Why are you participating at Affiverse’s AffiliateFEST 2018 – and what do you hope to get out of attending this exclusive affiliate event?
FW: Affiliates are fiercely competitive. That’s why Google penalties frequently are a challenge to top affiliates. A leading event like the Affiverse’s AffiliateFEST is an excellent opportunity for me to present and share from my unique Google Search Quality experience and to give back to the SEO community in the process. I am looking forward to the Q&A in the Google Penalties presentation as well as to the live audience Q&A discussion on other panels throughout the day.
Tell us bit about your business experience and background and what you’ll be sharing with our delegates at AffiliateFEST
FW: As a senior ex-Google engineer and long time member of the Google Search Quality team I’m able to contribute a unique perspective to the discussions to come. My experiences of last five years consulting market leading sites on technical SEO as a founding member of SearchBrothers.com is greatly complimenting my Google experience which is an advantage to our clients, too.
Please share a brief synopsis of what affiliates can expect to learn from your workshop this year?
FW: The main takeaways include how to deal with a Google penalty and how to avoid them in the future. These are both the top priorities for any affiliate site owner. That having said we will also talk about differences between penalties and algorithms and how to make them for rather than against your site in Google Search.
What have you found are the biggest challenges that small entrepreneurs or solopreneurs like iGaming affiliates face in terms of understanding how to drive traffic in online channels and grow their business to keep up with future trends?
FW: Individual entrepreneurs are not to be underestimated, as they are quite capable of operating successfully large websites. Consequently, they experience similar SEO challenges that presumably large organisations are plagued by. Crawl budget distribution, flawed technical set-up, conflicting signals such as canonicals, poor internal linking, legacy backlink problems: these are but a few common issues entrepreneurs and small business experience too. The good news is however that all of these can be identified, resolved and improved in the process of conducting an in-depth SEO audit.
What do you think the future of Affiliate Marketing looks like and what can the delegates attending the event expect to find answers to – what trends are you currently seeing?
FW: Following trends is a poor strategy, no matter in which area. By definition it puts one in a disadvantageous position. Leading trends instead is a key factor to long term success online. That is why innovative solutions for users, standing out and constantly reinventing and improving the unique selling proposition are all parts of a promising future strategy.
How is your business currently expanding and innovating to keep abreast of the latest digital and regulatory trends
FW: SearchBrothers.com success is largely based on client satisfaction. Peer recommendation and word-of-mouth are great revenue boosters. Keeping up to date with innovations, both in the field of technology as much as policy are of course a must and something that remain committed to by among others attending leading industry events such as Affiverse’s AffiliateFEST. Sharing from one’s own experience and learning from others are crucial.
