Using Affiliate Links In Your Blog
When the blogging phenomenon started a few years ago, nobody expected that blogging could become a full-time occupation or even a source of full-time income. But it is a fact that for many people blogging is a great way to spend one’s time and to make some, or lots of cash!
Affiliate programs are one of the best ways to monetize a blog
There are many ways to monetize a blog and affiliate programs are one of the most popular ones. When compared to CPM ads with their extremely low rates, or PPC with their often low CTR and often low per click values, affiliate programs can be much more lucrative. However, unlike CPM ads, where you can earn income simply for page impressions (even if they don’t result in clicks or sales), affiliate programs require lead creation or completed sales, or you won’t earn anything. There are actually affiliate programs that pay a small CPM fee to you but their rates are even lower than the rates of CPM networks. That is why, if you want to make affiliate programs work for you, you need to know how to effectively use affiliate links.
Tips for using affiliate links on your blog
There are many different ways for using affiliate links, but there are some basic techniques that are effective will work for almost everyone. Here are some of them:
Choose appropriate offers to promote:
No matter how great you are in promoting your affiliate link on your blog, if the affiliate offers you have chosen are not appropriate to your niche and they are not high-converting, you won’t be able to make money. That is why it is vital to select top offers that match your niche and your audience. Easy to fill offers (i.e. products that are sold as ZIP files or e-mail offers) generally convert better and even though they pay less per offer, the grand total from them is often higher than the grand total from more expensive offers with lower conversion rates.
Place your links in visible places:
As with the other types of ads, affiliate links are effective when they are easily visible, like in your sidebar. Put your affiliate links in visible places, use bright colors and larger fonts to make them stand out from the rest of the text and if your selection of affiliate offers is good, this is will boost your conversions.
Write posts about the products you are promoting:
Putting your affiliate link in visible places is great but writing posts about the benefits of the products you are promoting certainly is greater. Write 1-2 short posts about the products you are promoting, put your affiliate links in 2-3 places in the text and just reap the cash. You can include calls for action in your posts but only if this is relevant.
If a program doesn’t convert for a month or so, replace it:
Some affiliate programs simply don’t convert well, or at least not on your site. If you notice that you are dealing with such a program, you might first try to fine-tune your message first or change the way you present your affiliate links (change location, color etc.). Or you might simply get rid of them, free the space on your site from their useless presence, and pick other offers. There are thousands out there to choose from!
Cloak your affiliate links:
You might try to cloak your affiliate links (i.e. use tinyurl and similar services) so that they don’t look like affiliate links, but many webmasters think that when affiliate links are not hidden, they work better. In a sense you are more honest with your readers that the link is not just an ordinary link but an affiliate link you use to promote a product. On the other hand, ‘ordinary’ users don’t care and don’t know anything about affiliate links.Also, cloaking may be absolutely necessary: your affiliate links might be highjacked. Track your outgoing affiliate clicks regularly and compare them with your affiliate statistics to make sure your clicks are actually all being accounted for.
Follow all the company’s rules:
Typically as an affiliate you’re not allowed to bid on keywords (for advertising purposes) that contain the brand name or slogan of the company whose link you’re displaying. There are also often rules about links in e-mails, forums, etc. Don’t wait to get a warning, or risk your earnings – set up your affiliate links correctly from the start!
Finally, using affiliate links effectively takes a little bit of experimenting and trying different strategies. What works for one blog or website doesn’t necessarily work well for another. Check your stats, analytics and put some effort into testing and you’ll be eventually rewarded with more sales, more leads and more cash!
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