If you are looking to join an affiliate program, you may benefit from the following steps that can help you to determine whether or not a particular affiliate program is suitable for you.
Things to consider before joining affiliate program.
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If you were the customer, would you buy products or services that you about to advertise as an affiliate? This may sound like a hypothetical question but in my opinion this is very important question and the answer to it determines your interest in the products/services. If you can step into the shoes of customer looking for particular product/service, you will be able to understand better to what extend the customer will go to determine the “true” value of the product and the best way to purchase it.
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Look what kind of links your advertiser offers you to help you to promote their products. Sometimes you will be able to create links that will link only to home page of advertisers website. It is always better to find advertisers that will offer so called “deep linking”, allowing you to create affiliate links to particular products and services instead just to a home page.
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Consider the conversion rate. Many companies have affiliate managers who oversee the affiliate programs. Thy will be happy to provide you with statistical data of how well their websites tend to convert visitors into customers. This information is of particular importance to you if you will be employing pay per click advertising to promote your website.
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Payment schedule. Some advertisers will not send payments unless minimum threshold is reached. Amazon, for example, will not issue payments unless an affiliate earned $25 in one quarter. Also some companies, like Amazon, will pay their affiliates only once a quarter.
The above steps are important but if you use them, let them be as starting points in examining particular affiliate program. After you have joined an affiliate program there is one more step I would recommend to take, if possible: make a test purchase. Choose the cheapest product or service and make a purchase. This will accomplish tow things atone time. If, after you purchased a product, you see in your reporting that commission appeared in your account, your affiliate links are working properly and your advertisers reporting is not compromised.
Affiliate marketing is challenging but yet it is very rewarding at the same time.