Affiliate Marketing: Two "Techie" Skills It Helps to Have

Technical skills are not a prerequisite for affiliate marketing success. Thanks to years of tireless development work done by techies all over the world, it is now possible for a technically retarded individual to make significant cash through affiliate marketing.

That being said, certain techie skills do still pay bills in the affiliate marketing business.

For instance:

The Ability to Write (X)HTML

You can get a simple website up in a matter of hours. Moreover, you can build a simple website into a complex, robust, profitable website in a matter of weeks. Wordpress and SiteBuildIt (SBI) are two very impressive software platforms that prove that exciting premise.

However, even if you use a "point and click" solution like Wordpress or SBI, it's nice to know how to write (X)HTML.

It's nice because, for example, people who can write (X)HTML can customize the preformatted templates that Wordpress and SBI give you, some of which are quite basic-looking. Of course affiliate marketing success isn't determined by how good-looking your site is, but having a good-looking site never hurt anybody, in fact it has helped many people make more money.

It can be brutal when your site looks exactly like 108 other sites because you are using the same template and haven't done any customization because you no speakey (X)HTML.

Aside from the good looks factor, site customization can lead to increased functionality for the user, which can mean higher conversion rates for you.

Develop a working knowledge of (X)HTML if you plan on doing an Internet business long-term.

How to Read a Sitemap

The standard mode of transporting digital files of any kind (articles, pictures, videos, etc.) from your local computer to the Internet is called File Transfer Protocol, or FTP.

Once your files are uploaded to the FTP server, they will be stored in various folders, which are stored in various folders, and so on. Where each uploaded file is stored--in which folder--affects many factors of your website, from download speeds to search engine optimization.

The picture of your website's file/folder arrangement is your sitemap, and you should know how to read it, because if you can't read it, you can't make performance-boosting adjustments.

When you have a simple website, it's easy to keep track of where files are, and it's easy to read your sitemap. You have a limited number of folders, and they just sort of…organize themselves. But as your website grows, your sitemap grows in complexity...and it's easy to get lost.

Study information architecture and you'll be able to build sites with the big boys.

Tools Are No Substitute for Expertise

A licensed contractor can do a lot more with a hammer than a small child can.

Likewise, you can achieve success in affiliate marketing even if you're a technical ignoramus, but you can achieve more success in affiliate marketing business if you know more about the technology that drives your website(s). Get paid like a pro by actually becoming a pro.
It works every time.