Screenshot of my EPN earnings for the beginning of March, 2009.

The other day I had a record breaker day on my Ebay Partner Network account – $221.04!

I’ve been an affiliate for roughly a year and a half and so far this has been my best day yet. $100 days can be sometimes normal for me,  but never anything over $200

So to celebrate my success I wanted to make a post about everything I’ve learned along the way – what’s been most successful for me in really bringing in the money… Please read on..

1. Make your EPN site about a niche product.

Instead of making a general EPN site about “computers” niche it even more, maybe Dell Computers or Intel Motherboards, etc.. The better your niche then the easier its going to be for you to dominate those keywords.

Here’s a pretty good post on selecting a niche for EPN using Ebay Pulse to find out whats popular http://www.wpcontempo.com/how-to-choose-a-niche-for-your-ebay-partner-network-affiliate-site/

Some niches convert well, and some do not. Try to pinpoint the niches/products that have hungry buyers.

2. Before you register that domain!

Here’s a HUGE hint and something thats going to possibly save the destruction of your site (I lost 2 of my top earning sites to this newbie mistake): DONT PUT ANY TRADEMARKS IN THE DOMAIN.

Chances are good that the companies will come after you, and all your hard work will be flushed down the toilet. It’s happend to me twice, and losing a site earning $300-$500 per month is a pretty painful experience (to say the least).

And the shitty part is they don’t come after you when your site isn’t doing well (they can’t find you). They only come after you when you start ranking top positions in Google  (doh).

3. Get PHPBay!

I’ve tried BANS, all I can say is it pretty much sucks. I felt really trapped with BANS, and I’ve heard Google is really slapping BANS sites so I would advise against using them.

One reason I like PHPBay is there’s just so much flexibility. The programmer Wade has made a ton of improvements since he first released it. Now you can put in Ebay auction listings on your WordPress site and they won’t even look like auction listings.

4. Give it a “Store” look to increase conversion.

I was using the Cutline theme for my EPN blogs when I started out. I would have my “money pages” at the very top, but in retrospect this looked really amateur.

A few months back I decided to follow this PHPBay Tutorial from Eureka Diary (looks like they have since changed the domain on it) – the writer trigatch4 is also an avid poster on Wickedfire.

Anywho, I believe the WordPress template setup I learned to use from this tutorial has really helped in conversions. It probably improved my bounce rate as well, since my blogs have taken a brand new look/feel. I attached a static front page which mentioned some of the most popular products people were searching for, so they could easily find more EPN listings or info on them.

4. Time for some content.

My biggest EPN site has roughly 120 articles on it, all keyword targeted for different products. I’m front page in Google for a ton of terms – I receive over 1,000 visits per day with that site and my earnings average around $30 a day or so.

I HIGHLY recommend you dump a ton of quality content into your blogs if you want to attract any kind of visitors.

The best keywords warrant 1,000+ word articles covering every possible aspect of the keyword.

This will make it a lot easier for you to dominate Google with a quality article.

5. Linkbuild, linkbuild, linkbuild.

Keep track of your keywords and URLs so it makes it easy for you to build links to each of your posts. I do this in an .xls spreadsheet.

Always use keyword variations when building links. If your targeting “Eddie Bauer Coats” for example, switch up your anchor text when building links: “Coats by Eddie Bauer”, “An Eddie Bauer Coat”, “Eddie Bauer’s Coats”, etc… You get the idea. This makes the links you’re building look more natural, and Google likes anything natural.

Keep your linkbuilding campaign consistent. If you build a boatload of backlinks in one week, then none in the next, Google is going to raise a red flag. But if you build roughly the same amount of backlinks week in and week out, Google will pay no mind to you. Consistency is key.

Linkbuilding is an ultra important aspect you don’t want to leave out. I’ve noticed most webmasters either have high quality content but aren’t great when it comes to linkbuilding, or someone is great with linkbuilding but the content is atrocious. Don’t make this mistake, if you need help in one area or another don’t be afraid to outsource.

6. Other random stuff.

If you’re having trouble getting approved for EPN check this post.

I also know that EPN will cancel your account if they feel your traffic is low quality. I did in fact have this happen to me once but I was able to get my account reinstated thankfully. A couple of my sites had super low EPC, so I just disabled the auction listings on them to avoid getting my account canceled (that would be tragic). They weren’t making much money anyway, so I don’t mind.

Update: 3/20/2009

A reader sent me an email today. I thought I might as well share the added tips/info here:

“I have around 8 sites with EPN, 2 of the sites make up the majority of the earnings. I guess the 80/20 theory was true. I cut off EPN on my lower earning sites, I don’t want my EPN account canceled.

Start with 5 sites in 5 different niches. Focus them around products, you can check out Ebay Pulse for ideas. If you want a general idea of the profitability of a niche you can use the Google Adwords Traffic Cost Estimator and it will tell you the Cost Per Click advertisers are paying. The more they pay generally the more profitable the niche is.

I outsource pretty much everything I do now, from backlinks to content. I’ve now even hired someone to post content to my blogs and I’ve found I can build sites faster this way.

But when I first started I was writing and posting everything myself. I wasn’t big on link building then but once I started really linkbuilding I could see how much of an effect it had on my traffic and earnings.”

I also came across a site called Socialmediatrader. They did an analysis on what kind of content is most popular on sites like Digg, Propeller, and StumbleUpon. Propellers third most popular is Health, which is one of my major niches – so I will keep that in mind for future submissions.

I’m quickly noticing that the friend system on Digg is wildly different than that of Myspace. On Myspace is the quantity of friends you have that’s important, on Digg it’s the quality of your friends and their activity which carries the most weight.

I’ve decided to add the Top 100 Digg users to my friend list to see if I can make connections with these people, as they pull the most weight on Digg.

Write Your Articles in a Conversational Manner

Write in such a way so that the reader can easily follow what they’re reading. Make the writing natural and easy to read. The easiest way to accomplish this is to write as if you were in a conversation with a close friend or relative. This will make your writing concise, clear, friendly, and very engaging.

Make Sure Your Articles Have Short Paragraphs

The most important thing to remember when writing content for the web is to be as concise and as possible. Get to the point and display the facts to the reader, don’t make them dig.

Readers on the web spend very little time with each section of writing and if it is direct and to the point then there is a much greater chance that the viewer will actually read what’s there.

Take some time to edit your article after you’re all finished writing it. Editing your article is very important as it allows you to eliminate sentences and words that are not needed.

Give Your Article Readers Bite-sized Facts and Info

Different pieces of information must be separated into easily read pieces that are easy to skim over. Highlighted words and sections are very useful because they capture the reader’s attention and demand that they keep reading and skimming the information that’s on the page. The reader shouldn’t have to look for the important information that you want to present, it must jump out at them.

Website Content Writing Services Attract More Visitors

Professional, well-written content that is provided by a website content writing service will ensure that visitors will return now and again to the website. The reason behind this is simple. The Internet is used to search and find information. If your website provides the best information, doesn’t it only makes sense that your website will be popular among web surfers searching for the information you offer?

If your website has well-written articles that come from a website content writing service, visitors will flock to obtain the information that your site provides. They will continue to return as long as you continue to post the fresh content that website content writing services provide you.

Save Your Time For Other Things

Webmasters benefit by saving time through the use of a website content writing service. It’s in inescapable fact that content and articles need to be written. You might just be the best person to write the content, but do you have the time?

You may decide that your time is more valuable when spent on other things, like SEO and link building. A website content writing service will be able to handle your content needs, and you won’t have to worry about content creation anymore. You will always have good content without having to endure the struggle of actually having to write the content yourself.

Website Content Writing Services Will Make You Money

In the end, a website content writing service will save you and your website money. This is because for only a small price, you’ll get a high-quality article that’s completely original and creative. As stated before, fresh content like this will bring in more and more people to view the site. In the end, this large increase in website popularity will enable you to make more money than ever before. Not only will you be saving money, but you’ll be making it too.

Web content is crucial to making money online. Web content is the reason that visitors will return to a site. The better the content is, the better the chance of making substantial amounts of money. Of course, no money will ever be made if the content is stale or dull. Here are some ways that, with good content, a website can make money.

Google Adsense

This is one of the most popular ways to make money online because it’s so easy to implement. A lot of people like the stability of Adsense, too. You are getting paid from one of the most trusted names on the web, so there’s no chance of not getting what you’ve fairly earned.

Many people do not properly take full advantage of this system. Ads must be positioned at the top of the site and in certain ‘hotspots’ to make the most money. Use Google tools to target and filter out competition. With good web content, Adsense is one of the easiest ways to start earning money online.

Paid Text Links and Ads

Depending on how much traffic you get as well as what kind of audience you receive, text links and paid advertisements can potentially rake in large profits. You can choose to rent out text links or banner ads or combination of both on your website on a monthly basis. Make sure you don’t overdo it, your advertisements shouldn’t interfere with the rest of the site.

Membership Only

If your content is hard to find and well written, then you can easily leverage your content through a membership website. You can make the entire website members only, or just a section of the site. This is where good web content is critical. If the web content is high quality, people will pay money to read it and use it.

With good web content, the skys the limit when it comes to making money on the web.