AFFILIATE
PROGRAMS
What They Are &
How They Work
by
Christian Taylor
The Ultimate Web
Traffic Resource Centre
Affiliate programs allow
other people (third parties) to advertise your product on their website
usually via text or banner links which you have supplied. Interested
customers then click on one of these links and are brought to your website
to view your product or products. If one of these customers purchases a
product, the third party is then paid a commission due to the fact the
customer originated from their website. The larger number of affiliates
you have in a program, the more exposure you get over the internet.
To
start an affiliate program you can use an affiliate management company
(example: Commission
Junction) or run it yourself. To do this you will need the appropriate
software which will sign up new members, hold banners, tracks hits, sales
etc.
If you wish to sell other peoples' products, you can of course join
affiliate programs yourself. Some programs will even give you a free
site/page based on their product which usually includes your name and
email address. This is quite handy if you don't have your own web site.
When
joining programs the most important aspect is the product. If you choose a
bad product, it won't sell and, worst of all, it will be bad for your
site's reputation. Customers go back to sites where they received good
products, service and value. A few other things to look for are:
- the program should be free to join
- commission payments should be paid monthly
- must be able to track people coming from your site
- decent text link and banners supplied
If you are thinking of joining a number of affiliate programs, I would
advise strongly in purchasing affiliate manager software which will save
you much time and hassle. For more information on affiliate programs,
please visit my web site and go to the Ultimate
Resource Links page.
Christian
Taylor
The Ultimate Web
Traffic Resource Centre
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