Choosing an Affiliate Program
You may have heard of them before or may this is your first time. Either way, what you should know about associate programs is that they are one of the best ways for you to earn money through you website. The schematics of an affiliate program are simple: a company has a service or product that they want to sell; you send them customers that are interested in what they have to offer; they give you a percentage of all sales arising from purchases that your referrals made.
There are a number of things that you should be aware of when looking around for an affiliate program to sign up for. The obvious things are details such as how much the program pays per lead, what revenue share you would receive, or what the requirements are for you as an affiliate and whether or not you are eligible. The less obvious aspect of an affiliate program is the merchants' conversion rate. Some affiliate programs promise amazing payouts, along with great affiliate tech support, but what if no one is interested in buying form them? What if their product is undesirable, their service untrustworthy, and their reputation shot? I can guarantee that you won't see much cash flow if that's the case.
Choosing the right associate program starts with picking the right industry and product. Once that is identified, you need to find a reliable merchant that's proven to have relatively good conversion rates. Choosing a branded product or service allows you to advertise something to your viewers that they are already familiar with making them more susceptible to clicking on your ads, whether it's to go ahead and buy something or just to learn more. A good branded product makes your job as an advertiser a whole lot easier.
If you're looking for comparison chart of various industries, here's one that I borrowed from Choice-Affiliate-Programs.co.uk. Maybe this will help you make up your mind as to which direction to take with associate programs.
Affiliate Program Payouts
based on Industry |
| Books | 5%-15% |
| Casino | 25%-50% |
| Clothing | 5%-10% |
| Computers | 2%-10% |
| Dating | 15%-30% |
| Magazines | 10%-20% |
| Real Estate | 10%-25% |
| Toys | 5%-10% |
| Travel | 2%-15% |
Learn more about casino affiliate programs.
