⛔Top 5 Things That SEOs Do Not Do | Insights from James Dooley & Karl Hudson⛔

James Dooley: Right so Mr Hudson monetisation of websites is a massive issue across the majority of sites. I see it time and time again. Too many affiliate sites get hit and then panic about earnings but they are not doing enough informational posts because those posts are not monetised well enough. When you start talking to them about different monetisation methods they look at you like you are an alien. In your opinion with monetisation, let’s bounce through different strategies. What do you try to do when you are buying a domain? Because you buy a lot of existing aged domains that already earn money. What are you looking for? Are you looking for ones with only one monetisation method so you can add multiple more? Karl Hudson: That would be the golden ticket. If someone has only monetised with one method, like Amazon affiliate, that is ideal. Amazon can be as low as 1 percent commission and even the highest categories are not great. You could reach out to direct retailers or manufacturers and often get much better rates. The conversion rate might differ but the margin is bigger. Another thing that annoys me is affiliates not capturing emails. They do all the hard work landing the customer then send them off to someone else who captures the email and markets all kinds of products back to them. If you niched into something like ironing boards you could then sell irons, cleaners, hangers, loads of relevant products. That one niche alone has endless cross-selling options. James Dooley: Agreed. There are so many ways to monetise beyond affiliate. Display ads like AdSense and Mediavine are easy ways of adding revenue, especially to informational posts. Mediavine usually performs best once you have enough traffic. Display ads also force affiliates to create more informational content which leads to more traffic. More traffic helps affiliate pages rank. It all connects. Karl Hudson: Exactly. You can also introduce local intent. People buying dishwashers might just want appliance repair. People buying gardening tools might actually need a landscaper or tree surgeon. These lead generation angles are perfect add-ons. You build topical authority and make more money. Then there is pixel data. If you build a strong audience you can rent out your Facebook pixel. Big sites make thirty or forty thousand a month from pixel rental. Advertisers get lookalike audiences that convert and it works brilliantly for both sides. James Dooley: Yes. And affiliates limit themselves by only thinking Amazon or big-box retailers. They forget manufacturers. Manufacturers often have sales teams and will do exclusive deals. You can negotiate tenancy positions like in gambling. You can sell banner space, pop-ups, placements, all sorts. You can also sell guest posts as long as the content is high quality and you have editorial standards. Brands will pay for reviews and often send the product for free. You get unique content, unique images and revenue on top. Karl Hudson: Memberships and communities are another angle. Capture emails then direct them into Facebook groups, YouTube channels and private communities. Multiple touches build loyalty. From there you can sell courses, run virtual or physical events and create subscription models. There are always more ways to monetise once you have attention. James Dooley: For sure. And on investment models we often buy businesses not just for today’s revenue but because we know the cross-sell and upsell potential. If someone is buying citations they also need foundational links and guest posts. If someone needs a disavow they might then trust us enough to handle all their link building ongoing. Everything connects. And sometimes the best monetisation move is acquiring a site and 301 redirecting it into your main site. You buy the business, put it into your ecosystem and let everything strengthen everything else. Karl Hudson: People massively under-monetise their sites. They obsess over traffic and ignore CRO and revenue. Most sites I get shown could be earning five times as much with the traffic they already have. And once you strengthen relationships with brands they start giving you insider access to new products which lets you publish first, get information gain and rank explosively. James Dooley: Exactly. Monetisation is not talked about enough but it should be. Hopefully people start implementing more of these strategies in 2024.