How to Start an Affiliate Web Site
As an affiliate, you sign up with an advertiser or seller, promote his product and earn commissions when a user buys through your affiliate link. Setting up your own affiliate website gives you a "hub" where you can earn money and promote as many affiliate programs as you want. The amount of money you earn depends on several factors, including the specific commission level for each product, the quality of the product you're promoting and its sales page.
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Instructions
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Research and pick a topic for your site. Find an area or subject in which you have an interest. Go to online free research tools such as Yahoo Buzz or Google Trends and search for your topic to gauge its popularity. Write down as many ideas as you can for your site and select the one that most appeals to you. Examples of topics or themes for your site could include weight loss or health and nutrition, automobiles, computers or other technology-themed topics. Choosing a niche topic helps your site be more focused so that it appeals to a targeted audience, and less competition may exist in a smaller niche topic than in a broad category.
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Purchase the domain and website hosting. Go to a web hosting company, and use the domain name search feature to look for an available domain. Look for a name that has keywords related to your topic. Select a more common domain extension (i.e., ".com") than a less common one (i.e., ".info"). Purchase the domain name and a basic hosting package.
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Create your website. Install a content management system (CMS) program, like WordPress, Joomla or Drupal, to make the setup simpler than crafting HTML or other Web coding languages from scratch. Design a logo for your site using an image or graphics-editing program. Or, pay a freelance graphic or Web designer to create a logo if you lack the skills to do so. Set up specific sections and pages of your site devoted to sub-topics within the niche.
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Join affiliate programs. Register as an affiliate of products via seller and advertiser marketplaces such as ClickBank, E-Junkie, PayDotCom and Commission Junction. Review the products available. Look at the sellers' sales pages and descriptions of the products. Compare commission levels among the products. Obtain your affiliate hoplink---the specific website address that tracks the sales and earnings you make from the product.
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Write blogs and articles promoting the affiliate products. Read and digest the material from the products' sales page to understand the features and benefits of the product. Translate the material into your own words, and write blog posts that inform and educate the reader about the problem, dilemma or situation that product that you are promoting solves. Place your affiliate link within the blog posts you create.
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Drive traffic to your affiliate website. Take part in forum conversations related to your niche to promote your affiliate site through a forum signature. For example, a "self-help" affiliate might join a coaching or mental health forum, depending on the target audience she is trying to attract. Set up pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns to drive traffic to the site using targeted keywords and phrases that your visitors might search.
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Tips & Warnings
You can post projects setting a specific budget amount on sites like oDesk, Project4Hire and iFreelance to find freelancers for logo and Web design work.
