Is this you?
You’re new to affiliate marketing. You’re high on the excitement of setting up a passive income stream. You can’t wait to quit your job and travel the world as money automatically floods your bank account.
Hold up.
You know that’s not the way it works.
The truth is, affiliate marketing is slow, hard work.
You must build your audience. Post consistently. Create a relationship of trust with your readers.
Another concern you may have is the issue of content quality vs. quantity in affiliate marketing.
Sure, you want to publish epic posts that’ll wow your audience and get them to trust you.
But:
- You’re shortchanged by time. (With your job and life going as normal, you don’t have a ton of time to write epic posts.)
- You’re on a tight budget. (You don’t have unlimited funds in your bank account to hire top-notch writers.)
What do you do?
In this guide, I’ll give you the best advice I can on how to walk the fine line between quality and quantity in affiliate marketing.
Ready?
Let’s dive right in.
This post is part of our free series on Affiliate Marketing! If you want to learn everything from A – Z in one place, then check out our course below!
How to Decide Between Content Quality vs. Quantity in Affiliate Marketing
Writing for affiliate marketing is a constant dilemma.
On the one hand, you want to craft the best posts on the web. That’s because low-quality content won’t cut it with a savvy audience. Also, if your competitors are posting awesome content, you probably won’t stand a chance against them in the eyes of both Google and your readers.
But on the other hand, great content takes time to create. You’re busy. Plus, the best writers cost money, which you might not have an unlimited supply of right now.
What do you do?
The truth is, there’s no one-size-fits all answer to this dilemma.
Everything depends on you and your unique situation.
But to help you, I’ll show you a few affiliate marketer scenarios. What you can do is select the one that best fits you, and go along with my recommendations for that case.
Affiliate Marketer #1
Scenario:
You have a ton of money in your bank account. You’re busy and can’t write your own posts. You want your sites to start earning as soon as possible.
In this case, I would say that the best step you can take is to find top-notch writers to craft epic posts for you.
If you have a large budget for your affiliate marketing side hustle, don’t sacrifice quality for price. Go all out and remember that the higher you pay your writers, the more time they’ll have to perfect your posts.
To find great writers for your site, you can use freelancing platforms like Upwork and Fiverr.
A good rule of thumb is to hire writers with high ratings and a ton of experience.
Like this.
Source: upwork.com
Affiliate Marketer #2
Scenario:
You’re a busy person and don’t have a ton of money to invest in your affiliate marketing side hustle. However, you’re not in a rush. You’re willing to wait five years before you start earning a decent income from your business.
Let me tell you this.
If you’re not in a rush…then awesome!
Why?
Well, affiliate marketing is like wine.
The older, the sweeter.
For me, this is one of the best scenarios you can be in.
You’re busy and don’t have a ton of money to invest, but you’re willing to wait.
In that case, go ahead and build your epic site slowly. Use that free Saturday to type up a blog that’s the best on the SERPs. Wow your audience. Make them laugh, cry, and fall madly in love with you.
I assure you, it might take longer for you to start earning…
…but when you do?
You’ll blast to the top like a rocket, and your earnings will snowball over the years.
Affiliate Marketer #3
Scenario:
You’re busy, plus you don’t have a lot of money to invest in your affiliate marketing side hustle. However, you’re in a hurry to start earning. You want to see ROI in six months to a year.
This is the part where it gets really tricky.
If you’re a scenario #3 affiliate marketer, you’ll have to walk the fine line between quality and quantity.
It’ll be a balancing act for you, and your success will depend on how well you can defy the odds and walk that narrow cliff towards your goals.
I don’t love affiliate marketers who do this, and I don’t recommend that you do it…
…but if you absolutely have to, here’s a quick 3-step guide for you.
Step #1: Get a Keyword Research Tool
A word to the wise.
Don’t walk this path without a reliable keyword research tool. (Doing so could mean your affiliate marketing efforts all add up to be a total waste of time.)
Not to worry, though.
You don’t need to get that second mortgage on your house to get a keyword research tool subscription.
In fact, a tool like KWFinder only costs $29.90 a month, and contains everything you need in terms of keyword data.
Step #2: Divide and Conquer
Once you’ve subscribed to your keyword research tool, the next step is to figure out which articles you need to pour extra effort into, and which ones you can go ahead and publish without the additional quality sweeps.
The best thing you can do is divide the articles to be written into “hard” and “easy” articles.
The hard articles are those that’ll get a ton of traffic and lead your audience directly to a sale. (However, the keywords these are written around will be harder, meaning your competition will be tougher and you really need to stand out with awesome content.)
The easy articles are the lower-traffic articles that don’t have a ton of great competition, so you can probably rank them quickly.
So, how do you decide between easy and hard articles?
This is where your keyword research tool comes in.
All you need to do is type your keyword into the tool and check the “search volume.”
You can find that here.
Source: KWFinder
If the search volume is below 300, it’s probably OK to skip a few quality pointers and go for quantity.
If it’s above 300, you’ll want to pour effort into it, knowing the competition will be tougher.
Also, check on the KD (keyword difficulty) score of your keywords.
As a general rule, above 40 is considered hard, and below 40 possible or easy.
Source: KWFinder
Lastly, write content for keywords you think will make your business the most money.
For instance, a list post will include a lot of your affiliate links, meaning it has the potential to earn more.
Step #3: Balance, Balance
Here’s a great rule of thumb to stick to.
If you have a ton of low search volume keywords to write around, it’s best to delegate these to another writer. (You can hire cheaper writers on platforms like Upwork and Fiverr as well. Their quality won’t be as great, but their work will help build your site quickly.)
Then, spend the time and effort you have on writing the high search volume keyword articles. Most of the time, these keywords will be harder to rank for, so you’ll need to pour in extra effort to make your posts the best.
Remember, it’s all about balance.
In a perfect world, all your posts would be amazing.
But since you can’t achieve that, you’ll need to balance carefully between quality and quantity as you move towards your earning goals.
Content Quality Rules for Your Best Posts
Now, you’re all set to take the affiliate marketing world by storm.
But if you’ve decided that you’re a scenario #3 marketer, you might be wondering…
…what makes a post stand out from the others in terms of quality?
What rules and tips should I follow for epic, standout posts?
Here are five to keep in mind.
Rule #1: Do Better than Your SERP Competitors
At times, crafting the best post on your keyword is as simple as jumping on Google and spying on your competitors.
Simply type your keyword into the search field and click on the ranking blogs one by one.
For example, here’s the SERP result for “how to train a dog.”
Source: Google
Read each one of these blogs and ask yourself, “What makes it special?” and “What can I add to this to make it better?”
Rule #2: Be a King (Or Queen) of Facts
Quick question.
What’s more impressive?
A tour guide who knows basic info you can find on the internet and travel magazines…
…or a tour guide who knows secret insider stuff you never heard before about a place?
Of course, it’s tour guide #2, right?
Yup.
The same is true with your readers.
You can go on and on in your blog about stuff everyone knows…
…or you can take a deep dive into your topic.
You can reveal stats no one has heard of. Tell stories that are new to your audience. Set yourself up as the expert in your field.
When you do this, you’ll impress your readers and compel them to come back for more.
Rule #3: Please Your Audience’s Eyes
Here’s something you should never do:
Send your audience running for the hills by greeting them with a huge wall of unending text.
The truth is, if you want readers to stay on your blog, you’ll need to please their eyes.
This means you’ll need to use short sentences and paragraphs.
You’ll need to use images like screenshots, photos, charts, and graphs.
For example, don’t do this:
Source: Wikipedia
Instead, do this.
Source: BackLinko
Note: Besides pleasing your readers, images also please Google. Images and video in a blog are actually ranking factors, and they’ll help you get that coveted spot high in the SERPs.
Rule #4: Make Your Readers Laugh, Cry, and Fall in Love
No one wants to read a blog that feels like it’s been written by a robot.
To avoid this pitfall, remember that it’s OK to pour yourself out into your writing.
Show that you understand where your audience is right now. Wake them up. Tell them about your experiences. Use your own personal tone. Make them feel something.
If you can make your audience fall in love with you, you’ve won half the affiliate marketing battle.
Here’s an example from successful affiliate marketer Nomadic Matt.
Source: nomadicmatt
Rule #5: Be Comprehensive
Remember that as an affiliate marketer, your #1 goal is to help people.
You’ll educate them and help them decide which products are best for them.
This means you can’t sell them short with quick, short, thin content.
You need to be comprehensive. Take a deep dive into your topic. Help readers get from Point A to Point B in their lives.
A quick word on length here, as well.
A lot of you might be wondering, “How long should my posts be?”
To answer, here are three tips to keep in mind:
- Cover just enough, but not too much, of your topic.
- Jump on Google and check out your competitors’ word count. You’ll want to go for a word count that’s the average of theirs. For instance, if you see posts ranking from 1,500-4,000, a safe word count for you to hit would be 2,750.
- Make sure your post helps your readers get from Point A (where they are now) to Point B (where they want to be).
Content Quality vs. Quantity: The Rules
Walking the fine line between content quality and quantity in affiliate marketing is not easy.
In the end, the #1 rule to follow is to know your situation.
Do you have time to produce hundreds of epic posts? If not, do you have enough money to hire top-notch writers to produce them for you?
If you have neither time nor money, are you willing to wait a couple of years before seeing any results? Or are you in a rush?
What if you have neither time nor money, but want to see quick results? Do you have what it takes to juggle between writing a few epic posts and finding cheap writers to handle the bulk of your writing?
Before you dive into affiliate marketing, take a few days to sit on these questions and determine your goals.
If you feel confused, don’t worry!
We all do at some point.
Just remember, you got this!
Your desire to start affiliate marketing is already a great sign of your resilience and ambition, and you can expect nothing but success sooner or later.
This post is part of our free series on Affiliate Marketing! If you want to learn everything from A – Z in one place, then check out our course below!
