Category: Affiliate Marketing

Keywords out of Season

January 21, 2010 / Joseph / 0 Comments

I’ve recently seen a large drop off in traffic for one of my sites. Instead of adding more backlinks and H1 tags I decided to switch out the keywords. I figured that the issue wasn’t with the optimization tactics I was using but with the keywords that where being applied. According to Google my keywords where just out of season. Follow me on this one, using Google’s External Keyword Tool and selecting the “Show All” settings Google will give you an idea of when a particular keyword is in or out of season. Basically what month does the keyword get searched on the most. Using this information you may want to switch out, add to, or focus only on a set of keywords that well increase in search frequency.
Take a look at my example. Using the keyword tool I did a search for “Umbro Shorts”. According to Google this keyword increases in frequency around September. So if you had a site that sold these kinds of shorts you would have a general idea on when to start building up your strategies.
Of course a lot of this is common sense, but it’s still kind of nice to have a little more information on when you should expect to see a drop in traffic or a spike.

Ebay EPN Geo-Targeting PHP Script

January 19, 2010 / Joseph / 0 Comments

Big development day yesterday, I took some time to re-write some of the code on my EPN templates, giving the URL’s a much SEO friendlier structure. Before I was using the PHP base64 encoding function to mask the redirect URL’s, but doing some gave me this extremely long and ugly URL. I’m not sure if the previous technique was hurting me or not. I assumed so because they didn’t look like anything anyone would want to bookmark.
I also noticed that one of my domains was picking up some traffic from counties other then the U.S. So I added a Geo Targeting script to flip out the Ebay EPN rover code, don’t quote me on this terminology I’m not certain if Ebay calls these code “rover codes” or not. I read on thier blog that an affiliate will not get credit if this code does not correspond to the correct country, so there you go, I’m covered now. You can read more about the Geo Targeting and rover codes here.
http:/www.ebaypartnernetworkblog.com/en/news/implement-geo-targeting-today
I’m also adding the actually function that I’m currently using so please feel free to use it, mash it up or do whatever with it. But I should mention that my sites are fairly new and do not generate that much traffic as of yet. So I can not confirm how reliable the Geo IP Look Up API maybe on larger trafficked sites. You may want to look into adding a more robust solution. And lastly I added a new domain today handheldbaglessvacuums.com yea it’s probably the longest domain I own. I thought Cordless Vacuums, Bagless Vacuums and Vacuums Cleaners Would be some great keywords to target for this niche. Wish me luck.

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/* Implement Geo-Targeting Today */
/* http://www.ebaypartnernetworkblog.com/en/news/implement-geo-targeting-today/ */
/*
eBay Program / Placement ID
eBay US / 711-53200-19255-0
eBay AU / 705-53470-19255-0
eBay BE / 1553-53471-19255-0
eBay CA / 706-53473-19255-0
eBay ES / 1185-53479-19255-0
eBay FR / 709-53476-19255-0
eBay IT / 724-53478-19255-0
eBay UK / 710-53481-19255-0
eBay IE / 5282-53468-19255-0
eBay NL / 1346-53482-19255-0
eBay DE / 707-53477-19255-0
eBay AT / 5221-53469-19255-0
eBay CH / 5222-53480-19255-0
*/
function EPN_Program($countryID){
switch ($countryID) {
case US:
$ePNlink='711-53200-19255-0';
break;
case AU:
$ePNlink='705-53470-19255-0';
break;
case BE:
$ePNlink='1553-53471-19255-0';
break;
case CA:
$ePNlink='706-53473-19255-0';
break;
case ES:
$ePNlink='1185-53479-19255-0';
break;
case FR:
$ePNlink='709-53476-19255-0';
break;
case IT:
$ePNlink='724-53478-19255-0';
break;
case UK:
$ePNlink='710-53481-19255-0';
break;
case IE:
$ePNlink='5282-53468-19255-0';
break;
case NL:
$ePNlink='1346-53482-19255-0';
break;
case DE:
$ePNlink='707-53477-19255-0';
break;
case AT:
$ePNlink='5221-53469-19255-0';
break;
case CH:
$ePNlink='5222-53480-19255-0';
break;
default:
$ePNlink='711-53200-19255-0';
}
return $ePNlink;
}
$ip=$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
$countryID = file_get_contents('http://api.hostip.info/country.php?ip='.$ip);
$ePNlink=EPN_Program($countryID);
?>

Ebay Affiliate Network

January 11, 2010 / Joseph / 0 Comments

Lately I have been really excited about working with Ebay affiliate network. This past Friday I download and printed all of their guidelines hoping to read through them more thoroughly. I want to be 100% sure that I’m legit since I’m spending much more time developing niche sites for this program. This past weekend I added two more of my older domains to my custom script MyAuburnTigers.com to host and sale Auburn University Football Jerseys and NuttyShark.com to host and sale Shark Motorcycle Helmets. I’m danger close to purchasing a car related domains but I want to see if I can hold out a bit to make a bulk purchase to take advantage of the discount. The only issue with waiting is that you stand a chance of someone else swooping in and registering the domain from underneath you.

Ebays EPN Reporting

January 7, 2010 / Joseph / 0 Comments

This is quite small to some but it’s big news to me. I have been a part of Ebay’s EPN affiliate networks for sometime now and have recently started taking a closer look at their report center. I’m kind of amazed how far they allow you to drill down. For example in the previous year the category I sold more merchandise in was the “Cameras & Photo” category and so far this year it’s the “Home & Garden” category, go figure. Nothing to go screaming off the roof tops about but it’s still a bit interesting. I haven’t made any big website changes for this shift to happen so I’m taking this information as a clear indication of when the season changes. So moving forward I think this data could and should be considered when developing future marketing strategies. If I’m losing some of you guys I apologize, but basically what I’m trying to say is there is no need to place all of your focus on every website you own at all times. But why not just focus on a smaller set of websites when they are about to go into season. Just a thought. I’m sure some of you big dogs are already doing this. 🙂

Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Affiliate Marketing

November 25, 2009 / Joseph / 0 Comments

Black Friday, Cyber Monday and a whole lot of Affiliate Marketing, Let’s get it on! Shout out to the coolest boxing referee ever. Judge Mill Lane. I’m sure all of the boxing fans know who and what I’m talking about and for the ones that don’t, Mills Lane was the referee from the all famous Holyfield and Tyson boxing match.(Yea I’m a big boxing fan)

Well anyway with Black Friday and Cyber Monday right around the corner I hope everyone who participates in affiliate marketing is ready to rumble. This is like super bowl season for all of the online marketing geeks. I’m sure most of the big boy affiliate marketers have had their sites ready to go for months now. But for the sorta noobs like me it’s been pretty exciting. I’ve sold far more Push-N-Pop Bottle Openers this month then any other month this year. My parked domains are accumulating a nice amount of day by day traffic; everything is peaches and cream right now. The holiday season is truly an awesome time but at the same time additive. I’ve been dabbling in affiliate marketing for a little of a year I think, perhaps two years. But I have never have had my stuff setup as well as I do now. This is going to be an interesting toss up. With Yahoo not sure what the hell they are doing, Bing is still suspect, that leave us with Google and sometime they can be a big bully. These are the 3 I’m relying on. I’m not doing anything with Facebook nor twitter this go around. So my big worry now is what will happen after the holidays. I’m bouncing off the walls with joy right now and I would hate for the good times to stop. Good luck to you all.