Affiliate marketing is a beneficial partnership between some sort of business and a website owner that assists the affiliate partner in making money by obtaining a commission of the products that are sold through their site. While most people might assume that this is an easy way to make money, it is important to remember that just like any type of online business, it takes a certain amount of skill, time and dedication to make this work.
Two Approaches to Setting Up An Affiliate Site
Contents
When you’ve made the decision to become an affiliate of a specific business, or possibly many, one of the first things that you’ll need to do is set up your site and there are two ways to go about this; resource and review sites.
Resource sites basically offer a wide range of how-to articles or blogs, but they also display banners and advertisements that will draw in possible clients. The articles and blogs can be on just about any topic imaginable; although, they need to be of a high quality otherwise clients won’t visit the site, never mind click on the links. Jon Rognerud says that adding quality articles to your site on a regular basis;
…gives people a reason to return to your site and click some of your money-making links.
Review sites, on the other hand, are much more specific and they tend to be written on niche topics. These sites tend to offer reviews on products that clients can then use to determine what they should and shouldn’t be buying. Reviews can either be submitted by the owner of the site or by those that visit the website; in the end, however, a person just needs to make sure that they pose some value to clients, otherwise they won’t take them seriously.
Pay Per Click, Sale and Lead Opportunities
There are a few different ways that a business can pay their affiliates; per click, per sale and per lead. Affiliates that get paid per click are those that make money whenever a client actually clicks on a link that leads to a business’s website. Those that get paid per sale will actually only make money when a client buys a product or service, while those that get paid per lead make money when a potential client submits their information to the merchant; in these instances, they don’t have to buy anything, but the business will have obtained a potential lead that they could end up making money from in the long run.
Getting Started
In order to pick out a merchant for whom you’ll become an affiliate, you need to find out what you should be looking out for, since not all of them are worth investing in. According to the experts at WP Cash Poster;
I would prefer those that offer good support, those who care for their affiliates.
Obviously having sound support as an affiliate will help you sell their products faster, and this is something that will benefit you and the merchant involved. If your merchant doesn’t really care whether you’re selling their product or not, you could end up struggling to make any money and the entire experience might turn out to be a rather frustrating one. The affiliates also need to be able to track the clients that are directed to them through your site, otherwise you’re earnings won’t reflect the success that you have achieved.
Some merchants provide cookie duration; this is something that actually tracks the information of a potential client and if they return within a specific amount of time, the affiliate will still make a commission from the sale.
Setting Up Your Site
In order to start advertising, you first need to get your site set up and pick the niche that you’ll be working in. Keep in mind that everything you write about will be within this niche, so if you aren’t passionate or knowledgeable on the subject (or if you can’t write well) get someone else to do this for you. Once you have the basics set up, you will then need to start searching for a great product or service to sell.
The experts over at Inscribd.com state the following:
Each network sells different things and you will need to choose products that match the content on your site, or appeal to your audience.
If you’re not sure who your audience is or what they are looking for in terms of information, you’ll struggle to keep them interested when they find your site, so put this at the top of your list. Remember, you’ll need to start working at drawing a lot of traffic to your site to get started, but if you don’t have great content once they get there, your efforts will most likely have been wasted.
Signing Up To an Affiliate Network
When you’re ready to go, you’ll need to sign up with an affiliate network, where you’ll receive your banner image, text link and advertisement that can be placed on your page. Visitors will use this link to visit the seller’s site and this is also how you’re referrals will get tracked. Keep in mind that different sellers offer different amounts in terms of percentages, so make sure you’re aware of this as you go about choosing your affiliate network.
Tips To Increase Your Profits as an Affiliate
Just like any marketing or sales job, you can’t expect to make millions on the first day. In fact, it takes a lot of work and effort to make anything at all, never mind establish a booming business so make sure that you are prepared to put in the work. The next step, according to the Affiliate Marketing Dummies blog, involves trying to make sure that your clients find your webpage;
Once you have a product, then you want to figure out what people type in the search bar when they are looking for a product.
Keep in mind that keywords with a lot of competition will be more difficult to market because you’ll need to put in a lot more time and energy to rank well. On the other hand, too low competition and you’ll most likely have fewer visitors coming to your site. The key is to get a good balance and use effective tools to make them work for you.
Affiliate marketing can be an effective method of making money; you simply need to make sure that you know what you are doing from the moment your site goes live.
