The business of affiliate marketing is a cutthroat one. Every day the affiliate marketer must deal with difficult situations usually caused by the dislike of major search engines towards affiliate sites in general. This is an odd stance for the SE's to take, since it makes assumptions about the searcher that may not be correct.

For example, if you were searching online for a particular item, the search engines try to block affiliate sites that might contain the item. Instead, you get a barrage of sites with information regarding the item instead. Helpful if you are researching something, but totally counter-productive if you wish to actually purchase it. Many people believe there should be a better mix of sites in the results shown when a search is done.

With that said however, anyone who operates an affiliate site does not do him or herself any favors by throwing up a shoddy-looking thin site with just a list of links on it. Content is still king, as the saying goes. Many webmasters assume this means just stuffing a page with keywords. Not so. It may fool search engine spiders for a short while, but it won't fool humans, who are always the real target audience. Writing for people will always draw in the spiders, but writing for spiders alone will not always bring the people along. And it's the people who do the purchasing.

Another area often neglected by anyone starting out in affiliate marketing is presentation. A good-looking website is always pleasing. If it's done correctly, it can convey a sense of trust and assurance to visitors. While of little or no value to a search engine, a nice site layout will leave a good impression with humans, either consciously or subconsciously.

One quick and easy way to improve the look of a website is to use a theme. This consists of a template, usually premade, that will automatically set up the color scheme, layout and any specialized graphics. This can instantly change the entire look and feel of a website. Many online scripts such as WordPress, Associate-O-Matic, osCommerce and others allow you to add templates over a basic site installation.

It's no surprise that a system like WordPress, which can utilize premade template themes does so well in many search engine results. Not only does it consist mainly of original content, the infinite amount of variety in the available templates means that people enjoy going to WordPress sites. In many online searches, there will almost always be at least one blog showing on the first page of results. Testimony to the fact that designing a site for people can also draw in the spiders. Affiliate sites that monetize successful formulas like this can go a long way towards delivering paying customers, resulting in a win-win scenario for everyone involved.

get instant to access