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Affiliate Marketing Traffic – Free or Paid?

December 28, 2012 by 94 Comments
Michael

Michael

Hi, I am Michael Wong and a recent father. I have been figuring how to make affiliate marketing money 7 years ago. During the process, I have gained some success, learn the process, loss money and failed the business. But I refuse to give up. I stayed on and worked my bud off. I continue to look for better ways to make things happen. I can only say you will learn a lot when you want to build something without resources. In the process I also learn about branding, managing finance and became a better marketer...
Michael

@AMBM9

Owner of Affiliate Marketing Blog Malaysia. I tweet about #AffiliateMarketingTips, #Traffic, #SocialMedia & being motivated in the business...
What can I say but great #video, title & #description? http://t.co/JR4LldJSLA Do you know good description can help you to rank for #Google? - 1 day ago
Michael
Michael
You can get your own content published on this site as long as you have CommentLuv installed on your site.

Doing so means you get exposure to thousands and thousands of other CommentLuv users and your posts get sent out to the massive subscriber list.

Google loves this site and indexes it multiple times per day and posts always get lots of comments so you can be sure of some excellent exposure.

See the Write For Us page for more details

btw.. you can get this author box here

affiliate marketing traffic

When come to building your affiliate marketing traffic, be prepared to accept the hard fact that there is no free traffic.

Yeah. You read that right.

There is no free traffic.

Although there are still see people advertising that you can make money with affiliate marketing with free traffic. You need to be exposed to the real deal of this.

[wps_hide_none text=""How about SEO and guest blogging like with ComLuv?""]“How about SEO and guest blogging like with ComLuv?”[/wps_hide_none]

Well, unless you build the website in a SEO friendly way, write your own SEO friendly and keyword dense article or blog post, submit to reputable guest blogging and article sites, building backlinks through other blogs and forums, knowing clearly how to overcome the penguin and panda and not just that, you have to do all those yourself and do it fast enough, then you might enjoy free traffic.

The reason might because time is money. If you are not using other people time and talent to generate affiliate marketing traffic for you, then you are using your own time which could be use for making money online.

But looking at the rate of how online business is progressing and the rate of marketers entering the business, you probably will end up burning yourself tire instead of making money. That’s why wise internet marketers outsource their work and focus on looking for other profitable niche and the business development.

[wps_hide_none text=""Alright. Then how about Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media platform?""]“Alright. Then how about Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media platform?”[/wps_hide_none]

Social media is about content and engagement. This goes back to paying others for quality content or you do it yourself. In any case, you still pay for it in different credit.

Of course you can put some simple content and an affiliate link on the social media platforms. But those content have no value. You can also spam your friends and followers. But the truth is, you can only get away once or twice and you will feel the pinch when you do it for the long term.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Do you think people will still believe you?

[wps_hide_none text=""How about social bookmarking?""]“How about social bookmarking?”[/wps_hide_none]

To date there are around 50 reputable social bookmarking sites on the Internet. Imagine the time you need to go into each of them to push out your content. That’s a serious time consuming work. Registering with all of them is already a hassling job and to input the necessary info for social engagement and SEO, it has to be done.

Although you can sign up the service to push your content out, that goes back to the previous opinion that there is no free traffic because when come to service, you need to pay for it.

It also goes back to quality content.

Of course you can opt to sign up for free traffic.

But signing with free traffic is that it is almost full of advertisement and the traffic that sends to you could be untargeted. The traffic will only be a nice figure when people are coming around the world but have no intention to buy your stuff.

[wps_hide_none text=""Then paid traffic it is?""]“Then paid traffic it is?”[/wps_hide_none]

Paid traffic does come with its strong point. At least you enjoy instant traffic (with the right price of course) while your SEO is taking effect. The only thing is that you need to keep it in control. If you don’t know how to, you can hire the people to do it but beware of preys out there.

When you pay for traffic, it can be more legit and give you more piece of mind. Because you know you are paying to search engines and they provide a clear platform to where your money goes. You can utilize the platform to manage your own advertising budget and campaign.

Although some people will tell you that paid traffic is more expensive, but sometime, depend on your need, an outsourced article could be as expensive as paid traffic.

Also, with the Google algorithm update, you might even need to pay more nowadays to get good content.

So, to get targeted affiliate marketing traffic to your site, you need to combine SEO and other paid traffic. There is no one method is better than the other. They are just different method to bring in traffic and you need them both.

The real question is, are you able to control your cost when you are building your traffic? 

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Comments

  1. Googma Sansar says:
    December 28, 2012 at 8:45 am


    Twitter:
    Hi Wong ! I really agree with your word phrese ” there is no free traffic”. Let’s know another sentence ” there is no free food in this world”. So that there is need something sacrifice to get or drive traffic to your site. Best SEO strategy may help to drive tons ot traffic. Affiliation marketing traffic is also quite nice to build little bit traffic. Thank you for your concise and excellent article. I would love to read this kinds of post because of the reseach base find out and recommendation.
    Googma Sansar recently posted..Highest Peak in the worldMy Profile

    Reply
  2. Qaisar Ashfaq says:
    December 28, 2012 at 9:06 am

    Yes Wong, you right, i agree with you, i tried lot of free stuff and other sources and also used many social book marking but there is no traffic at all, now i also move to paid.
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts, i really enjoyed.
    Regards.

    Reply
  3. Okto says:
    December 28, 2012 at 9:09 am


    Twitter:
    Hi Wong.

    Good points on getting traffic for affiliate purpose. Traffic from SE is good in my point of view (whether it’s paid or not). People who comes from SE and land on your post more likely take action after consume your content.

    And as you said, budget concern should be well considered.
    Okto recently posted..Success with Email MarketingMy Profile

    Reply
  4. Aasma says:
    December 28, 2012 at 9:12 am


    Twitter:
    Hi Michael,

    Certainly you’re right. Paid and unpaid traffic play handy role in your affiliate marketing process. You just need to know what works best for your with limited and low budget.
    Aasma recently posted..Mobile Recharge SoftwareMy Profile

    Reply
  5. Kevin says:
    December 28, 2012 at 10:55 am

    Hey Michael,

    Agree with you affiliate marketing is fully paid. If we are using free then there is no guarantee of getting traffic, its true.
    Kevin recently posted..Fundamentals of Competitive SEO AnalysisMy Profile

    Reply
  6. Lara says:
    December 28, 2012 at 11:06 am

    Great thoughts….i agree you have to combine both, but paid traffic shouldn’t be a priority as unique useful content or seo is.

    Always put yourself in your visitor’s place (what are they looking for, how can you help them to make their best decision, how can you educate them etc.). Don’t just rewrite the information found on the internet go into the library and read the books that target your topic or go out and ask for expert advice if you can in order to add something new, something useful and make the internet a better place. That’s what we are all looking for, right? Nobody wants rewritten content, we want genuine helpful articles.

    As of paid traffic i would opt for it on special occasions. like on Holidays, but otherwise social media, seo and quality content that is helpful for readers should be something to focus on.
    Lara recently posted..Outdoor AppsMy Profile

    Reply
  7. vandekriz says:
    December 28, 2012 at 11:21 am

    for affiliate marketing, paid traffic is better. but we must calculate our budget too.
    vandekriz recently posted..Honda AIR BLADE 2013My Profile

    Reply
  8. Navneet says:
    December 28, 2012 at 11:21 am

    Organic traffic is good if you have a very good targeted SEO. However at earlier stages small websites can use Paid traffic , as it can be very beneficial and have a good amount of targeted traffic.
    Navneet recently posted..IGNOU Time Table 2013 / IGNOU Date SheetMy Profile

    Reply
    • Michael says:
      January 2, 2013 at 4:04 am


      Twitter:
      Hi Navneet,

      To me, all traffic are important and they can be apply at earlier stage or even when the business is mature. Targeted traffic is needed in anytime of the business. :)

      Reply
  9. amarinder says:
    December 28, 2012 at 11:25 am

    After trying free marketing methods for many months and not getting traffic, i decided to move to paid marketing. Atleast, I am getting the results now.

    Reply
  10. KevinR says:
    December 28, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    I agree with this. It is essential to find a balance between paid and free sources of traffic.
    PS. There are a lot of grammatical errors in your copy that you might want to correct.
    KevinR recently posted..7 Tips on How to Blog SmarterMy Profile

    Reply
  11. Matt says:
    December 28, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    hey Michael !
    Very interesting topic with interesting explanation.
    I agree with your pin points. definitely paid traffic is better.
    Thanks.
    Matt
    Matt recently posted..Drive into 2013 with a VW Beetle from Spin and WinMy Profile

    Reply
  12. Salman Ahmad says:
    December 28, 2012 at 3:35 pm


    Twitter:
    Seo and Paid Traffic= Engagement and Money !
    Nice article,Thanks For sharing
    Salman Ahmad recently posted..5 Best Websites to Download YouTube Videos for FreeMy Profile

    Reply
  13. Ismail N says:
    December 28, 2012 at 4:05 pm


    Twitter:
    To get good result, it will be difficult not to spend for traffic or other things that can help traffic coming to our blog. We can try to limit our spending but then again, the result might not be the same.

    Reply
  14. Rahul says:
    December 28, 2012 at 4:33 pm

    affiliate marketing is best way to earn money online very nice tips thanks for sharing..
    Rahul recently posted..Top Legitimate Ways to Earn Money OnlineMy Profile

    Reply
  15. Terry says:
    December 28, 2012 at 4:44 pm


    Twitter:
    Hi,

    Nice article. I agree to disagree with your point that there’s no free traffic. If you are doing SEO correctly, you can get loads of FREE traffic. But still I believe PPC is must if you want consistent sales. Thanks for this article. I would love to check your website.
    Thanks,
    Terry
    Terry recently posted..Valentines Day Gift Ideas For Boyfriend updated Fri Dec 28 2012 11:22 am ESTMy Profile

    Reply
  16. mike says:
    December 28, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    Hi,
    I’m trying to determine if i agree with your comments. the more I get involved with affiliate marketing, the more I think you’re right. To get free traffic is difficult. likewise, you have to depend on the search engines to rank your material. I’m thinking paid marketing is the way to go. I enjoyed your article. good job!!!

    Reply
  17. Robert says:
    December 28, 2012 at 6:24 pm


    Twitter:
    I’ve actually had some pretty decent traffic sent my way due to advertising with Bing. If this is the kind of traffic you’re talking about then I’m all for that. But some of those shady sites that offer to send 1,000 visitors to you site for $5.95 bla bla bla.

    Those places are a sure rip off. Sure they may send the traffic, but it’s definitely not targeted and usually they come from some sort of surfing site. But I’m really digging the advertising and it’s not very expensive either.
    Robert recently posted..Itching Palms and Other Body Parts, What Does it Mean?My Profile

    Reply
  18. Karthik says:
    December 28, 2012 at 7:03 pm

    Great points Mr. Wong. This problem is compounded even more when you want to receive *local* traffic rather than global traffic to your website. Google Adwords is the way to go in that case…banner advertising just doesn’t make sense when you have to target a specific geography for your traffic.
    Karthik recently posted..Food Delivery in Salt Lake CityMy Profile

    Reply
  19. Leny Pearson says:
    December 28, 2012 at 9:02 pm

    The fact that there is no “free” traffic is one of the points I try to highlight when writing about affiliate and network marketing. Your explanations are great. This is a joy to read and share
    Leny Pearson recently posted..Network Marketing ConsultantMy Profile

    Reply
  20. julie says:
    December 28, 2012 at 11:39 pm


    Twitter:
    We do tend to forget that time is money. Until you start adding up all of the time you can spend working on getting free traffic, you may not notice it. Good article!
    julie recently posted..3 Ways to Thank Your CustomersMy Profile

    Reply
  21. Rivan Blog says:
    December 29, 2012 at 2:06 am

    you right, i agree with you, i tried lot of free stuff and other sources and also used many social book marking but there is no traffic at all, now i also move to paid.Thanks for sharing your thoughts, i really enjoyed. :D

    Reply
  22. Krishna Parmar says:
    December 29, 2012 at 5:10 am


    Twitter:
    According to me, it all depends on the type of product you are affiliating, it the product’s niche is very high than paid traffic is preferable, or one can create blog and go for it!
    Krishna Parmar recently posted..Badoo Login & Sign UPMy Profile

    Reply
  23. alka says:
    December 29, 2012 at 3:04 pm

    this is actually a very confusing topic. In order to make blog more successful we genrally run towards paid service. Thanks for sharing your content with us.
    alka recently posted..2013 Renault Symbol Review, Details, PricingMy Profile

    Reply
  24. Saurabh says:
    December 29, 2012 at 3:10 pm

    yupzz… nice post, i have used paid service for once. Which did not benefit me at all. Well, thanks for your article.
    Saurabh recently posted..Force Google Images To Show Image Results in Basic VersionMy Profile

    Reply
  25. Justin says:
    December 29, 2012 at 11:25 pm

    It’s true that paid traffic is great, but in all reality its wasted money. Better to put the advertising dollars towards SEO that is long lasting.
    Justin recently posted..New Internet Explorer 10 ReviewMy Profile

    Reply
  26. Ruchika says:
    December 30, 2012 at 11:47 am


    Twitter:
    Great post michael…i completely agree with you. I know plenty of people here have good intentions and try to paid traffic.
    Ruchika recently posted..University of Calicut, Regular and Supplementary Exam results of MA and MSC 2012My Profile

    Reply
  27. Markus says:
    December 30, 2012 at 12:04 pm

    Hey Michael,

    a really good Post. I’ve started 4 Month ago my new Blog which is focused on Technology / Mobile Devices. And what iI see now is that the only way getiing free and good traffic is good, daily written content. After 4 Month my Blog now have a pagerank of 3, 250 Unique Visitors a day (Increasing) etc. – and no self initiated activities in Social Bookmarking etc. and also no paid Traffic like Adwords etc. I think that it is better spending this money for other activities like OnSite SEO etc.

    Regards,

    Markus
    Markus recently posted..Sony: weitere Informationen zum Sony Odin aka Xperia SmartphoneMy Profile

    Reply
  28. Rich Donahue says:
    December 30, 2012 at 4:58 pm


    Twitter:
    Hello Michael,
    Thanks for the article. I’m new to blogging and appreciate your insight. I think the best thing for me is to create quality content, work on back links and work on SEO for now. Paid traffic is definitely in my future. Thanks again and best wishes.
    Rich Donahue recently posted..Juicing Cucumbers | Benefits Of CucumberMy Profile

    Reply
  29. qadar says:
    December 31, 2012 at 8:26 am

    Some paid traffic are not very reliable. We have to choose carefully as some paid traffic not really convert to sales.Building our own traffic slowly but consistent will be paid in the near future.
    qadar recently posted..Taking control of your financesMy Profile

    Reply
  30. Jared Adams says:
    December 31, 2012 at 11:00 pm

    I thought that this article was a tad cynical. However, I would agree that it is important to have help with your SEO. it is a lot of work and takes a lot of time to build a good website.
    Jared Adams recently posted..Will I Go To Jail On A First DUI In Colorado? Maybe…My Profile

    Reply
  31. James says:
    January 2, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    For me, knowing what to say and when to say it works wonders. It’s the same approach that had me at number 3 for sales nationwide for a nutrition supplement store. The aspect that makes it not free is of course finding the right spot to say the right thing online, but when you do I’ve found it to be about a 75% chance of hitting a gold mine.
    The biggest benefit is that PENGUINS AND Pandas have no influence on my success.
    As for paid (with cash, not time) traffic it does alright, but it comes down to a converting squeeze/sales page.

    Reply
  32. Ian says:
    January 2, 2013 at 4:48 pm

    Now this is reality. If you want to be somewhere significant, you must pay your dues. I agree with you on your statement, “There is no free traffic.” We have to invest in order to earn and that is how it has been for quite sometime now. Thanks for the reality check.

    Reply
  33. Antone Obriena says:
    January 3, 2013 at 8:12 am

    I do SEo most of the time, and I pay for everything (articles, backlinks, etc.) But when I\’m getting into a new niche, I usually set up a landing page, and throw some paid traffic at it to se eif it converts. If it converts, then I really start tweaking my campaign and start ranking the site in Google.a

    Reply
  34. Michael says:
    January 3, 2013 at 2:54 pm


    Twitter:
    Hi Soniya,

    Glad you like the article and hope you all the best with your affiliate marketing journey.
    Michael recently posted..New Affiliate Marketing Niche That You Can Get IntoMy Profile

    Reply
  35. Ella Turgeon says:
    January 3, 2013 at 9:29 pm

    What a great point! I do agree with your statement of “no free traffic” but you also have to be careful who you give your money to if you do pay for traffic. Thanks for the great article!

    Reply
  36. Jon M says:
    January 4, 2013 at 5:43 am

    I totally agree. There is no free traffic. You should not be pennywise and pound foolish in an attempt to save money. So, with common sense it is best to pay extra for a quality service as it will pay off in long run.

    Reply
    • Michael says:
      January 7, 2013 at 5:35 am


      Twitter:
      Hi Jon,

      Just hope many online business beginner can understand what you say so that they can move further into the business. Yet many think that they can get free service when they go online which they then face difficulties with.
      Michael recently posted..SEO Affiliate MarketingMy Profile

      Reply
  37. Stella says:
    January 4, 2013 at 8:59 am


    Twitter:
    Hi Michael, Nice post for affiliate marketing. We have to pay our effort to get free traffic.

    Reply
  38. Tony says:
    January 4, 2013 at 10:18 am

    I agree strongly that there is no such thing as free traffic. You are always going to have to put time into something to get the traffic or outsource it. I think it all comes down to how much money vs how much time you have. If you are new to the game and dont have a strong source of income, then you most likely should be doing as much of the work yourself as possible until that project starts making enough money to outsource that project and move onto the next one.

    It is very wise to make sure something is capable of earning before you put lots of money into it. This is why keyword and niche research are important before you get started. Unless you have loads of money to invest and try different sites and niches and outsource everything, then you should follow this!

    Reply
    • Michael says:
      January 7, 2013 at 5:53 am


      Twitter:
      Hi Tony,

      I can’t agree more with what you say. But many affiliate marketer join the business thinking they earn a lot of money without putting in time and money. They just want to make money fast without putting in anything.

      But the reality is that there is nothing like that.

      When things don’t go well, they then go chase for other things that seem to look good and easy again. Until they understand affiliate marketing need real effort and investment, they’ll still go round and round in the business.
      Michael recently posted..SEO Affiliate MarketingMy Profile

      Reply
  39. Hadley says:
    January 5, 2013 at 1:19 am


    Twitter:
    I tried affiliate marketing a few times and got nowhere fast. it’s very difficult to master.
    Hadley recently posted..Transform Your Kitchen & Bathroom With Beautiful Hand Crafted WorktopsMy Profile

    Reply
  40. Fiona Maclean says:
    January 7, 2013 at 8:23 am


    Twitter:
    I’ve had some success with affiliate marketing in the past, but the world has changed radically! I’m really just at the start of testing whether I can make a return on investment (my time) this time!
    Fiona Maclean recently posted..5-2 Diet Shirataki Noodles with BeefMy Profile

    Reply
    • Michael says:
      January 12, 2013 at 10:08 am


      Twitter:
      Hi Fiona,

      Unfortunately with the online world, change is rapid and sometime we just have to accept that. I do agree testing to take a lot of time. That’s the difficult part of the game sometime. But I think if you just push on and you will get what you want. :)
      Michael recently posted..SEO Affiliate MarketingMy Profile

      Reply
  41. Jack Milgram says:
    January 11, 2013 at 8:10 am

    Hi Wong,
    I must admit that your arguments do make sense to me. There is a price for everything, including the traffic, even if somebody calls it ‘free’.
    Jack Milgram recently posted..Annual Recap and New Year Resolutions for 2013My Profile

    Reply
  42. Sarah Bender says:
    January 18, 2013 at 4:12 pm


    Twitter:
    Hi Wong,Thanks for the great post.If I want free traffic for blogger .I have to to find out where? ^_^
    Sarah Bender recently posted..When do pregnant women start showing – When women pregnant vegetarians Foods is EssentialMy Profile

    Reply
    • Michael says:
      February 19, 2013 at 8:53 am


      Twitter:
      Hi Sarah,

      You are welcome.

      To be frank, there is no where you can find free traffic. Or at least that’s what I know. Don’t fall into the offer to sign up for some offers and they will send you free traffic. You only end up with more offers and spams.

      To me, you can only generate traffic with free methods like guest posting, article marketing, self make video marketing, blog commenting and etc.

      Still that will require some SEO skills on your side to get your material appear on the search result. If you have the budget, I recommend you go to outsource the work to Fiverr.com.
      Michael recently posted..Blue Lantern OathMy Profile

      Reply
  43. Justin Musiker says:
    February 13, 2013 at 3:37 pm


    Twitter:
    good info here Michael. I have never paid for traffic, well at least purposely. I think organic search is the best and most affordable way to go.
    Justin Musiker recently posted..Delray Beach SEOMy Profile

    Reply
    • Michael says:
      February 19, 2013 at 8:55 am


      Twitter:
      Hu Justin,

      I do agree that organic search is good. Just that sometime, waiting for it to be materialize can make you want to slam your head on the wall.

      Besides,I am not a good SEO guy so I outsourced that to other people.
      Michael recently posted..Blue Lantern OathMy Profile

      Reply
  44. Prakash says:
    May 8, 2013 at 12:49 pm


    Twitter:
    If we can invest some money for getting paid traffic then it is a good idea. As then you don’t have to do hard work for SEO and all other blogging work.
    Prakash recently posted..Hike Messenger Download for Symbian, Android, PC, iPhone, BlackberryMy Profile

    Reply
  45. Rahul says:
    May 9, 2013 at 6:18 am

    I would like to disagree with you here. Although some paid traffic is good, but you can get free traffic if you rank well on Google which is difficult but certainly not impossible thing to do.
    Rahul recently posted..15 Killer Ways To bulid Quality Backlinks To Your Blog InstantlyMy Profile

    Reply
  46. Sudipto says:
    May 23, 2013 at 6:59 am

    Hey Michael,
    Nice post and Thanks for sharing this post. Yes, affiliate marketing is the best way to make money online and I think paid traffic is good idea but we have to be in our money limit.
    Sudipto recently posted..Free Call App For AndroidMy Profile

    Reply

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