Affiliate Marketing: The Future is Bright, but is it right for you?

Affiliate marketing is a great place to go when you don’t have products to sell of your own. It can also be handy if you do but just want to make some extra cash. The issue is it isn’t as easy as just slapping a banner up on your site. You need to be very selective to which programs you allow on your site. This will be a direct reflection of you so you want to make sure the merchant has a good business name. Check their feedback and see if their customers are happy with the products and services they have received. You don’t want to have any negative publicity attached to your business. You also want to make sure you are dealing with something relevant to what your site is all about. If you have a page with content articles about pottery you don’t want to affiliate with a rental car company. You would stick with companies that sell clay, pottery tools, craft paint, or types of already made pottery.

Just because a merchant has a large name for his or her self and the affiliate program could be profitable, doesn’t mean you should do it. You could not put this link on your site with out confusing your visitors if it holds no relevance. If you would like to take that affiliate program you should build a new site and start from scratch. This would take some of your time to build but it is much more appropriate. You also wouldn’t generate much money off of a site that sells rebuilt computers if you are promoting herbal remedies. Stay with merchants that are content specific. Even if the overall commission is lower, it will generate you much more money and repeat business in the long run. Be rational, what are the chances one of your herbal customers needs a rebuilt computer at the same time they are purchasing herbs?

Once you have figured out if a program offer is relevant to what your site contains, choose a web site with high ranks on keyword searches. The higher the ranking on a specific search engine, the higher the traffic that will be generated. This will also mean that this is a popular program, which is what you are looking for. You have found that site that will help you build a good affiliate relationship. Now it is time to contact your affiliate manager. This person will work with you to establish an account with said company. It is there job to be helpful and affective as well as respond back to you quickly. The affiliate manager should also be willing to go that extra step to make sure you have long-term success.

Make sure that you have all the ideas you have been working on all set up. Have your URL and make sure your site is up and running. By the time you get the site in order and it is generating a decent amount of hits you will be ready to talk with the affiliate manager. You will be able to show them what a benefit you are to their company and how you can help them gain more consumers. The more consumers you can attract for the merchant, the more money you will make as well. It is not a good idea to set up a page and then just act. You need to make sure that you are getting the volume of traffic you need to get someone to join an affiliate relationship with you. This can be a very lucrative investment. But it will require time and patience to get off the ground. Don’t expect instant success over night the minute after your site goes worldwide.

There is a good chance no one will see you right away. Not to mention it will take you a few months to add all your contact articles in the appropriate places. Use this time to build up your content and keywords to see what generate the most hits. Once you have finished the site and it now only requires maintenance then it is time to collect your data. This data will be able to inform the affiliate manager about how many visitors per minute or day you have. What your current search engine ranking is for the keywords. It will also let them visit your site to see if what you have done is relevant and will pull in business. The closer you are to what they want the better off you will be.