Affiliate marketing allows you to earn money by promoting a product, service, or brand. You receive a commission for each sale you refer. You can earn money by sharing your recommendations with your audience or by allowing them to purchase products directly.
To make money with your blog, becoming an affiliate with an affiliate network is a good option. However, you need to understand the program before you join any affiliate marketing program.
This article is a beginner’s guide to affiliate marketing. By the end of this article, you will learn about the following topics:
- What is affiliate marketing for beginners?
- What is the basic terminology using in Affiliate marketing?
- What is the best affiliate marketing program for beginners?
- How to get started affiliate marketing for beginners?
- What are the basic points to consider before choosing the Program?
- How to make money from affiliate marketing?
- What are the most popular Affiliate Programs? and more
To get started with an affiliate program, you must first find an affiliate marketing program. It should align with your blog niche requirements.
What is Affiliate Marketing and How does it Work for Beginners?
Affiliate marketing is a form of digital marketing in which you promote a product. If someone purchases it, you receive a commission. The blogging, YouTube, and podcasting industries use this opportunity to make money online.
You can earn some decent affiliate commissions when your audience makes a purchase using your referral link. Sometimes, it can be as high as the highest affiliate commission per sale. This is possible if you promote any affiliate product to them.
Affiliates will be provided with a new account within the Affiliate company’s website.
Affiliate accounts have special promotional links, banners, and other affiliate tools.
Cookies on the website with which we bonded keep track of affiliate product links that contain custom code. A visitor clicks on that link when they visit your website or blog. They will be taken directly to your sales page.
If the visitor or customer completes their purchase on the sales page, you will be paid a commission. It depends on which affiliate company pays you.
Each product has a different commission rate. The cost may range from $1 to $10,000, depending on the product you are promoting.
What are the advantages of affiliate marketing?
As an Affiliate, do you know what the advantages of Affiliate marketing are? Which products do you sell? Read these advantages carefully.
- The products you sell are not yours. You do not have stock or a store. You do not have distribution costs. You also do not have to hire employees.
- It is possible to earn excellent affiliate commissions.
- A minimal investment, Internet access, and the cost of running a blog are all you need.
- There is no limit to how many pages you can create to promote your product.
- You can work as long as you want.
- Affiliate products can be promoted using email marketing services
What are the basic terms in affiliate marketing?
Before you can learn more about affiliate marketing, you need to know what some of the terms mean. For a better understanding, we have provided the terms with definitions.
Affiliates
A type of publisher who promotes affiliate products and links to make sales.
Custom Coupons
Most of the affiliate products will allow you to create custom coupons to track sales. This custom discount coupon will help you to get better affiliate sales.
Affiliate link
This is the promotional link from the affiliate marketing programs. It allows you to keep track of your product ads.
Landing pages
The landing page is the first page that users see after clicking on an advertisement or a search result. When search engine advertising uses landing pages, users can see an extension of the announcement.
Link Cloaking
Link cloaking is a special method. Affiliate marketers use it to hide the affiliate link (referral link). This method or content is used as smart links. By using this method, ugly referral links will be converted into readable URLs. This can be achieved by Thirsty Affiliates and the Pretty Links WordPress Plugin.
Affiliate Marketplace
The list of affiliate products in different niches is huge. You can find thousands of affiliate products on one platform. ShareASale, Impact Radius, Commission Junction, and ClickBank are the best examples of these marketplaces.
How to do Affiliate Marketing For Beginners?
Affiliate marketing is open to everyone. This is a type of performance marketing. There are many ways to do this.
Here are a few ways to promote affiliate products.
- By creating and using a blog, products can be promoted (Content-driven traffic by using SEO).
- Traffic from paid sources (Facebook, Google Ads, Instagram ads, Twitter ads, and some other sources) is sent to landing pages.
- You can promote your products using YouTube
- Utilizing the email list
- Podcasting can be used
- By providing digital marketing services to clients
- You can increase traffic to your banner ads by placing them on high-traffic sites
To promote affiliate products, you can use any method. I have been earning a smart income online through my blog for 10 years. I am using affiliate marketing to fulfill my blogging journey here. It is a content-based affiliate marketing strategy.
Step 1: Select a product to promote
Choose a profitable industry so that you can select the perfect product to promote before you begin affiliate marketing. For this, you need to do some research and learn what other marketers are promoting.
Step 2: Start a new blog
You need to create a new blog before you can begin this journey. I have written a complete guide on “How to start a blog“. You can use this guide to begin your own blog.
Step 3: Create the content for the product
Select an affiliate product that is profitable and fits your blog perfectly. Create content around those products by gathering insights from smart keyword research. Post your written content on your blog.
Step 4: Make sure the blog is technically correct
After publishing the content, submit your blog to the Google search console. This ensures it gets indexed by search engines. Also, submit it to Google Analytics to track the performance of your blog and content.
Step 5: Create your email list
Start collecting emails from your readers by offering smart favors, such as free eBooks, services, or goodies. For beginners, Mailchimp and ConvertKit are good for automating the funnel by creating sequential emails.
Step 6: Promote your site to get traffic
After you complete the above setup for affiliate marketing, you should focus on driving traffic through various social media channels. Conversions will follow within a few days.
If you want to succeed in affiliate marketing, you’ll need to wait a few months. I received my first commission after eight months. You’ll see money streaming into your account soon.
Blogs are one of the best ways to get started with affiliate marketing, along with the other methods mentioned above. Blogging plays a major role in the digital marketing sector.
If you want to start a new blog, you have to invest some money and learn everything about performance marketing. Making money from affiliate marketing now depends on how much time and dedication you put in.
Most companies offer affiliate marketing programs. These programs are a legal means of earning a commission.
They provide you with all the necessary tools to promote their products legally. These tools include banners, tracking links, coupons, email swipes, and affiliate guides.
Before beginning these programs, it is important to read their Terms of Service (TOS). Every company has a different TOS.
You must read the TOS to learn about the Cookie Policy. Every company has a different cookie policy. The cookie period generally ranges from 30 to 150 days.
The visitor will be redirected to the landing page if they click on your referral link. The tracking ID will be stored even if the visitor does not make a purchase. You will earn a commission if the same visitor makes a purchase. This must occur on the same site within 30 to 150 days.
How to Find Affiliate Programs to promote?
Affiliate marketing programs are offered by most companies to promote their products online. You should check the official website manually to find out which companies offer these programs.
You can use Google search if you are looking for a particular affiliate marketing program for a particular product by using a specified tag “(Product name) + affiliate program”. Here you need to replace the Product name with the name of the product you are promoting.
Many of the companies run their affiliate marketing programs on their own affiliate dashboard. A few of them use marketplaces such as ShareASale, Impact Radius, Commission Junction, and ClickBank.
I am a huge fan of ShareASale. In my opinion, this affiliate marketplace is a goldmine for bloggers. I get most of these referral programs here that are suitable for my niche blogs as a blogger.
My blog has been open for over five years. During all this time, I have focused on affiliate marketing programs and techniques.
Affiliateizer Extension for Chrome Users
- Affiliateizer is one of the services that help you find all affiliate programs from Google. The Affilitizer Chrome extension simplifies your workflow. By using this extension, you can make Amazon and eBay tracking links in a single click.
- During Google search result pages, the extension highlights advertisers with Affiliate programs.
- There are 70,000+ affiliate marketing programs connected to 79+ affiliate networks. My search for affiliate marketing programs in Google was simplified by the Affilitizer addon.
Affiliate product selection tips
You need to know the product before you can work on it. It is important to know how it differs from others, how it works, its features, pros, and cons, etc. When choosing an affiliate product, you should first do some research. You can read product reviews or ask the manufacturer for more information to learn more about the product. It is also important to check out the affiliate program before choosing a product. Before you join, review the starting payout, recurring payouts, commission rate, and all other terms and conditions.
The following tips should be considered before choosing an affiliate product:
- Product focus: Choosing a product that you feel passionate about is important. You will have a long-term relationship with the product and be able to promote it more effectively.
- Product profitability: A good commission rate and conversion rate are important for the product.
- Product credibility: Make sure you choose a popular product with good reviews.
- Compatibility with your website:
- You should create an attractive, simple and appropriate website.
- Product variety: The product you choose should be of different types.
Tips for choosing affiliate products before you start a blog. Before choosing an affiliate marketing program, it is important to understand affiliate marketing terms and conditions.
The following points will help you get started with affiliate marketing.
1. Select a free affiliate marketing program
- Select a product that does not charge a fee if you are an affiliate. If you’re a beginner, you will be cautious. You won’t take the risk of spending money before you earn your first dollar.
- Determine if the number of commissions paid by affiliates matches the expected hourly rate. Research the number of commissions affiliates have received.
- Most affiliates choose to earn commissions from Web Hosting referral programs. Many affiliate marketing programs pay instantly.
- By choosing a good affiliate product, you can choose better affiliate products for your blog niche.
2. Review product history
- Depending on the affiliate program you choose, you may be able to send many visitors. Find out if an affiliate has data on the ratio of selling the product.
- The number of visitors required to make a sale is shown here. Using these points will help you eliminate programs that will waste your time.
3. Generate affiliate links
- Check how long cookies are still alive. The visitor’s computer will be installed with these small files containing your affiliate tracking link.
- If the affiliate knows who sent the visitor to make a purchase, can he pay him a commission?
- Prospects rarely buy a product at their first visit. This is why a program with a longer cookie life is important.
4. Choosing a commission rate
- The affiliate program of your choice must pay well. Commissions can range from 20 to 80%.
- Physical products have lower commissions than virtual products. You will earn less money if there is an intermediary between you and the final seller.
5. Review the affiliate promotion tools
- Good affiliate programs offer tools for support. Several affiliate programs provide promotional tools to help you promote their products, such as sales pages, banners, and visuals.
- Once you have chosen the right affiliate product, you can begin promoting it.
- Create a marketing system that sets you apart from your competitors.
- Add a variety of media to your offer, such as reports, newsletters, and videos.
- You can use any promotional tool to increase the likelihood of your prospects purchasing your product.
The affiliate ID for the link looks like this: “https://www.xxxxx.com/bdcdi” The last part of the link indicates a personal affiliate code, in this case, “bdcdi”.
Your blog contains this personal code that represents the customer, the seller.
You can leave these links exposed or use the trending WordPress Link Cloaking plugins. Pick one of these plugins based on your needs from the link.
Using this plugin, you can turn a long ugly link into a short, beautiful, and easily understandable link.
Just add an affiliate product and the cloaked link to your blog. The user is redirected to the affiliate product if they click the link.
How do you get an affiliate link?
The link is specialized for tracking purposes. You can track your progress with different affiliate programs through it.
- This link can be obtained by registering an affiliate product.
- Log into their affiliate dashboard and go to the Promotions (or) Links (or) Referral section.
- You can find the referral link here. Affiliate ID can be found within the referral link.
- Link cloaking allows you to shorten a link by copying its URL and squeezing it. WordPress plugins are helpful in this case for Thirsty Affiliates. By converting the ugly referral link, it gives a readable and easy-to-remember URL.
How do I get Affiliate Payment and its basic settings?
Affiliate marketing has proven to be one of the best ways to make money online. You must enter all the required information after registering with any referral program, such as your full name, email address, and payment information.
In the payment details section, most referral programs offer PayPal integrations, so you can receive your commission.
Therefore, you need a PayPal account to receive their commissions. If you have a PayPal account, you should add your PayPal Email to the Affiliate profile. If you are new to PayPal, please read my article on How to Create a PayPal Account and Verify it.
The majority of companies use direct deposit and wire transfers to send the money directly into your bank account. However, you will be charged a currency conversion fee. The transfer will take 3 to 5 days to complete.
What are the most popular Affiliate Marketing Programs for Bloggers?
We can approach this task through various media and provide our own creativity. Because of the large number of Affiliate Marketing Programs, we have compiled a list of the programs that we believe to be the most effective.
Some companies offer exclusively affiliate marketing programs, connecting digital media advertisers with different brands. Here is a list of some Affiliate Marketing Programs. Below is a list of the best affiliate programs available to Internet marketers and bloggers.
1. ShareASale
Brian Littleton founded the ShareASale network platform in 2000. It currently supports over 4000 merchants. These merchants are mostly small and mid-sized businesses. More than 86 percent of ShareASale affiliates claim to be a part of the eBay network.
ShareASale is one of the largest affiliate networks in the United States. This is because it has many advertisers who use an affiliate network to administer their affiliate programs. When other affiliates send them to those products, ShareASale allows affiliates to find products to recommend and earn commissions.
2. Commission Junction
The CJ Affiliate platform was previously known as Commission Junction. It’s another huge affiliate network that gathers together a huge number of merchants in one place. To Shareasale and Impact, CJ is a stronger alternative. Through CJ, thousands of large and little merchants can connect with affiliates.
On CJ, there are currently over 3000 merchant types. The affiliate programs at nearly all major retailers are available on CJ Affiliate ( formerly Commission Junction ). This platform offers the nearest thing to a one-stop shop in the affiliate marketing business.
An easily-to-use dashboard is available to CJ affiliates. You must register your details with this network to apply to a program. You will receive access to affiliate links and link tracking statistics once you have received approval.
3. ClickBank
ClickBank is a digital affiliate network similar to Avangate, but it also offers physical products. With an estimated 365 million customers per month, ClickBank is the world’s largest eCommerce marketplace.
More than 100,000 digital products and services are available at any given time. They vary from personal development products to business-related products and services. There remains hardly anything that is not for sale at ClickBank because it offers such a broad variety.
4. Amazon Associates
If you would prefer to advertise physical products on your website, Amazon Associates is a great option. Through Amazon Associates, almost anything you sell on Amazon.com can earn a commission. This program is even more valuable. You get commissions on everything you buy as a referral purchase. It doesn’t matter if it’s the product you linked to. There remains a broad range of products up for promotion, but there are low commissions. Most people are familiar with Amazon.
Amazon is the largest Internet retailer in the United States. It generates billions in revenue annually. As a result, the Amazon affiliate program gives website owners and sellers an extensive library of products to advertise.
5. JVZOO
Another large affiliate platform is JVZoo. More than 8 lakh affiliates currently use this network’s products and generate healthy revenues by selling them. The company was launched in 2011. Since then, it has risen to the top of the web as one of the most popular affiliate programs.
The fact that VJZoo does not require upfront fees to publishers or merchants is one of its discriminating features. After a sale has been made, the JVZoo company charges fees (to both the merchant and affiliate).
Thousands of JVzoo affiliate products are available to advertise on this network, with massive affiliate tools available on these platforms. The JVZoo affiliate marketplace will provide you with a handy affiliate link. You can use this link to attract affiliates to your offer. It also lets existing affiliates become JVZOO affiliates.
6. Rakuten Linkshare
Rakuten Advertising (formerly LinkShare) is a popular affiliate network with a huge number of major merchants. This network is taken up of fewer than 1000 merchants. If you would prefer to work with the widest merchants, this network is a good choice for you. Some of the merchants include Walmart, Ray-Ban, New Balance, Sephora, Papa Johns, and Best Buy. It’s one of my favorite affiliate marketing programs.
The network’s affiliate dashboard provides more advanced features. For promotion, they have improved low linking tools, rotating banners, and a lot more. Rakuten is a perfect transaction reporting system. It also offers video tutorials. These tutorials make it easy to promote the products and increase affiliate commissions.
7. WordPress Related Affiliate Marketing Programs
Every blogger and webmaster search for attractive themes for their blogs. If the blog design is good, the visitor will be impressed and becomes your loyal reader.
So most bloggers and webmasters will search for better designs to promote.
Here are a few lists of WordPress themes Affiliate marketing programs.
Another important WordPress-related affiliate product are WordPress Plugins. They are WP Rocket (Page cache plugin), Elementor Pro (Page Builder plugin), and MythemeShop plugins.
The above-listed programs are the most popular. If you promote these programs, you will get good commissions.
8. Impact Radius
Another major affiliate marketing platform that connects first and most popular brands with their publishers is Impact. It’s a full Partner Relationship Management (PRM) program. Impact Radius, the world’s best affiliate marketing software, is designed to usher about an end to the partnership economy. It helps people make more money by partnering. On one platform, affiliate software allows enterprises to reveal and enter all types of business partnerships.
Apply to join the most popular affiliate programs such as Microsoft, Adidas, Disney, Bluehost, Nike, Walmart, and many more. This way, you can become part of this network as an affiliate. The tool allows you to maintain track of your performance metrics and get actionable insights based on your specific needs. A partnership cloud is offered by the company that supports affiliates and influencers.
What are the Best Affiliate Marketing Forums?
Affiliate marketing forums are the most popular places to learn working strategies from successful affiliate marketers. This is the place to get quick answers and to know which highest-paying affiliate networks.
There are many affiliate marketing forums and websites. You can get the most useful information from them. This information will help you start your own business in the field of affiliate marketing.
The first thing that comes into my mind is Warrior Forum. It has a large community of people. Many have started their businesses with affiliate marketing as their main source of income. There are various other categories like Technology, Health, Finance, etc. on this forum which will help you learn new skills and share your knowledge with others.
There are also many other sites like Affiliate Biz or Affiliate Fun. They have an excellent user interface and resources for affiliates. These resources help affiliates learn from experienced marketers in the field of online marketing.
In the forums, maximum conversions are happening about the affiliate marketing business. Here I listed a few Affiliate marketing forums. You can start participating in the discussions by asking a question to the fellow affiliates.
Here is a useful list to learn Affiliate marketing and to solve your queries.
| Forum Name | Alexa rank | DA / PA |
| 1. Warrior Forum | 4,417 | 63 / 63 |
| 2. Affiliate Fix | 31,669 | 38 / 44 |
| 3. Digital point Forum | 34,772 | 74 / 63 |
| 4. SitePoint | 4,103 | 87 / 57 |
| 5. AffilioRama | 24,067 | 51 / 46 |
| 6. STM Forum | 29,479 | 41 / 40 |
| 7. AffplayBook | 3,964 | 64 / 33 |
| 8. AffLift | 26,396 | 31 / 31 |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is not a new concept. It is the only way many people can earn a living on their own. The number of affiliate marketers will continue to increase. However, affiliate marketing is often misunderstood by marketers. Successful affiliate marketing depends on some key factors. In this post, we will introduce affiliate marketing.
Is affiliate marketing illegal?
Affiliate marketing is legal, but the way you do it is not. Many people avoid affiliate marketing because they think it’s against the law. Like any other business, affiliate marketing is legal. One of the best ways to make money online is through affiliate marketing. Don’t break affiliate programme rules. Affiliate marketing is legal, but if you do it, someone could sue you. Before becoming an affiliate, read the contract. If affiliate marketing online scares you, use a fake name.
Is affiliate marketing easy?
Affiliate marketing is as easy as riding a bike. The biggest challenge we face as affiliate marketers is finding a good affiliate program and a good affiliate product. Once we do that, finding success in affiliate marketing is as easy as rolling off a log. Getting started is as simple as opening an account and placing ads and links on your website and social media profile.
Is affiliate marketing still profitable in 2022?
In 2022, affiliate marketing will still be profitable. Affiliate marketing is the practice of promoting another person’s product or service in exchange for a commission or referral fee. Advertisers use it to target their existing customers’ friends, colleagues, relatives, etc. with extra sales. It is also used by customers in this form to refer products to their friends and colleagues, making money. Affiliate marketing requires an affiliate program, just like in affiliate marketing.
How do I find affiliate sites?
It’s not as hard as it might seem to find affiliate sites that you want to promote. Affiliate programmes and sites are easy to find. Google is a good place to start. If you search for “affiliate programme rules” or “affiliate product rules,” you can find a lot of links to learn about affiliate programmes. You can also sign up for and read good newsletters. If it doesn’t work right away, you should try something else. You can also read forums and blogs to find out more about affiliate programmes and products and to ask questions about which programme is best.
Which platform is best for affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to make your blog a money-making machine. However, there are many platforms to choose from. Which platform should you choose: WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, or Weebly? Each of these platforms has a special affiliate program that is integrated into their respective websites. This will depend on the type of traffic you’re trying to attract and ultimately your niche. Let’s take a look at all the platforms and determine which one is right for you.
Why Amazon is the best platform to earn online money?
Amazon is the most popular affiliate marketing platform. It has a large customer base and a wide range of products and services. Due to Amazon’s popularity and reliability, you can easily find products to promote and customers to sell to on Amazon. They offer a free affiliate program that anyone can join.
How can I start affiliate marketing with no money?
It is possible to start affiliate marketing without any money. A successful affiliate program requires you to have an affiliate product/service to sell, promote it through affiliate sites, social media platforms, and some successful affiliate program. It is important to select affiliate products that are trending in the market when choosing your affiliate product. The product should also have good quality, be in high demand in the market and have a high conversion rate. If you choose an affiliate program, make sure it has low payout rates, low membership fees, and good membership support.
Final Words
Affiliate marketing is a program where businesses pay people to tell them about their products and services. When someone clicks on the link in the email they received from the affiliate, the business earns a commission. This type of marketing is great for newbies who are looking to make money online. You only need to promote the product or service. Then, wait for people to click on your link. This will make you money!
When someone clicks on the link in the email they received from the affiliate, the business earns money. The business gets paid for every sale made as a result of that click.
Is it clear to you what affiliate marketing is and how it works? Almost every company has a guide for affiliate marketing promoters to become better brand promoters in the industry.
If you want to promote digital products, ShareASale, Impact Radius, and Commission Junction are the best networks. It offers a wide variety of high-quality products and high commission rates.
Online jobs abound, including teaching jobs, blogging jobs, SEO jobs, content writing jobs, and many more. Many people, however, choose affiliate marketing to earn a substantial income.
You can start your online career in 2025 by reading this article on what Affiliate Marketing is for beginners. So, based on the above points, choose the best affiliate product for your business and niche.
Please drop any questions you have about affiliate products in the comment section below.
Share your thoughts if you have experience with affiliate marketing.
Great post, Satish Kumar.
I’ve used Clickbank, CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction), and Shareasale.
I haven’t checked out the other 4 you mentioned. So i’ve got something to do later. 🙂
Thanks.
Julian