Affiliate Match-up

So you have a web site, you have traffic, you have affiliate links on your site, but you are not making money. What are you doing wrong? There are many factors in creating a successful affiliate revenue earning web site, but one area many webmasters overlook is choosing the right affiliate programs to recommend from their site. Here are a few tips to help you choose the most effective affiliate programs for your web site.

Choose Complementary Products
While placing any affiliate link on your web site has the potential of making money, site visitors are not going to click on a link or banner of something they are not interested in. You can improve how often users click your affiliate link and if they will purchase, if you recommend products/services complementary to your own sites’. That way you know they will be interested in the product. For example, advertising 1-800-flowers.com on a web hosting site may not be as profitable as having an affiliate link for flowers on an online gifts web site.

Just a reminder: Don’t recommend affiliates offering the same service as your site- unless you would rather have your customers go to your competitor. This seems like common sense, but webmasters can be distracted by offers of high affiliate commissions.

Check Out the Competition
If you don’t know what types of sites would complement yours check out your competitors’ sites. Do they have affiliate links? What types of products are they recommending? Study up on the competition and see if you can improve on what they have done to provide better recommendations.

Less is More
When you sign up for affiliate networks, like CJ or Linkshare, it can be exciting to see all the affiliate programs available and the revenue you could earn from referrals. But don’t go overboard and create a “link farm”. Affiliate ‘shopping malls’, where the entire web site consists of affiliate links, are not as profitable as web sites that recommend one good product. Choose one product/service with a high bounty, that you can recommend highly. Then, steer your site visitors to affiliate links through careful copy and design.

As you choose your affiliate programs know that advertisers/merchants are usually willing to increase commissions for top referrers. You will develop a better relationship with the merchants you recommend if you are dedicated to recommending their product from a relative and relevant web site. You will see better results and have higher click-to-sales conversion rates if you choose your affiliate programs carefully.

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