Want to know which affiliate program is right for you?
There are some things that need to be done before we decide to join an affiliate program. Come up with some questions that you will want to get answer for, and do a little research about the program selections that you attempt to join. Think about what you will want to fulfill later, this will be decided by the answers that you get.
The number one question that you want to ask is about cost; whether or not there is a charge involved in joining the program. Although some affiliate programs do impose charges, most that are being offered today don’t demand you to pay in order to take part. The fact that most of these programs are free does not indicate a lack of quality in the programs. Therefore, there is no basis for us to prefer the paid over the free program. Moreover, there is also no basis for us to join paid affiliate program if both programs do offer the same quality. Even though both paid and free affiliate programs do offer quality that is on par, you may want to look at another factor that are offered by paid but not free affiliate programs. A lot of paid affiliate programs do offer benefits, such as passive or residual income, that you may be interested in.
Each program is also different in their method of commission check distribution, which is another aspect that you want to evaluate. Some programs distribute their checks on a monthly basis, and others on a quarterly basis. Depending on your individual preference you want to select the one fit in to your payment time choice. Keep in mind that many of these programs do set a minimum commission amount that you must meet before they can release your check.
As an affiliate, your job is to drive traffic to the merchant’s site. Therefore, you want to know how much traffic needs to be generated before you can start seeing sales. This is called hit per sale, an essential statistics in affiliate marketing.
The merchant’s tracking system is another factor to consider. How does the merchant track affiliate’s referral? How long do they keep their data? Can you honestly say that you can can be confident on their tracking system? You need to be confident enough on the program’s tracking system because this is the only way you can get credit for a sale. Furthermore, the time period that the visitors stay in the system is also important. Some visitors do not buy initially, but may want to return later to make the purchase. Will you still get the credit for the sale if it is done months after their first visit?
What about the availability of affiliate stats? Whatever program you pick should have the ability of offering detailed stats. Detailed stats such as impressions (the number of times your visitor view the banner or text link ad), hits (the number of clicks produced by your visitors), and sales that have been generated from your site. This is crucial to know in order to assess the effectiveness of your effort in sending traffic to the site. This information should also be available at all times online anytime you desire to check them out.
Besides commissions on sales, does the affiliate program also pay for the hits and impressions? This is another significant factor to examine, because a program that pays for these impressions and hits will add to your bottom line. You especially want to know this if the program you are looking at offers low sales to be able to hit ratio.
What about the company background and history? The more research you do the more you will know about the company. You need to know whom you are doing business with, whether or not the company you are looking at is a solid company. Study their offers, find out the average amount they have achieved so far, and decide whether or not the program is really for you. The more you know about the company the better it is for you. This can only be done by performing as much due diligence as you can.
Is the program a one or two tier program? A single tier program pays you only for the business you yourself have generated. A two tier program not only pays for your business but it also pays you a commission on the sales originated by any affiliate you sponsor. This is done through monthly membership fees that each affiliate agrees to pay when they join the program. The sponsoring affiliates will get a portion of these monthly fees. With this kind of program not only you need to be successful in originating sales, you also need to be successful in training your sponsored affiliates. This needs to continue along your downlines in order for you to be able to build a successful and effective business. Each affiliate success will depend on the success of the affiliates they sponsor. Some people may not like to be responsible for training the affiliates in their downlines; and therefore, they would prefer to join a single tier than two tier program. However, if training is done successfully, and your sponsored affiliates are able to duplicate your success, you will acquire the benefit of passive or residual income from your sponsored affiliates.
Lastly, what is the amount of commission paid? Most programs pay about 5% – 20% commission, but some others pay even higher commission percentages. The programs that do pay for impressions don’t commonly pay much at all. .01% – .05% is the amount paid for each hit. From these figures you understand why it is crucial to know the average sales amount and hit to sale ratio.
These are just some of the questions that need to be answered before you decide to join any affiliate program. Before making your decision you need to familiarize yourself with the many primary aspects that the potentially chosen program should have. The answer to these questions can help you in opting for the right programs out of the many that are available out there.
