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Practical Ways to Improve Your Affiliate Sales

Airline45%

Hotel and Lodging31%

Rail22%

Car Rental2%

Airline Hotel and Lodging

Rail Car Rental

The Travel Market Pie – $377B in Asia 2015*

*PhoCusWright Market Research

Airline41%

Hotel and Lodging42%

Car Rental

5%

Cruise5%Packaging

4%Rail1%

Other2%

AirlineHotel and LodgingCar RentalCruisePackagingRailOther

The Travel Market Pie – $341B in US 2015*

*PhoCusWright Market Research

Airline37%

Hotel and Lodg-ing

30%

Tour18%

Rail11%

Car4%

AirlineHotel and LodgingTourRailCar

The Travel Market Pie – €264B in EU 2015*

*PhoCusWright Market Research

Travel Site Economics – Online Travel Agency• Flight commissions – 0-10% • Hotel commissions – 15%-25%• Tours & activities commissions – 10-25%

• 40% of Flight bookings happen on airline sites • 10% of Hotel bookings happen on hotel direct

sites

Tokyo to Manila2 people 4 nights Trip

Flight - $400 per passenger = $0 - $20 typical commission

Hotel - $150 per night = $90 - $150 typical commission

Hotel is where the $$$ are at . . .

Online Travel Agency Economics - Example

Travel Site Economics – Media sites

• CPMs, CPCs or CPAs for referrals• Generally Hotel economics are many folds

better than flight • Media sites are typically very good at

monetizing content since it is their primary business model

Consumer Travel Planning JourneyConsumers search 10-20 different web sites before they book

Blogs and other content sites are part of that journey

Affiliate Marketing Overview

• How does Affiliate Marketing work• Public vs Private networks

Banners and Widgets

Affiliate Links Embedded in Content

Best Practices

Link Strategy – Think Broadly

Deep Link vs. Homepage Link

• Embedded Link vs. Banner/Widget• Test and learn• Be authentic for your audience• Evergreen content vs. time bound

More Best Practices

• Public vs. Private networks

• Choose at least one public network:• Discover new advertisers relevant to your content• Compare commission and payout structures• Network team provides support and access to

advertisers

Choosing an Affiliate Partner

• Where are your readers in their trip planning phase?

• Awareness – Low Intent to book• Inspiration phase• “European Travel Tips”

• Consideration – Medium Intent to book• Research phase• “10 beautiful castles in Germany”

• Purchase - High Intent to book• Booking phase• “Best hotels near Disneyland Paris”

Awareness

Consideration

Purchase

Audience Intent

Low Intent/ Unknown Intent

Content:• General travel information

Link Types:• Homepage links• Search widget• Help users choose a

destination

A widget is a good option when you don’t know the

reader’s destination

Home page link from destination non-specific pages

Affiliate Strategy by Audience Intent to Purchase

Medium Intent to PurchaseContent:• Country lists• Inspirational travel content

Link Types:• Search widget• Display ad• Destination-specific pages

Add hotel destination links where a user may be

interested in an attraction.“Top Hotels” are perfect

inspiration!

Affiliate Strategy by Audience Intent to Purchase

High Intent to Purchase

Content:• Hotel reviews and

recommendations• Restaurant reviews and

destinations

Link Types:• Hotel-specific pages• Destination pages

Hyperlink all hotel mentions to maximize revenue opportunity

Include destination pages, e.g. “Hotels in New York City” so users

can find their perfect hotel

Affiliate Strategy by Audience Intent to Purchase

Getting Started

What links are people clicking?

WordPress PluginWP-CLICK-TRACKER

Money on the Table - Clicks

Money on the Table - Clicks

Turn links into affiliate links

WordPress PluginAffiliateWindow’sconvert-a-link plugin

Automate Automate Automate

Automate Automate Automate

What are your top pages?

Google Analytics

Lost Opportunity - Traffic

Lost Opportunity - Traffic

Practical Takeaways

• Site audit – what are your top SEO-ranked pages, top traffic pages?• Ask - What advertiser partner links would fit with

these pages?

• Keep in Mind when adding links:• Where in the intent cycle is this reader?• Is it relevant?• Is it contextual?

OptimizingContent Ideas

• SEO Opportunities• Resource Pages

Tools

Going Forward

Google Search Console

Optimizing

Optimizing

Optimizing

How Can People Be Like You?

Resource Pages

How Can People Be Like You?

Resource Pages

How Can People Be Like You?

Resource Pages

1. Navigate to the page you wish to link to

Deep Link Generator

2. Copy and paste URL into deeplink generator, hit “verify URL”

Deep Link Generator

3. Grab resulting HTML and use on your site.

Deep Link Generator

CJ Deep Link GeneratorBookmarklet

Tools

Q & A

Chris ChristensenAmateurTraveler.comBloggerBridge.com

#TBEX @TBEXevents TBEXcon.com