posts cater to readers who are already interested in the product and are likely closer to making a purchase, making them prime candidates for conversion.

3. Comparisons

Comparison posts are valuable for readers trying to choose between two products.

If there are two popular products in your niche, many people will be searching for a comparison of them.

For example, a blog post comparing “MailChimp vs ConvertKit” could cover aspects like email editors, automation features, deliverability rates, and integrations with other tools.

By highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each product, you help readers make an informed decision, which can lead to higher conversion rates.

4. Coupons, deals, or discounts

Finally, coupon and deal posts are incredibly profitable because they target users who are ready to buy.

When someone searches for a product name followed by “coupon” or “discount,” they are often in the final stages of making a purchase.

By offering them a discount through your affiliate link, you increase the likelihood of conversion.

The conversion rates for these posts tend to be higher because they cater to buyers who are ready to make a purchase and are just looking for the best deal.

Keyword research

When it comes to affiliate keyword research, you can use conventional keyword research tools like Semrush or Ahrefs.

Semrush is highly recommended because it has the largest keyword database globally.

It includes features like Semrush Trends, which are excellent for capturing emerging trends and newly popular keywords.

If you’re in a niche like software, where new tools and products are constantly being introduced, it’s important to use a tool that can quickly capture new keywords.

Apart from Semrush, you can also use Google Suggest and Google Trends to uncover relevant keywords.

For example, if you’re comparing two products, you can line them up in Google Trends to see if they both have substantial search volume.

Similarly, using Google Suggest can reveal popular comparison keywords.

If you’re in the email marketing space, typing “MailChimp vs” into Google Suggest can show you a list of potential keywords like “MailChimp vs ConvertKit” or “MailChimp vs ActiveCampaign.”

These suggestions are often highly searched terms and can be excellent targets for your comparison posts.

Ratio of commercial blog posts to informational blog posts

While it’s tempting to churn out affiliate posts non-stop, you need to strike a balance between commercial and informational content.

This is especially important after Google’s December 2020 update, which penalized sites that were overly commercial.

As per an analysis by Matt Diggity at Diggity Marketing, the ideal ratio for informational to commercial blog posts is about 70:30.

However, to future-proof your site, I recommend aiming for an 80:20 ratio i.e., 80% informational content and 20% commercial content.

Why?

Most authority sites focus more on providing valuable, informational content than on pushing commercial posts.

They cover a broad range of topics within their niche, which helps them build a loyal audience.

Plus, Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness) guidelines emphasize the importance of quality over quantity.

If you have genuine expertise in a product, your reviews and recommendations will naturally carry more weight, leading to higher conversions.

Write informational blog posts

As mentioned earlier, informational blog posts should make up the majority of your content.

These posts not only support your commercial content but also help establish your authority in the niche.

For example, if you’re in the email marketing niche, you could write posts like “What is Email Marketing?”, “How to Improve Email Deliverability,” or “Top Tips for Writing Engaging Subject Lines.”

These types of posts provide value to your readers and can naturally link to your commercial posts.

Informational posts are also more likely to attract backlinks from other websites, particularly if they are rich in data or offer unique insights.

Or even you can create simple free tools, that people use – these also attract links!

Internal linking

Effective internal linking is crucial for your SEO strategy.

As mentioned earlier, 80% of your blog content should be informational, and 20% should be commercial. All these posts should be internally linked to each other.

Consider using a silo structure to organize your content.

A listicle post should link to all the individual product reviews, comparison posts, and alternative product posts within that listicle. Similarly, these other posts should link back to the listicle and to each other where relevant.

To ensure your internal linking is effective, consider running a site audit using tools like Semrush.

Their site audit tool can help you identify any orphan pages, pages that aren’t linked to from any other pages on your site, and improve your internal link structure.

This not only helps with SEO but also ensures that Google indexes all your important content, enhancing your site’s crawlability and overall performance.

Update your content regularly

Regularly updating your blog posts is key to maintaining and improving your rankings.

Google values freshness in certain types of content, and regularly updated posts signal to both Google and your readers that your content is current and relevant.

For example, if you’re writing about evergreen topics like meditation, Google might not expect updates frequently. However, if you’re reviewing software, it’s important to update your content every six months or so to reflect new features or changes in the product.

When you update your post, the date stamp in Google’s search results will also update, which can lead to higher click-through rates as readers see your content is up-to-date.

And that’s not it.

While updating, take the opportunity to optimize your post for conversions.

Experiment with different button colors, text, call-outs, and even layout changes.

Adding elements like pros and cons boxes or comparison tables can enhance the user experience and increase the likelihood of conversions.

I’ve written a detailed blog post on how to do conversion rate optimization for affiliate blog posts, which I recommend you check out for more tips.

Bonus: The power of first-hand experience

It’s crucial to use the product first-hand before reviewing it.

Trust me, this makes a huge difference not only in maintaining consistent rankings in Google but also in building trust with your readers.

With the addition of “experience” to their E-E-A-T guidelines, your personal experience with a product has never been more important.

When you’ve used a product, show it.

Include photos of yourself using the product or screenshots if it’s a software application.

This transparency not only strengthens trust with your readers but also boosts your rankings and conversions.

You know what?

With this, readers are more likely to click on your affiliate links and make a purchase, even knowing it’s an affiliate link, because they trust your honest, first-hand experience.

Don’t forget to reflect this in your post titles too.

Phrases like “My Experience After X Years” or “What I Found Using [Product]” can significantly improve your click-through rate in Google search results. It’s a simple strategy, but it works wonders in building credibility and driving conversions.

Conclusion

Mastering SEO for affiliate marketing requires a strategic approach i.e. choosing the right niche, crafting diverse content formats, and maintaining a healthy balance between informational and commercial posts.

Also, regular updates and effective internal linking will keep your content relevant and optimized for conversions.

By focusing on quality, staying current with new product trends, and refining your conversion optimization techniques, you can significantly boost your affiliate marketing success and drive more sales through your blog.