Shopzilla UK Publisher Program


Shopzilla’s free affiliate program

E-Marketing Conference 2010

Last week saw two members of the UK Publisher Team head off to Paris to exhibit at the E-Marketing Conference 2010.

Almost 200 exhibitors and 250 attendees walked the halls of the conference to share best practices, experiences and new developments in Digital Marketing.

Yohan, our French national here on the team and Emma, who helps Yohan look after the French market, mingled with all their fellow affiliates from across the channel, representing Shopzilla in stand number 152.  They got to meet some really interesting people (sampling the delights of Paris at the same time!) and even had the chance to catch up with some of their lovely existing French partners.

Keep an eye on this jet setting duo…they may just happen to be present at other conferences this year (A4u and E-Commerce amongst others) both in the UK and abroad. For dates to put in your diary watch this space.

Emma and Yohan from the Shopzilla UK Publisher Team

Emma and Yohan from the Shopzilla UK Publisher Team

Choose Your Banners in Time for Valentines!

Get romantic and offer gift ideas with product banners

Get romantic and offer gift ideas with product banners

Valentine’s comes but once a year and whether you’re all loved up or not, make the most out of this year’s red hot day by adding Valentine’s Day gift banners to your website and earning some pretty pennies in the process.

Whether you wish to add deep product links direct to the Bizrate.co.uk product page, dynamic assets, or comparison pods, you can find everything you need in the Publisher portal.

Try adding Valentine wishlists to your site and help those who are stuck for gift ideas.

Here’s an example of a shopping ad you can integrate to appeal to those romantics looking for that special something for their beloved:

valentines-shopping-banners

Happy Valentine’s!

5 Tips for Fresh Content - When Writing Gets Difficult

Fresh out of ideas?

Fresh out of ideas?

Providing insightful and consistent content on your website is one of the best ways to keep your readers interested and those visitor numbers up! It plays a vital role in that all important SEO.

If you have a slight case of writer’s block , though, and sometimes struggle to think of ideas for your blog, have a read below for some tips on how to generate fresh content.

1. Have a change of environment.

If you’re working non-stop behind your computer for hours on end, take a break and go for a walk. Often one of the best ways to overcome writer’s block is just getting away from your environment for a short while. Its’ wondrous what half an hour of fresh air can do for the brain! You may even see something along the way that inspires you.

2. Do some research.

Read other people’s articles around your subject area and see if these evoke any potential ideas for blog posts or articles for your own site. Maybe a combination of all the articles you read will inspire you, or even provoke you to talk about the key points mentioned but taking it on a different slant, with your own personal opinions.

3. Talk to peers.

Do you have friends in the same field? Prod them for advice on what’s hot at the moment or ask if they have some thoughts on interesting areas within your subject. You could even blog about an interesting conversation you had. For example, if you write about football and have a friend who holds a season ticket, start a debate with him on who should go up in the league - be sure to get his side of the arguement and blog about it. Your readers will be delighted to get involved in the discussion which may encourage them to leave comments and therefore heighten the debate (and interest) even more!

4. Re-use an old post

Don’t be afraid to unleash it once again from the depths of your blog or website. You may think everyone has already read it but think again! There are millions and millions of internet users out there so don’t think you’ll be boring your readers with a recycled post; in fact, if it was a popular one, who’s to say it can’t start an attention grabbing discussion once again?

5. Write honestly

The number of times people try to write content that they think their visitor wants to read instead of writing just for writing, is incredible. The only way to generate those high visitor numbers and reader loyalty is to write from the heart. Imagine talking to yourself…and then add some punctuation marks! Once you’ve finished the post, if you think it sounds too impersonal, go back and modify it. This applies especially to review sites - if readers don’t think you are being honest behind a product review, how are they to trust your opinions?

Remember that writer’s block happens to the best of us and can be extremely frustrating when it occurs. Some of the greatest authors of all time have experienced the same thing, and more than once. But they got through it, and so will you. It may take perhaps a stroll through the park, an unexpected lunch date or even conversations with friends, (don’t forget that different writers are inspired by different stimuli) but you’ll soon see that the creativeness and ability you already possess  for fresh content are not hard to restore!

Make Money Through Your Product Review Links

If you often write product reviews on your website or have a site dedicated solely to those reviews, be sure to make the most out of your affiliate links and use where possible. For example, if the content of your post is based on Ipods, link to an ipod landing page when you mention the latest device.

Your money's in the bag with product review links

Your money's in the bag with product review links

Your readers may be interested in garnering a little extra information about the products you are reviewing so showing them where to buy is always a good option for any affiliate. This way, you are providing your users with a rich source of information, as well as interesting (and often helpful!) reviews. Additionally, it can help them make an informed decision if choosing between certain items or wondering where to buy the product. Price comparison sites such as Shopzilla.co.uk and Bizrate.co.uk are great for enabling your visitors to see the difference in ££££s between the various merchants selling that particular item.

comparison-shopping

Don’t forget to link around the topic area as well. When talking about the latest Nikon Digital Camera, link to tripods, camera cases, lenses etc - anything your visitors may also be interested in buying. Why not make a little money for helping out your readers with useful shopping advice?

For every link you incorporate into your site  you could be earning, so don’t miss out on those invaluable opportunities!

If you would like any help or assistance in joining or using the Shopzilla UK Publisher Program, please feel free to contact Diana, Emma or Yohan.

Back to normal

Dear Publishers,

Some of you may have recently experienced some down-time with your affiliate links. We’d like to reassure you that these are all back up and running as normal.

Please let us know if you have any questions or queries regarding this matter.

Recommended Websites For Any Successful Affiliate…

You may want to take notes...

You may want to take notes...

In the affiliate space there is one factor which can help turn a good affiliate into a great affiliate: knowing what is going on in the industry.  Keeping up to date with industry news from your fellow peers is a must in this domain, which is why we’ve put our heads together here in the UK Publisher team to come up with some website recommendations for all you affiliates out there.

The sites below include just some of the many great blogs and sites we’ve found along our affiliate journey. Please note that it would be impossible to mention them all so if you have any suggestions let us know and we’d love to share them!

The following are in no particular order of preference:

Affiliates 4 U
An Affiliate Marketing forum designed to connect affiliates and networks alike, sharing helpful insights and providing valuable advice to affiliate newbies.

Affiliate Marketing Blog
Experiences, ideas and tips about the world of Affiliate Marketing.

Affiliate Blog
UK Affiliate Marketing news, views and podcast interviews.

Keith’s Affiliate Marketing Blog
Various posts on Internet Marketing related subjects - social media and Twitter, news and updates from the affiliate space.

Chris Frost
Advice on turning your website into a money maker through Affiliate Marketing.

Keiron Donoghue
Experiences within Internet  Marketing and a touch of personal content.

Helen Southgate
A blend of Online Marketing, Search Marketing and Affiliate Marketing.

Matthew Wood
Written by the founder of Existem, affiliates4u and a4uexpo Affiliate Marketing Conferences, it’s a great take on affiliate marketing on a personal level.

Befuddled Me
Affiliate Marketing for the dazed and confused.

Sam Sinton
An interesting log of an affiliate marketer’s experiences, giving you a heads up as to what to watch out for.

SEO Training
Various tips and advice for the less experienced in Search Engine Optimisation.

One Little Duck
Help and views on running a website and using Internet Marketing to earn a living.

Lammo: Bedroom Affiliate
Views from an investment entrepreneur who shares his thoughts about investing and Affiliate Marketing on his personal blog.

Affiliate Stuff
Up-to-date news on various subjects including Search Engine Optimisation, making money online, affiliate tools and link management and rantings about certain merchants amongst others.

Lee McCoy’s Affiliate Marketing Blog
A no nonsense guide to Affiliate Marketing.

Shopzilla UK Publisher Program Reviews

The Shopzilla UK Publisher Program was launched early last year and so has been around for about 10 months now. So far we’ve had some great feedback from our Publishers and we’d like to share it with you here.

We’ve taken the affiliate world on at full speed and in the last year introduced dynamic content and FTP data feeds, attended various exhibitions and conferences at which we were both exhibitors and visitors, heightened our social networking skills to new levels through the likes of London Bloggers Meetups, The Sway….and generally thrown ourselves into the affiliate space.

Some great reviews to be read:

Our counterparts in the US have been on the go for around 3 years now and here in the UK Team at Shopzilla Europe we’ve done our best to match the same standards achieved on the other side of the pond. We offer the same quality service, and in just under 1 year!

Find out what Shopzilla publishers have to say internationally…go to the US blog.

Thumbs up for the UK Publisher Program!

Thumbs up for the UK Publisher Program!

Affiliate Resolutions 2010 : Making the Most Out of Your Affiliate Program

Happy New Year, Publishers!

New Year's Resolutions 2010

Start the new year in style with ideas for Resolutions!

If you haven’t quite got round to making your new year’s resolutions yet, no need to worry because here in the Shopzilla UK Publisher Team we’ve come up with some great ideas which pave the way for a fantastic 2010!

1. Adapt your shopping content to your site.

Keeping shopping content on your website relevant to its focus is a sure-fire way to retain audience interest and perhaps generate even more clicks. Your readers won’t want to see adverts for games consoles if your site is about home and garden furniture so try to keep that in mind when integrating shopping content.

2. More dialogue with the UK Publisher Team.

Don’t be afraid to give us a shout if you’re in need of help. We’re here to be of assistance and we appreciate the feedback as much as we’re sure you’d appreciate the help. You can reach out to Diana, Emma or Yohan in the UK Publisher Team and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

3. Update your Payment Information.

You would be surprised at the number of Publishers who do not update their payment information. Remember to include your PayPal address once you’ve activated your account; you may need to give the activation a little time to process after which you will see an Add Payment Info button. If you move, change your email or PayPal account please let us know!

4. Get the most out of Placement IDs.

This feature is great if you have more than one asset on your website. You can track which ad performs better and know what appeals to your audience the most. Use the View Reports tool in your Publisher account to measure and evaluate traffic. If you’re unsure on how to create Placement IDs, please check our blog posts.

5. Try out Shopzilla’s Dynamic Assets.

We introduced our dynamic content early last year. The ads automatically re-generate themselves always showing the most up-to-date  Shopzilla products within the asset. Even better news for our Publishers - when you integrate one of these assets, let us know and we’ll add £5 to your Publisher account!

6. Stay in the loop of what’s happening in the Affiliate world.

Check out forums such as the A4U Forum for extra hints and tips and great blogs. Affiliate StuffAffiliate Marketing Blog and Fish and Clicks are to name but a few.

7. Reapply!

If you have previously applied for our FTP Data Feeds or even a Publisher account but were rejected and your site has since changed, please feel free to reapply! It can often happen that we reconsider an application when a Publisher has further developed his/her website.

8. Don’t overpopulate!

As much as it may sound like the best way to gain clicks, overcrowding your website with too many ads often just makes it illegible and unattractive to potential visitors. Remember it is the visitors you should be wanting to keep interested, and if the content-ad ratio doesn’t synchronise, you may loose some of those crucial readers. How many ads are too many? Have a look at our blog post for tips.

9. Stay informed by the Publisher Team.

We have many options for you to choose from - follow us on Twitter at @Shopzillauk, subscribe to our RSS feed or read our regular blog updates. We give you the latest info on what’s happening in the affiliate and Shopzilla Publisher world.

10. Keep up-to-date with Affiliate Events.

It’s always good to have a rough idea of dates for the various affiliate events of the year. They offer great opportunities for procuring contacts, gleaning advice and networking by getting your name/site out there. The A4Uexpo conferences are always a highlight (note to self: 18-19th May 2010 in Munich) and give you a chance to get in on those best-practice  exchanges!

So, there you are. Some of our handy hints to get you well on your way to affiliate success!

If you have any other suggestions which you may feel would be helpful to others, please feel free to contact us. Otherwise, take a look at Search Engine Land’s post on The Big List: 2010 Marketing Predictions & Resolutions for some excellent tips and information. Get an insight into what other affiliates are planning for 2010…Happy reading!

Technical issue

Dear Publishers,

We are currently experiencing a technical issue with our affiliate links which may result in error messages.

Our techical team is doing their very best at the moment to try and resolve the problem as quickly as possible and we hope to have the links live again very shortly.

We are operating as normal and would like to sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Please watch this space for further updates.

Shopzilla UK Publisher Team

Happy Holidays from the UK Publisher Team!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas a Happy New Year!

It doesn’t seem so long ago that Halloween was the focus of all our festivities and now Christmas has arrived! Well, the last 9 months since the program first launched in the UK have been fantastic for us all.

Some highlights from 2009:

  • The launch of the French and German Publisher Programs in September and October
  • Introduction of our Dynamic Assets giving Publishers the freedom to choose the products they wish to advertise
  • The release of our ftp data feeds enabling Publishers to download the Shopzilla inventory either wholly or partially

We also attended some great events in 2009 including various networking events and in particular the A4uexpo Europe in Amsterdam in April, the E-Commerce held in Paris in September, DMexco in Munich also in September, Ad-Tech London and the A4UExpo both in October and not forgetting the monthly London Bloggers Meetup evenings. We’ve had the chance to meet some wonderful and really interesting people so we’re looking forward to a successful 2010!

The regular updates on the Publisher blog will begin again as usual in January so keep an eye out for the latest Publisher news.

On a final note it’s not too late for you to integrate your Christmas dynamic banners and reap the rewards for those Christmas sales.

See you next year!

Warm wishes,
The Shopzilla UK Publisher Team

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