This month marks yearh 18th since I started building affiliate websites.
They are still making money to this day.
I don't touch them much, just enough to keep them updated.
I'm embedding all this expertise into AI systems for others to elevate their work.
When you launch a new website, go long-tail, obscure-tail and hit all the traffic signals.
You see, a new site has ZERO trust.
So you have to figure out how to get that initial trickle of traffic to be on Google's map.
This is how:
Go long-tail
Keywords so specific the big sites didn't bother. "podcast hosting with dynamic ad insertion for churches" is winnable on a new domain. "podcast hosting" is not.
and/or
Hit the obscure-tail
An ask many do, where there is no clear answer yet. If you look for "x premium invoice", my site theaudienz it's on the first 1-2 spots (I don't care about this site, but I wanted to illustrate the point a few years back, so I did that)
Other example: free tools can be obscure if you're first
Calculators, checkers, generators. Tools rank, get bookmarked and get linked naturally. One of my first vibe-coded apps, a small topical map generator, has made $741 on its own, just because there weren't many when I started it.
Traffic Signals > Backlinks
I know you were going to ask about backlinks. So yeah, you want some outside signals. But more important than backlinks is real traffic signals.
Build citation hubs and glossaries.
Get on directories.
Publish your site on social media.
Blast an email to colleagues and friends.
Send a press release.
You want REAL TRAFFIC signals.
This will take your site out of obscurity for good.
SEO and GEO win because of intent.
Someone typing โwhere to host my podcastโ has a problem now and a credit card in hand.
Slower start than other channels, true, but every visitor arrives ready to buy and keeps arriving after you stop working.
The first channel I mastered was SEO.
Then I got bored.
Paid search and paid social.
Then I got bored.
Newsletters.
Then I got bored.
Twitter growth.
Then I got bored.
GEO.
Then I got bored.
AI development.
Every skill feeds the next.
Your boredom is a sign, listen to it.
it is what it is!
funny story: my first newsletter client made about $500K in sales with a 10K list during my first ever campaign.
I thought I was a genius....
When I tried doing the same for other clients, I never came close
Turns out the product was the most important bit: this first client was a Cannabis dispensary hehe
ps. beautiful doggo!