The process?

[RB]

I've been educating myself of the poker affiliating world in the last week or so. And I wanted to see if I understand this whole process correctly. So basically we:

- Create site
- Create content and design
- Become affiliate partner with poker sites and select CPA or revenue share
- Getting great at SEO and bring in those traffic
- Convert
- Make money?

Obv harder than it sounds! And obv we can throw in countless number of fml hours in the above process but is this the general idea?

Thanks

[parttimepoker]

You probably want to put SEO - at least keyword research - at the top of the list. It should also precede design in all forms.

Content should also probably precede site creation, at least to some degree.

Otherwise, that looks right to me.

[RB]

You probably want to put SEO - at least keyword research - at the top of the list. It should also precede design in all forms.

Content should also probably precede site creation, at least to some degree.

Otherwise, that looks right to me.

Thanks for the reply.

In general in this industry - specifically providing RB deals to players, is it better to be focusing on a small niche - i.e. best poker sites for razz, stud, LHE etc than just provide a rakeback site in general? Since a lot of big sites already provide a general rakeback deal such as pokernews, pokerlistings etc and it would be hard to compete with them without focusing on a niche?

[parttimepoker]

I'd say that's a good analysis. However, you are not limited to doing just one thing, so you can pursue both tracks and see what works for you.

[Laurence]

I wouldn't focus on rakeback at all if I were to pick my spots in this industry, but if it's an itch you can't scratch I would indeed aim it at very particular games. I doubt there is any decent search volume for it but if you site is plentiful in content I'm sure you'll pick up on a longtail here or there. As you can see literally everywhere, pretty much everything has been done already regarding RB and in the end the commissions aren't that great unless you bring in big volume.

Like PTP said, do your keyword research and don't base it solely on the google keyword tool. Their estimations are pretty crappy and serious research can save you from investing your time the wrong way.

[pokerprop]

- Create site
- Create content and design
- Become affiliate partner with poker sites and select CPA or revenue share
- Getting great at SEO and bring in those traffic
- Convert
- Make money?

Your list is ABSOLUTELY FREAKING PERFECT! Seriously it takes most years to learn this because they're doing stuff backwards forever. Such as join affiliate programs, oh yeah need a site, then start doing SEO etc. Your order and process is great.

#1 Create site - yes obviously #1
#2 Create content and design (content first design second)
#3 Become affiliate partner with poker sites and select CPA or revenue share (yes and by now you have content design and can see what some of your traffic is expand that and decide on correct sites to promote based on traffic stats)
#4 Getting great at SEO and bring in those traffic (being great at SEO is not a requirement - Seriously everything I know about SEO can be learned and assimilated in 12 minutes or less. I had 17RMPs in January on a site with next to no calls to action, that was started in October and it's only 50 pages and doesn't rank for very much - just random stuff. This business is SUPER easy, everyone treats their visitors like morons and are lazy and lack initiative which is why need for keyword research and stuff becomes important.
#5 Convert - Pow! got a good site, got traffic, yep look and see how what's ideal to help players convert. This is the fun part.
#6 Make money? - Obviously!

Your process is correct and it is VERY EASY! Most just quit, or run around trying to shortcut their way to top, or can't get over the fact it takes a little while to get the ball rolling, once it does you can move it faster and faster. Work with urgency, all while being patient and mentally sound. The important steps to success come in step #1 and Step #2 on your list. You need to chose an idea people are interested in, something that will catch attention, something that has multiple ways to make money etc. This comes in the difference of choosing RazzHandRankings.com or HonestOnlinePoker.com with the first I'm limited in what make sense. With the second there is all sorts of way to make money, everyone thinks poker is rigged don't they? Funny how most webmasters would prefer to call their visitor a fish and shoot this down rather than taking the rigged biased many players have as an opportunity. Anyways many ways to do this, but your visitors are what make you money, the affiliate programs don't make you money the visitors make you money. #1 visitors #2 yourself #3 the sites and it all kind of works together. The second way is #1 yourself #2 the sites, #3 the visitors, in which case being great at SEO is more required. In any case still on step #2 meeting the criteria just mention what makes your site different. Why are people going to navigate tons of your pages and read more they've read in a month on just one visit to you. Why are some visitors going to post a link to your site on a forum or tweet your content? Don't fall into the trap of thinking sites don't link to gambling sites - I got a backlink recently from a site whose alexa score is 1xx (as in the top 200 most visited sites in the world according to Alexa - and the page clearly has an attempt to convert and is designed to be a money page). Think about this stuff. how is my site unique, what's my place, how can I add value etc. Do it this way and step #3-#6 are EASY! The whole freaking thing is easy. Internet market is like a money tree and you can keep picking and printing at will! Just takes time to get the ball rolling and to find your place. And as the old saying goes "if at first you don't succeed- find some sucker to buy your site and use the money from the sale to try, try, try again."

[RB]

I wouldn't focus on rakeback at all if I were to pick my spots in this industry, but if it's an itch you can't scratch I would indeed aim it at very particular games. I doubt there is any decent search volume for it but if you site is plentiful in content I'm sure you'll pick up on a longtail here or there. As you can see literally everywhere, pretty much everything has been done already regarding RB and in the end the commissions aren't that great unless you bring in big volume.

Like PTP said, do your keyword research and don't base it solely on the google keyword tool. Their estimations are pretty crappy and serious research can save you from investing your time the wrong way.

Thank you for the honest advice. I've spent the last hour thinking about your post! And I still have one or two questions. You say there isn't enough search volume for it - but I'm not sure what other ways there are to make money in the poker affiliate industry. I guess one other way is poker coaching which sites like cardunners and deuces cracked have. Outside of coaching and RB I really can't think of any other niche in the poker industry where you can make money Care to enlighten me? Thanks!

Your list is ABSOLUTELY FREAKING PERFECT! Seriously it takes most years to learn this because they're doing stuff backwards forever. Such as join affiliate programs, oh yeah need a site, then start doing SEO etc. Your order and process is great.

#1 Create site - yes obviously #1
#2 Create content and design (content first design second)
#3 Become affiliate partner with poker sites and select CPA or revenue share (yes and by now you have content design and can see what some of your traffic is expand that and decide on correct sites to promote based on traffic stats)
#4 Getting great at SEO and bring in those traffic (being great at SEO is not a requirement - Seriously everything I know about SEO can be learned and assimilated in 12 minutes or less. I had 17RMPs in January on a site with next to no calls to action, that was started in October and it's only 50 pages and doesn't rank for very much - just random stuff. This business is SUPER easy, everyone treats their visitors like morons and are lazy and lack initiative which is why need for keyword research and stuff becomes important.
#5 Convert - Pow! got a good site, got traffic, yep look and see how what's ideal to help players convert. This is the fun part.
#6 Make money? - Obviously!

Your process is correct and it is VERY EASY! Most just quit, or run around trying to shortcut their way to top, or can't get over the fact it takes a little while to get the ball rolling, once it does you can move it faster and faster. Work with urgency, all while being patient and mentally sound. The important steps to success come in step #1 and Step #2 on your list. You need to chose an idea people are interested in, something that will catch attention, something that has multiple ways to make money etc. This comes in the difference of choosing RazzHandRankings.com or HonestOnlinePoker.com with the first I'm limited in what make sense. With the second there is all sorts of way to make money, everyone thinks poker is rigged don't they? Funny how most webmasters would prefer to call their visitor a fish and shoot this down rather than taking the rigged biased many players have as an opportunity. Anyways many ways to do this, but your visitors are what make you money, the affiliate programs don't make you money the visitors make you money. #1 visitors #2 yourself #3 the sites and it all kind of works together. The second way is #1 yourself #2 the sites, #3 the visitors, in which case being great at SEO is more required. In any case still on step #2 meeting the criteria just mention what makes your site different. Why are people going to navigate tons of your pages and read more they've read in a month on just one visit to you. Why are some visitors going to post a link to your site on a forum or tweet your content? Don't fall into the trap of thinking sites don't link to gambling sites - I got a backlink recently from a site whose alexa score is 1xx (as in the top 200 most visited sites in the world according to Alexa - and the page clearly has an attempt to convert and is designed to be a money page). Think about this stuff. how is my site unique, what's my place, how can I add value etc. Do it this way and step #3-#6 are EASY! The whole freaking thing is easy. Internet market is like a money tree and you can keep picking and printing at will! Just takes time to get the ball rolling and to find your place. And as the old saying goes "if at first you don't succeed- find some sucker to buy your site and use the money from the sale to try, try, try again."

Wow, amazing reply! Many thanks.

Wrt to creating design - do you recommend optimize press for this?
Also is there a way to incorporate using just a squeeze page for providing RB deals? I've been thinking about this concept but can't seem to make it work (inside my head!)
And is it best to write your own content at the start even if you're not a great writer? I don't have much money to spend hiring writers so may have to do it myself!

Thank you!

[Notspot]

If you're intent on RB then check out PAS (poker affiliate solutions) - an easy way to get into that sector.

[Spry]

as far as ways other than rake back to make $$...

CPA, rev share, hybrid - more traditional affiliate style.

also pre-paid deals, cpm deals, custom deals....

in todays market, starting fresh in rakeback would be about as far down on my list as possible. your mileage may vary.

[RB]

Thanks Spry. When I said I wanted to make a website based on Rakeback I guess what I meant to say is monetizing the site through CPA and/or revenue share - something similar to raketherake.com but targeted at an even smaller audience (i.e. best poker rooms for a specific game).

When you said: 'starting fresh in rakeback would be about as far down on my list as possible.' - I guess you're not talking about CPA and rev share when you mentioned this. Can you elaborate what you meant please?

The Qs I'm asking will seem very basic to you guys but I'm trying to absorb everything I can and I appreciate everyone taking their time (from making money!) to help me with this! Thank you