Binary options allow traders to profit, when they predict correctly if a stock/currency/commodity will go up or down. The timeframe for the prediction varies, often from 60 seconds to one week. That makes for a lot of fun and fast-paced action! Binary options, and binary options affiliate marketing, are proving to be the “next big thing” in the world of monetary gaming. That’s why wise affiliates are coming on board now and to grab a piece of the action.
However, there are both external opportunities and threats, and both internal strengths and weaknesses to consider, in order to run successful binary options sites.
The Trust Factor: Binary Options Companies in Cyprus
Since entering the EU, Cyprus has been growing fast as a financial center. On an island of 1.2 million people, 80 licenses (binary options, forex, CFD brokers) employ an estimated 5,000 people. That doesm’t keep into consideration all the companies offering ancillary services (marketing, IT development, etc.).
Cyprus is also a popular hub to setup companies to invest abroad. For example, Russian business-people have been using banks in Cyprus. The European Union, seeing the wide gap between the financial exposure of banks to Greek investments and the economy of Cyprus, asked Cyprus to apply a “haircut” to its bank accounts. The fact that Cyprus is seeing as a tax-haven for German and Nordic business-people may not have helped.
After several changes in guidelines, the decision set on “taxing” high-worth bank accounts. How did CySec (the governmental organisation in charge of licenses financial companies), the Central Bank of Cyprus and binary options/forex companies deal with this situation? They did pretty well.
Some operators already had their funds hold in escrow accounts, often abroad. Even for bank accounts in Cyprus, money held on behalf of other people is kept in escrow, while companies’ bank accounts (used to pay salaries, profits, etc.) are secluded from traders’ funds. Several operators reassured their clients that shaving on their accounts were unlikely, and that even if that would have happened, the Companies would have covered the difference with their own funds.
CySec and the Central Bank of Cyprus worked together with binary options and forex companies, to clarify the situation. The Central Bank did allow the transfer of funds from local banks to foreign beneficiaries, as long as some documentation was filled to prove the transactions were genuine, and not meant to hire assets abroad.
A few operators didn’t really care and went silent. These were the exceptions to the overall well-behaved industry. Traders and affiliates can draw their own conclusions and, based on how operators behaved, decide which businesses they want to patron and which ones are better left behind.
Binary Options, Affiliate marketing, and Traffic Monetization, Post-Penguin 2.0
What do the Cyprus bailout and the new Google Penguin update mean to you as an affiliate? The golden rule applies: diversify your investment and revenue streams. Select some key binary options operators, based in Cyprus, and promote them. Look around for other jurisdictions as well, to geo-diversify your portfolio. Malta does have licensed binary options companies, and there are UK regulate forex companies.
Recommended binary options brokers
Second, keep the interest of your readers/traders in mind. Work only with companies you can trust to pay you and your traders. When you promote a binary options brand, you’re putting your reputation on the line. Choose companies that are prompt in answering questions, from you and your traders. Especially when the situation gets tough. Delays do happen, and among many happy moments trading on a site, there may also be times of uncertainty. Make sure you work with companies which can be reached easily and are honest in their feedback.
Third, try small trades yourself. The more you know about the services you are promoting, the more effective your content and conversion are. Do not assume all traders have the same motivations, behaviours and opinions you have. Some surely will share your views and approaches. So cater to them when you write your honest reviews and keep your site fresh. Some reasons why traders like binary options include:
- They have no hidden fees. This is quite a strong selling-point, compared to over investment opportunities where banks etc. take more than half of one’s profits in fees, some easy to calculate and some more arcane
- Return on investment, or loss, are transparent. With the exception of AAA bonds, very few investment options allow to know exactly the upside and downside of the investment
- Instant gratification. Instead of waiting months or years, binary options deliver their results in as little at 60 seconds
Fourth, do not take shortcuts with SEO. Especially with Google. Build at least two clean, authority sites about binary options. You can narrow the focus, for example one site can be about binary options for commodities, and one for stocks or currencies. Remember to write quality reviews, meant to be read by traders and not only by Google Bot. Update your site at least once per day, there are always fresh news relevant to binary traders! That’s the best part of binary options and forex: to affiliates, they often bring the margins offered by casino marketing, with the advantage of having an endless, fresh source of updates like in sports-betting. You really get the best of two worlds here. Do facilitate incoming links, but not from generic directories, but from other content sites.
Binary options are growing very fast and are very rewarding for the affiliates who are wisely investing their time and resources.