An affiliate marketer contacted us after twelve months of mediocre commissions despite publishing 80 product reviews. He thought keyword research was mostly guesswork dressed up as strategy.
We proposed an experiment. Track everything. Document which keywords we targeted and measure actual affiliate clicks plus revenue per article over 90 days.
The data told a clear story. Articles targeting broad terms like "best laptops 2024" generated 4,300 visitors but only $340 in commissions. Articles answering specific comparison queries like "ThinkPad X1 vs Dell XPS for developers" brought 280 visitors and $1,890 in revenue.
We used Ahrefs to find 50 comparison keywords with purchase intent signals. Terms where people were clearly deciding between two specific products. Search volume ranged from 200 to 900 monthly searches.
Results after 90 days: 23 articles published. Total affiliate revenue of $12,400. The highest-earning single article brought $2,100 from just 310 visits because it answered exactly what someone needed before clicking buy.
The skeptic became a believer when his commission dashboard proved that targeting the right 500 searchers beats chasing 50,000 random visitors. Intent beats volume.