6 Things To Know Before Joining An Affiliate Programs

So, you’ve heard about people making money on the internet by promoting other merchant’s products in return for a commission – Affiliate Marketing/ Affiliate programs. You’re keen to test the waters but not quite sure how to go about it.

This article is intended to give some pointers to people starting out in this business. Most experienced Affiliate Marketers will already be familiar with the concepts discussed in this article.

There are many ways to making money online such as Google Adsense, Adsense alternatives and of course Affiliate programs. 

Affiliate marketing programs are one of the best ways for a website to make money. Even internationally renowned business will often utilize affiliate programs as a way of increasing revenue.

But before we really got ourselves into any affiliate marketing programs, there are things that we should consider about before joining and here there are :

1. Judging The Possible Response

Any individual or business who is considering using affiliate marketing programs needs to be realistic about the potential of each program.

The first consideration is to determine whether enough people are likely to see affiliate ads on a website, in social media or in emails.

For a website with little traffic, then signing up to an affiliate program is not going to bring in much commission.

In this case, it is best to join affiliate programs that offer very high commission.

2. The Need For Relevance

Websites that have a great amount of traffic can benefit from many affiliate programs as long as they’re relevant to the niche of their site.

Being relevant is a key factor in maximizing potential earnings.

Placing general banner ads will probably bring results, but fine tuning ads to appeal to readers of a specific page will bring even better results.

For instance, a website about music should have more specific rock music ads on its rock pages and more specific hip-hop ads on its hip-hop pages.

3. Choose Respected and Reliable Programs

Use affiliate programs that are respected and reliable.

Be wary of affiliate programs that are new and which boast about the generous commission.

A lot of tried and tested affiliate programs have lasted because they work and pay up on time.

4. Integrating Affiliate Programs

Look for affiliate programs that can integrate seamlessly into a website. An example can be a review of a movie, which includes a link to a DVD for sale of that movie.

Don’t overload a page with affiliate links, even with programs that make adding relevant links easily.

Social media and emails can be used for posting affiliate links, but this is not a preferred way of using them.

By all means, consider affiliate programs that allow this to be done easily, but too many posted ads in one day will just be considered akin to spam by many.

5. Text and Image Ads

Judge how ads from affiliate programs will look visually when placed on a website.

It’s very important to consider this aspect of affiliate programs.

Sometimes text ads will be more effective than image ads and it’s necessary to consider what type of ads are appropriate in which part of a webpage.

Sometimes the subtle approach will work best, but really striking images can also have a great effect.

6. Ease Of Use

Most affiliate programs will be easy to use, but if some programs appear to be too complicated, stick to programs that are less so.

Then after some time when you got more experience, try and use the affiliate programs that are more complicated which involve things like embedding into a website.

When deciding on an affiliate program to join, don’t expect instant riches.

You’ll learn, over time, what works and what doesn’t, but never just pick any affiliate program and hope for the best. Use programs that can be adapted to fit with your own knowledge and expertise.

Are you with any affiliate programs? What are the things to consider before joining one? Let us know in the comments.