How to Choose The Right Affiliate Marketing Program

There are questions you should know the answers to before you join an affiliate program. Do your homework since a little research, about the choices of programs you intend to join, will make the difference for your success as an Affiliate Marketer. Get the answers before joining so you will be confident about your chances of succeeding.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Understanding of the affiliate marketing process.

1. Affiliate Program Financial
   
   What are the upfront costs for you to join? There are so many affiliate programs that are absolutely free to join so do not begin your affiliate career with those that charge you anything to join.
   
   Find out when the commission checks are issued? Each affiliate program is different by issuing their checks once a month, every quarter, etc. There are also policies within each program for the threshold, or amount of commission earned, before they send out checks. Others have policies of generating different types of payments, such as with a credit card or through PayPal, before they issue your first commission check. Understand the policy requirements and choose ones that are suited to your payment needs.

2. Affiliate Program Hit Per Sale Ratio
   
   What is the hit per sale ratio? How many times does your banner or text link need to be hit, according to the average of all those marketing this particular affiliate, before a sale is made? This average number is very important and must be known ahead of signing up for the program. This will determine how much traffic you must generate for this link before you can earn a commission from the sale.

3. Affiliate Program Tracking
   
   All referrals from your marketing sites are tracked. Know how long they remain in the affiliate program's system? This is the only way that you get credit for a sale. There are many visitors who click from your marketing sites and do not buy the first time. When they return later to make the purchase be sure that the tracking gives you the credit. If subsequent sales are made by the same visitor those should also be credited to you. Know if you will still get credit for the sale if it is done some months from the initial visit. The period of time the visitors, generated through your efforts, will stay in the system is very important.

4. Affiliate Program Statistics
   
   What are the kinds of affiliate stats available? These include how many impressions, hits and sales are already generated from your site. (Impressions - the number of times the banner or text link was viewed by a visitor of your site. A hit - the one clicking on the banner or text links.) The more details about the performance of your marketing efforts the better you can monitor which ones are working and what needs to be deleted or fixed. These statistics should always be available for you to see online anytime you decide to check them out.

5. Affiliate Program Hits and Impressions
   
   Does the affiliate program you are researching pay for the hits and impressions along with the commissions on sales? It is important that impressions and hits are also paid, as this will add to the earnings you get from the sales commission.

6. Affiliate Program Retailer
   
   Who is the online retailer you are doing your Affiliate Marketing? Are they a solid company, well known by many, with a good variety of product and or services offered? The more you know about the retailer the easier it will be for you to know if that program is really for you and your site. You should also visit the retailer' s site to view the products for yourself.

7. Affiliate Program Tier Program
   
   There are one tier or two tier programs. A single tier program pays you only for the business you have generated. A two tier program pays you for the business, plus it also pays you a commission on the on the sales generated by any additional affiliate you have referred to this particular program. Find the program that seems like it will fit into your style of marketing.

8. Affiliate Program Commissions
   
   Most importantly know the amount of commission paid? 20% - 80% (and some cases, 100%!) is the commission paid by most programs. Most digital affiliates, those who offer products for immediate download usually pay 50% or higher. .01% - .05% is the amount usually paid for each hit. These figures show how important the average sales amount and hit to sale ratio is.

Tips & Warnings

• Use these question to start your Internet Affiliate Marketing career. As you become more accustomed to the process you will understand why each of these aspects are important for your success.

Resources

• How to Implement The Top Three Tips For Internet Affiliate Marketing
• How to Create A Successful Landing Page
• How to Avoid Common Affiliate Marketing Mistakes

[CaseyCarlton]

on 10/4/2008 Good tips. 5 stars. Thanks!

[bar10dr98]

on 9/30/2008 Thanks, this article really helps explain affiliate programs!

[flor2729]

on 9/30/2008 I always wanted to know more about affliate marketing, but I did not know how it worked. Thank you for a great article explaining every area of it.

[toby30]

on 9/30/2008 Excellent things to think about. It'll prevent many from being "stuck" in a losing program - let alone investing unnecessarily. Thanks.

[LivnLovnNLernn]

on 9/30/2008 I didn't understand how "Affiliate programs" worked. But now I'm starting to understand. Thanks.