I have always been an advocate of quality brand sites rather than thin affiliate type sites that rely on the power of exact match domains. As Bob Rains said a couple of years ago, “the world is sick and tired of affiliate sites”. Google is also not keen on affiliate type sites and many of Google’s latest algorithm changes have hit affiliate sites hard. I strongly believe that thin affiliate type sites now have a limited lifespan.
Many favour the easy route of simply buying an exact match domain as they know that they can get a decent amount of quality traffic in a relative short period of time. Many new affiliates simply want the “easy route” to financial success. Ask any account manager and they will tell you that the affiliates that make the most money are the ones who stick at it. Successful affiliates are in the affiliate industry for the long term. They are not worried about instant rankings or instant revenue as they realise the potential of quality brand sites in the long term.
I’m not going to plug my own sites in this article but I will say that I have a decent poker forum that generates a vast amount of traffic from its own brand name. The name of the site does not even include the words poker or indeed forum. Five years ago the actual key phrase generated zero searches in Google, although today it generates thousands of quality searches each month. Better still I not competing with any other affiliate for the quality traffic the brand name generates as it’s my brand.
I also have a bingo site which again is built around a unique brand name. Although this site was only launched in May, the brand name is already established and the name of the site alone generates decent daily traffic. That’s the power of a brand!
If you think about it then I’m sure you realise that the whole marketing world is built around brands. It is so easy and relatively cheap to build a brand online as the big affiliate earners already realise.
Build a brand!
