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FEATURED ARTICLE ON AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
Choosing the Best Affiliate Programs for Your Website
By Justin Hallman
Which company has the best affiliate program? How do I choose
the best affiliate program? Can you help me pick an affiliate
program? I am often asked these questions. And, the answer many
people expect is : the program that pays the most. However,
the point that many rookie affiliates miss is that just because
mortgage, gambling, and credit card programs are paying the
most per sale or per lead doesn't mean that you will ever make
any money promoting their products. In fact, the overwhelming
majority of affiliates never earn a dime. Most are lured in
by the promise of easy riches, discover that it's not so easy,
shortly thereafter, and then give up before ever earning their
first paycheck.
So, how do you earn that first paycheck from an affiliate program?
1. Pick an affiliate program that fits the theme of your site.
This is obvious, but as I stated above, many people are lured
in by the temptations of quick and easy money from higher paying
programs. You should never have to change the content of your
website to match your affiliate program, either. Make the programs
work for you, not against you.
2. Choose a program that pays per sale over per lead. Some affiliate
programs pay a percentage for every sale made and some affiliate
programs pay per lead, or a certain action taken by the prospective
customer, such as filling out a loan application. The per lead
programs seem like they should have the higher conversion rates,
but this is just not true. I've repeatedly had more success
with pay per sale, rather than per lead. My theory is that people
are bombarded with these forms and applications and sales pitches
everyday, so they tend to block them out. Time is extremely
valuable, especially in today's society. To get credit for a
sale with these programs, people must invest time that they
simply don't have or don't want to use signing up for these
offers. It is much easier just to buy something online, than
it is to invest time online doing work. That's why information
products sell so well online, despite the fact that many times
the information for sale is available free online, if you have
the time to spend gathering it.
3. Pick an affiliate program that offers a wide variety of items
for sale and preferably, one that offers dynamic content ads.
You should always pay attention to what's hot and don't be afraid
to rotate items that you promote. Just because something sold
well yesterday, doesn't mean it will sell well today or tomorrow.
If you run a website that promotes books, for example, you would
probably want to rotate into your website ads promoting the
current week's bestsellers. Visitors to your site will thank
you for the fresh content, even if it is an advertisement. The
easiest way to do this is with an affiliate program that delivers
dynamically generated ads based on your established criteria.
4. Choose a well-known merchant. Trust is a very important factor
in converting sales. More times than not, a customer is going
to buy from the merchant that they know and recognize. Many
smaller merchants will increase the percentage they offer to
affiliates as a way of try and drive more traffic to their site
and to promote their brand. Not surprisingly, many of these
merchants come and go. It's safer and more profitable to go
with the big names. You're also more likely to get paid (and
on time!) by these merchants.
5. Pick an affiliate program that sells products that you have
tried and like. If you have had a good experience making a purchase
from a company, see if they have an affiliate program you can
join. It is much easier to promote a product that you like,
and your product endorsement will come across as more authentic.
And, if the visitor to your site tries and like the product
as well, you gain instant credibility and trust, which will
lead to future sales.
Hopefully, these tips will help you when deciding which products
to promote on your site.
About the Author
Justin Hallman writes for www.publishprofits.com |
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