David Fiske Affiliate Marketing & Web Development

There is an undeniable trend towards blogs. Everyone used to 'have to have a blog'. Now everyone 'must have a blog'.

So can affiliates jump on the blog bandwagon and profit from it?
 
The best place to start is my own personal history. I have been making sites for nearly 10 years.

In that time, I have become more knowledgeable in what works and what doesn't. I have followed trends through. JavaScript used to be sexy, then it was everyone's worst nightmare. Ajax (it's reincarnation) is sexy again.

Static websites are still popular but with a CMS as the backend. Who wants to edit code when they update a page? CMS enables even the most Internet unsavvy person to update a website.

But blogs. Can they really be the new black?

Yes, they can.

Wordpress and blogger are the most popular packages around but I prefer Nucleus CMS. It is what this site is powered by.

So why can they work for affiliates?

Firstly, they are usually optimised for search engines. Look at the URL for this page. Optimised for the words Blog, Affiliate,Websites, and Make Money. In several weeks time, I will start ranking in Google for these phrases.

Secondly, the blogosphere (the world of blogs on the web) are great at linking to each other. Write something useful or controversial and you could end up being Dugg (featured highly on Digg). That would bring a flood of traffic to your site.

For example, lets assume you blog about wind turbines and you write something about how great they are. If you are "Dugg", then you could have thousands of people visiting you looking for information about how good wind turbines are. Partner this particular post with subtle affiliate links within the text to B&Q and hey presto, a quantity of relevant, targeted affiliate traffic.

Thirdly, it is a doddle to update. The blog software organises everything for you. You just write away!

Lastly, a blog is a tool to link to other sites. It always has been. The early bloggers used it as a diary slash link directory. Now, everyone uses a blog. Surfers are savvy when it comes to reading blogs. As more blogs evolve, the way we use the Internet now could change. We may soon start to banish traditional websites to the vaults of history (along with JavaScript!).