Hi All,

Welcome to the second part of our three-segment series on Google updates and the effect on Affiliate marketing.

In Part II we will be taking a brief look at Google Caffeine.

Caffeine is the name of Google’s latest algorithm updates and, like all things Google, Caffeine is somewhat of an unknown quantity. Until it has been fully launched the affiliate world will be waiting with baited breath to fully comprehend the changes…however, td Search has made the following observations:

Google Caffeine is, like Real-Time Search, aimed at giving users the best possible experience in terms of relevance. This makes all of the age-old truths of SEO even more important. For example, if you are currently appearing in third position in the natural results, however, you are not utilising any social media tools or uploading any fresh content, then you are running the gauntlet of the Google ‘slap’ and risk being dislodged by a competitor that is following basic, but necessary, SEO practices:

• Present original content
• Ensure you have clean meta-tags and optimised titles for your landing pages
• Do not over load your site with content that will slow the load time
• Add quality in-bound links
• Minimise the duplication of content
• Utilise social & and rich media to enhance your site’s brand presence
• Timely maintenance of broken links

What we are seeing from Caffeine (in the affiliate sense) is a demand from Google to significantly improve the quality and relevance of the sites we, as an industry, build. So, does this mean affiliate sites will get knocked out of the park by the changes Caffeine will bring on?

Not necessarily.

Most affiliates cannot sell effectively without an understanding of the products and brand they is are selling. This is where affiliates have always, and will always, excel. By building deep, content-based sites using the knowledge affiliates have on what sells for a merchant (displayed on a page that adds true value to the merchant’s proposition) and educates the user’s purchase decision, we can work to ensure affiliate sites are sufficiently ranked over and beyond the algorithm change.

Speak to your TradeDoubler account managers and ensure you are receiving as much product information as possible on the affiliate programmes you are promoting. Make sure you are signed up to the newsletters and are aware of all the latest news regarding the merchant with a view to creating unique content that will aid the user’s buying cycle.

Part III: Google Personalised Search will be posted on the 4th January.

Sanjit Atwal

Publisher Development Manager | TradeDoubler UK |

Twitter.com/TradeDoubler_UK |

Sanjit.Atwal@TradeDoubler.com | Twitter.com/SanjitAtwal |

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This post forms part two of a three-part series of blog posts on Google changes. Please also see:

Part I :  Google Introduces Real-Time Search

The affiliate reaction to all three Google updates can be summarised in one sentence: Make every attempt to add value to the users original search whilst balancing the need to monetise your inventory.

For a more in-depth discussion on how our SEO team can help you over the coming months, please email Sales.UK@TradeDoubler.com.

Happy New Year from all at td Affiliate and td Search!

Tags: Affiliate marketing, Google, SEO

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 11:15 and is filed under td Affiliate, td Search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.