Affiliate Marketing is a form of internet marketing. Affiliates are people who sell products for someone else, in this case the marketer/company. The benefits of affiliate marketing are that there is not much capital to start with and all you need is something to sell (a product or service). You also don’t have to deal with any inventory which can be costly depending on what it is.
There are many different ways to set up an affiliate program but here we will go over the best ones for beginners so they can get started right away.
One of the very big challenges you face while starting affiliate marketing is finding which affiliate program you should promote. It is but evident that there are so many individual programs to choose from. If you choose the wrong program, it could set you back by months, while the right one could help you make a good amount of money.
In this article, we are going to tell you which are the best programs for affiliates. We will also give you a balanced idea of why signing up for affiliate networks will make more sense than starting your own affiliate program. Read on with us for more information.
What Is Affiliate Marketing Program?
The word “Affiliate Marketing” is quite famous these days, but most people are still confused about the term. Affiliate Marketing simply is a process in which you promote a service or product in exchange for commissions. But, to get commissions, you need to sell the products. An individual or company ties up with a business by making people buy the product of the business and, in turn, gets paid in the form of commissions.
What Are The Qualities Of A Good Affiliate Marketing Program?
In case you are just starting in the affiliate marketing business, you should research a product, service, or company before moving ahead. By accumulating information, you can earn high commission rates.
Easy To Use
The first thing you need to pay attention to while looking for an affiliate program is the ease of use. You should sign up for an affiliate program of networks that give easy access and the chance of earning money.
Products In The Market
Becoming an affiliate for a business that already has products in the market is better than working for those who don’t have one. When talking about products, you have to make sure that the company has multiple products to promote.
Popularity
It is pretty evident that you must choose an affiliate program that is timely and relevant to the present times. Extensive networks get more vendors and buyers attracted. This means your chances of becoming a successful affiliate are also more.
Best Overall Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners
1. Amazon Associates
Amazon is the most popular affiliate program at present. It was the first to launch such a program. It guides many affiliate marketers to earn money; all you need to do is share a link that would lead to a sale.
Since many new products are arriving on Amazon each day, the chances of increased earning are also more. To join, you must visit Amazon and look for the affiliate button. You will then have to create an Amazon account and fill in the required forms.
After creating the affiliate account, you will have to make the associate account which is a challenging process. They will ask questions like which apps and websites you want to promote. You could mention your blog and choose the niches, things you want, and how you wish to drive traffic and online monetization.
The last step will be security verification. Provide your phone number and wait for them to call you. Set up your payment and tax info as that is necessary for payment. After completing all these steps, you will officially become an Amazon affiliate. Insert the terms and search for products that fall under your niche.
Once you find the products, you should click the yellow down arrow on them. By doing that, you will get the link that needs to be shared in the promotions. Amazon may give you long links, but it is better that you shorten them. Short links are less confusing and easy to use.
2. Click Bank Affiliate
Click Bank is a helpful lead generation tool. You can open it and check any product information. To become its affiliate, you just have to create an account. Supply the personal credentials and payment information, and you are well on the path to excellent earning. ClickBank also organizes surveys to make affiliate marketing with them an easy process.
If you want to begin affiliate marketing at ClickBank, you will get guides to help you out. There will be a considerable database resource and information that tells you about the platform.
To find the products you want to promote, visit the marketplace. Here, you can search for the products you like to promote. Also, see some ClickBank recommended products to promote.
Visit their marketplace and find the products you wish to promote. You will be given an average commission for every sale. Once you reach the product you want to promote, the next few steps are easy. Click on the “Promote” button on the page and copy-paste its URL.
Add the link to your promotions so that when a user clicks the link and buys the product, you receive the commission. ClickBank has a higher commission amount as compared to other affiliate programs.
3. eBay Affiliate
The eBay interpretation happens through the eBay partner network. You will get tools to promote their products. On eBay, you work directly with their products and create a strong bond with them.
eBay does not want you to work only for them. This implies that you can be an affiliate and do business with other merchants and programs and make additional money.
eBay has one of the easiest application processes, and you can create an account in 5 minutes. Once you have signed in to eBay, you will have to fill a form with all the related information. Post that, you must search for the products, generate your affiliate link, and even promote the product.
eBay is a low-risk and high rewarding affiliate marketing program. Till now, it is one of the most trusted websites and, therefore, perfect for those who are just entering the program.
4. Commission Junction
Commission junction helped many affiliates earn massive commissions. CJ affiliates get many niches to decide from. Apart from that, you can quickly scan the list of niches and products you want to promote.
To start, you will first have to create an account. Provide all the necessary information and then verify the email account post which you will be redirected to a page.
To have a CJ affiliate account, you must have your own website. Once this is done, you will be sent to the dashboard. In the end, you will have to launch your Network Profile, create a short biography and write how you will drive traffic to the merchant.
On the advertiser’s tab, you can see a list of potential merchants. You can also scan and find how much money you can make, along with how much your responsibility is.
To find merchants locate the search tab on the left sidebar. Input the advertiser and keywords. If the merchant is suitable, you could click on their logo and get a more in-depth understanding of their service.
This includes the business terms and a brief bio.
Now send a request to the merchant. If he approves your application, look for the links and generate the traffic.
5. Rakuten Affiliate
So far, Rakuten has the reputation of being the best affiliate program in the world. But, Rakuten is very selective, and if you break a rule, they will quickly suspend your account.
There is an extensive registration or application process you have to go through. To search for merchants and affiliate links, go to the Programs tab. Find the niche, or you could search for it in the search bar seen in the top right corner.
A critical aspect of the Rakuten affiliate program is that most of the merchants are actively involved in the screening and entry process.
You can have a look at the pros and cons of being a Rakuten affiliate:
6. Pabbly Affiliate Program
Pabbly affiliate program is beginner friendly and easy-to-understand program. Whether it is a newbie or experienced, any person can use it to start earning.
Even the procedure to join is relatively simple. You just have to sign up for free, and everything is there arranged for you on the dashboard.
Pabbly offers lots of marketing products and separate links to share the products. You may promote the products anywhere through these links given on your dashboard. The platforms where you may share the links are websites, articles, blogs, social media platforms, emails, forms, etc.
Pabbly is the only affiliate program where if the user reaches the site through your link but buys another product, you still get the commission. This is because Pabbly uses a single cookie to track the sales for all its products. So, whichever product you promote, you will get a commission on its sale. That means you do not have to keep pestering your customers by referring them to different products.
By using the Pabbly affiliate program, you may earn lifetime recurring or flat commissions. The site has a 30 days cookie policy. This means if someone comes to the site through your link but does not buy anything but comes back within 30 days and makes a sale, you get the commission. Since the payout period is 60 days, if the customer stays at least 60 days, you will derive the commission.
Plus, you get all the information relating to your affiliate in the single dashboard from the affiliate links, pay-out settings, sales, commission details, click stats, etc.
7. Planable Affiliate Program
Planable is a content collaboration platform specifically created for social media teams. They help marketers to develop, approve and publish interesting social media content. It is basically an all-in-one platform that streamlines content creation and its approval.
The Planable affiliate program was recently changed, and now it offers a commission of 20% for the first six months of all active subscriptions you bring.
Signing up is very simple; just go to their website, and you can join.
Their team responds very quickly in case you have a problem. Initially, they send you a few emails with their best resources, brand assets, guidelines so that you know how to get your audience captivated. After that, they will update you each time any new feature or marketing campaign is launched. The cookie lifespan is 60 days. Since the commissions apply to all the available plans, don’t worry about directing the users towards the suitable package.
8. Fiverr
If you sign up for the Fiverr affiliate program, you can promote the biggest online marketplace for services. There are so many different types of services to choose from, like logo design and writing to programming and business services.
And after promoting these services, affiliates earn money from every first-time buyer or sale. The amount of money they earn depends on what type of service is purchased, but it could be as much as $150 or $1,000.
Fiverr is one of the best affiliate programs because it has over 250 categories and 3 million digital services that you can promote. This makes it easy for you to find services to promote, and you can be sure that there is something for everyone on Fiverr.
Additionally, Fiverr is a great program because it offers affiliates the ability to promote individual gigs directly on their blog posts. This gives you more exposure to potential customers, and it makes it easier for them to find the services they need.
9. Bluehost
If you’re looking for a web hosting affiliate program that is both affordable and has high commissions, then the Bluehost affiliate program is a great choice. With their plans starting at just $2.95/month, it’s easy to get started, and the commissions start at $65+.
So if you’re looking for a way to make some extra money online, the Bluehost affiliate program is a great option.
Bluehost Affiliate program gives credit for referrals up to 45 days after the first click. Payments happen on a monthly basis and you need at least $100 to have a chance of getting a payment.
You can boost your conversion rates by promoting Bluehost and you’ll have access to text links, banners that will help them quickly. Bluehost also provides excellent customer services as their managers are ready to help at every step.
10. Hostinger
Hostinger offers affiliates a commission of $60 for every sale that they make. However, if they are able to sell a higher-priced package, they can earn up to $150 per sale. Its affiliate program is a great way to make money, as it is easy to promote and there is a high potential for earnings.
Hostinger provides a number of promotional tools and banners to help new affiliates get started. This includes a 90% discount on their small business and WordPress plans, which helps to increase their conversion rates. Additionally, Hostinger provides support and resources to help new affiliates succeed.
11. WP Engine
WP Engine is a powerful web hosting platform, and one of the premier web hosts for bloggers that write about WordPress plugins and themes. They offer one of the highest affiliate payouts, starting at $200. This makes WP Engine a very lucrative affiliate program for bloggers to promote. Their platform is powerful and easy-to-use, making it the perfect host for WordPress bloggers.
WP Engine’s affiliate program offers incentives and pricing tiers to its affiliates. If you refer five sales, you will receive an extra $100. If you refer ten sales, you will receive $250. In addition, they offer a two-tier program – you will have the chance to earn $50 for any sub-affiliates you refer to its site.
WP Engine has a long cookie duration. With WP< Cookies last for about 180 days. This means that you’ll continue to earn commissions even 6 months after you refer someone to its site.
WP Engine’s affiliate program is one of the best in terms of design. However, it offers costly products, that means you will have a lower chance of conversion.
12. Wix
Wix’s affiliate program is a great way to make money online. With $100 per sale and the opportunity for personalized landing pages in multiple languages, it is easy to get started with Wix’s affiliate program.
13. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is an eCommerce platform that helps businesses create an online store and provides all the features you need to run your business, including payment processing, shipping, and tax calculation.
BigCommerce offers an attractive 200% bounty on their plan’s price, meaning you can earn between $60 and $1500 per conversion. With a 90-day cookie duration as well as banners or text links available for use in your site design to promote their products, it is no surprise why BigCommerce is one of the best affiliate programs for beginners.
14. Shopify
Shopify is a robust affiliate program because it is easy to find new partners and contact them, making it simple to expand your affiliate network. You can also track your success and modify commission rates, making it easy to grow your partnership network. Additionally, Shopify is focused on simplicity and automation, making it a breeze to set up and manage your affiliate program.
15. ClickMaster
ClickMaster website link tracking service pays up to a 90% commission per sale, making it a great choice for affiliates. This high commission percentage means that you can earn a lot of money by promoting their tool. Additionally, their affiliate team is very helpful and can provide you with all the resources you need to promote them successfully.
16. Superb Themes
If you’re looking for a great way to promote WordPress themes, Superb Themes’ affiliate program is a great option. You can earn up to 60% commission on every sale, and you’ll get recurring commissions on a yearly basis. Plus, they have a dedicated affiliate manager who will help you get started. And with a cookie duration of 30 days, you’ll have plenty of time to earn money.
17. Weebly
Weebly is a website builder that is simple to use and has a wide appeal, with over 40 million users. It offers a 30% recurring commission for as long as the customer remains active. It also has a 120-day cookie window, which gives you plenty of time to earn commissions on sales.
What Are Affiliate Networks?
When looking for affiliate programs to join, it can be much faster and easier to join an affiliate network. An affiliate network is a platform where you can view many affiliate programs in one place. It will provide you with access to thousands of programs that match your interests, and you can easily view program rates, cookie durations, average EPCs, and more. This will allow you to find the best affiliate quickly and easily.
Affiliate networks act as intermediaries between merchants and affiliates. They allow affiliates to search through brands and join their programs in one place, and allow brands to reach a larger audience by using the network to recruit affiliates. Affiliate networks also offer other benefits, such as prompt payment and the ability to compare commissions across different programs.
How Do I Choose The Best Affiliate Network?
Choosing the best affiliate network boils down to understanding your strengths and weaknesses, as well as knowing what you want to focus on. Set goals for yourself, then figure out which network will help you reach them the quickest. Once you start running ads or linking out to partners, investigate how different networks work with advertisers.
When looking for an affiliate network to join, it’s important to consider the types of merchants that are available. Affiliate networks can be a great way to monetize your blog, especially if the network has merchants that match what you cover in-depth. Some specialty verticals include fashion and beauty products as well as home goods but there are also B2B-based affiliate programs.
Affiliate networks earn money by charging their merchants. They charge set-up fees, monthly fees, and even a share in affiliate commission. If you come across an affiliate network that is asking you to pay to join the network, you should get alarmed. It may be a fake network.
The average affiliate commission for an affiliate network is usually around 5-30%. This means that for every sale you make, you will earn a commission that is within that range. When looking for an affiliate network to join, make sure to look for merchants with high commission rates. This will maximize your earnings from each sale.
Best Affiliate Networks
Impact
Impact brings top brands and publishers together, giving a great opportunity for affiliates to earn money. Affiliates can join the network, and apply for programs from thousands of great brands including, Uber, Airbnb, Adidas etc.
Impact helps brands and advertisers track the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. It does this by providing analytics and attribution, which gives a more accurate representation of how well a campaign has done. Impact also helps manage affiliate partnerships, influencer marketing partnerships, and business development deals.
Shareasale
Sign up with Shareasale and start earning today! Sharealate has over 3,900 merchants in their network. They also have 1 million+ affiliates. Showing the diversity of their content, they have a number of verticals to promote. These include fashion and home, food, B2B, and more.
Shareasale is one of the best sites for affiliate marketing because it offers features like training courses, webinars and merchant recommendations that help you grow your revenue.
Shareasale is a reliable platform that provides easy access to affiliate links, as well as accurate reporting tools. They pride themselves on being efficient, fast, and accurate while also providing transparency to their users.
CJ by Conversant
CJ by Conversant is an affiliate marketing company that has been in the business for over 20 years. They help process billions of dollars in sales every year through their platform, and they pay out over $1.8 billion to their affiliates annually.
Join forces with some of the world’s biggest brands on CJ and get a piece for yourself. From Overstock, Priceline or GoPro – there’s no shortage when it comes to choosing your favorite merchant.
For this reason it is important that you use creative email outreach techniques in order to be associated with them.
Joining the platform is free and easy. You can get excellent real-time reporting, monthly payments with reliable delivery every month on your doorstep.
Rakuten LinkShare
The Rakuten affiliate network is a company that has been in business since 1996. They are not as large as CJ by Conversant, but they have around 1,000 merchants to choose from, including well-known brands like Ray-Ban, New balance, Sephora etc. Rakuten connects affiliates with merchants in order to promote products and services.
Rakuten is a great website because it has a user interface that is easy to understand. It also has deep linking tools which make it easy to promote your merchants. Rakuten is also very reliable because it has excellent transaction reporting and tutorial videos.
Best Recurring Affiliate Programs
A recurring affiliate program is a program in which an affiliate is paid a commission for selling a site’s product on a monthly basis. This type of program provides an ongoing source of income for the affiliate.
Buzzsprout
Buzzsprout is a popular podcast host that offers a 20% recurring payout. This means that affiliates receive 20% of all the revenue generated from their show for the lifetime of that show. Additionally, they even provide new users with a $20 Amazon gift card to help increase conversion rates. This helps new users get started on the platform, and it also incentivizes current users to continue using the platform.
Loom
For every customer you refer to Loom, you will receive 15% of their subscription for as long as they remain a customer. Additionally, they have a strong affiliate team that can help you promote Loom and earn commissions.
Calendly
What’s not to love about Calendly? You no longer need email back-and-forth when setting up meetings, because it automates everything for you. The Calendly affiliate program is one of the best in business. In addition to earning 25% on all your sales, you’ll also have access to some really great tools and resources.
Travel Affiliate Programs
People are buying travel packages online more than ever before, so why not cash in by becoming a travel affiliate? You can make money by recommending hotels, travel packages and airlines to your visitors. You get a referral fee from each sale that they purchase through you.
The more you customize your travel website, the better. With the Hotel booking sites integration, you can choose specific destinations and showcase properties that interest.
Travel review sites can be a fun way to create a unique experience for your readers and offer an endless supply of customizable options. By providing links to specific vacations and hotels, you can give your readers a one-stop-shop for all their travel needs. Payments are made when visitors check out of their hotel or upon booking, so there’s no need to worry about losing out on potential commission.
TripAdvisor
The TripAdvisor affiliate program allows you to earn commission by referring people to their site. They offer 50% commission, and the cookie duration is 14 days. This means that you will get credit for any sale that occurs within 14 days of someone clicking on your link.
Expedia
The Expedia Affiliate Program is a great way to make money online. You can use their brand and link directly back into travel packages, rates (and even hotels!), which gives you an opportunity for increased exposure while also earning some extra cash in the process.
Expedia secures access to inventory, including packages and rates. The brand claims that it features leading conversion rates while each qualifying transaction made through a link gives you an opportunity for share in revenue (varies up 12%).
Hilton Affiliate Program
If you’re a travel blogger or marketer, the Hilton affiliate program provides you with access to valuable tracking and reporting tools, as well as commission rates of 4% on hotel bookings (with a 7-day cookie). This commission rate is available in 104 countries, making the Hilton affiliate program a great opportunity to reach a global audience. As an affiliate, you’ll also have access to the Hilton global and local support team for guidance and advice on how to get started. So if you’re a travel blogger, Hilton’s affiliate program is definitely worth checking out.
Conclusion
Affiliate marketing is not very easy. You will have to work very hard to attain success. Start with seeking more information, read blogs, view vlogs to get the hang of the things and how they work. Once you have all the required expertise, you will have to finalize which platform to choose. Hopefully, the above details would give you the requisite guidance to decide the best options to explore.
