In marketing, standards and practices are constantly changing and growing, and this year affiliate marketing will change and grow as well. The following are the major predictions industry experts have made about the shape of things to come for affiliate marketing throughout 2012.

1.    Affiliate marketing will continue to grow.

Affiliate marketing has been enjoying growth and will continue to do so. Forrester, the market research firm, predicted that $4 billion will be spent by retailers on affiliate marketing by 2014. This amounts to an increase of 16 percent each year. Forrester’s recent report also revealed that consumers perceive the deals offered by a merchant’s affiliate sites to be better than those offered at the merchant’s own website. Because of this, consumers will continue to seek out affiliate sites in order to find the best deals and thus, stimulate growth in affiliate marketing.

2.    Affiliate marketing will expand to an in-house position.

With retailers spending more on affiliate marketing and relying increasingly on the leads affiliate marketers provide, retailers will be hiring in-house affiliate marketing managers to oversee both the affiliate marketing and the performance analysis. Seasoned affiliate marketers will be a regular part of most major marketing teams, and they will be able to bring in additional traffic that companies would not be able to attract on their own.

3.    The importance of mobile affiliate marketing will increase.

The monetization of mobile advertising will become increasingly effective with the advent of Mobile App Tracking. The number of smartphone users is growing, and those users are shopping online more than ever. With the mobile shopping experience rapidly improving, the potential for affiliate marketing growth in the mobile market is incredible. Those who have not built mobile platforms will be left behind.

4.    Video will become more prominent in affiliate marketing.

Recently, comScore Video Metrix reported that during October 2011, 184 million US Internet users viewed online video content, a 9 million-user increase over the previous 12 months. This is a substantial opportunity for affiliate marketers to take advantage of when building a marketing campaign. Marketing videos will prove to be powerful tools for increasing revenue. Additionally, video content will be increasingly intertwined with social media.

5.    Social media will play a bigger role in affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketers will be increasing their use of social media as an advertising platform. However, with the FTC cracking down on spam and fraud, this may not be the most effective use of social media. Affiliate marketers who take the time to build relationships through social media will do much better than those who simply use social media as an advertising platform.

6.    Panda will separate the wheat from the chaff.

The update known as Panda that Google made to its algorithm last year will continue to impact both lower quality affiliates as well as smaller affiliates. Affiliate marketers will need to provide high quality content in order to stay in the game. Smaller affiliates may find it difficult to survive but will be able to thrive if they can adapt.

7.    Smaller affiliates will gravitate toward niche and local markets.

Niche affiliate networks will become a more viable option for smaller affiliates. Having multiple websites specifically tailored to multiple niches is a trend that smaller affiliates will embrace. Specifically, affiliates that can offer valuable, original content targeted to individual local markets will gain success as they build a reputation for being local authoritative websites.

8.    Affiliate marketing will become more transparent.

As the increase of smartphone use leads to an increase in Internet use, it follows that Internet fraud will increase as well. As a result, advertisers will demand more transparency from affiliate marketers. The upside to this will be a decrease in fraud and an increase in revenue. Technology will be a natural starting point in which transparency can be built. However, affiliate marketers must keep in mind that in order to get the best campaigns, they must be able to provide information about the traffic they direct toward those campaigns.

9.    Affiliate Nexus Tax will stay in flux.

The consensus among affiliate marketing experts is that there will be no agreement on the Affiliate Nexus Tax this year. There are several barriers to any meaningful legislation passing through Congress in the coming months, including legislators not fully understanding the online economy and the distractions of an election year. For now, the Affiliate Nexus Tax will be decided by the states on an individual basis. There is hope for those who live in states where the tax has been imposed. California’s tax has been temporarily repealed, and the tax has failed to pass in a handful of other states.

Looking toward the coming year is important, but being able to adjust your affiliate marketing strategy to adapt to changing trends is even more so. No matter what 2012 brings, adaptability is the key to success for any affiliate marketer.

This post was written and provided by Christian Willis. Christian has been making a living from affiliate programs for the last 3 years and is a freelance writer for Clickbooth.com.

9 Affiliate Marketing Predictions for 2012 Adam Henige

My Google Plus fury grows. Relevance. Remember when that mattered?

R.I.P. Don Cornelius.

Don Cornelius and...Google Plus. Shocking.

Don Cornelius Dies, Google Jams Plus Down Your Throat. Film at 11. Adam Henige

Domain Hunter Plus Review

Every now and then, a tool comes along that makes you rethink your link building process, Domain Hunter Plus is one of those tools. My Chrome browser is filled with extensions I have used maybe a half dozen times. Usually I forget about them a few weeks after they are installed - mainly because they were reiterations of tools that were already publicly available. Never before have I encountered a tool as simple and unique as Domain Hunter Plus.

Here's a scenario for you: You get a client who not only wants to, but *NEEDS* to rank for a pretty intense and broad term. They have an ugly site, almost no inbound links, a pitiful domain authority, zero content, no PR team, and no real reason why anyone would link to them... basically, a nightmare. Instead of going through the usual second rate link building tactics, like sub-par directories, blog comments and article submissions - you can use DHS to find expired domains that have link juice and are related to the client's site. Businesses shut down, websites get forgotten - it's just the nature of the web. Not everyone is hording links and 301'ing their last venture into their new site. With DHS you can pinpoint and easily buy old sites that are relevant to your client, build them up and put in whatever content and links you want.

Click to visit the site

Buying and building up older related sites, hosting them on different servers and ip addresses and having them link to your client's site can get some pretty powerful results. Some people in the industry like using a service like Name Jet to find and purchase established domains, but with DHS, the need for services like Name Jet is a thing of the past. Just head over to an older, respected directory in your clients space and scan the relevant pages for domains you are interested in. DHS reports back to you with an easily exportable list of every available domain.

I love this tool. There are a ton of Chrome extensions that are going to help you find broken links, but none that show you which domains are available for purchase. Domain Hunter Plus is a game changer, plain and simple!

Domain Hunter Plus Review By John-Henry Scherck Adam Henige

Netvantage Director of Social Media Mallory Woodrow graces the front page of Social Media Examiner on January 25, 2011 with her article on how to integrate social media on your website. Read 9 Tips For Integrating Social Media On Your Website and be sure to Tweet!

Netvantage Director of Social Media Featured on Front Page of Social Media Examiner Netvantage

Here's the skinny.

What is it?

• A Google Chrome extension

What does it do?

• Crawls the page you're on looking for error codes from outbound links
• Reports all outbound URLs with errors AND shows you the number of links to that particular page and the whole domain from SEOmoz's Linkscape API
• Tells you which domains are available and which are not, and allows you one click access to jump to GoDaddy.com to register any domains you may wish to purchase
• Allows you to export all reported links into a .csv file for whatever purpose you'd like

What is it good for?

• Finding domains that already have a strong link profile to purchase or resuscitate
• Reciprocity/broken link building (if you do link building, you're going to like this...a lot)

Where do I get it?

• The Domain Hunter Plus website

Can I see it in action?

Oh...we don't see why not (thanks Techsmith for the use of Camtasia!)

How can you thank us for this life changing offering?

Well, a simple "thank you" would probably suffice, or if you REALLY love it you could share it via social media or your blog. We truly appreciate any help spreading the word or offering feedback. Thanks!

The Ultimate FREE Broken Link Checking Tool Adam Henige

T'is the season for Holiday spam. My inbox literally is oozing with e-mails from businesses and websites sending me holiday well-wishes. Awe, how nice of  them to remember little old me! I WONDER what it is! Maybe it is a coupon! MAYBE A DINOSAUR! MAYBE IT IS SOMETHING I HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF BEFORE! Then, they so kindly direct my attention to their sale or new product. But.. but.. I thought you cared about me. From a marketing standpoint, I understand the angle and in their defense, I could easily hit unsubscribe.

Many businesses opt out of the e-mail bombardment this time of year and instead send good old fashioned snail mail (What's that? Do snails actually deliver it? That's actually kind of cool.). If your business primarily deals in the online realm, it can be difficult to make yourself stand out from the rest of the red-and-green-tinsel adorned logos and the cornucopia of colorful holiday e-mails.

Probably due to the fact I spend so much time online, I am pretty much immune to messages being shoved in my face, but still always appreciate the subtle approach. Although time isn't up for someone to throw their Santa hat into the eggnog (Wait, what?), these are my favorite ways websites have gotten into the Holiday spirit thus far.

3. Third Place goes to YouTube For Making It Rain-err Snow.

YouTube is getting people prepared for inclement weather. Snow falls from the top of your browser while users search YouTube. There has also been a Snow Flake button added to videos on certain users' accounts that triggers snow to fall across the video. Unfortunately, I haven't been one of the lucky few yet.

2. 2nd Place Goes to Google For Lighting It Up (I will continue bad rap song puns.)

Ooo! Ahh! Pretty lights. A few days ago, searching 'let it snow' prompted the similar snowfall effect as seen on YouTube. Being Google, I knew they would have their bases covered.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Hanukkah!

Happy Kwanzaa!

Yep, that's about right.

1. 1st Place Goes to LinkedIn For Being Trixy

I'll admit, LinkedIn got me with this one. Click Who's Viewed Your Profile On LinkedIn and you'll notice that a one Snow E. Mann specializing in Independent Snow Management Consulting and hailing form the North Pole has paid your profile a visit. My initial reaction: Who honestly has time to make a fake LinkedIn profile? How annoying. Who is this Goon?

So I clicked on it.

Surprise!

How do you wish your customers or clients a happy holiday?

Happy Holidays from the Netvantage Marketing Team!

Happy Holidays! Now Please Buy This Thing You Don't Want: Top 3 Ways Websites Have Gotten In the Holiday Spirit Mallory

Didn't you ever watch TV growing up? Everyone knows you shouldn't push a button if you don't know what it does. Especially if it is large and a hue of blush (I don't know why no one in Staples' marketing department was informed of this.).

"Push this Easy button!"
"Uhm, I'm going to have to go with no on this one."

Furthermore, it would be ill-advised to leave a button laying around your house if you don't know its purpose.

"What's this do?"
"I'm not sure. We put it there because Bob told us to--Don't touch it!"

This dialogue always occurs just as unsuspecting Fred is pushing said button. Worst case scenario, you blow someone or something up (We didn't really need Canada, did we?). Best case scenario, you end up in the Jurassic period in a field of grazing stegosauruses with a pile of pens (Wait, they're not carnivorous, are they? Why are these pens here?). In the case of social buttons, you're unlikely to end up time-traveling or causing WW3 (Canada has a military. I Googled it. Managing Partner and Canadian Joe Ford was not here to consult.), but it is important to understand the differences between the plethora of social plugins, buttons, and features when integrating them into your business website.

With the real time nature of the social media landscape and fast-paced roll-outs, it is no wonder that some might confuse social media features. As of late, we've had a few clients that have been justifiably perplexed about social media buttons/plugins, how to integrate them into their websites, and what they actually do when someone clicks on them.

We blame them- those Twitter, Google, Facebook folk- for making this so confusing. It seems that all the social platforms have gone rogue and decided to dub their categories of buttons different terms and change them rapidly (Heaven forbid they make it easy for us!). For my purposes in this post, I'm going to place the types of buttons under two categories:  SHARE buttons and PROFILE/PAGE buttons. Please note that each platform offers a whole host of ways you can work social plugins into your website, but for this specific blog, I'm going to stick to the basic share content versus direct users to brand page conundrum.

THE BASICS

Share Buttons: By installing a "Share button" plugin on a specific website page, you are allowing individuals to share or recommend that specific link and content to their friends/networks on their personal profile page.

Profile/Page buttons: These can be easily made without the use of social plugins. They are simply icons with links, boxes or badges provided by the platform, or plain text links that direct individuals to visit your social media Page or Profile. The platforms offer up plugins for these as well.

Now, let's dive into the details social platform by platform. I'll go over Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+. Please note that to avoid any confusion, I will list the social share function first under each section  and the page button second.

FACEBOOK

Terminology

Facebook Page: This is your business's branded Facebook Page.
Facebook Profile/Timeline: This is your personal Facebook account.

FACEBOOK LIKE BUTTON

(This used to be called the Facebook Share button which is probably where a lot of the confusion stems from. Facebook can tell you here why they have decided to phase out the term "share".)

• What It does: The Like button lets a user share your content with friends on Facebook.
• The Confusing Details: You won't be directing individuals to your Facebook Page by installing a Facebook "Like" button onto a specific website page. Instead, you are allowing the individual to "Like"/share the information, content, or product that is found on that specific website page on their personal Facebook Profile. There is no correlation between clicking the Like Button on a specific website page and directing users to "Like" your branded Facebook Page UNLESS you are using Open Graph Protocol (I'll save that for another blog post).

• How it shows up:  When the user clicks the Like button on your site, a story appears in the user's friends' News Feed with a link back to your website. It also shows up on their Timeline (as seen in image below).

• How to get it: You can use third party places like AddThis and ShareThis or you can go directly to Facebook here.

If you choose the latter and head straight to Facebook, you will be directed to customize the look and specifics of your button. Depending on what sort of page you are installing it on or what kind of content you are sharing, you can change up the wording, actions, and layout a bit.Verb options include Recommend and Like. Facebook also gives you the option to include a Send feature which means allowing users to directly send a friend the content in a Facebook Message. For other ways to integrate Facebook features into your website, click here.

FACEBOOK PROFILE/PAGE BUTTON

There are couple solutions for a Facebook button that will direct users to "Like" your Branded Facebook Page or invite users to subscribe to your Facebook Profile's (Soon to be Timeline) public updates.

• You can simply include a text link that says "Follow Us on Facebook" or create/download your own Facebook icon and link it to your Facebook Page using the Facebook.com/BusinessName format (We recommend opening in new window.).
• If you want to use a social plugin, Facebook offers up a Like Box to place on your page to attract new "Likes". It also has a Subscribe Plugin to allow users to subscribe to your public Facebook updates.

This is how we link out to our Facebook Page using icons that were designed to match our website:

This is a Facebook Like Box:

LINKEDIN

Terminology

• Company Profile: Your company profile page.
• Member Profile: Your personal LinkedIn profile page.

LINKEDIN SHARE BUTTON

Where to get it: You can use broad third party solutions or go straight to the LinkedIn Publisher Network here. Leave the URL blank unless you want the button to share another URL besides the page the individual has landed on.

LINKEDIN PROFILE BUTTONS

Company Profile Button

A Company Profile Button should allow you to direct individuals to follow your Company Profile on LinkedIn. For a Company Profile Button, you may include a text link or icon linking to your Company Profile or you can use a social plugin.

The Company Profile Social Plugin is seen below.

Member Profile Buttons

If by chance YOU are your business, a Member Profile Button or Member Profile Plugin might be better suited for you.  This type of button or plugin will direct individuals to view your personal LinkedIn Member Profile. Like I mentioned previously, you can simply link a preexisting button you've made or provide a simple text link to your LinkedIn Member Profile by using the standard www.linkedin.com/in/yournamehere format.

LinkedIn offers premade buttons here to promote your profile that are various of the following:

The Member Profile plugin is seen below.

TWITTER

Twitter is probably the simplest of the platforms when it comes to laying out their button, plugin, and widget options.

SHARE A LINK BUTTON

• What it does: This buttons allows users to Tweet content found on your page to their followers.
• How it shows up: The content that your users Tweet shows up in their Twitter Timeline for their followers to view.

• Where to get it: Twitter offers the Share A Link button under resources. Twitter also allows you to prompt your website visitors to mention a specific user, credit a user, or add a Hashtag.

TWITTER FOLLOW BUTTON

A Twitter Follow button directs individuals to follow your Twitter handle. Like we keep stating for each section, this can be achieved by a simple link from your website to your Twitter page or any type of Twitter image or icon linking to http://www.twitter.com/yourtwitternamehere. Twitter provides couple ways to integrate a Twitter Follow button into your site. You can grab a pre-made button from the "Follow" tab under Twitter Resources found here.

If you're rather use a widget, Twitter allows you to grab a Twitter Profile Widget to add to your site as seen below.

GOOGLE

Terminology

Google+ Page: This your Google+ Business Page as seen here.
Google+ Profile: This is your personal Google+ Profile page.

+1 BUTTON (Share)

• What It Does: The +1 Button lets visitors recommend your content on Google Search and share it on Google+.
• The Confusing Details: +1 Button does not direct individuals to your Google+ Page, rather it gives individuals the option to share the content on the specific website page with the individuals within circles on their Google+ Profile and to recommend the content to Google Search. Also, just because an individual +1ed content doesn't necessarily mean they shared on their Google+ Profile page. Users have the option to +1 content and share or simply +1 it.
• How it shows up: When a user clicks the Google+ button, the content on the page shows up in their +1's section on their Google+ as seen below.

The content also shows up in the individual's Posts on their Google+ Profile.

It shows up in the user's Stream as well for people in their circles to see.

It also shows up in search results for individuals that are logged into Google+ while using Google Search.

Please also take note of the fact that there is no share option included in a +1 button if it is clicked directly from a search engine results page (as seen below).

Where to Get it: Use a third party share plugin or get it directly from Google here.

GOOGLE+ PROFILE/PAGE BUTTON

This button will direct users to your Google+ Profile or Google+ Page. You can do this with a plain text link using the http://profiles.google.com/yourgooglepageID or your own G+ icon. You can also get it from Google here.

With all the various names, new features, buttons, plugins, and quite possibly Narguls running amok tying our earbuds in knots when we're not looking, it isn't any wonder you can end up a little upside down (I really need to cut it out with the magic and Hogwarts references. It isn't doing wonders for my street cred.). My best advice is to be sure to do your research before adding any buttons or plugins to your business site.

Photo credit: Jackie Kochava
Photo Credit: Picture of Easy Button

Don't Get It Twisted: The Difference Between Social Media Share and Social Media Profile Buttons Mallory

For me getting ripped off is something that I simply will not tolerate. Fortunately, aside from a few slimy individuals my life has been largely devoid of ripoff artists and con men. Recently, however, I was once again hit by what appears to be a fabulous little small time con in the form of paid directories. As an SEO I'm familiar with directories, and most of you that are a little long in the tooth (by internet terms at least) are likely familiar with the likes of Dmoz and the Yahoo Web Directory. Back when Abraham Lincoln was president these sorts of sites were a valuable way to find information.

More than anything these days I think the only real people who use directories are SEOs, and our main purpose is to get our sites links. Most of these of course have no value, and I usually ignore them. However, there are some exceptions, like the aforementioned Yahoo Web Directory, DMoz, Joe Ant and Best of the Web. These sites are human edited and some charge a fee, but the links can be valuable and in some instances can actually be a good value. Aside from the heavy hitters, there are definitely some good industry specific directories when it comes to links. The Abacus Construction Index for example is a high quality directory if you have a site in the construction industry.

Recently I discovered that an orthopedic manufacturing client of mine (who shall remain nameless) had competitors listed on an industry directory called orthopaedicweblinks.com (no I will not give them a link, please copy and paste if you care to view their site).

No report from the editorial team...no listing...

The site offered a "featured listing" for a recurring fee of $24.00 annually , but considering the site had good juice and it seemed to be one of the better links our clients' competitors had obtained, we figured we'd pay the fee and get the link posted in an express fashion (RESULTS NOW!). Well, a month and a half later there's no link, but that Paypal payment definitely went through. I've sent multiple emails asking for a refund or the link to go live and haven't heard a thing in response. I can only imagine there's some lazy slug on the other end who just let's these things slide until they decide to approve a few listings between naps or worse, no longer updates the site at all and just collects fees from anyone who is willing to plop some money down and not check to see if their link has gone live. Hey, at the end of the day it's just a few bucks, it's not like we pulled the big dirty or anything...who's gonna raise a stink over a few bucks?

So long $24. You could have been a nice lunch.

Well, my client could use that link, and the time spent filling out the overly long form and writing this blog post is a waste. And more than a few people are putting dollars into someone's pockets and that, friends, is a shame. Not many courses of recourse aside from canceling future fees and publicizing this whenver it bugs me (here's to you Chris Kyalo, another internet thief. By the way, how fun is it to see my blog about you being a ripoff when you Google your name?).

Orthopaedic Weblinks, definitely a site to avoid. If you've worked with them in the past I would recommend you cancel your recurring payments. If the webmaster is too lazy to post new paid links from people who want the service, I can't image they would make the effort to take links down, so why waste your money?

/end angry rant. I'm actually an exceedingly laid back person, but things like this just rub me the wrong way. In truth, you really probably shouldn't be paying for directories without vetting them a little bit, though that might be difficult at times. SEOmoz once had a good list of directories, though I don't know if it still exists and can't find it at the moment, and Directory Critic can also provide some good insights if you're questioning quality. Either way, be careful before you drop dollars.

Related articles

• Web directory basics and why they are important (knockindownasps.com)
• The Risky Business of Link Directories (hubspot.com)

Dealing With Orthopaedic Weblinks & Other Fraudulent Directories Adam Henige

Netvantage Marketing will be a Gigabyte Sponsor of the third annual LAUNCHED event from 5-8pm on Thursday, December 15, 2011 at Dublin Square Irish Pub in East Lansing. Launched invites Lansing-area business leaders to gather for a celebratory event toasting the recent accomplishments of innovators and entrepreneurs in the community.

"We are very excited to a part of an event that celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit and momentum that our region continues to gain," says Netvantage Marketing Managing Partner Joe Ford.

Keynote speaker Bo Fishback, Co-Founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Zaarly will offer insight on how his upstart online marketplace launched during Startup Weekend in Los Angeles, garnering media buzz and millions in venture funding. Bo Fishback was recently featured on the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine and Zaarly was just named one of the top 20 start-ups of the year by Business Insider.

Min Jung Kim, Deputy Director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, will also discuss culture's impact on local business success.

Tickets are $17 per person and include beer, wine, and appetizers. For more information on the event, directions, and to purchase tickets, visit http://www.launchevent.com.

Netvantage to Sponsor Third Annual Lansing LAUNCHED Event Netvantage

Him:

I know it's been a bit since we talked. Attached is my formal marketing flier.  Which is essentially my web site but with a contact page etc.  What software would you recommend to translate this into a quality webpage with an integrated contact page/ email address?

Me:

As far as your website goes, and I can’t stress this enough if you want to be taken seriously – GET A PROFESSIONAL TO DO IT. If it’s only a 4-5 page site, this should only cost a few hundred bucks. Someone can whip it up for you on drupal or wordpress so you can manage any slight changes yourself, but get someone who actually builds websites to do it. I have never once seen a decent website created by someone who doesn’t make websites, and people will end up thinking your operation is rinky dink because it looks like someone’s 14 year old cousin built it in a basement.

Don’t use any template services or anything either, find a person to do it. Just do a search for WordPress designer in your area and make a few phone calls.  I’ll assume your site will have a layout of:

Home page
Main services page
A page for each individual service (looks like 7)
About us page
Contact page

That’s 11 pages, they’ll probably whip up a contact form for you and buy some stock images. I’d bet you can get something like this done for 300-500 bucks if you ask around (and be sure to see a portfolio first).

The lesson here? DON'T BUILD YOUR OWN WEBSITE.

/End lesson.

Don't Do It Yourself, DIY Is For Home Improvement, Not Web Design Adam Henige