In this episode, we cover:

Today, we speak to James Norquay, the founder of Prosperity Media. With 15 years of experience in SEO, his team worked with established companies to scale SEO campaigns at a global level.

In this episode, James will discuss the topic ”Changing SEO trends to diversify affiliate income.”

Stay tuned for the next podcast episode, where our guest, Garry Grant, discusses the importance of page speed and user experience in SEO.

Show notes

• [03:21-04:53] Is affiliate marketing still a profitable venture? 
• [05:13-08:05] What are some of the SEO tactics affiliate marketers could use for better conversions?
• [08:25-10:02]  How can these 2 tools you’ve just mentioned could be utilized?
• [10:31-12:46] Are there any precautions that need to be taken when it comes to affiliate sites? There’s a common notion that Google doesn’t prefer showing affiliate sites and rather shows its direct stores in the results.
• [13:12-14:35] Can you recall and share your first affiliate marketing experience with us?
• [15:31-17:40] Have you come across the thought process of building an e-commerce store?
• [ 18:23-19:55] Is there a chance that if the affiliate site is spammy, it might affect the main site too?
• [19:59-22:23] What is one advice that you’d like to give to affiliate marketers who are starting out in the post-COVID world?

Show Notes Explanation

Hey guys, welcome to SEO On-Air. If you are an affiliate marketer, you are going to learn a lot from this show. If you wanna succeed in affiliate marketing, you have to look at your site as an asset.

To discuss this topic, we have James Norquay, the founder of Prosperity Media. James, welcome to our show. He has been doing SEO for over 15 years. His team also runs Australia’s largest SEO showcase conference.

Time Stamp: 03:21-04:53

Q. Is affiliate marketing still a profitable venture?

• Yes, it’s definitely still profitable
• As an affiliate marketer, you have to look into different programs, not only big players like Amazon
• If you are an affiliate, you should go for direct deals with companies. That way you can earn more money
• You can go to Google and search for “your niche+affiliate” to find good opportunities

Time Stamp: 05:13-08:05

Q. What are some of the SEO tactics affiliate marketers could use for better conversions?

• The first step is to do keyword research. The biggest mistake that most new marketers do is to target keywords with the highest search volume.
• You should look for low keyword difficulty terms
• The second mistake is comparing your own site to that of a site with high domain authority
• You should compare your site with an affiliate at the same level as you
• You need to find good writers that can write high-quality content that satisfies the user intent
• I’d highly recommend using tools like Clearscope and SurferSEO for keyword-rich content

Time Stamp: 08:25-10:02

Q. How can these 2 tools you’ve just mentioned could be utilized?

• Clearscope scrapes the first twenty results in Google for recommendations and shows you factors that you must consider to write SEO-friendly content
• SurferSEO lets you see the first ten results in Google and check what schema these top ten results are using or which H1 or H2 tag you can use in your content or what questions you must answer in your content.

Time Stamp: 10:31-12:46

Q. Are there any precautions that need to be taken when it comes to affiliate sites? There’s a common notion that Google doesn’t prefer showing affiliate sites and rather shows its direct stores in the results.

• Google would still show affiliate properties, but they give more value to bigger sites like eBay and Amazon
• Backlinks are still crucial. You need to have a good idea about backlink profile to survive in the competitive market
• It is better to invest in high-quality strategies, such as HARO outreach, reaching out to high-quality sites and using natural anchor texts
• Avoid spammy SEO practices in the affiliate space

Time Stamp: 13:12-14:35

Q. Can you recall and share your first affiliate marketing experience with us?

• I got into SEO in 2004-2005. The first money I made online was selling signups for a shady survey
• I had a big site on MySpace, so I made big money through AdWords and CPM advertising

Time Stamp: 15:31-17:40

Q. Have you come across the though process of building an e-commerce store?

• Personally, I’d say no, but I have friends who have affiliate properties. They have realized that I’ve sold so much for someone else, why not sell my own products.
• When you start an e-commerce site, it’s a completely separate business. So it’s going to be too much work.
• It can be quite difficult to make money on e-commerce

Time Stamp: 18:23-19:55

Q. Is there a chance that if the affiliate site is spammy, it might affect the main site too?

• Yes, 100%, brands need to be careful about that.
• They must tell their affiliate partner to go for no-follow links only
• Third-party sites like Commission Junction and ShareASale are helpful in preventing these negative incidents.

Time Stamp: 19:59-22:23

Q. What is one advice that you’d like to give to affiliate marketers who are starting out in the post-COVID world?

• The biggest advice I can give is to sign up to a really good course for a solid foundation
• You should also check out the Facebook group called Mastermind
• Listen to useful podcasts by Authority Hacker
• Another good thing to do is to start your own website and start testing things