Datafeedr is a new service for affiliates that enables non-techies to quickly create very professional looking, SEO-friendly datafeed affiliate stores.
The stores are based on WordPress, and anyone familiar with WordPress is going to find creating one of these stores a breeze.
A WordPress blog is easy to install anyway, so if you’ve never done that, don’t be put off.
You can have one store, dozens of stores – or hundreds.
Although you’re creating an affiliate datafeed store with Datafeedr, you don’t have to touch any raw datafeeds. Datafeedr, produced by Stefan Everaet and Eric Busch, cleans up yucky, messy datafeed files and converts them into beautiful looking web pages. Your job in creating the affiliate store is mainly choosing what you want and pointing and clicking.
You can use Datafeedr either to build a brand new store or add a store to an existing WordPress blog. The step-by-step instructions and videos show you how.
Stefan and Eric can build one of these stores in about 10 minutes. You’ll take longer. You’re going to want to do some keyword research and thinking about the niche, the products, the categories, etc. You may also want to keep in mind choosing products that will appeal to Christmas shoppers.
You can add as much original content and as much personality as you like to keep the search engines happy.
What I love about this service is that YOU are in control of all the details and customization. So you build a store that is truly unique.
For example…
– You can combine products from different merchants across different networks in one store. You choose the over-all theme of your store.
– You name the store’s categories and sub-categories. You don’t have to rely on datafeed categories that aren’t named the way you want them.
– You choose which affiliate networks to use. UPDATE: You can now choose from Shareasale, CJ, Linkshare, ClickBank, Pepperjam, Bridaluxe, Pepperjam, AffiliateWindow, AffiliateFuture, Google Affiliate Network, and more. That’s a HUGE selection of merchants and products.
– You choose which merchants you use.
– You can use search criteria and add exactly the products you want in your store. It all helps make your store unique. You can set up new pages highlighting specific products for PPC in time for the Christmas rush. You use your own domain name and hosting. Your store is not part of a “mall” – unless you choose to create one.
– You can have one store per domain or create sub-domains for dozens of stores. It’s your choice how you do things.
– You choose the customization options. More options are coming.
– You can add AdSense ads if you wish. You can add widgets.
– You can add modules promoting other products. So if your favorite affiliate product doesn’t have a datafeed, you can still promote it in your store.
– You can promote your OWN products if you have them.
– Single products can be embedded in blog posts to make them stand out.
– You can drip feed products into your blog, so the search engines – and visitors – think your blog is being updated regularly.
– If you’re a WordPress enthusiast and want to use your favorite WordPress themes and plugins, that’s fine. Go right ahead. The Datafeedr plugin works with any well designed WP theme.
You have an amazing range of choices. For example, when I looked, I could choose from among 261 Shareasale merchants that have datafeeds, 321 merchants from CJ and 155 merchants from NetShops. And you don’t have to go hunting for datafeeds at those networks. [UPDATE: There’s more choice now.] Datafeedr finds them for you. However, you will have to join any merchant whose products you want to promote.
The Datafeedr instructions, videos and FAQ should tell you all you need to know, but in case you need it there’s an active support forum where you get any questions answered.
Datafeedr has been in beta mode for several months. It’s been properly tested.
It was initially available for $97 a month but Stefan has addded several lower subscription plans to make it affordable for anyone who wants to try it. Depending on the plan you choose, you can create 1 store, 5 stores, 10 stores or an unlimited number of stores.
Here’s something else that’s handy… You can subscribe to a search. When you do this, products will automatically be updated and new products meeting your search criteria will be added to your store.
It’s YOUR store on your domain, under your control, so you collect all the commissions.
Who’s it for?
Datafeedr will best suit affiliate marketers who are already comfortable with creating WordPress blogs and promoting them. If you don’t know how to create a WordPress blog, you COULD learn here, but it’s probably not the best place to learn those skills.
Pros and cons
First, the downside… I wonder if the simplicity of the store-building system will attract affiliates looking for pushbutton solutions – newcomers who don’t realize that for best results they need to do keyword research, think carefully about exactly what their visitors’ want, create good, original content and get links to their store.
Also, you have to join every affiliate merchant you want to promote. Some approvals are automatic but some can take a few days.
Datafeedr has heaps of advantages, such as the speed with which you can integrate a professional looking store into your blog. Power users will be attracted by the fact that you can build an unlimited number of stores very quickly.
Anyone who already owns a bunch of WordPress blogs and wants to add stores to them quickly, is going to love Datafeedr.
Because you can build each affiliate store quickly, you’re freeing up time you can use to promote them.
I’ve known Stefan Everaet, one of the guys behind Datafeedr, for years. He specializes in providing very good products with excellent support. The forum support for this service is excellent.
With up to 100,000 products allowed per store, you have lots of opportunities for long-tail keywords to win rankings in search engines. You can also quickly build target pages for PPC. That’s going to be specially important as Christmas approaches.
Watch the video to learn more about Datafeedr