Affiliate Marketing Blog: An Interview With Someone You SHOULD Know

Don't take me posting two interviews in a row as me being too busy to expose more of my successes and failures, just take it as a good thing - I'm not bitching about stuff ;-)

I heard about the i-level affiliate SEO and content surgery from the mighty Matt Bailey and thought it'd be worth finding out more about the event and the person behind it - Judith Lewis, so I fired her off a few questions and found her responses intriguing and enlightening.

Hi Judith. Give us a quick run down of who you are, what your background is and what you do at i-level.

I’m one of the Search Directors here at i-level but I work across a variety of different departments as we offer fully integrated solutions so my expertise in various fields helps me work within several different departments.

One thing I love about your blog - SEO Chicks is its down-to-earth nature. I often say that a blog should be like having a conversation in the pub - are you really that much of a "hip chick" in real life? What do you get up to away from SEO and i-level?

If you ask my husband, all I do is network when I’m not networking :-) I got online in 1986 and I have to admit that I have had experiences with trying to be someone I’m not online. I got it out of my system and now I’m completely me online and offline (though I try and not swear as often online as I do offline)

If you're like me, you'll have a million and one ideas to blog about, how do you sift through what is useful, what is entertaining and what could offend those in our industry? Do you care?

I do care that I’m adding value somehow. Sometimes it’s just my thoughts about what is happening, sometimes it’s about conferences or new trends. I also write regularly for Technology Weekly so no matter how many ideas I have, there are never enough.

Talking about SEO. I love all these people that bang on about links as if they're the most important invention since Marmite. When you first beginning reviewing a client site where do you start? In-bound links, internal navigation, title tags, scope of content, coding errors, positioning, competitor sites? And why?

I like to start at understanding a clients marketplace and keyword targets. Then I like to look the site over with a technical eye which as I have been doing this for years will include a peek at title tags and meta descriptions. You *MUST* get the basics right first and that means the coding is correct, the title and descriptions are unique and contain a call to action as well as keywords, each page has a focus and the site has a theme.

Once you get the basics right you can look at link building, baiting, competitor sites and the like. If a spider can’t crawl your site, or if you’re trying to target the same keyword in each page, there is no point in adding to the mess., Clean it up then start getting fancy.

I'm amazed that many SEO's still recommend each other. Here I am, MD of an SEO Agency openly recommending that affiliates turn up to your event. Why do you feel that SEO's regularly recommend their "competitors", are we a particular breed?

I think at heart we’re mostly engineers and as such, we don’t feel threatened by competition. Rather it is something we recognize as offering something we don’t, or don’t have time to, or simply don’t work in that vertical. I think we do need to present a unified front to CMOs and the like and embrace the diversity of the agencies around us.

I see you're offering an SEO Surgery for Affiliates but what place do you feel hands-on, Q&A-style events should play in the improvement of affiliates' SEO knowledge seeing as there's just so much miss-information on the internet?

The misinformation out there at times upsets me so much. I am passionate about helping everyone do a better job at their SEO because at the end of it all, everyone will have clarity, focus, excellent build and understand user intent. It makes the web easier to use, celebrates diversity and enables a small jewellery seller to compete with HR Samuel.

Which part will be most interesting - your's about SEO or Matt's about technology in the affiliate space?

I think they will both be interesting to different people :-) I would say that though, wouldn’t I?

You obviously look at many affiliate sites on a daily basis, what would be the most-common mistake you see people making?

Not adding value. That’s the biggest mistake. Thinking you can slap anything up there and let it ride and make a million. Being a good affiliate can be like a full time job at times. You need to add value, differentiate yourself and stand out.

I have a friend who blames me personally for the quality (or lack thereof) of the search results in the travel vertical. That’s not a vertical I play in but it is one I pick on regularly as giving excellent examples of SEO gone wrong and thin affiliates and bad results.

I see many affiliate sites using technology to build a database of offers or products which are often very similar to others in terms of the content and structure. Do you also feel that many affiliates don't do enough differentiate their offering or their content?

Yes :-D

If you could highlight the biggest revolution (event or technology) in the past year for Affiliate SEO what would it be and why?

London A4U Expo. I’ve chosen a conference which may seem weird. I could have chosen update Vince which favoured brands or new ways of getting reviews on sites but I chose a conference. Why? I feel that A4U Expo brought together in London some of the best names in affiliates and SEO and get them together and they SHARED and didn’t hold anything back. It was the most amazing thing to be a part of. I haven’t been to the London CAP event so I can’t comment on it but A4U Expo London was revolutionary.

I'm a big believer in the future of behavioural advertising for online retailers. But what impact do you think that'll have on affiliates? Is it an opportunity or a threat?

Behavioural targeting creeps me out a bit but then again it might be my surfing habits :-)

I think that looking at peoples patterns of behavior is a mistake for a few reasons. One is that I am a very complex person. What you se doesn’t touch on all things I’m interested in nor do I surf the web looking at the medieval re-enactment sites I’m interested in, fantasy book sites or technology sites. If you fail to serve me an ad about a new steam punk computer because I’ve never shown an interest then you’ve potentially lost that sale and possibly that brand awareness.

Is it a threat? Depends – brand awareness is key. If you can get out there, build trusty and awareness within a niche, it could make a huge difference to your sales but the key is exposure - early and often.

Many are saying that Facebook is diminishing as a marketing channel in favour of Twitter. Would you say they're correct, or do different opportunities exist with each of them?

I think different opportunities exist in each market. Each one is used in a different way, at different times. Understanding how people utilize Twitter differently from Facebook is going to be key to leveraging both those channels effectively.

Time though is a factor and possibly the most critical one. Do not try and engage over social media unless you have the time. If you start and abandon it can look as though your presence has been removed from the web and you are possibly no longer trading. Perception is critical – make sure you get it right.

Now I know you love your chocolate, perhaps as much as I do. But if you were a chocolate, which would you be, and what would Matt be?

If I were a chocolate I could be a "Frrozen Haute Chocolate," a blend of 28 cocoas, including 14 of the most expensive and exotic from around the globe. The dessert is infused with 5 grams of edible 23-karat gold and served in a goblet lined with edible gold. At the base of the goblet is an 18-karat gold bracelet with 1 carat of white diamonds. [Ed: I best get one of those (on expenses) to review :-)]

The sundae is topped with whipped cream covered with more gold and a side of La Madeline au Truffle from Knipschildt Chocolatier, which sells for $2,600 a pound. [Ed: Someone want to tell them to do a html version of the site and ditch the flash?]

It is eaten with a gold spoon decorated with white and chocolate-coloured diamonds, which can also be taken home.

I think Matt Bailey would likely be an Espresso truffle – looks innocent but packs a powerful punch ;-) [Ed: I bet he doesn't look good in a pink bow like my reviewed Espresso Truffle (see link)]

And finally the details for the Affiliate Surgery, where and when is it and how do affiliates book to attend?

The surgery is May 26th at the i-level offices here in W1 Fitzrovia from 5pm – 7pm. You can email matt-bailey@i-level.com - he’ll be giving away tickets until there are none. We’ve got limited capacity but if the demand is there we will add more seats if we can. You can ask right up to the day but I won’t guarantee that there will be spaces that late ;-)