Today’s post from Kim Willington will help you choose the best affiliate partners for your needs.
Affiliate programs can help you to make a lot of money with your blog over time. However, not all affiliate programs are created equal. You can put affiliate products on your site and see no sales, or you can suddenly start seeing dozens of sales a day.
In order to ensure success, it is important to choose the right affiliate program for your blog. Here are a few tips for evaluating affiliate programs to choose one that will lead to success:
Quality of Product
Of course, the product is the most important focus of the affiliate program. What is the reputation of the product? Is it a quality product that solves a real problem or provides real value? Is it of interest to your readers?
Good affiliate programs will offer products that are related to your niche and that have a good reputation for quality construction and for offering value. When you have such a product to promote, it will almost sell itself.
Dependability
If you have a quality product, it won’t matter if the seller is unreliable. Perhaps the seller has a bad reputation for taking too long to ship, or maybe customer service is poor, or maybe returns are a hassle. Once customers learn about this reputation, they will stay away and will purchase the product from another source.
Make sure you research the reputation of the affiliate program before you choose it. You will be betting your own reputation by linking it with the affiliate.
Price Point
How much your product costs will significantly influence sales, and how much commission you earn will significantly influence your return on investment. Your product needs to be available at a price that is competitive enough to get more sales but still high enough to offer you a good commission.
If other sellers offer that same product for less money, your customers don’t have much reason to buy it from you. Similarly, if the product only offers you a 5 percent commission, it may not be worth your time to promote it.
Tracking
You make money on affiliate products by getting credit for referring customers. This information is tracked through an affiliate ID cookie. Many programs put a cap on how long that cookie is good for, and once it expires, you no longer get credit for that sale.
You should look for affiliate programs that offer dependable tracking methods that last for longer periods of time to ensure that you get proper credit for sales and that you can maximize your commissions.
Choosing the right affiliate program is critical to finding success with making money on your blog. Choose the wrong affiliate program, and your opportunity for sales will be wasted. Choose the right affiliate program, and you can see your income soar.
How did you choose the affiliate programs on your site? Share your tips for success in the comments!
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Kim Willington is a freelance writer and researcher for Helpdesksoftware.org, where she has recently been researching help desk freeware. In her spare time, she enjoys antiquing and taking long walks with her retriever, Spencer.