So Many Affiliate Programs! Which One Do I Choose?
August 29, 2007 | Author: Eve Lester | Filed under: Business Advice
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With so many companies you can sign up with, it can get confusing. One thing you do not want to do is sign up and participate in too many. This is because of several reasons; for one, if you are part of five affiliate networks you will have to reach the payout amount of each one, and the more you join the less attention you can give it.
Before you choose a program you will need to do your research, see what companies they promote, their pay schedule, and see what other people are saying about them. I recommend keeping a log of all the companies you look at with the basic information; how many companies are in the network, what is the payment threshold (how much you have to make before they send you a check.) and any other information you can get.
You should never have to pay to join a affiliate company, the ones that make you pay are not as reputable as the free ones, like Commission Junction, Likshare, and the like.
You will also need to find out when they issue checks. It varies with each company, some will pay weekly, others monthly, and even some that pay every quarter, etc. Pick the one that fits you and your needs don’t think automatically that the ones that pay every quarter are bad, sometimes it is nice to get one big check than a bunch of little ones!
Look at the company’s merchant list (you may need to go ahead sign up at several to get an insider’s look before you pick one) and take a look at some of the merchant stats, in particular the “hit per sale” ratio. This is a number showing the average number of hits to the affiliate link it takes to get a sale – this is based on all affiliate statistics, so do not rely on this too heavily. The image below shows a total of 50.57 earned in the last 3 months, per 100 clicks.
However, your experience could be completely different, you could make less, or you could make more. It is all about how you use the program and target sales.
You will also need to check how long referrals are tracked in the system, you can check this under the specific merchant page, you will be looking for something worded like “cookies help in system XX days” or “Action referral Period” here is what this looks like at Commission Junction.
The longer the better, as some people will not buy the day they click on your link, and you want to get credit for them finding the site or product through you first, so if the expiration date is 45 days, you have 45 days for that person to make a sale. The biggest downfall to this is the ‘cookie cleaning’ that a lot of people do, if they clear their cookies in the next 45 days, you will not get credit. Not much we can do about that.
Now take a look at the programs stats, make sure they offer detailed stats, and the ability to choose dates, merchants or links etc and see how every part of your links perform. An impressions is counted when someone views the page, like you are reading this now and that counts as an impression, now if you saw a product or service you liked and clicked on it from here, that would be a ‘hit’. That hit can then turn into a sale, or even a lead.
The difference between a lead and a sale is pretty simple, if I refer you to the Jumpline.com Web Hosting,they have 2 types of commission, one is for a lead, which just means you go to their website and fill out a request for information form, that then qualifies as a lead and I get 5.00 without you buying a thing. However, if you go there and take the offer for 3 months free, or any other offer, that is a sale and I make commission.
Find out if the affiliate company has a affiliate program themselves, and how to take part, as well as how much you can earn from referrals. Some pay you a flat fee per every person you refer, others will pay a percentage of that that affiliate earns, and surprisingly, there are some affiliate companies that do not have an affiliate program themselves.
These topics do not cover every part of choosing a program, you need to do your part in locating the best program for you and your site. If you follow these guidelines while picking, it will make everything a lot easier.
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3 people have left comments
It is really hard to choose the right affiliate program that suits your to your taste. I have sign up in a number of affiliate program and so far it is doing me good. If you want you can check my blog for the list of all my affiliate programs. It is under the related links of my blog.
Thanks for sharing!
That is true about affiliate marketing.
I would like to refer you to 1webindex affiliate programs, is a nice resource for articles about affiliate marketing, methods and market.