Get In Their Heads
How to write great Amazon affiliate marketing
content Google will love.
By Erica Stone
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Contents
Legal Disclaimer ................................................................................... 2
The Big Question .................................................................................. 4
Importance of Relevancy ....................................................................... 5
Start with Your Keyword ........................................................................ 6
Pull Your Keyword Apart ..................................................................... 6
Meaning and Synonyms ...................................................................... 7
To Find the Meaning ........................................................................ 8
To Find Synonyms........................................................................... 8
Put your Keyword Parts Back Together ................................................. 9
Who What Where When and Why ......................................................... 10
Write the Post .................................................................................... 12
Other Clues ....................................................................................... 14
Post Title ........................................................................................ 14
Post URL ......................................................................................... 14
Meta Description .............................................................................. 14
Product Names ................................................................................ 14
Image Alt Tags ................................................................................ 15
Wrapping Up ...................................................................................... 16
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The Big Question
Internet marketing blogs and forums are filled with articles and threads
about a very challenging subject – a subject that plagues every affiliate
marketer who uses content for traffic and sales.
What do I write about???!!!
The short answer is often something like “Write for the reader.” (Or, for
anyone trying to write a post that sells something – write for the consumer.)
It’s so easy for someone to throw out that kind of answer. It sounds good,
right? It even makes complete sense!
“Yes, Big Marketing Gurus, obviously I want to write for the person
who is going to be reading my post.”
But telling you to “write for the reader” is not an actionable answer. It’s not
a direction or a plan or a step-by-step guide about anything at all. It’s a
fluff answer.
At the end of the day, you’re still faced with the challenge of writing for the
reader of a post that features something like this and drawing a BIG FAT
BLANK:
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Importance of Relevancy
Before you start your next writing assignment, you must understand the
importance and definition of RELEVANCY.
Every two years, MOZ surveys experts in the SEO industry, consolidates the
responses, and analyzes the results. You can find their most recent survey
data here: https://moz.com/search-ranking-factors.
The top 3 most important factors Google uses in their ranking algorithm
according to this data are:
1. Domain-Level Link Features (backlinks to the domain)
2. Page-Level Link Features (backlinks to the ranking URL)
3. Page-Level Keyword & Content-Based Features
The definition of the first two is easy enough to understand. Backlinks are
still a huge ranking factor. Not just any links will help, though – links from
authority sites are most influential.
Buying backlinks will get you in a lot of trouble and, most likely, result in
your site getting a penalty in Google from which you’ll find it very hard, if
not impossible, to recover.
The kinds of links that really count have to be EARNED and the best way to
earn them is to create great content.
That leads to the third most important factor on the list – the one over which
we have absolute control:
Page-Level Keyword & Content-Based
Features.
MOZ defines that factor as:
Content relevance scoring, on-page
optimization of keyword usage, topic-modeling algorithm scores on content,
content quantity/quality/relevance, etc. (Source: https://moz.com/searchranking-factors/survey)
In a nutshell, your post content AND all the clues and signals you can put
into your content to help Google understand the topic covered in your post
needs to be very closely related to your post topic. The more your content
focuses on your post topic, the higher the relevancy score you will get from
Google.
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Start with Your Keyword
Read this material from Google to understand how they “read” content:
https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/algorithms/.
On one of those pages, you’ll find this statement:
Larry Page once described the perfect search
engine as understanding exactly what you
mean and giving you back exactly what you
want.
For your content to rank well, this means that once you’ve picked a keyword
to target YOU better know exactly what the searcher wants to find when
they put that keyword into the search engines and your content better give
them exactly what they want.
The best way to do this is to pull your keyword apart until you fully
understand what it means.
Let’s work through an example using this keyword:
serving trays for ottomans.
Pull Your Keyword Apart
The first step is to pull your keyword apart so that you understand what
every word in that keyword means.
This is how you pull your keyword apart:
1. Start with a blank text file, a blank word processing file or a piece of
paper
2. Look at the first word in your keyword
3. Decide if that word only makes sense for your topic if combined with
the next word in the keyword:
a. If the word makes perfect sense for your niche by itself, put that
word on one line of a text file or word processing file
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b. If the word only makes sense for your niche when combined with
the next word, put both words together on one line of a text file
or word processing file
4. Look at the next word in your keyword that you haven’t already
included on a line of your file/paper and repeat step #3
5. Repeat step #4 for all remaining words in your keyword
Using our example, these are the steps we’d take:
1. The first word is “serving” but the phrase “serving trays for ottomans”
isn’t about “serving”. It is about “serving trays”. The word “serving”
doesn’t work alone with our niche and belongs with the word “trays”.
Therefore, “serving trays” ends up on the first line of our file/paper.
2. Since the second word, “trays”, has already been included on the first
line of our file/paper, we next look at the word “for”. Our post is not
about “for” so we need to combine that with the next word which is
“ottomans”. The words “for ottomans” go on the second line of our
file/paper.
The result looks like this:


serving trays
for ottomans
Our post would have to be about “serving trays” that can be used “for
ottomans”.
Meaning and Synonyms
Google’s algorithm knows what words mean, in a sense. It understands
content by “reading” or analyzing ALL the words in a post to understand the
meaning of the entire post.
Google also understands synonyms. It knows that a “throw pillow” is the
same thing as a “toss pillow”, for example.
You need to do the same thing – understand the meaning of each part of
your keyword and understand what synonyms might be used to search for
those parts.
In our example keyword, we have two parts and we need the meaning and
synonyms for both:


Meaning of “serving trays”
Synonyms for “serving trays”
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

Meaning of “for ottomans”
Synonyms of “for ottomans”
To Find the Meaning
To find the meaning for a keyword part, do the following:
1. Go to Google and type in your keyword part WITHOUT any of the short
words (like “for”, “with”, “the”, “and”, “of”, etc.) followed by the word
“definition”. Read one or two of the resulting definitions showing in
Google search results.
2. If the keyword part defines a product:
a. Go to Amazon and do a search for the keyword part to get
examples of what those products look like
b. Go to Google, do a search for the keyword part, click on the
Images tab in Google and look at example images of the
products
To Find Synonyms
Finding synonyms is a little trickier. Sometimes you can only get some clues
from what you find in Google.
To find the synonyms for a keyword part, do the following:
1. Go to Google and type in your keyword part WITHOUT any of the short
words (like “for”, “with”, “the”, “and”, “of”, etc.) followed by the word
“synonyms”. Read one or two of the resulting definitions showing in
Google search results.
2. While still looking at the Google search results for your keyword part
followed by the word “synonyms” look at the related phrases showing
at the bottom of the page 1 search results:
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Make notes to yourself about the meaning and synonyms of all of your
keyword parts.
For our example keyword, we have the following:

Meaning of “serving trays” - a flat, shallow container or receptacle
made of wood, metal, etc., usually with slightly raised edges, used for
carrying, holding, or displaying articles of food, glass, china

Synonyms for “serving trays” – platter

Meaning of “for ottomans” - a low upholstered seat, or footstool,
without a back or arms that typically serves also as a box, with the
seat hinged to form a lid

Synonyms of “for ottomans” – footstool, hassock, footrest, pouf
This gives us lots of clues about our keyword!
Put your Keyword Parts Back Together
To FULLY understand your keyword you next need to put the keyword back
together. Your post is not about just one part of the keyword but about ALL
parts and how they relate to each other.
The example keyword “serving trays for ottomans” means that people are
looking for serving trays or platters that can sit on top of an ottoman,
footstool, hassock, footrest, or pouf so they can carry or display food or
other home décor.
Think about what your keyword really means in terms of products. For our
example keyword, we only want to show trays or platters that can be used
to carry things, trays or platters that will look good since they might be used
for displaying items, and trays or platters that will sit safely on an ottoman
since not all ottomans are flat or have a hard surface.
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Who What Where When and Why
At this point, you have a full understanding of the meaning of your keyword
but what about the person who puts that keyword into a search engine?
The more thought we put into that searcher, the more clues we’ll have about
other kinds of words and information to include in our post.
This is where that phrase writing teachers used to drill into our heads comes
in handy: Ask yourself who, what, where, when and why.
1. Who would use the kinds of products meant by this keyword?
2. What will the searcher want to do with the products meant by this
keyword?
3. Where would the searcher use the products meant by this keyword?
4. When would the searcher use the products meant by this keyword?
5. Why would the searcher use the products meant by this keyword?
Answer each of those questions for your chosen keyword.
For our example keyword, we’d have the following:
1. Who
a.
b.
c.
2.
3.
4.
5.
would use a serving tray for ottomans?
Those who entertain people in their living rooms or family rooms
Those who are into home décor and accessories
Those who like their living room to look welcoming and well
decorated
What would someone do with a serving tray for an ottoman?
a. Carry a tea or coffee service into their living room or family room
b. Display flower vases, books, or collectibles
Where would the searcher use a serving tray for ottomans?
a. Living room
b. Family room
When would a searcher use a serving tray for ottomans?
a. When company visits
b. For formal gatherings at home
c. When they have a special items they want to put on display and
want to make use of the surface offered by an ottoman
Why would the searcher use a serving tray for ottomans?
a. Because they’re limited on space in their living room and need a
place to display items
b. They want to blend their ottoman into the surrounding
environment by dressing it up
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c. They just got a beautiful new vase and want it to be a
centerpiece of the room and the ottoman is the best place to put
it
You’ll be able to answer these questions off the top of your head for some
keywords. For others, you might need to do some research.
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Write the Post
With all of your research done, you’re ready to write the post!
Following an outline is the easiest way to write any content. For a post
featuring a single product or a group of products, follow this outline:
1. INTRO: Write 1-3 sentences telling people what your post is about.
Include your keyword once in this intro section.
2. MAIN CONTENT:
a. Talk about your who, what, where, when, why answers:
i. Write about who would use these products
ii. Write about what people can do with these products
iii. Write about where people would use these products
iv. Write about when people would use these products
v. Write about why people would use these products
b. Describe the product or products in your post:
i. What do they look like?
ii. What materials are they made from?
iii. What size are they?
iv. What colors are they?
v. What’s interesting or unique about them?
c. NOTE: This is where you need to pay attention to your use of
your keywords. You don’t want to use them too many times in
the post or Google will think you’re over-optimizing your post
and that can actually hurt your rankings.
Try not to use
important words from your keyword (any word that is not a
“short” word) in your post more than twice per every 100 words.
Use your synonyms instead or words like “they”, “these”, “it”,
etc. Your content must sound NATURAL. No one likes to read
something like “These serving trays for ottomans can be used to
display vases or collectibles. Serving trays come in different
materials, colors and sizes. Serving trays for ottomans can
come in handy when you don’t have a lot of display space in
your living room.” DON’T WRITE LIKE THAT!
3. SUMMARY: In the beginning of the post you introduced your topic by
telling your reader what your post is about. You then told them
information about the topic. In the end of your post, the summary,
you want to remind them – in a few sentences – what you just told
them about. What was your post about and how does the reader
benefit from your information? Include a sentence that encourages
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the reader to take an action. For example, “Go ahead and click on one
of the items above to learn more and explore other options.”
This method of researching meanings and synonyms of your keyword and
answering the “who, what, where, when and why” questions will force you to
include other words that people often use when searching for your keyword.
This makes your content relevant to MORE phrases then just the one you
targeted with your post.
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Other Clues
Relevancy isn’t just measured by the words you write in a post. Google also
looks at other clues. You have completed control over many of these other
clues and should make sure you use your keywords and synonyms in those
fields.
Post Title
Use your keyword as the post title (as long as the keyword is proper English
– if it isn’t, you may need to modify it to make sure it is – otherwise your
reader will think you don’t know how to write).
Remember, Google looks at all the words on a page to decide for which
phrases a post should rank.
When you add other words to your post title, you signal to Google that your
post is about variations of your keyword rather than about your targeted
keyword.
While adding other words can make your post title sound more exciting it
changes how Google interprets your content.
Post URL
The post URL is another important SEO field.
include all the words from your keyword.
You want your post URL to
Meta Description
Your post’s meta description is another strong SEO field. It tells Google
what your post is about but it also may be chosen by Google as the
description of your post’s listing in Google’s search results.
Include your keyword in your post’s meta description exactly as it is but fold
it into a sentence that will appeal to people browsing search result listings.
Product Names
When you get affiliate links from your affiliate network, the link often
includes the name the retailer has given the product.
That name may not include words from your keyword. When Google
analyzes your post for relevancy and they find that the products you feature
don’t mention words from your keyword, you may lose points.
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You can almost always change the name of the product or products in your
post to force in words from your keyword.
You don’t want every product in a post to have the same name. For
example, if I called every product in my “serving trays for ottomans” post a
“serving tray for ottoman”, it would look odd to both Google and the reader.
Instead, you want 50-60% of your product names to include all of your
keywords but they don’t have to be in order. The remaining 40-50% of the
products in your post should reference synonyms for at least one keyword
part.
A post on “serving trays for ottomans” that features 5 products might use
the following 5 product names:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Silver Filigree Serving Tray for an Ottoman
Large Rectangular Wood Platter with No-Spill Sides
Copper Serving Tray for Ottoman
Footrest Sized Black Display and Serving Tray
Large Silver Serving Tray with Handles for an Ottoman
Image Alt Tags
At least one image in your post should use your keyword as the image alt
tag. Product images should use the modified product names as their image
alt tag.
All other images should have unique image alt tags that relate to your
keyword. You can add words to your keyword, rearrange words in your
keyword and use synonyms to keep your image alt tags related to your
keyword.
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Wrapping Up
Following the steps in this guide will help you write relevant content for your
keywords with less frustration and writer’s block.
When you focus your content on your
visitor who will land on your page,
uncovered in your research inside your
more useful to your readers and that
Google.
keyword, when you think about the
and when you use related words
content you will create a post that is
gets a better relevancy score from
Give this method a try on your very next post and watch how it changes
your results!
Sincerely,
Erica Stone
Erica@extremereviewer.com
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