Absolute Beginner - Please Help!!

[AffiliateWizard]

Hi Guys,

I have decided to create an affliate site for poker and casinos.

Where would you recommend that I start?

I have registered a number of domain names - acesonlinepoker.com (.co.uk) and acesonlinecasinos.com (.co.uk)

I also registered a lighthearted one called theguiltygambler.com (.co.uk).

I have got myself a copy of dreamweaver (although I have not clue how to use it!).

I suspect that the next step would be to create the websites and start to review the casinos, poker sites, etc.

My question is this - how do I go about becoming an affiliate and when should I start that process?

Is it a case of the more affiliations and site reviews the better? There are a hell of a lot of affiliates out there.

Also, is it worth setting uom up some kind of poker rake back site? Would
revenue be vastly better ther than just an standard affiliate site?

Is there any other advice I need to know? I guess i will have to sort out some site hosting fairly soon. Any recommendations?

I know that I have a hell of a lot to learn and any advice would be extremely well apprieciated!

Thanks a lot guys!

All the best!

Stuart Ray

[Knup]

Welcome to PAL. Read up on all the threads around here as there is a ton of knowledge on the forums.

[TheShortStack]

Hey Stuart - welcome to the forums. Here are my two cents!

My question is this - how do I go about becoming an affiliate and when should I start that process?

I'd head on over to PokerAffiliateListings.com (your login here will work over there too). Have a look through the SEO forum. In particular the Best SEO Sources which is stickied to the top of the page. Start reading up on basic SEO as you'll definitely need it. Ask questions where you need to and gradualy work your way through other posts on the forum.

Is it a case of the more affiliations and site reviews the better?

No, not necessarily. In fact, I'd suggest that if you're looking to build your first site, you do better to keep the domains you've purchased for another day and look to build a mini-site which will promote just one room to start with (preferably on a domain with some good keywords in it), so that you can get the hang of basic SEO, linkbuilding and regular content writing.

Also, is it worth setting uom up some kind of poker rake back site? Would
revenue be vastly better ther than just an standard affiliate site?

I don't promote rakeback, so can't really tell you. Although the standard thought seems to be you should probably start off with standard poker offers and move into rakeback further down the line if you want to.

Is there any other advice I need to know?

Be patient.

This isn't going to happen overnight. It may be several months before you make your first sale and up to a year before you make something you'd call a half decent amount of cash in a month. And that's only if you keep working hard, adding new content and looking to get more links into your site.

Having said that, this and PAL are two great forums with a load of friendly regulars, who will be quite happy to answer any questions you have.

[Tower-Adrian]

Welcome to the forum Stuart. With all the info floating around here and the great community ready to help, you are in good hands.

[jokerturn]

Hi, Stuart!

Here is free hosting: FreeHost(dot)comuv(dot)com

Enough room for the start and no ads.

Good Luck!

[Matt Geer]

Hi, Stuart!

Here is free hosting: FreeHost(dot)comuv(dot)com

Enough room for the start and no ads.

Good Luck!

Free hosting without the ads are great!

Having said that, I would still suggest paying $5 a month for hosting and reason being is if the "free" host decided to drop you for whatever reason or just simply discontinue their service, you'd be up the creek.

Just my 2 cents

[Stiankr]

I would have to agree with the hosting, you should probably have a budget for that before starting a new internet business. I would never start an internet business with a free host.

Another thing would be to learn basic HTML, will really help you on your journey and its not very difficult. Do a google search for learn html or something similar. Good luck and welcome to the forum

[Matt Geer]

I would have to agree with the hosting, you should probably have a budget for that before starting a new internet business. I would never start an internet business with a free host.

Another thing would be to learn basic HTML, will really help you on your journey and its not very difficult. Do a google search for learn html or something similar. Good luck and welcome to the forum

W3Schools Online Web Tutorials <----------- Great Site to check out for Html, Css, php, java, etc.... You get to practice what they teach and hit "submit" for it to appear on the other side of your screen if you did it correctly. They also provide you with a link to have your own page to practice on and you can type everything through notepad. Really good way to learn the basics!

[Unknown Webmaster]

This were just meant to be a couple of bulletpoints with advice. It ended up being a list of things I think new affiliates should do.



In general, rakeback is a very competetive niche, and there are a lot of information to absorb, which creates some pretty high barriers to entry.

I think your time will be best spent if you find some kind of niche where there aren't that much competition, and then try to create a good website around that. Please mind that this should probably be something you are somewhat interested in, it is hard to create a website about something you don't care about.

1. Use Adwords External Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

And find something that a decent amount of people are seaching for, and doesn't have a ton of competition. Bascially just do a search for it on Google and take a look at the pages that are returned - If there are tons of pages with pages upon pages about the topic you searched for, you should probably just pick something else.


2. Get a domain/hosting
You need to get some hosting, this probably won't cost you more than 5$/month. You can find some threads about what to choose at Poker Affiliate Listings.

Choose a domain that
a) Are easy to remember and kind of catchy (have brand value).
b) Have "keywords" in the URL. Generally speaking, casinobonus.com will rank very well if people search for "casino bonus".

Please keep in mind, that you won't find any super good domains, so just settle for something that is decent.

3.Write lots of content

Content is king.
Content is king.
Content is king.
Content is king.
Content is king.

Write 5 pages of content each week, and stick to that schedule. You are obviously going to make a lot of mistakes in the beginning, however, you will learn a lot, and get a lot of content for your websites in the progress.

You will not earn any money without any content. Everything else is SUPPORTING the content, so you need to spend your time creating content and when you are done, you can fiddle with webdesign and whetever else you need to do.

30 pages of content on a basic website is much better than 10 pages on an a website with bells and whistles.


4. Google Analytics
Use Google Analytics on your page. It will let you see how many people visit your websites, where they come from, and what they do. This is very valuable information.

It it seems complicated to you this isn't something you have to do immediately, however, you should start using it when you start getting visitors on your site.

5. Get advice
When you have done some work on your site and have 10-20 pages of solid content online - Make a post on Casino Affiliate Listings or Poker Affiliate Listings and ask for a "site review" and ask people to give their hones opinion about your site.

You will probably be told that a lot of what you have done can be improved (a lot) - Do what people have told you.

There are some very savy people posting at those two forums, so you will most likely be getting free advice from people who earn a living from being affiliates.

When you have implemented the changes, submit the site again, and point out that you did what you were adviced to do. A lot of people never act on the advice they get, and it is super frustrating for people who spend time offering advice.

6. Be nice
Be generous to other affiliates. They may be your competitors, however, you will gain much more from sharing advice and helping people out than the potential advantage you would get by keeping everything to yourself.

Getting to know other affiliates and making friends will help you a lot.

7. Resources
Read/listen to everything on these pages - Twice!

Poker SEO Tips - Gambling Search Engine Optimization Advice
Copywriting Tips for Online Marketing Success From Copyblogger ? Copyblogger
Poker Affiliate Radio on Blog Talk Radio
Affiliate Life Radio on Blog Talk Radio

Also, listen to Poker Affiliate Radio live each thuesday and be sure to log in to the chat. If you have a question about one of the topics being discussed, don't be afraid to call in and ask it - You can get free advice from some of the very best people in the industry.

8. Keep at it for 6 months
Odds are that you won't earn anything the first couple of months. Both because you will make mistakes, but also because it takes time to build a good website and get visitors to it.

If you write 5 pages of content each week and actively work to improve your websites - You will earn money. And if you keep at it for a whole year, you will earn a lot of money.

The trick to being successful doing affiliate marketing, is to work hard. And keep working hard. There are a lot of people out there who give the impression that they are earning a ton of money without working.

• They are either trying to sell your something.
• Reaping the rewards of previous hard work.
• Incredibly lucky