Affiliates

The meaning of site affiliates seems to have become lost over the years. Affiliates used to always link each other on their front page (and generally on the rest of the site too) with buttons. Occasionally they would even announce something about their affiliates on their own site (like a big achievement or something). Now, it seems affiliates have become little more then a button wall on some obscure page. Or, they’re on the front page with buttons that are tiny and simply blend in with the layout. Last but not least, there seems to be a drive to have as many affiliates as possible, regardless of their content or quality.

It’s not always easy to incorporate affiliates into every page of your site. Sidebars generally are smashed full of content, leaving affiliates to a tiny little space. Consider using text links instead of buttons on every page (in your sidebar). Then, in your site section, have a page with the buttons. Using tiny 10×10 buttons is not worth anyone’s time. Very few people are going to hover over every link to see what it is.

Affiliates that relate to your site help you get more visitors who are truly interested in your site. For actors, this would mean affiliating with actors that work with your chosen celebrity. For example, an Emma Watson site would affiliate well with an Alan Rickman site. People who visit general HP sites are probably more interested in visiting more HP sites then Brad Pitt sites. Also, since Harry Potter is considered fantasy, consider affiliating with other fantasy fandoms, like Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia.

Remember, you can always say no. Just because someone has asked you really nicely to be affiliates does not mean you have to say yes. Choose affiliates that really blend in with your site and that will bring you more visitors. You can be picky, it’s your site!

1 Comment »

Excellent article! What really gets me is when someone agrees to be an affiliate and you do a link check later on and they stopped listing you without any notice. Nothing like promoting someone’s site who isn’t promoting yours anymore.

Lisa — February 16, 2007 @ 12:45 am