Data aktualizacji: 29.03.2022

The key to success in increasing the revenue of online publishers lies in well-chosen affiliate programs.

Do you want to learn how to monetize your online activities? Join affiliate programs (partner programs). We present how to choose them skillfully and what tools you should use to increase online revenues.

Best affiliate programs – what programs to join

The key to the success of online publishers in affiliate marketing is properly selected affiliate programs. Thanks to the fact that the publisher will join programs corresponding to the subject matter they address on their communication channels, they will be credible in the eyes of the recipients. So, it is a basic thing that should be taken care of at the beginning of affiliate cooperation if one wants to benefit from it.

What does well-chosen and best affiliate programs mean?

First of all, the affiliate programs in which we participate must be consistent with the subject of the blog, YouTube channel, fanpage or any other website we run.

If we publish content on sports, we should be interested in affiliate programs that enable the promotion of products and services related to sports. Those are: all sports equipment, sports clothes and shoes. Also, food products for athletes, supplements and gym tickets.

However, sport is a very broad concept and it happens very often that we are specialists in a specific sports field, e.g., in mountain biking. In this case, the affiliate programs in which we participate, should give the opportunity to recommend products that we know best. In this case: mountain bikes, equipment and parts for these bikes, bicycle clothing or bicycle gadgets.

On the other hand, if we specialize in bicycle trips around campsites in Europe, we should also be interested in all affiliate programs offering outdoor equipment. Such as: specialized backpacks, tents, sleeping bags and other products useful during such trips. Bookstore affiliate programs will also be very good in this case, because they offer guides and maps. Although, if we deal with the topics of long travels with a bicycle, it is very likely that affiliate programs of various types of carriers (airlines, ferries, railroads) that allow for the transport of bicycles will also fit perfectly into specific entries, posts or videos.

The possibilities of affiliate cooperation are very wide. Even for very narrow and niche topics you can easily find thematically consistent affiliate programs. It is enough to approach the topic creatively and we will not run out of products and services to recommend, on which we can earn.

Best affiliate programs – tools

Well-chosen affiliate programs are the first step in affiliate cooperation, but there are several other factors that determine success. Depending on how you operate or want to act as a publisher, you must choose the tools you will use to recommend products within affiliate programs. The tools determine the way you place recommendations and advertisements on your platforms, which is why it is so important to choose the right tools for your activities. And, as a publisher, you can choose from:

• affiliate links
• product widgets
• xml files
• banners
• discount codes

Best affiliate programs – use the potential of affiliate links

Affiliate links are the simplest and most popular tool in affiliate programs. Affiliate links can be used in many ways. They work great in any online space: blogs, thematic and discount websites, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and all other social media. The affiliate link can be published as an active link or attached to any text, graphics or logo. It can also be sent in e-mails or via any messengers. You can learn about all the possibilities of affiliate links in the entry on earning on affiliate links.

Best affiliate programs – make your websites more attractive with product widgets

Product widgets are another very simple tool that can be used on blogs and on all websites. They are especially perfect for thematic websites, where they can be an interesting graphic addition to the website. Widgets are a great alternative to banners.

We cannot implement widgets on websites where we do not have access to the webpage code. So, we will not paste the widget on YouTube, Facebook or Instagram. More details about widgets can be found in the post about earning with widgets.

Best affiliate programs – support promotional campaigns with banners

Banners are still very eagerly used in affiliate programs. In particular banners supporting all promotional campaigns, organized by advertisers. If we skillfully integrate the banner into the content published on our website, it becomes an attractive complement to it. However, you should remember not to overload the page with banners, as it will always have the opposite effect to the intended one. In the first place, it will discourage users from clicking on them. Most likely, it will also make them leave our site quickly. You will learn how to skillfully use banners from the entry on earning on banners.

Best affiliate programs – full offer of stores on the website, thanks to xml files

XML files are a slightly more advanced tool that is mainly used by search engines and product comparison engines. Thanks to xml files, you can present the full product offer contained in affiliate programs. In order to be able to use xml files, it is necessary to have an IT system that will convert the xml file into a graphic image on the website. This means: a photo of the product with its name, price, full description and special features.

Best affiliate programs – what determines success

So, we have selected affiliate programs that are consistent with our interests and we know which tools we will use to promote affiliate program offers. But this is not yet the decisive factor in successful affiliate cooperation. In order for the recipients of the content to appreciate the knowledge they receive and buy recommended products (because thanks to this, we will receive a commission on sales), it is important to remember about such issues as: credibility, trust, consistency and commitment.

Best affiliate programs – build credibility and trust

Credibility in the eyes of the recipients of the content is the most important element of online sphere. Without it, we will not be able to build an engaged group of recipients, and without the involvement of recipients, we will not monetize our space.

We build credibility gradually, thanks to the publication of content that fully explains the topics we deal with. By building the position of an expert in a given area, we systematically gain credibility. Our recipients become convinced that they can believe us and do not have to dig through other websites in search of answers to bothering questions, because they find them with us.

Therefore, if we decide to cooperate in affiliate programs, we must remember that our recipient and meeting their expectations are still the most important. So, you cannot start recommending only products or services as part of affiliate programs, for commission, because this may arouse suspicion of our readers. It is still worth analyzing and suggesting all possible solutions and products, even those that we do not earn directly from. It is worth leaving users to choose which offer they will use and only discreetly suggest, what is best in our opinion. It is better to turn a loud scream into subdued prompting. Thanks to this, we will not lose credibility. We will gain trust and thus effectiveness in partner programs, because recipients who trust us will definitely come back to us for further tips.

Trust does not come overnight; we build it laboriously for months and years.

But you must not get discouraged by this, because the trust built in this way pays off and works for us also in affiliate programs for the next few years. And we will achieve real trust when we convince the recipients that our overriding goal is to provide them with reliable, proven and factual information. Of course, on the subject of our website, blog or YouTube channel, it is.

Thanks to the work we will do, our recipients do not have to spend time looking for information on the web on a given topic, because they find it with us. So, they save time, and time is the most valuable currency today. Everyone has too little of it. So, if thanks to our reliable transfer of knowledge, our readers save time, we can count on them to give us their full trust and to follow our suggestions and recommendations without hesitation.

Best affiliate programs – keep your messages consistent

If we want to be an influencer today, we must act comprehensively. Usually, we do not limit ourselves to one medium. At the same time, we operate in several social medias and write a blog or run a YouTube channel or run a thematic website. This is because each channel allows us to reach a different audience. Although we provide the same content thematically, the manner of its delivery differs, depending on the channel.

The most important thing is not to get lost and to maintain the consistency of the messages we convey. With regard to affiliate programs, the products we recommend on individual channels should also come from the same product group, if we recommend products from several affiliate programs. The best solution in this case is to create thematic product lists. Thanks to this approach to recommending products, we will avoid the situation that recipients will accuse us of recommending different products in each channel. This may be perceived as a lack of consistency and being driven only by the desire to profit.

Best affiliate programs – build an expert position

We measure the engagement of our recipients by the amount and quality of their reactions to the published content. The greater the position of an expert, the more trust our users will place in us and the more willing they will be, to actively react to what we post on the web. The more they react, the more widely what we publish and what we recommend will be heard. This is the most important thing to achieve success in affiliate programs, i.e., to earn money on affiliate cooperation.

Best affiliate programs – test tools and creative locations

And the last, but also a very important factor influencing the results achieved in affiliate programs. The location of affiliate activities (i.e., links, widgets or banners) in the published content has a great impact on effectiveness. Very often, small changes can bring huge benefits. That is why it is important to test the form of presenting the products/ services we recommend and the place where we recommend them. You should never get discouraged after the first unsuccessful attempts. By testing various forms and places, we actually figure out our recipients, learn their habits and test their expectations.

If our users are used to a large amount of content on our website and mainly spend their time reading, it is best to incorporate affiliate links into the text. If we focus on the graphic message, affiliate links can be attached to any graphics or photos. We can also add a CTA button: “check”, “see” or “buy” and attach the activation link to it. You can add a description to the photo or collage of products and include affiliate links in the description. You can integrate a static or dynamic widget with products into the content or place a banner in the right or left column of the website. You can create a dedicated subpage with products recommended under affiliate programs. You can also post affiliate links on social media, because perhaps this channel will generate the most revenue.

There are many possibilities, so do not limit yourself in your activities. It is worth testing all the possibilities and choosing the most effective ones.

Best affiliate programs – what to consider when choosing an affiliate network

Before deciding which network to participate in as a publisher, it is worth taking an interest in the experience of individual affiliate networks. Those that exist longer, as a rule, have already developed extensive cooperation with advertisers, and also have some proven, often proprietary tools, for promoting products within affiliate programs.

Be sure to check how many and what types of programs the affiliate network offers, because most networks have a specific profile of operation. There are networks specializing in financial affiliate programs. Others offer programs exclusively settled in the Cost Per Lead model. Ours operates on the e-commerce market and mainly support affiliate programs of online stores.

It is worth knowing the specific advertisers that affiliate programs are run for, so we can make sure that we find brands consistent with the topics we deal with.

Best affiliate programs – pay conditions

The terms of publisher remuneration for affiliate programs are always determined by the advertiser, not the affiliate network. Depending on the billing model offered by the advertiser, the publisher may receive a fixed rate for the generated action. For example, for encouraging users to fill out a registration form on the advertiser’s website. In this case, it will be the CPL (Cost Per Lead) model. In our affiliate network, the main billing model is CPS (Cost Per Sale). The publisher is thus remunerated for a commission on sales that will be made at the publisher’s request.

There are many hybrid reward models, that is, models that combine several ways of reward.

Very often if we achieve good results in affiliate programs, we can negotiate the terms of remuneration. This means we can receive a higher remuneration than the standard set in the terms of the affiliate program.

Internet activity is a network of connected factors, some of which arise from the other. Nothing happens without a reason though. There is no single recipe for success in affiliate programs because there is no one recipe for any success. Success is also a relative term. There are publishers for whom several thousand zlotys per month are still unsatisfactory and work hard to earn more on affiliate programs. For others, a few hundred zlotys is a very satisfactory amount, because they treat this way of earning as a hobby. Nevertheless, regardless of what expectations we have for earning on the Internet, if we consider all the above-mentioned factors and gradually develop them, it is possible to achieve the results we assume to be within our own capabilities.