Why affiliate marketing?
As a result of the win-win situation were both the merchant and the affiliate mutually benefit a number of affiliate programs have sprang up on the internet giving the internet marketer a wide variety of affiliate choices. One can earn hundreds or even thousands of dollars as a skilled or super affiliate.
Although affiliate marketing has drawn the attention of many online marketers, there has been a lot of questions surrounding this opportunity such as: how do i choose the right affiliate program and what qualities should i look for in a program that will enable me to earn a sustainable income?
I have compiled some useful tips below that will help you to access the quality of an affiliate programs, and help you to avoid wasting your time and money on affiliate scams.
What Commissions Does the Program Pay?
Whether you sell a product that pays high or low commissions, the marketing effort and budget are the same, so it makes no sense in spending time and money promoting a product that pays very small commissions as you have to sell vast quantities of the product, in order to make substantial commissions. Therefore before choosing an affiliate program the first thing you need to know is how much you can expect to earn.
How Much Traffic is their Website Getting?
Try to discover the volume of traffic the affiliate owner’s website is already receiving. A very useful tool for this is called Alexa.com. The merchant is getting a good amount of traffic if the website is ranked in the top 100,000, so it may be a good affiliate to promote. Although this may be a good way to access an affiliate program or product, it is also good to do a reviews research online to see if there are any negative comments associated with the program. However you would need to do quite a number of these to ensure that they are a true reflection of the program and not just someone bashing the program just for the sake of.
How Often Are Affiliate Commissions Paid?
Commission payouts vary with different programs. Payout commissions range from weekly, monthly or even quarterly. This will help you decide on which program will not strain your finances before you start earning especially those you have to be paying a monthly subscription in order to remain active. It is also important that you find out the minimum commission that you have to earn before you get paid.
Does The Affiliate Program Use Tracking Cookies?
Merchants use cookies to track an affiliate's sales. The longer the cookies last; the better the chances of you getting paid, because not many customers buy on their first visit to the affiliate website. Therefore it is important that you know that even if the customer decides to buy at a later date, you get paid the commission payout.
Does the Affiliate Program Pay on Subsequent Sales?
In order to build a sustainable affiliate business you need to be getting recurring commissions, especially from your customers who may have bought from you the first time. It is important that you get paid for any subsequent purchases that the customer makes regardless of whether they use your direct affiliate link or not.
What Marketing Resources Does the Affiliate Program Offer?
The more and varied the resources the better. Good type and quality marketing resources are usually a good indicator of good affiliate marketer support by the merchant.
Finding the right affiliate program for you can be tough to do. However it is not impossible. It is important that you do your own research, follow the tips above, and in addition follow your instincts.
