Affiliate programs are the ideal way to make your web site profitable or monetize it. There is such a huge range of web affiliate programs now available, that there is almost certainly something here that will suit you and your site. Check out our web affiliate programs section for the best information
Affiliate programs offer the best opportunities to start an online business, or to grow and existing one to new levels.
For a new website or business, you can simply place a link on your site and be up and running in no time at all. If you already have a website going, you can literally add new revenue streams in a matter of minutes.
Affiliate Marketing is a popular method of promoting web businesses in which an affiliate is rewarded for every visitor, subscriber and/or customer provided through his efforts. It is a modern variation of the practice of paying finder’s-fees for the introduction of new clients to a business. Compensation may be made based on a certain value for each visit (Pay per click), registrant (Pay per lead), or a commission for each customer or sale (Pay per Sale), or any combination.
Affiliate Marketing Compensation Models
- Pay-Per-Impression (CPM)
- Pay-Per-Click (CPC)
- Pay-Per-Lead (CPA or CPL)
- Pay-Per-Sale (CPS)
Important Affiliate Marketing Abbreviations
- CPA – Cost per Action
- CPC – Cost per Click
- CPL – Cost per Lead
- CPM – Cost per (Mil) Impression (1000 Impressions)
- CPS – Cost per Sale
- CR – Conversion Rate
- CTR – Click through rate
- DRM – Dynamic Rich Media (type of Ad, technology). It has nothing to do with DRM as in Digital Rights Management
- EPC – Earnings per Click / Earnings per 100 Clicks
- OPM – Outsourced (Affiliate) Program Management
- PPC – Pay per Click
- ROI – Return of Investment
- SE – Search Engines
- SEM – Search Engine Marketing
- SEO – Search Engine Optimization
- SERP – Search Engine Result Page
- SID – URL Parameter the Affiliate can pass to get tracked with Sales and Leads
Affiliate networks
An affiliate network is composed of a group of merchants and a group of affiliates. Merchants join the network and affiliates join the network in order to advertise the merchant products in exchange of a commission from the merchant. Affiliate networks present some great advantages for the merchant and the affiliate. The merchant gets potential access to a wide networks of affiliates. The affiliate does not necessarily need to make a certain sale amount for one particular merchant but rather for the entire range of merchants before getting paid.
The affiliate also puts more trust in a network rather than a merchants independent affiliate program. The merchants pay the overall commission to the network. The network then distributes the money to each affiliate who made the sale.
Use of affiliate links
Affiliate links work best in the context of the information contained within the website. For instance, if a website is about “How to publish a website”, within the content an affiliate link leading to a merchant’s ISP site would be appropriate. If a website is about Sports, then an affiliate link leading to a sporting goods site might work well within the content of the articles and information about sports. The idea is to publish quality information within the site, and to link “in context” to related merchant’s sites.
One common use of affiliate links is shopping directories and or price comparison websites. However, these sites should do their best to enhance the web shopping experience. In many other cases, affiliate marketers offer unique content in niche subject areas that they have researched well, and their text or graphic links to a merchant’s site are well placed. This principle works very well in blog website marketing as well.