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Archive for February, 2010

Shopzilla FTP Data Feeds

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Add a shopping element to your website with the Shopzilla FTP Data Feeds

Build on or add your own price comparison element to your website

The Shopzilla team is proud to offer you FTP Data Feeds as part of our Publisher Program. This allows Publishers to build on or add their own price comparison section on their site.

About the Data Feeds

We allow you to download BizRate’s entire inventory of merchant product offers from one FTP location, comprised of approximately 1,000 individual product offer files in XML format and which is updated daily to provide the latest product offers.

It sounds easy but in order to be able to successfully integrate this product you will need to have the technological capabilities as well as the time necessary to make full use of the advantages this data feed can provide. It can be time-consuming but for those will the right resources, it is well worth the effort.

Advantages to the Shopzilla FTP-data feeds

- access to shopping content and ability to create the design of your choice at the same time.  Create your own shopping elements using XML and set up your own online shopping section on your website.

- affiliates can download either the entire BizRate inventory or specific categories of interest, thus millions of product offers can be used and displayed.

- flexibility in what and how you display - we enable you to pick and choose the information you wish to display on your site. Whether this be the merchant logo, delivery information, price or product description etc, you have the freedom to choose and to adapt it to your site.

About the API:

For those looking to add a price comparison element but who may prefer an API integration, we are looking at introducing our Catalogue API early next quarter so it would be perhaps best to wait those few extra months.

In the meantime, however,  start earning from today by implementing our large 600×600 dynamic asset pods which will add that comparison factor to your website. Your earnings will rollover each month and keep adding up until the Catalogue API is launched so you’ll never lose out. It will give you some extra pennies in the run up to its introduction on the UK market.

The great thing about the API is that it will enable you to dynamically retrieve product results from the BizRate catalogue which means no manual updating. Once installed, you can sit back and relax as the data is called automatically. The current feed product requires you as the Publisher to update your site in sync with Shopzilla’s daily updates - product offers may change, therefore it requires particular attention and time if you really wish to benefit from it.

Read more about how to use the Shopzilla FTP-data feeds.

Set up a Publisher account today and see how much you can make.

Finding a Niche for Your Content Site

Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Searching for a niche?

Searching for a niche?

How do you choose which niche to promote? And how do you find a successful one?

The best piece of advice we have seen so far is this: write about what interests you.

Affiliates often find that the content needed for creating a successful website can be a slow slog and is often difficult to keep constant (check out our post on Overcoming Writer’s Block for ideas on how to inspire fresh content). So, if you start with a niche in which you’re already interested, one of your hobbies perhaps (?), then without realising it you already have that much needed content. If, for example, you’re a golf addict who likes nothing better than to spend a Sunday on the course, blog about your games and offer tips for better play or advice on which clubs to buy.

As for choosing a successful niche - do some research before jumping in; search Google AdWords for a keyword match estimate and see how popular a chosen niche or keyword is. This will also give you ideas for a domain name which, as we know, can be an important part of SEO.

Do some searches on Google to have a look at the types of sites that appear in the search results for any one, or a combination, of keyword (s). You’ll know what you’re up against then.

If you’ve still no idea what you want to write about, get creative and think about what people look for these days. Can you answer a question for your readers? Can you provide information on a subject for which there’s not much information available on the net? Get talking. The more you talk to others, the more likely you are to find that niche you’ve been looking for.

Pancake Day Banners

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Are we all ready for a feast tomorrow when we get stuck into the traditional Shrove Tuesday festivities?

Check out some of our Pancake Day utensil banners and make your visitors’ mouths water!

Help your visitors in their Shrove Tuesday preparations

Help your visitors in their Shrove Tuesday preparations

Try some of the following keywords within the Publisher portal and integrate your banners today!

Spatula –> Home & Garden –> Kitchen Gadgets & Utensils

Frying pans –> Home & Garden –> Cooking & Baking Equipment

Pancakes –> Home & Garden –> Cooking & Baking Equipment

If you’d like any help with finding your banner, please contact us.


Adopting Social Media Strategies

Friday, February 12th, 2010
Communicate with your readers via Social Media

Communicate with your readers via Social Media

Social Media is the phrase on everybody’s lips at the moment…can adopting a Social Media Strategy really help your site? The answer is, yes. It’s a channel of promotion, but, most importantly, a channel of communication. How you advertise your site to others is crucial in helping drive more traffic and attaining that all important ranking in Google.

The best thing about Social Media is that it doesn’t cost you a penny! A wise and well thought out strategy can  really make a difference.

1. Communicate regularly on Twitter.
Twitter is now widely accepted as one of the best forms of communication and reaching out to fellow bloggers/site owners. If you begin tweeting your posts and articles you will find you can create a little community and a higher volume of traffic will naturally find it’s way to your site. Be careful not to spam though as this only serves to decrease interest. (Tip: Add the Twitter plug-in and everytime you publish a post your tweets will automatically be updated).

2. Add social bookmark links to your site.
Many sites such as Delicious, Stumble Upon and AddThis are just waiting for you to begin sharing your website with their user base!

3. Facebook it.
Set up a fan page dedicated to your site. Reply to any messages and ask all your friends and family to become fans! It helps spread the word about your site and distributes your content further.

4. Integrate RSS.
This tool allows you to provide your readers with the latest up-t0-date post on your site. Encourage them to subscribe so they will be informed as soon as your content goes live!

5. Interact with your visitors.
Reply to comments on your blog with personal messages - this makes for great interaction with the people that matter most - your readers. And if you own a website, think about creating your own blog and linking to it. The more interaction with your core reader, the better.

So, there you go. A few ideas as to how you can increase your social media interaction and communicate your website to the world. By no means are these exhaustive so keep doing your research and look out for the latest Social Media trends - there are always new mediums to be found, it’s just a case of being creative and using them to your advantage.

Events in the Affiliate Space 2010

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

Upcoming dates for the diary:

February 16th: Digital Brand Building course with the IAB - a guide to the key digital marketing disciplines.

March 13th : Think Visibility - “things that usually get left behind in the web process”.

April 27th-29th: Internet World - sessions on digital marketing,  ecommerce, content management and hosting.

May 17th-19th: A4u Munich - Munich is hosting this year’s international affiliate conference.

May 27th : E-Commerce North - meet the big names in ecommerce.

June 16th-17th: eTail - online retailing for muti-channel and ecommerce businesses.

August 20th: Existem AM Summer BBQ - meet the Existem Team and talk AM with fellow affiliates overlooking Plymouth Sound.

October 11th-13th: A4U London - start with the warm up social networking event and get down to business on 12th.

October 12th: Internet Retailing - regarded as THE annual industry conference.

October 19th-20th: E-Commerce London - the South’s turn to get together with e-commerce experts.

November 15th-18th: Affilicon Europe in Berlin - learn the newest trends in affiliate marketing from experts in SEO, Social Networking, Media, leading internet technologies and related fields.

Monthly meetups:

London Blogger’s Meetup - meet other local bloggers whilst sipping a drink or two!

Inbound Marketing Meetup - gather together to discuss the intricacies of inbound marketing.

Meet affiliates and merchants alike at the various marketing conferences this year.

Meet affiliates and merchants alike at the various affiliate events this year.

E-Marketing Conference 2010

Thursday, February 4th, 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!

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
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-day1

Happy Valentine’s!

5 Tips for Fresh Content - When Writing Gets Difficult

Monday, February 1st, 2010
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!

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