Updated May 2022
How to successfully revive an affiliate marketing website requires planning and careful thought. But one thing it does not need is procrastination.
Hopefully, you have not done such a thing. Instead, taking action is the way to go. Overthinking a subject is not helpful.
After almost eleven years of owning more than one website, it is hard to understand how I came to ignore this site you are now visiting. Maybe it was a reaction to the world pandemic!
Whatever the reason, it’s time to move on and revive this website, even just as proof that restoring an affiliate marketing website is possible.
Table of Contents
Pros and Cons of Attempting to Revive an Affiliate Marketing Website Successfully
Before making that commitment, I believed it necessary to consider the pros and cons instead of starting a new site.
A few months ago, I purchased a domain name for a new website. After considering the value of a new site instead of this one, it seemed reasonable to not waste a site with some history and success behind it.
So it’s now time to move forward and see just how successful this site will become.
Decisions Into Action
After much consideration on adding value to this site, I decided not to stray from the professional affiliate training I have followed for the past six years.
The reason for that decision is the basis of online marketing, without a doubt, is controlled by search engines, Google being the predominant search engine.
Meeting Google requirements is essential to indexing and ranking content. Definitely not to be overlooked! Whether promotion of content is through SEO or Google Ads, the search engines have the last say over the position of content published to the internet.
Competition for a place on Page 1 of Google continues to be strong in almost any niche. Therefore, the requirement is to create content that will assist visitors to the internet and rank well in the search engines.
The advice I offer in the eleven actions below is per standard and valuable information that, when followed, will lead to a successful website.
Eleven Actions to Successfully Revive An Affiliate MarketingWebsite
1. Regularly Creating and Publishing Fresh Content
Regular creation and publishing of new posts must be the predominant focus. Search engines, notably Google, are more likely to rank website content when frequent publishing occurs.
The truth is that a lack of publishing activity on a website will cause the site to become lost among millions of daily publications. It is no surprise that visitors to the internet may never discover some posts created with the author’s best intentions to help at least one person.
The effort required to produce helpful website content is significant. Creating content for online publications appears not to be a problem for those born to write. However, anyone less confident with producing content should seriously consider compiling a daily and weekly plan. Planning daily and weekly activities together with a solid commitment to bringing those plans into reality will lead to success over time. Typically, practising patience will lead to success.
2. Updating Previously Published Content
Keeping content updated and relevant is a necessary practice when owning a website.
With continual advancement and updates by Google, reviewing and updating published content on your own website is vitally important.
During past years there have been several changes in the use of SEO. There was a time when the number of keywords ran rampant within each post. That era has long passed, hopefully never to return.
Keywords should be carefully chosen and used appropriately within each post. The keywords you choose must be relevant to the subject.
The three most important areas to use keywords within a post are:
- In the title of a post.
- Within the first paragraph of the post
- In a sub-title within the content.
You can find more details by accessing this post.
3. Inserting Relevant Images Into Each New Post
There is now a strong emphasis on the insertion of relevant images within each post.
When this website was first published in 2016, images within posts were usually relatively small, possibly 300px x 250px. Nowadays, images included on websites are anything from 700px to 1000px.
While updating some of the posts on this site, I do not intend to include extra-large images.
Attention to correct optimisation of images is significant. Large images not correctly optimised can be a cause of ineffective SEO. Poorly optimised images can harm the length of time it takes for a post to download to the internet. Consequently, visitors give up on their attempt to access a site and search the internet for alternative sources of information.
4. Attention to Search Engine Optimization Through Keywords
Keywords play a significant role in obtaining a rank in the search engines, such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.
When relying on SEO for visitors to a website, selecting correct and relevant keywords to build posts is essential.
Obtaining a Page 1 position on Google should be the aim of all website owners, particularly those relying on SEO.
Visitors to the internet seeking answers insert queries into the space bar at the top of the browser they have opened, such as Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or their choice browser. When their search term is relevant to the subject of your post, there is a chance that your website will appear on the first page. Position 1 to 3 on Page 1 of Google should be your aim.
5. Google Indexing
Google indexing is the first result to look for after publishing a post. The greater the amount of relevant content published, the better recognition from Google, Bing and Yahoo.
It is not unusual that indexing new publications to an authority website will occur within or even less than thirty minutes.
Speedy indexing is unlikely to occur when starting a new website or rejuvenating an overlooked site.
Recognition by the search engines of valuable content increases as a website gains authority. The length of time for a website to gain power is dependent on the frequency and value of publications to a site.
6. Google Ranking
Google ranking should not be confused with Google indexing. It is always encouraging and exciting to discover that Google has indexed your most recently published post. The meaning of indexing is that Google has recognised a post.
The meaning of Google Ranking is that a ranked keyword appears on the internet, as explained in Step 4 above.
7. Sharing Content on Social Media
Many website owners share the content of their website on Social Media. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are popular social media sites. My preference has been Pinterest.
I’m not confident that Pinterest is the number one choice for new internet marketers. My experience with Pinterest is that posting pins needs to be a regular activity. This activity can be time-consuming. However, with the advancement of a website, there is the possibility of outsourcing some of the necessary work involved.
Recently I discovered that the Pinterest account for this website had disappeared. I expect that loss is due to ignoring this website for too long! I intend to restore the Pinterest account.
8. Google Analytics
I recommend creating a Google Analytics account which will provide helpful information in progressing your website. With Google Analytics, you will have access to information advising the number of visitors to your website, including the posts/pages visited.
You will be able to see countries throughout the world where visitors to your website reside.
The length of time a visitor stays on your website is essential to understanding your website’s value. This information is readily available in Google Analytics.
If visitors are live on your website, you will see their location and what they are searching for on your site when logging into Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is an essential and accessible resource that I highly recommend.
9. Allowing Comments on Your Site
When your website ranks well on the internet and consequently receives visitors, some visitors may wish to leave a comment.
Responding to comments your site receives is essential for more than one reason. In the eyes of Google, comments add value to a post, which contributes to a higher ranking of that post.
When a visitor chooses to leave a comment, it is courteous to reply. Your response to the comment also adds to Google’s ranking.
Occasionally you may receive a negative comment. Treat that comment professionally by approving it in the same manner as all comments. That negative comment can add value to your website in that it could activate more positive comments.
10. Proofreading Posts Before Publication
Proofreading posts before publishing is an action I strongly recommend.
You shouldn’t proofread your posts immediately after completing the content. Leaving the entire post for several hours before proofreading the content makes sense.
If proofreading your content is not the first choice, outsourcing to a programme such as Fiverr.com may be adequate. Proofreading services are readily available online, but I do not recommend outsourcing proofreading of your posts until your website is earning sufficiently to justify the cost.
Adding the Grammarly app to your computer, laptop, or other device helps check grammatical errors.
Grammarly also has a Premium programme I find helpful for content creation. However, an income suitable to meet the cost is advisable.
As the owner of this website, I may share links to services and products I think would benefit you.
If you use links on this page to make a purchase I will earn a small commission,
but this will not affect the cost of your purchase. Full Disclosure
11. The Importance and Value of Publishing Regular Content
My advice is that you do not overlook a website to the extent I neglected this site.
If there is an upside, the upside of neglecting this website is that the site has some history with many posts still indexed in Google. Of course, due to neglect, the rank of each published item is low, but I cannot expect otherwise.
For the enjoyment and success of a well-ranking website, it is essential to publish frequently.
An Alternative Action to Reviving a Website
An alternative action for a website you no longer enjoy could be to make the site available for sale. You would not have wasted multiple hours and years of effort by selling a website while it is successful. You can reward yourself for your efforts and dedicated work.
I do not have experience selling a website, although I have considered taking that action with another site.
Research showed that owners could sell websites through various sources. My understanding is that Flippa is the most popular.
I trust that my experience of reviving this website can help should you find yourself in a similar situation.
I thank you for visiting this post and would appreciate receiving your comment.
Hi there, seems you already have an action plan to revive this blog. I believe it always starts by figuring what you need to do first and writing it down. Then implementing that plan bit by bit over time, however long it takes. Just checked your blogroll and you seem to have invested quite some effort into it. All the best in your online marketing journey.
Thanks Steve for visiting my website and for your comment. I agree with you about planning particularly when reviving a website or updating existing content. It’s important to not stray from the niche or subject. Having a target and knowing how to reach that target is vitally important to attaining success. With best wishes.
Hi Valerie,
Thank you for sharing this helpful article. I really needed it.
I didn’t work on one of my websites, and without your article, I would have deleted it. But now that I know I can revamp it, I will follow your suggestions and rank it on Google. That’s what I like about affiliate marketing. It’s so flexible:)
Just a question, please. How long do you think it will take until Google ranks my website? The domain name is about two years old, and there are 300 articles on it.
Thank you very much!
Hi Daniella,
Thanks for visiting my site and leaving your comment. It’s very helpful to know that you can benefit from the information that article offers. To answer your question, I believe that your website could be ranked within a two to three weeks, or maybe much sooner. The first step to aim for is creating and publishing new articles, submitting each one to Google. Within a few days you could find that your new articles are ranked. One of my new posts was ranked in position 2 on page 1 of Google within one week after publishing. Another important task is to update some of the existing 300 articles.
Wishing you all the best..
This is a great post, not only for reviving a neglected website but for all websites! It’s important to keep up on what search engines are looking for as these things are always changing, as your reference to images and keyword “flooding” shows. Revising older posts is also a great idea. Someone recently told me that popular keywords also change over time so what is used for a keyword several years ago may no longer be relevant!
I agree with what you were told about popular keywords changing over time. Although keywords are not referred to as technology, I believe they are closely related due to the fact that Google advances the style or type of keywords to work alongside the search engines.
Thanks for your comment, Cynthia.