Affiliate Programs! Which One?

Affiliate Programs! Which One?

The world of Internet Affiliate Marketing is a vast and daunting one, and it is in one's best interest to get all the help one can get! One of the first stops along the way is to join an affiliate program or affiliate network. An affiliate network is the organised 'middle-man' between the Affiliate (one who promotes the product) and the Vendor (one who made the product). They are responsible for the monetary point of contact between the product and the customer, taking the full amount from the customer, issuing the recipt of sale then dividing the percentages of the sale between themselves, the vendor, and the affiliate who brought the customer to that product. Do a little research about the choices of program that you intend to join into. Will it cost you anything to join? Most affiliate programs being offered today are absolutely free of charge. When do they issue the commission checks? Every program is different. Some issue their checks once a month, every quarter, etc. Select the one that is suited to your payment time choice. Many affiliate programs are setting a minimum earned commission amount that an affiliate must meet or exceed in order for their checks to be issued.

What is the hit per sale ratio? This is the average number of hits to a banner or text link it takes to generate a sale based on all affiliate statistics. This factor is extremely important because this will tell you how much traffic you must generate before you can earn a commission from the sale.

How are referrals from an affiliate's site tracked and how long do they remain in the system? You need to have confidence in the program to track the people you refer from your site. This is the only way that you recieve credit for a sale, and remember some visitors may not buy initially but return later to make the purchase.

What statisics are available to you? A good program is capable of offering detailed stats. They should be available online anytime you decide to check them out. Periodically checking your stats is important to know how many impressions, hits and sales are already generated from your site. Impressions are the number of times the banner or text link was viewed by a visitor of your site. A hit is the one clicking on the banner or text links.

Does the affiliate program also pay for the hits and impressions besides the commissions on sales? Who is the online retailer? Find out with whom you are doing business. Know the products they are selling and the average amount they are achieving. The more you know about the retailer offering you the affiliate program, the easier it will be for you to know if that program is really for you and your site.

Is it a one or two tier program? A single tier program pays you only for the business you yourself have generated. A two tier program pays you for the business, plus it also pays you a commission on the on the sales generated by any affiliate you sponsor in your program. Some two-tier programs are even paying small fees on each new affiliate you sponsor. Much like a recruitment fee.

Lastly, what is the amount of commission paid? Commissions paid by most programs can range anywhere from 5%-75%. .01% - .05% is the amount paid for each hit. If you find a program that also pays for impressions, the amount paid is not much at all. As you can see from the figures, you will now understand why the average sales amount and hit to sale ratio is important.

These are just some of the questions you can ask before you enter into an affiliate program. You should be familiar with the many important aspects that your chosen program should have before incorporating them into your website.

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