TRAFFIC
Figure 2: Traffic cost vs referring domains
From the analysis, here are some examples
of what appear to be trusted sites:
Casino affiliate: simonsblogpark.com
Sports affiliate: mybettingsites.co.uk
in Google’s search results. In my opinion,
that’s why operators tend to do better per
referring domain then affiliates.
Trustrank debunked
As you can see from Figure 4, the site is
gradually building its rankings. Going on
Majestic data, it has a very small link base.
It feels more like a blog then an affiliate
site, and ap pears not to have the usual
footprint of a regular affiliate.
According to Simon’s mission statement
or blogger manifesto:
1. I create and manage successful blogs in
difficult niches.
2. I do not use spammy marketing
techniques.
3. All of my blogs are dedicated to
responsibility, safety and I’m committed
to providing genuinely useful information
to my visitors.
4. I’m not just talking about this like most
websites do, I’m actually really committed.
I don’t want to sound like a white hat
sycophant here... But he does do well and
I believe him. As you will see, this kind of
trust building is a key strategy in becoming
one of Google’s golden trusted sites.
14
iGB Affiliate Issue 48 DEC/JAN 2014/2015
There is no such thing as TrustRank. Matt
Cutts said, “It’s not that we have something
specifically called trust rank. Google has
a trust factor, but it is made of several
ranking algorithm factors, which may be
referred to ‘trust’”.
Bingo affiliate : Bingo.vg
Trust signals
This site has had its ups and downs, but
arguably it’s on the rise again. It appears
to have more focus on help articles and
journal content, than the usual splash of
banners and offers.
Let’s go through trusted sites in more detail.
There are some high level concepts you
may want to think about.
●●
Google wants to trust certain websites,
because overall it produces better quality
search results.
●●
Google wants you...if its users want you
The main rule - have a solid “trust footprint”.
If you want a detailed answer, as luck
would have it, there are the Google quality
rater guidelines from 2014, where they
outline exactly what you should do to be a
trusted site.
2014 Google quality rater
guidelines.
One of the big misunderstandings with
Google rater guidelines is that a rating
from them will directly affect your website.
In fact, they’re just another way to
calibrate the algorithm.
The great thing about these rater
guidelines is how explicit they are on