- Dec 31, 2017
- 3,515
- 2,685
Happy bday. I also turned 30 yesterday. We were born on the same day!
Good luck with the recovery
[Successful Journey] Scaling Amazon Affiliate from $1000/m to $10k
- Thread starter Bloooop
- Start date
Happy bday. I also turned 30 yesterday. We were born on the same day!
Good luck with the recovery
kimiroger
Power Member
- Aug 31, 2013
- 538
- 137
Happy Birthday mate.
I have also recently started my journey thread with a site 15 months old. All the best to you for having your site recovered from the penalty. Why do you think your site got penalised? What’s your percentage of commercial posts vs informational posts?
I have also recently started my journey thread with a site 15 months old. All the best to you for having your site recovered from the penalty. Why do you think your site got penalised? What’s your percentage of commercial posts vs informational posts?
Thomas Shelby
Power Member
- Jan 3, 2013
- 635
- 366
Happy birthday!
Bloooop
Regular Member
- Apr 29, 2014
- 486
- 2,326
Update
Started tackling the task list and making little adjustments. I figure I need to make a specific plan and go at them one by one instead of just doing what I feel like doing every day.
So I started using Asana again and paired it with the Pomodoro app to time the activities.
I also need to start making my updates first thing in the mornings or else I'll be too tired once 8 PM comes around.
I'm a morning person so I'm automatically awake at 3:30 no matter what time I get to bed and by 7 PM I'm dead tired and I'll literally pass out at 9 PM.
My body used to wake me up an hour later at 4:30 so I don't know how I'm now waking at 3:30? Is it the time of year and my body is still on its regular cycle but something shifted with time zones?
Anyways onto the update...
Phase-1: Planning For Recovery
I had been using WPRocket and while it improves speed it doesn't seem to improve GSC scores much when worse when a page builder + ads are involved.
So even if Nitropack is tricking the system it's better than a completely failing WPRocket page speed score.
My site CLS, LCP, and FID seems to have been drastically improved after moving from WPRocket to Nitropack. It costs a lot more but if it helps improve my site's page speed experience and covers me on the next update I think the price is worth it.
Now all I need to do is wait for Thrive architect to update their shitty builder CSS and I should be clear for the update.
Oh, I also broke my site by accidentally hitting the Reset All button on Astra's customizer after reading about a fix for the CLS issue this theme keeps having. I had to spend time redesigning the site.
Before Nitro / WProcket Deactivated:
After Nitropack
That's the first run on mobile. Later on, I made some more tweaks to the site and managed to get fluctuating scores between 97-100 on Mobile and 99-100 on Desktop.
This is even with ads running on the page. With these performances, I know that I should start seeing some improvements in GSC for this site.
I've also seen the same level of decline on three sites so far since gaining such links. So to be on the safe side, I'll go through and remove every single bad link I can find.
That growth in links is unnatural and most of it is from .blogspot sites hotlinking my images for some articles and .pw sites linking to the homepage of the site.
I went through the entire link profile and took out everything that I felt was extremely low-quality domain which was about 750 RDs. Again, it might not do anything or was affecting anything but if that's the case there will be no issues removing them.
We'll see what happens over the coming months.
I'm definitely going into Info content but not because another affiliate cut might happen or google might continue wrecking affiliates but as a means of diversification. The effort required to make XX,XXX from affiliate content is 1/10 or at most 1/4 of what you need to make the same from info content.
So I feel a balance of both is the better. You'll always have affiliates and affiliate programs. Furthermore, the same issues affiliate websites face can and will be faced by purely info sites at some point. Google's game is keeping their users to themselves so at some point, people won't even need to go to a website for their content and will be completely served on the SERPs.
So diversification and developing a following that you can fully control and reach is the only safe route.
Just use SurferSEO and follow their recommendations. I don't pay attention to percentages anymore over the past two years and I've been fine. Granted I naturally write my content around a few keywords I preselect before starting the article. There's also a factor of experience involved so I probably instinctually know when I'm using keywords too much. So by the time I'm done writing it I have a fairly well optimized article without even needing tools.
Good luck on your journey and thanks for the Bday wish.
I honestly can't say exactly why my site was impacted by the update. You'll always have collateral damage and targets that were meant to be hit. I don't know which side I fall on. If I had to be the judge, some of my earlier articles were outsourced and they honestly could've been done better.
There's also the fact that different keywords have different qualities of articles that I kept my positions for or lost to articles that are often worse than mine and a few that are better.
So I'm just going by the items in my plans for recovery as those are the only points I've found that I could say my site is lacking.
Again sometimes you can be doing everything right and still get knocked. It's just a part of the "game" is what I'd say. I've got two sites following the same writing outline and one got hit while the other rose.
Thanks! Hoping to see recovery by the end of the year. My plans always keep getting fucked over as I should've been ending this journey last month if things kept going. But it is what it is. We'll see if I can either recover or add info content and other sites to supplement the earnings.
Started tackling the task list and making little adjustments. I figure I need to make a specific plan and go at them one by one instead of just doing what I feel like doing every day.
So I started using Asana again and paired it with the Pomodoro app to time the activities.
I also need to start making my updates first thing in the mornings or else I'll be too tired once 8 PM comes around.
I'm a morning person so I'm automatically awake at 3:30 no matter what time I get to bed and by 7 PM I'm dead tired and I'll literally pass out at 9 PM.
My body used to wake me up an hour later at 4:30 so I don't know how I'm now waking at 3:30? Is it the time of year and my body is still on its regular cycle but something shifted with time zones?
Anyways onto the update...
Phase-1: Planning For Recovery
Improve Core Web Vitals through Nitropack- Took 2Hrs:36 mins
I had been using WPRocket and while it improves speed it doesn't seem to improve GSC scores much when worse when a page builder + ads are involved.
So even if Nitropack is tricking the system it's better than a completely failing WPRocket page speed score.
My site CLS, LCP, and FID seems to have been drastically improved after moving from WPRocket to Nitropack. It costs a lot more but if it helps improve my site's page speed experience and covers me on the next update I think the price is worth it.
Now all I need to do is wait for Thrive architect to update their shitty builder CSS and I should be clear for the update.
Oh, I also broke my site by accidentally hitting the Reset All button on Astra's customizer after reading about a fix for the CLS issue this theme keeps having. I had to spend time redesigning the site.
Before Nitro / WProcket Deactivated:
After Nitropack
That's the first run on mobile. Later on, I made some more tweaks to the site and managed to get fluctuating scores between 97-100 on Mobile and 99-100 on Desktop.
This is even with ads running on the page. With these performances, I know that I should start seeing some improvements in GSC for this site.
Create A Disavow Link List- Took 1 HR 25 mins
I've also seen the same level of decline on three sites so far since gaining such links. So to be on the safe side, I'll go through and remove every single bad link I can find.
That growth in links is unnatural and most of it is from .blogspot sites hotlinking my images for some articles and .pw sites linking to the homepage of the site.
I went through the entire link profile and took out everything that I felt was extremely low-quality domain which was about 750 RDs. Again, it might not do anything or was affecting anything but if that's the case there will be no issues removing them.
Subscribed back to Ahrefs- I thought I could've done without ahrefs for a few months since I have a good article keyword list but I feel like I was groping around in the dark.
Removed Featured Images to reduce CLS issues- Removing the featured images gets rid of the shift in the text that occurs when loading a page on Astra. I really don't think Astra is such a great theme anymore. But I got too used to using it and already know what to expect so...
Uploaded 3 Articles:- 2,578 Words , 2,290 Words, 1,986 Words
- Change Pronouns used throughout reviews.
- Is Product Variants/ Updates Included in Reviews
- Check each product review for Unique information
- Social Proof of Product Reviews
- Add Useful Things to Look For Section to Reviews
- Include additional images using Photoshop
- Check Content Originality
- Include Detailed Pros and Cons
- Check if the review is generic.
- Can Relevant Sources be linked?
- Include Non-Generic Headlines for the products
- Make headlines and Titles More User Friendly
- Update Reviews To Be More Accurate
- Add 4-8 FAQ to Articles
- Update my Review Article Questionnaire
- Run a Full Site Audit
- Create a list of question words to guide info articles
- Write an 1800 Word Article - Daily
- Write a 1500 Word Article - Daily
- Write a 1000 Word Article - Daily
- Upload 3 Articles - Daily
- Add Comparison Tables to articles
- Add At least 4-5 Images Per Article
- Start Website Build for KSF Project
- Start Website Build for Full Info Site
- Add Other AMZ GEOs For My Sites
- Explore an Ecommerce + FBA Aspect of OBF Project
- Incorporate Ads to OBF Project
- Run Surfer on OBF Project
- Complete Topic Clustering for Sites
- Check for Non-No-Follow Affiliate Links
- GSC Analysis for All Niche Sites
- Start Working on GFE Niche Site
We'll see what happens over the coming months.
I'm definitely going into Info content but not because another affiliate cut might happen or google might continue wrecking affiliates but as a means of diversification. The effort required to make XX,XXX from affiliate content is 1/10 or at most 1/4 of what you need to make the same from info content.
So I feel a balance of both is the better. You'll always have affiliates and affiliate programs. Furthermore, the same issues affiliate websites face can and will be faced by purely info sites at some point. Google's game is keeping their users to themselves so at some point, people won't even need to go to a website for their content and will be completely served on the SERPs.
So diversification and developing a following that you can fully control and reach is the only safe route.
Just use SurferSEO and follow their recommendations. I don't pay attention to percentages anymore over the past two years and I've been fine. Granted I naturally write my content around a few keywords I preselect before starting the article. There's also a factor of experience involved so I probably instinctually know when I'm using keywords too much. So by the time I'm done writing it I have a fairly well optimized article without even needing tools.
THAT'S INSANE. Glad to meet someone that was born on the same day! Happy Belated Bday to you too man.
Good luck on your journey and thanks for the Bday wish.
I honestly can't say exactly why my site was impacted by the update. You'll always have collateral damage and targets that were meant to be hit. I don't know which side I fall on. If I had to be the judge, some of my earlier articles were outsourced and they honestly could've been done better.
There's also the fact that different keywords have different qualities of articles that I kept my positions for or lost to articles that are often worse than mine and a few that are better.
So I'm just going by the items in my plans for recovery as those are the only points I've found that I could say my site is lacking.
Again sometimes you can be doing everything right and still get knocked. It's just a part of the "game" is what I'd say. I've got two sites following the same writing outline and one got hit while the other rose.
Thanks! Hoping to see recovery by the end of the year. My plans always keep getting fucked over as I should've been ending this journey last month if things kept going. But it is what it is. We'll see if I can either recover or add info content and other sites to supplement the earnings.
Attachments
Thomas Shelby
Power Member
- Jan 3, 2013
- 635
- 366
Do you think this bounce rate is pretty normal for an affiliate site?
I have a sticky table of contents, I was thinking to remove it, but if I removed it, I think the user experience will get worst (as if I'm a visitor myself, I found the table of content quite helpful to find what I really need so I don't have to read the whole page).
Website speed, mobile-friendly, content, etc is good though.
What do you think? thanks.
I have a sticky table of contents, I was thinking to remove it, but if I removed it, I think the user experience will get worst (as if I'm a visitor myself, I found the table of content quite helpful to find what I really need so I don't have to read the whole page).
Website speed, mobile-friendly, content, etc is good though.
What do you think? thanks.
ranga
Senior Member
- Aug 9, 2009
- 800
- 628
Really admire your perseverance and confidence. Keep it going and you will come back even stronger after next update. When I feel need for motivation shot your journey really gives me a kick.
Bloooop
Regular Member
- Apr 29, 2014
- 486
- 2,326
Thanks man, work always pays off no matter what.
RPMs are still good.
Good Luck on your journey!
Thomas Shelby
Power Member
- Jan 3, 2013
- 635
- 366
Hi @BloooopDo you think this bounce rate is pretty normal for an affiliate site?
I have a sticky table of contents, I was thinking to remove it, but if I removed it, I think the user experience will get worst (as if I'm a visitor myself, I found the table of content quite helpful to find what I really need so I don't have to read the whole page).
Website speed, mobile-friendly, content, etc is good though.
What do you think? thanks.
Do you mind answering this? as I need some insight. I really appreciate any help you can provide.
Thanks man!
Bloooop
Regular Member
- Apr 29, 2014
- 486
- 2,326
A table of contents isn't just helpful for user experience. They also help rank for a few keywords for some reason that I haven't tried figuring out. So I wouldn't remove it instead of keeping it stickied I'd just have it load in the content.Do you think this bounce rate is pretty normal for an affiliate site?
I have a sticky table of contents, I was thinking to remove it, but if I removed it, I think the user experience will get worst (as if I'm a visitor myself, I found the table of content quite helpful to find what I really need so I don't have to read the whole page).
Website speed, mobile-friendly, content, etc is good though.
What do you think? thanks.
My guess is that your high bounce rate is a combination of the table of contents that allows people to jump to a point on the page and the length/layout of the content.
If the review is too short and there isn't much to read people will just scan and click off or go back to the SERPs.
Most affiliate sites will generally have the mid-80s to low 90s as a good bounce rate. So some of yours are a little too high.
To fix it:
- Make the reviews longer
- Add more images in review sections.
- Insert a Pros and Cons or You Should Buy This Because.
- Use bucket brigades throughout the content.
- Remove the sticky TOC and put it in the content.
- Make your internal links better so you get higher internal link CTR(Improves session time and reduces bounce)
- Put ads on your site.
Clicks to my affiliate:
So 3k Page views to 2.6k clicks and 10% CR isn't bad for me.
Didn't see the message at all. Sorry abt that.
nSnoopy
Supreme Member
- Jun 8, 2013
- 1,292
- 1,115
@Bloooop From what i read on your journey you are using grammarly to help you with you content right?
Can you give us some tips about grammarly? What settings you are using for Audience/Formality/Domain ? I've wrote my first article and did my best with grammarly but not so sure it's all set the right way.
Thanks
Can you give us some tips about grammarly? What settings you are using for Audience/Formality/Domain ? I've wrote my first article and did my best with grammarly but not so sure it's all set the right way.
Thanks
Thomas Shelby
Power Member
- Jan 3, 2013
- 635
- 366
I see I see. I really appreciate the help man. Thank you for the guide!
I take a look at my stats:
3,142 Pageviews (analytics)
122 Clicks (amazon)
8.20% (Conversion Amazon)
The CTR to amazon is quite bad (3.8%). I only put 2 affiliate links though, near the intro and below verdict.
I'm using AAWP, like this (without description):
It's all good, no worries.
Bloooop
Regular Member
- Apr 29, 2014
- 486
- 2,326
Update - End of May Summary
I don't have much to report on the month of May as I was out for about 2-3 weeks. So this update will be very short.
But to make up for that I'll be sharing a little something that should be helpful to some people.
Over the time I've been active on different platforms I've gotten plenty of requests from people that are stuck or want to know how to make a successful site. Just today I shared exactly what I did and what anyone should do to make a decent amount/month.
I felt like I should share it publicly in the thread too so here it is:
These are exactly what brought me to where I am No BS:
There are a few things you pick up along the way that can make a world of difference. But following those steps COULD lead you to figure out those little tricks as well. At the end of the day, it's all about putting in the work AKA taking action and being patient enough to learn.
Don't look at all the fancy monthly earnings or daily earnings and think it just miraculously comes to the person making it. They all tend to have years of experience sticking to what they are doing until they got to where they are right now.
Very rarely you'll find someone making loads of money in a short period and in most cases it's fake or they are trying to scam. Any business takes time to build and reach its full potential. So take action and learn as you go!
Now to the Update
Every time I look at my main site I feel like this:
After the first week of this month, I just stopped checking on it completely and have just decided to improve where I can.
The good news is that I'm starting to see minor improvements in the site. Or at least it has stopped dropping:
It gained about 1200 keywords in the past 2 weeks so that's a plus. But traffic is still down in the dumps in comparison to where it was before:
Here's a YTD
Here's Last Month:
Comparing that with the second site:
It has almost caught up to the main site. The frustrating part seeing them is the earnings, if I made it through the update I'd have been well on the way to $15k/month.
Scaling is much harder than I thought it would've been. But I know it's achievable and I just need to keep at it.
Earnings for Last Month:
The second site has been doubling in earnings every month as predicted. So I'm anticipating that it'll make close to or over 3k next month. If I can manage to recover my main site anytime soon I'll easily be over $10k.
I'd be working on the third site right now if everything went smoothly, now I'm stuck trying to fix the main site.
The third site from that chart is the domain I bought from flippa for $2k. Honestly, there aren't that many investments you can make that'll give you a $70 -$200 return every month with no effort for such a small investment.
Earnings from Ads:
Total Earnings: $4,586
It's a decent income but once you get to a certain amount everything below it feels like nothing...
I'll just continue chipping away at the plans and keep adding content to grow the sites. I really like the stability of ad revenue but the traffic and work required to get a high $$,$$$ is insane.
So I'll keep focusing on just diversifying instead of one over the other.
That's pretty much it for the update. I'll be back tomorrow with the daily.
Grammarly is just a helper for me to quickly correct my grammar. I don't really use it for how I write. I've honed my writing skills over hundreds of articles and can write in any way I choose whether it's emotional, analytical, convincing, you name it.
So there aren't any settings I can say I highly recommend. It's mostly how you choose to write. Still, whenever I'm writing an Info article I choose the following goals:
For buyer guides, it's pretty much the same thing with the addition of Analytical being selected for tone, and Describe, Convince, and Tell A Story for the intent. All the others stay the same no matter what type of content I've written.
TBH I've never tried to change the domain, formality, or audience before to see if the suggestions change. I'll give it a shot going forward and let you know if I find any differences.
Are your total page views only inclusive of commercial intent articles(reviews, best, vs)? If it is I'd say you have extremely poor CTR and most of your visitors are immediately leaving your site instead of going to AMZ.
I don't have much to report on the month of May as I was out for about 2-3 weeks. So this update will be very short.
But to make up for that I'll be sharing a little something that should be helpful to some people.
Over the time I've been active on different platforms I've gotten plenty of requests from people that are stuck or want to know how to make a successful site. Just today I shared exactly what I did and what anyone should do to make a decent amount/month.
I felt like I should share it publicly in the thread too so here it is:
These are exactly what brought me to where I am No BS:
- Hard Work and Perseverance for something I really want.
- I liked the freedom that affiliate marketing gave and that it doesn't involve much apart from hard work, unlike most other methods that require lots of cash and the same hard work and dealing with customers.
- Understanding Keyword Research and Niches.
- Knowing which niches are profitable with higher ticket offers with wiggle room allows me to build a small new site and compete for tiny keywords most people ignore.
- Think about a fish in a pond with plenty of other fish. In order to grow, you have to go where there is just enough food and no other fishes around that can swallow you up then once you've eaten your fill and grow bigger you move to more populated areas with more food and eat fishes smaller than you till you become the big fish.
- Understand the basics of putting together a site.
- WordPress, Themes(Astra), site speed(WProcket, WPX Hosting, Nitropack), Site Layout, Color Selections(for marketing and improving CR).
- Learn Content Writing (Through Experience)
- You have to write a few articles yourself in order to outsource.
- Content Writing + Understanding How to Sell(Marketing) is the #1 skill that can put the world in your hands.
- The goal of marketing is to Find a Problem that a group of People has (Think Keywords), Find a Solution(Your article), Show it to them in a way that is appealing to their emotions(Your Website), market the solution(SEO, Social Media, PPC, whatever else).
- Work Hard and Have Patience
- It takes about 4-8 months for the best of us to make $1k/month, 9-12 months for $1k-$3k, 16+ months for $3k to the moon.
- For a newbie, you can get lucky and get it done in a year but typically your first site will fail and you'll get it on your second site within 2 years. But the first failure is worth more than your second success.
- Scale
- This is the point that I'm at, I haven't mastered scaling but it's just a matter of doing all the previous steps in a faster time and with less effort.
- The time factors will remain the same throughout even with a few failures here and there as with my main site and Google's recent update.
There are a few things you pick up along the way that can make a world of difference. But following those steps COULD lead you to figure out those little tricks as well. At the end of the day, it's all about putting in the work AKA taking action and being patient enough to learn.
Don't look at all the fancy monthly earnings or daily earnings and think it just miraculously comes to the person making it. They all tend to have years of experience sticking to what they are doing until they got to where they are right now.
Very rarely you'll find someone making loads of money in a short period and in most cases it's fake or they are trying to scam. Any business takes time to build and reach its full potential. So take action and learn as you go!
Now to the Update
Every time I look at my main site I feel like this:
After the first week of this month, I just stopped checking on it completely and have just decided to improve where I can.
The good news is that I'm starting to see minor improvements in the site. Or at least it has stopped dropping:
It gained about 1200 keywords in the past 2 weeks so that's a plus. But traffic is still down in the dumps in comparison to where it was before:
Here's a YTD
Here's Last Month:
Comparing that with the second site:
It has almost caught up to the main site. The frustrating part seeing them is the earnings, if I made it through the update I'd have been well on the way to $15k/month.
Scaling is much harder than I thought it would've been. But I know it's achievable and I just need to keep at it.
Earnings for Last Month:
The second site has been doubling in earnings every month as predicted. So I'm anticipating that it'll make close to or over 3k next month. If I can manage to recover my main site anytime soon I'll easily be over $10k.
I'd be working on the third site right now if everything went smoothly, now I'm stuck trying to fix the main site.
The third site from that chart is the domain I bought from flippa for $2k. Honestly, there aren't that many investments you can make that'll give you a $70 -$200 return every month with no effort for such a small investment.
Earnings from Ads:
Total Earnings: $4,586
It's a decent income but once you get to a certain amount everything below it feels like nothing...
I'll just continue chipping away at the plans and keep adding content to grow the sites. I really like the stability of ad revenue but the traffic and work required to get a high $$,$$$ is insane.
So I'll keep focusing on just diversifying instead of one over the other.
That's pretty much it for the update. I'll be back tomorrow with the daily.
Grammarly is just a helper for me to quickly correct my grammar. I don't really use it for how I write. I've honed my writing skills over hundreds of articles and can write in any way I choose whether it's emotional, analytical, convincing, you name it.
So there aren't any settings I can say I highly recommend. It's mostly how you choose to write. Still, whenever I'm writing an Info article I choose the following goals:
For buyer guides, it's pretty much the same thing with the addition of Analytical being selected for tone, and Describe, Convince, and Tell A Story for the intent. All the others stay the same no matter what type of content I've written.
TBH I've never tried to change the domain, formality, or audience before to see if the suggestions change. I'll give it a shot going forward and let you know if I find any differences.
Do you only use AAWP like that on the pages with no description?I see I see. I really appreciate the help man. Thank you for the guide!
I take a look at my stats:
3,142 Pageviews (analytics)
122 Clicks (amazon)
8.20% (Conversion Amazon)
The CTR to amazon is quite bad (3.8%). I only put 2 affiliate links though, near the intro and below verdict.
I'm using AAWP, like this (without description):
It's all good, no worries.
Are your total page views only inclusive of commercial intent articles(reviews, best, vs)? If it is I'd say you have extremely poor CTR and most of your visitors are immediately leaving your site instead of going to AMZ.
Attachments
- Sep 25, 2013
- 4,705
- 2,701
@Thomas Shelby How are you doing those CTAs with AAWP if you don't mind telling me that looks pretty good
Thomas Shelby
Power Member
- Jan 3, 2013
- 635
- 366
1. Yes, like this:
2. Yes, most of them are Review products. I didn't realize that my CTR was bad until you point it out. I have to figure out what else can be done to fix it (besides your suggestion, of course).
I agree with you. At first, my traffic was stagnant, but once I keep adding articles, it keeps growing up. Work hard, patience, and consistency play a big role.
Obviously, my site traffic is not even close as to yours, but, there is progress and lots of things I need to learn to make my site better, etc.
I also find making money online a dream job. You can work everywhere you want to, as long as there is an internet and a laptop.
Do you mean the product box?
https://getaawp.com/docs/article/product-boxes/
Code:
[amazon box="ASIN"]The "ASIN" for the Iphone 11 is: B07ZPKN6YR
But mine is like this:
Code:
[amazon box="B07ZPKN6YR" title="Apple iPhone 11, 64GB, Black" description="none" star_rating="none"]- Sep 25, 2013
- 4,705
- 2,701
Thanks! Why did you remove the description by the way? Just wondering.
Thomas Shelby
Power Member
- Jan 3, 2013
- 635
- 366
I'm afraid Google will count it as duplicate content.
Some people may say it's not true, but I prefer to remove it for peace of mind.