Affiliate Programs

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Blog or website, which one should you choose for long term affiliate profits? Unless you just crawled out from beneath a rock, you know blogs are all the rage now.

By listening so some guru’s, you’d think all you have to do is sign up for a Blogger account, slap an affiliate link or Adsene code on the blog, write an article or two per week, and hire an armored car to take your checks to the bank. Man, I wish it was half that easy!

Will Blogs Rule The Internet In The Future?

Methinks Not! 

I’ll admit that blogs are pretty darn good vehicles for affiliate profits, but let’s not discount the good ole static html website just yet!

This past weekend I did quite a bit of surfing. My main point in surfing was to see which sites were ranking well for specific keywords. I used Google only.

What I found made me stop and think about which platform, blog or website, I should choose for long term profits.

A few of the keywords/phrases I searched for randomly were; dog training, bbq recipes, homeschool basics, etc.

What I found is that on average, html websites dominated the SERPS. What was more surprising was the age of some of these pages that were dominating the top spots. There were pages with articles as far back as 2001. In comparison, the oldest blog post I could find dominating a SERP page was a 2005 post!

The areas where I saw blog post dominating was the “making money online” type of keywords. I figure it’s simply because of the sheer number of bloggers blogging about making money online.  Once you move away from internet related keywords, good ole HTML sites rule!

How Could This Benefit You?

Well, if you’re out there cranking out affiliate blogs after affiliate blogs in hopes that they will set your income on auto-pilot, you’re going to have some let downs come your way. From what I can discern, blogs are great for short term profits as long as the content is kept fresh. Stop posting fresh content, you and your blog dies along with your income.

On the other hand, it looks like as a website get’s older, it gets sweeter, just like Wine or Tennessee Bourbon! Imagine that! It’s been proven time and time again that Google loves old content rich sites. Something to keep in mind next time you’re shopping for a domain.

Websites don’t have to be updated continually to produce income for their owners. For me, that’s a great benefit!

I have one site that I made in 2001. That site only has about 80 or so pages on it, but several pages dominate the SERPS for a few local and regional real estate related keywords. I don’t update it often, maybe a new article every 2 or 3 months, but that baby keeps pulling in money like no one’s business!

A Long Term Income Strategy for Netpreneurs

If you haven’t figured out yet that your portfolio should have a mix of blogs and HTML websites, well, I just told you.

I’m not a big fan of adding a blog onto a HTML website. I’ve tried that and it’s not for me. I’ve also tried adding forums onto blogs and HTML websites, not for me either.

What I have found that works for me is a niche website that is focused on one subject. This strategy is no different than ones used by many bloggers, it just uses a standard website rather than a blog platform.

If your goal is to create long term residual income with the least amount of effort, then think about adding some websites to  your portfolio. Don’t expect them to take off and make a kazillion dollars in the next few months, but if built well they will succeed.

You Can’t Blog Forever

The biggest advantage I see with websites is that they don’t have to be updated on a regular basis like blogs.

The time will come when you’ll get burned out from blogging. Many of you who’ve just started think that you’ll be able to keep your blog running and profitable forever. Wait. Just wait.

Have you noticed how many bloggers who have left us? Eventually you’ll get tired of researching new content, building fresh links, commenting, networking, etc.

This is where reality hits home. When you stop blogging, you’ll stop earning.

No more pay per post, no more paid reviews, no more traffic for you Adsense (like you’re making money off of that anyway…:)). Nothing. Nada.

My recommendation? Don’t give up on your red hot blog just yet, but if I were looking for long term profits (which I am), I’d brush up on my HTML skills and crank out some good old fashioned HTML websites. Hey, if you want quicker SERP results with your HTML websites, buy an old domain!