Top Affiliate Marketing Strategies

Anyone who knows what it’s like to make money blogging will tell you one thing: affiliate networks are a necessity if you want to earn anything from your site. It’s also a good jump-off point for bloggers who are just starting out and aren’t yet being approached by advertisers.

First things first, however. What exactly does it mean to be an affiliate? When you sign up for an affiliate program, you agree to drive traffic and/or sales to your partner site in exchange for a commission. Affiliate programs like these abound; some of the most popular ones include Google Adsense, Amazon.com Associates, Clickbank, and Azoogle.

As it stands, affiliate marketing isn’t as easy as it appears to be.  You can’t take it for granted that your readers will click through your ad links, nor can you guarantee that they’ll buy something from your affiliate partner.  If you want to make money blogging, you’re going to have to formulate a strategy that will maximize what your affiliate program has to offer.  Below are some tips that might make affiliate marketing a little easier – and definitely more lucrative – for you.

1. Keep it simple:

The less invasive an advertisement link or banner ad is, the less likely that people will ignore it.  In fact, there’s mounting evidence that flashier and louder ads are ineffective in “convincing” people to click on them.  And in some cases, a blog’s advertisements end up loading too slowly, bogging down the site itself and forcing the blog visitor to wait until all the page elements load successfully.  If your affiliate program asks you to advertise, opt to do so with link ads.

2.  Tie your affiliate program and your blog niche together:

If your site focuses on fitness and weight loss, it’s not a good idea to put up ads for Krispy Kreme donuts or plus-size clothing. Instead, choose ads that are concurrent to your present theme or chosen niche. By dangling relevant offers to your site’s visitors, you give off the message that you care enough about your readers to offer them products that might be useful to them, given their interests.

Sign up for multiple programs:

Don’t just stick to one affiliate program, hoping your fidelity to it will bring you the rewards you want.  In fact, restricting yourself to just one program is tantamount to restricting the amount of money you’ll earn from being an affiliate.  But before you start plugging your blog with all sorts of ads, remember that moderation is the name of the game here.  In other words, sign up for multiple affiliate programs, and implement them prudently on your site.  Use too many on your blog, and you might end up driving away traffic instead of attracting them.

4. Create reviews for products that your readers will be interested in:

What kind of products will your readers be interested in?  Since you’re serving a particular market with your blog, respond to their interests by coming up with product evaluations that can help them make better purchases.  And we aren’t just talking about any old review here – instead, we’re referring to a commissioned review from places like ReviewMe.com, where a blogger can get paid for evaluating a specific product.  Not only do you get to help your readers – you also stand to earn money for your efforts!

Once you’ve got the hang of it, affiliate marketing isn’t actually all that hard. It just requires a bit of strategizing that puts an emphasis on moderation and relevance – namely, posting just the right amount of ads, and ensuring that your offers are in line with your readers’ interests and your blog’s primary topic. Refine your affiliate marketing strategy, and you’ll find that it isn’t too hard to make money blogging, especially as an affiliate partner.

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