Today with so many affiliate programs flooding the internet and a large number of them getting added everyday, selecting the right affiliate program(s) for you can be quite a daunting and confusing task.
In this situation the best thing to do is to make a list of affiliate programs that appeal to you the most. Then take a few notes about the various features of each program. Be as critical as possible. In this way you will be able to quickly compare various programs that you think might work for you. If you are unsure about anything, be sure to ask a few questions.
How much does it cost? Most of the online affiliate programs are free, because it doesn’t costs them that much to have you do the advertising and send the referrals to them. Then they will pay you depending on the their requirements. Many affiliate progams pay out as much as 50%.
How do they pay? Most of the time there are 3 statistics from which to choose the company: sales, hits and impressions. A sale is considered whenever someone on your website clicks an affiliate banner or text ad and goes to their website and actually makes a purchase. Hits are simply clicks on your banner or text link and impressions are the number of times someone views the links. Generally the average sales are paid from 20-50%, hits are .01-.05% and impressions very little because you need 1000’s of them to count. Not every one pays for the hits and impressions. Find out what their average hits to sales average is by all affiliates.
How do your referrals get tracked? How do they track your referrals coming from your website, and how long do they stay in their system? Is there a method for you to track your referrals to their site and do they continue to give you credit if the referral doesn’t buy right away, but may do so later on, even months away?
What about statistics? Are you able to login to their website and see various details pertaining to your account? You really want to be able to keep a close eye on them so you can evaluate your results and also allow you to see if your advertising is working or do you need to improve it.
What about commission checks? How often and when are you paid-weekly, monthly or longer? Do they have a minimum amount in order for the checks to be issued? Do they offer a 2 tier system whereby they pay you for sales generated by the referrals as well as their becoming an affiliate? What are their various modes of payment: Mailed checks, PayPal, bank transfer, etc.
What is their company history? How long have they been in business? What are the products and do you really believe in them? Ask yourself if you would buy those products without their affiliate program. Don’t join if you are a little unsure whether they are worth the money being asked. That attitude could carry over into not promoting your company as well as you should.The best place for recommendations is a public forum. People love to give advice and you could get a better picture of the program.
Do the offer tools and resources? Do they offer advertising tools such as banners, classified ads, e-mails etc.,usually with their links embedded in them already with your affiliate number? Often they will offer a series of emails that you can use with your autoresponder.
Conclusions: Beware of outrageous claims as to high commissions and also be leery of companies that keep bombarding you with offers. They seem to be more interested in getting you as a customer instead of just letting you do the referrals. (You probably won’t see this until you have actually joined.) Some of this information will be a little harder to obtain but I think if you setup the questions you want to ask ahead of time it will go a long way to matching you up with the best program(s) that are a good fit for you.