Monday, November 21, 2011

Which Affiliate Programs Should I Choose?

By Owen Jones


Obviously, the first filter that you ought to apply to any potential affiliate programs is relevance. While thinking about which affiliate programs you ought to opt for, you have to judge how that affiliate program fits into your web site. The reason for this is that visitors to your web site will expect to see something on the topic matter.

If I Google 'teddy bears' and when I get to the site, there are just ads for rocking horses, Forex and winter cruises, I am not going to be best pleased. The first principle is to offer people what they are searching for - stay on topic.

Does the supplier charge anything? Some suppliers may try to charge you a 'joining fee', a 'registration fee' or 'handling fee' - simply give them a wide berth. It ought to be free to join an affiliate scheme, you should not have to pay to have the right to sell someone else's goods.

In a similar vein, what is the minimum payout amount? A lot of firms will not pay out less than $50, some even $100. This is a rip off. It is a factor to help you choose between one supplier and another - a deciding factor. If you are using three or four suppliers on your site, you may have to earn $300-400 before you get paid out!

Do they charge to process your payment as well? They should not actually, does your employer make you pay to get your wages? It is the same principle. And how often do they pay out, weekly, monthly, quarterly?

Do you like their creatives, that is their banners and other adverts? There is a great deal of proof that the regular, old fashioned banner ad of 468x60 is not very effective any more. Look for variety - boxes and skyscrapers. Otherwise, are you able to create your own?

Do they publish data on how effective their creatives are? What is the average conversion rate for each banner? That is, how many views does it take to get a hit and how many hits to make a sale?

Do they allow you to build a downline? That is, if someone visits your site and chooses to sell orchids too, will you be given a part of the pay out on that affiliates sales? You ought to be.

What is the amount of the average sale and how much pay out will you get on that? Actually, you want to be making at least a couple of dollars a sale; a few cents is no use, unless you are getting thousands of visitors a day.

Create a couple of questions and send them to 'support'. Do they give satisfactory answers? Are they quick to respond? And last but not least, would you by anything from the firm? Does their web site look professional? Is the sales page convincing?

There is such a lot of choice when it comes to selecting a supplier that you can afford to have high standards. Take your time, go for the best, and you are less likely to have problems later.




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