What free traffic sources for affiliate marketing can we use? Let’s first look at why we need to use free traffic. Spending money on traffic is a good way to get quick traffic to your website or offers. The problem is that it can burn a hole in your wallet. You may find yourself going through a lot of money quickly. The beauty is you can test things quickly.
Free traffic on the other hand as you can imagine, won’t cost you anything. Some will have you believe that it is not really free because you are using your time. This to me is nonsense. If you are not paying for it, then it is free. Free traffic can come to your website or you may wonder how to drive traffic to affiliate links.
There are different types of free traffic sources for affiliate marketing and I will highlight the ones that work well for me. Much depends on what you are selling of course. Some sources work better for certain niches. For example, Pinterest is particularly good for female products such as jewelry and make up. Anything visual does well here and also on Instagram.
So now let’s look at how to drive free traffic and the best traffic sources for affiliate marketing.
1. Facebook
Facebook has been around for a good few years now and still has a massive audience. You can tap into this audience quite easily. You can no longer go spamming your affiliate link all over Facebook. So how can you go about getting the traffic here?
Firstly, I would advise to set up a Facebook page based around your niche. It could be a make money online page, a make up page, a page promoting your business. Just about anything can be set up on a Facebook page. You should add a decent looking banner as the header and also add a contact button. Add in details about your website and any other links you have.
Now you have your page set up, how will you get people to see it. Before you do this, you should add some content to the page to make it look interesting. Any posts you have created on your website should go on your Facebook page also. The same goes for any YouTube videos you have created. Once you have added a bit of content to the page, you can then invite people to it. Invite your Facebook friends to begin with.
Although Facebook is another of the free traffic sources for affiliate marketing, it is possible to pay and build your audience for a few dollars. You do this by creating a Facebook ad or even boosting one of your posts. Get people to like your page and your audience will grow.
You will find you pick up new members as time goes on. Friends of friends will come and like your page. Gradually your page will grow.
Another method is to join Facebook groups relevant to your niche. When you do this, you will be able to post in those groups also. Again, stick to posting your own content only and not affiliate links. When you post in groups, you will find people will click on your name and visit your page. They may even go directly to your website.
2. Website
A website is not so essential anymore, but there are still advantages to having one. The website is the hub of your business. It is where you can stamp your identity, your brand and let people know who you are. Your site can get found when someone types into Google, although it can be hard these days. Local sites are easier to find and also rank for.
You can also create a blog and write posts about interesting stuff related to your niche. Add YouTube videos to your posts as this can help to boost your traffic.
Add a social sites plugin and you will be able to instantly, with one click be able to send your posts to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc. This gives your more free traffic.
On your website/blog, you will be able to advertise affiliate products without anyone putting any block on you. Add the link to your posts as well as to advertising images.
3. YouTube
This is one of the best free traffic sources for affiliate marketing if done correctly. If you have a Gmail account then you will be able to set up a YouTube channel. This is where your videos will sit.
Any video you create should first and foremost give value. The picture and audio quality needs to be good. You do not have to appear on camera. You can create a slideshow and talk over it. Also, you can record your computer screen. There is plenty of free software for creating videos on the internet.
Aim for 5 mins or if you can do longer, then even better. YouTube video optimisation is another subject which I cannot go into here. However, you should ensure your description box contains the link to your website. You can in some cases add an affiliate link also. There is no harm adding links to any of your other social media channels. I would advise adding the link to your website in the video itself – at the beginning and at the end.
Aim to create one video a day in order to flesh out a brand-new channel. When you have around 30 videos on your channel, you can then relax a bit. Continue to post, but no so frequently. One a week should suffice.
As mentioned previously, you should post your YouTube video to your other social media accounts.
4. Pinterest
This traffic source is probably the easiest to use. Pinterest uses boards which are like pinboards when you can pin items of interest. You can pin your website posts on your board or YouTube videos. If for example your niche is cooking, you can grab a cooking related image and pin it to your board. Give it a good title, description and add in any links you want. You can add affiliate links to your pins. This might change over time, but for now it is still possible. This is great free traffic for affiliate links.
This strategy works well if you pin consistently. Pin around 3 times a day for a few weeks.
5. Quora
Quora is a question and answer site. Set up a profile here and add your website link into it. Browse for questions relevant to your niche. For best results, look for questions that were put up recently. Then go in and answer the question. Write a detailed response and not a single sentence. At the end of your response, add in your website link or YouTube link. The link you add should relate to the question.
By adding your link, you are getting people back to your website. Once they are there then they may see something they want to buy.
You will get emails asking you to answer certain questions, although be prepared not to know the answer to some of them. Question and answer sites are another of the great free traffic sources for affiliate marketing.
6. Forums
This is an old school method, but still effective. Google for forums in your niche and join a few. For example, if you sell bikes, you should look for communities focused on outdoor activities.
Add your website link to your profile and if they allow a signature then add it there also. At the end of your post, you are normally allowed to leave a link where interested people may click to check out your content.
Don’t go spamming on the forum as it is a sure-fire way to get banned. Give valuable answers to questions and also ask a few yourself.
Conclusion
So, there it is. I have given you some traffic sources that work very well today. I hope this will give you some ideas to start driving boatloads of free traffic to your website or offers.