What to Look for When Choosing an Affiliate Network
Usability and Accessibility
When you’re looking for an affiliate network, make sure you go through their website. This is because, as a blogger, you are recommending these products to your users and if your consumer visits the website, he or she should have a comfortable and flawless experience. So, make sure you go through the website as a consumer before you recommend it to your users.
It is Mobile Friendly
Most of your followers use mobiles to go through various websites. In fact, more than 90% of users use mobiles for almost every online task. This is why it is important that the affiliate network you choose is mobile friendly and also runs smoothly on other devices.
Their Reputation
Reputation is the key when you start an affiliate program. Your followers are trusting you on the product and it is your duty as an influencer to give them the best. So before jumping into any affiliate programme go through the website’s product reviews and customer experiences. This will help you understand if you want to recommend those products to your followers.
Their Competitors
Now, this may not seem like a very important factor when you’re looking for a way to earn money from your blog, but it makes a huge difference. Considering an affiliate network, you have to make sure that it is a well known and trusted website among its competitors. This is because a website with low consumer-base will not bring much traffic to your affiliate links.
Niche
As a blogger, you have to focus on promoting products that link with your niche. For this, you should choose an affiliate program that focuses on your niche or an affiliate network that covers various different niches and gives you the option of focusing on your product. This is a very important criterion and must be focused primarily because you are going to promote these products on your website. If you cannot inculcate these products in your blogs, there won’t be any use of it.
Network Reach
While choosing an affiliate program, do not forget to go through their service area. There are several affiliate programs that only work for a definite region or country. So, for example, when your main audience comes from India and you choose an affiliate program that works for the American audience, it won’t do you any good.
So always look at the affiliate network’s serviceable areas whenever you decide to go for affiliate marketing.
Niche Saturation
As we discussed above, the niche for your blog is very important. If you’re looking at blogging as a permanent money-making thing, make sure that you choose something that is scarce and is in demand. Els
Take fashion, for example. It is highly in demand niches but is already so crowded. From small-scale bloggers to highly rated movie stars, everyone is a part of it. So if you want solid income from your blog, make sure you portray something that is minimal in the market.
Advertiser Relationship
Affiliate marketing is all about the strength of the advertiser-affiliated relationship. As a promoter, you need to be sure that you are investing your time into a program that can yield long-term results. Moreover, it is not possible to update everything if some changes happen so make sure you are investing in something that is reliable and maintains quality.
Commission
The commission is a very important part to consider when you are looking for an affiliate network. You’re choosing affiliate marketing to earn money through your blog, so it is a must that you get the best from it.
Compare the commission rates of different affiliate programs and decide which one can maximize your profits. And if the deal is worth the work you’re going to put in for promoting the product.
Different affiliate programs offer different commisions and sometimes offers extra money who bring more customers. When choosing an affiliate program, make sure you get the best from your deal.
Commision Bonus
Many affiliate networks offer commision bonuses with new or repeated customers. Some as go up to give 100% extra if you cross a limit of customers. So when looking for an affiliate network, always go through these bonuses and how much you can benefit through them.
Commissions can be very beneficial, especially when you are a blogger. Affiliates usually offer many bonuses to encourage bloggers and website owners to divert more customers to their products and as an intelligent blogger, you should take complete advantage of it.
Payments
Now, that you’re done with the commission part, the next step is to focus on their payments. How do they pay? How much they pay? And what is the minimum payment? How consistent are they with their payments.
To determine the answer to the above questions go through the different review blogs and see if the company keeps their word. It is important to be sure that the program has a good reputation as an affiliate program. Get yourself acquainted with the program before you jump into it.
Payments Methods
Determining how much they pay and how frequently they, it is also important to see how they pay you. Usually, the affiliates pay through Paypal or any other money transfer source. Some also offer use online bank transfer or checks through the mail. You have to be sure that the payment method suits you and if it is versatile.
Some affiliate programs are much more diverse and offer more than one payment option. So if you are looking for something more flexible for yourself, you need to consider the affiliate network’s payment method.
Top 10 Best Affiliate Programs & Networks in India
1) Clickbank
Clickbank is a global affiliate program that partners various digital marketers to promote their products to more than 200 million customers. It claims to offer as much as 75% commission to give their products the best marketing platforms. Here is a little brief about their services-
- Deals in various different types of products. There are around ten thousand different products to choose from.
- You can get as fast as a week and earn credit even if your customer doesn’t buy the product until 60 days.
- If your customer has a subscription, you get a monthly commission on it as long as the customer remains subscribed to the program.
- You can earn around 1% to 75% commission on a single sale depending on the rate set by the vendor. The maximum commission that can be earned is $150.
- It offers higher commissions than most of the other affiliate programs.
- The website is easy to use and monitor.
- There is no fees for registering as an affiliate.
- Low payment threshold, as low as $10.
- It is a little difficult to find the right product.
- Their features and sale analyses are pretty basic for complete monitoring of your income.
2) Amazon Associates
Amazon is one the most renown online business in the world. It is trusted by billions and is reliable as an affiliate. Here are a few features of the Amazon associates (Amazon’s affiliate program) –
- Millions of products to choose from.
- Easy and free account creation.
- You can earn up to 0.2% to 12% commission on different types of products.
- Available for online businesses, blogger and influencers.
- Payments are made 60 days after the advertising period.
- It is free to set up an affiliate account and the steps are easy to follow.
- More than millions of products to choose from as per your blog’s niche.
- Affiliate tools are easy to use and fulfill your every requirement.
- Payments are on time.
- There is not much diversity in the payment options.
- Commission vary extremely and can be very low.
- You won’t get paid in case the customer uses any voucher or other available discounts.
ShareASale is another global affiliate network that has been offering affiliate marketing program to thousands of online businesses. All you have to do is fill up a detailed form including your website details and other personal contact information. Here is a brief of ShareASale affiliate program –
- Payments are made at the 20th of every month.
- The minimum payment threshold is $50.
- There are a number of payment methods including check through the mail and online bank transfer. You can always change the payment method in the settings.
- A huge number of niches to choose from depending on your preferences.
- The website is extremely easy to use and the navigation is flawless around the website.
- The reporting features are accurate and always stay updated.
The payment threshold is a little high for many bloggers as it is not easy to attain $50 in a month.
The website doesn’t send update emails if a merchant closes their affiliate program.
4) Shopify Affiliate Program
Shopify is emerging as a strong affiliate network. Shopify offers easy registration and link generating tools to promote the product on different platforms. Here is a brief about the Shopify Affiliate Program –
- You can sell directly through Pinterest, Instagram or through your own website.
- There are several paid advertisement options provided by Shopify. The minimum starts from $9 to as much as $299 per month.
- Payment threshold is $25 and they pay as fast as twice a month.
- You can earn up to 70% of your sales.
- You get to choose from a number of different products. This helps you get the right product to promote on your blog.
- It supports almost every social platform and you do not need a website to join it.
- Its fast and secure use and recommend to your followers.
- There is a subscription fee that may not be comfortable for many affiliates.
- There are many additional charges before you can withdraw your payout.
- There is no flexibility in payment methods.
5) Leadpages Partner Program
Leadpages is a successful market for lead generation tools. They house around 40,000 marketers to help them improve their business. A brief about the Leadpages Partner Program –
- You earn 30% royalties for the recurring commission on all the sales.
- Easy to use tools and advertisement generator.
- Since leadpages has its own hosting, you don’t need your own website for the promotion program.
- You have to subscribe to one of their plans to start an affiliate.
- It creates professional beautiful landing pages for your promoted products.
- A large number of products and solid third-party integration.
- Great customer support and services.
- I can impact your SEO by creating codes on your landing pages. It is a real downside of the Leadpages Partner Program.
- To use their free services in their blog giveaways, you have to individually download them with your email.
- Their prices are on a little higher side for many bloggers.
6) CJ Publisher’s Affiliate Program
CJ Publisher’s Affiliate Program focuses on integrating publisher and advertiser relationship. They give equal opportunities to both of them in order to yield the best results from their efforts. A brief about the CJ Publisher’s Affiliate Program –
- You can create a free account as a publisher (affiliate).
- Give your website URL in the sign-up form to get approved.
- You can earn up to 43% publisher commission.
- Get paid through online money transactions.
- It is reliable and the customer support is fast.
- Payment options are available in the affiliates home currency.
- Application approval is easy and fast.
- The payment threshold is high.
- In case the payout is less than the threshold, you can only hold it for six months.
- Some amount can be deducted in case the merchant rejects a sale.
7) Bluehost Affiliate Program
The Bluehost affiliate program is one of the best for Indian affiliates. It lets you signup for a free affiliate account and monitors your sales through their up-to-date analytics. Here is a brief of the Bluehost Affiliate Program –
- Free signup for Bluehost Affiliate program.
- You can get Rs4000 for direct referrals.
- You earn through the sales made by your links.
- Depending on the sale, you can earn from $65 to $120 per sale.
- It is very easy to signup with just 1-click registration.
- Their packages are affordable than most of the other website hosts.
- You can earn directly on referrals.
- Since its only for web hosting, it is a little difficult to attract customers as it is a very crowded niche.
- They have limited payment options.
8) Maxbounty
Maxbounty is one of the most successful affiliate programs that pay the highest commission to their affiliates. There are several ways to maximize your profits with Maxbounty. Here’s a brief of the program –
- They deal in a number of niches including education, travel, and games.
- You can $1000 if you earn $1000 in your first three months.
- You get weekly payments without any payment threshold.
- There are a number of payment options including Paypal, check, Intercash, E-check, ACH, Wire, and bitcoin.
- High Payment
- Good customer support
- Weekly payments
- It is a little difficult to get approved as an affiliate
- Has very strict policies regarding affiliates.
8) eBay Partner’s Program
Ebay is also a well-known online market for various products, new and old. Like any other affiliate program, you earn when someone clicks on your link and makes a purchase. Here is a brief about the eBay Partner’s Program –
- You can promote the product on any digital platform, including social media.
- You get paid when the customer makes a purchase within the twenty-four hours of clicking on the link.
- You get paid through Direct Deposit or Paypal.
- Payment threshold is $10.
- More than a million choices to choose your product from.
- Fast and reliable payment methods
- Low Payment threshold
- Difficult to get approved
- They do not have distinct commission rates.
10) Chikitha Partners Program
Chikitha Partners program displays advertisements on your blog and lets you earn through the traffic you divert to the advertiser’s website. Moving on to the brief overview of the Chikitha Partners Program –
- Free signup to create a publisher account on the website.
- Payment threshold is minimum $50 for a month.
- Pays through Payoneer only.
- You can choose your advertisement type according to your niche.
- A number of niches to choose from.
- Easy navigation around the website.
- Payment threshold is high
- Payment methods are less.
Get On With the Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a very good source of income for many online businesses. It helps them bring funds to their account and also give their followers solid and trusted recommendations. Affiliate marketing may seem like the easiest option to earn money through your blog, but it doesn’t come without work. Invest time and efforts into the program and then only you can get the best out of it.