TRAFFIC
Google is recognised as a question. Then
you get literal answers, for example:
“Operator X has the best free bets” and
implicit answers such as: “Here is a
list of free bets”.
Every search result provides a set of
answers with the best answer at the top.
Google wants to give you the best answers
possible to entice you to use it again. If
Google is doing its job well, the adwords
search results also come up with good
answers for users and Google makes money.
Finally, you get answers that are
satisfying or unsatisfying. If an answer to a
search query is unsatisfying, users will vote
phrases in their copy because they get more
clicks. I argue the same principle applies to
organic rankings.
Google uses RankBrain, an incredibly
powerful artificial intelligence infrastructure
that understands what your content is
about. In other words, Google solved
the Paris Hilton problem, so why should
Google need a keyword in the title tag
in order for it to know what your content
is about?
If your website gives the most satisfying
answers, you’re going to rank. If many
sites can give equally satisfying answers,
then you’re into what differentiates you.
“As an affiliate one of your priorities should be to make the
decision-making process easier – reducing the number
of brain cycles which is fundamental to online success”
with their clicks, that is they won’t stay on
the page and will go somewhere else. And
because users vote with their clicks and
dwell time, the search results that get the
highest click-through rates, engagement and
user satisfaction are the ones that will most
probably rank highest.
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There are thousands of affiliate lists sites
that are equally satisfying. The differentiator
can be the number of good links, the user
experience, even the colours you decide to
use. In this world, small differences have
massive implications.
Law of satisfaction Linking brand to satisfaction
and answers
The ‘law of satisfaction’ is the foundation
of Google rankings and every rankings
scenario I can think of ultimately ties
into the law of satisfaction in one way or
another. To rank on target key phrases,
everything begins with delivering the
answers that users want from the
question they’re asking.
But where does brand come into all
this? You are given a list of search results
where some sites are unfamiliar and other
sites you may have seen before and trust.
I would guess that you will click on the
more familiar, trusted site first. If you’re a
thin affiliate site, your title and description
tag will get you clicks.
Then you might say: “I need the right
keywords in my title tag for relevancy.” If
you look at adwords, they have relevant key In the way that different questions give
different types of answers, different affiliates
specialise in different kinds of answers, and
different answers require different degrees
of trust in order for them to be accepted.
But the general rule is that the more trust
needed, the more brand authority is needed.
If people trust the system in which the
brand sits, they don’t have to trust the
brand as much – such as in the case of sites
ranking well on Google.
When you think about your affiliate
website, ask yourself how much trust a user
needs in you for you to make money.
If you’re exclusively a list website, a user
doesn’t need to trust you because they
trust Google and Google ranks you –
they trust the operator they’ll convert with
and you’re just a passthrough point.
iGB Affiliate Issue 68 APR/MAY 2018
If you’re a review site, then more
trust is needed because you want to
influence people into believing what you
say. Brand and trust go together, so for
your review site to work and be influential
you’re going to have to build some
brand authority. You’ll get this brand
authority through testimonials, PR and
third-party validation.
If you have a sports content site
which also offers lists of free bets and
perhaps some reviews, your model is to do
with trust in your content and therefore
trust in the free bet offerings you make. In
this case brand is still important because
users want to be confident about the
information you’re giving them. As long as
you are clear on how much trust is needed
with the way you’re marketing your affiliate,
then that will determine how much focus on
brand is appropriate for you.
PR plays a part
Trust is a perception. In other words,
when you trust something it’s an opinion
you have developed and opinions can be
changed with the right influences. PR is
built on the foundation of influence.
For online brands, PR isn’t necessarily
about doing a stunt that grabs attention.
It’s more likely to be doing things that
influence users into trusting you more.
For example, you are a review website
and you want users to know you’re
trustworthy. Users already partially trust
you because you’ve ranked on Google.
However, for users to really trust you,
they might want to see some kind of third-
party validation. Maybe in the sidebar of
your site you’ve created a blog about how
your site is being covered by the igaming
press because of a bunch of announcements
you’ve made which are tied in with the
great contributors you have and the factual
accuracy of your end nation. You might
also have testimonials from operators
praising your website. The main principle
is that you are using the trust from other
people to market your business.