How To Choose The Best Affiliate Program For Your Site

By Tom | Jun 9, 2008

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Everyone involved in affiliate programs win.Internet based merchants are looking for affiliates to help them get the word out about their new products, and the affiliates promote the products for a commission on every product sold.As an internet entrepreneur you should do some research to determine the best affiliate programs for your business.

Where to Look

Affiliate networks are the middle man between affiliates and web sites with affiliate programs. Look for affiliate networks that provide all the tools needed to set up and maintain an affiliate program. AssociatePrograms.com is a popular directory with information about merchants that pay you to sell their wares.

Commission Junction is a free network that offers access to thousands of the best affiliate programs. Commission Junction combines all your affiliate earnings (product sales, on-line ads, links) into one monthly check.

What to Look for

The best affiliate programs will be those that target your customer base. An on-line florist would get little traffic from a pet supply website. You want an affiliate whose business is similar or comparable to your product. Avoid affiliates with low quality products. Ask to speak to existing affiliates to find out if a company is reputable.

Referral traffic may link to the merchant site and not buy initially but return to make a purchase weeks later. Look for affiliate programs that remember your site was responsible for that customer. The best affiliate programs remember you for 60 days by using cookies to tag the customer’s computer when he visits the merchant site.

The best affiliate programs offer reliable support such as ads, logos, and sales advice.Good programs also provide timely updates on click through sales and earnings, and, respond to questions or problems within 24 hours.

Getting Paid

There are three common affiliate payment plans.With pay per sale, the merchant pays when the affiliate sends a customer who buys from the merchant’s site. The payment could be a set amount or a percentage of the sale.Commissions are usually paid per check 30 days after the sale is made, but PayPal as a payment method is also popular.Some programs use EFT, electronic funds transfer, the commissions come directly on your bank account.

In a pay per click set up, the affiliate is paid based on the number of people who visit the merchant’s web site regardless if a purchase was made.

With pay per lead programs, affiliates are paid based on the number of people who sign up as leads. A lead would be a visitor who filled out an information page on the merchant web site thus becoming a potential customer.

Multi-level payment plans allow affiliates to earn commission on sales, clicks, or leads from their sites as well as commission based on activity generated by affiliate sites they refer to the merchant site. Another form of payment is residual commission. Affiliates continue earning money after the original sale has been made. This is common in situations where customers pay monthly fees for merchant services.

The best affiliate programs pay at least 25% commission with some going as high as 50%.Payments should be made at least once a month although some affiliate programs pay quarterly or twice a year.

Honorable Mentions

There are hundreds of excellent affiliate programs with excellent reputations.I can highly recommend the following.Strong Future International which has a 20 year track record and pays out millions of dollars in commissions every year.It is also one of the largest affiliate program in the world with over 10 million affiliates.

The Internet Marketing Center produces high quality internet marketing products and as an affiliate you will earn both high one time and residual monthly commissions.