Text
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