’)So you’ve acquired your new web hosting account and you’re setting out to make a killing in affiliate marketing. There are a few things you’ll want to make sure you know about how to set up affiliate sites for the best results, and to avoid potential pitfalls along the way. Let’s look at some of the thing both to do and to avoid!
First of all, congratulations on making the very wise decision to use your own web hosting for your affiliate sites. All too often beginning affiliates opt to try and direct link to the merchants landing page. While this seems the simplest and easiest thing to do, it is in fact one of the worst mistakes you can make.
First of all, direct linking is getting harder to do. Many article directories, pay per click engines and others are making it difficult to place links directly to affiliate offers. They want you to use a landing page on your own site. Believe it or not, they’re actually helping you by doing this.
Using your own pages allows you so much more flexibility, the opportunity to build a mailing list, and untold other benefits.
Make sure the host you are using has the ability to host multiple domains. You may be starting out with but one affiliate site right now, but chances are you will be building more, and it’s far more convenient to have them in one place. (If you get a great deal of sites, you may want several accounts.) Many affiliate webmasters use reseller accounts, as they generally have lots of space, as well as unlimited domains for a reasonable cost per month.
Also ensure you can also have an equal number of databases. All of your sites will need their own databases, particularly if you’re using a Wordpress blog as your platform, and if your host limits you in this regard it’s time to seek another web hosting company.
It’s also quite essential that your web hosting company offers the latest software and programs within your account, such as PHP, CGI, MySQL among many. Make sure they have a great reputation for uptime and that any sites on their servers load quickly when called.
Server security is also a concern these days. Before signing on the virtual line, make sure that they are up to date on security issues and address this on a regular basis. The last thing you want for any site where you are selling things is to have it be a security concern for those who might want to use it. Word travels fast the Web, so don’t chance it!
If you need website builders, or any other site development tools, make sure they are here before you need them. Also look into the email client, and determine if this meets your needs (it usually does).
Finding a reliable and competent web hosting company to host your affiliate marketing sites is not hard. You just need to know what to ask for!
