Want to know which affiliate program is right for you?
There are some things that need to be done before we commit ourselves 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 aspire to join. Whatever you will want to accomplish later will be decided by the answers you will get.
There’s a lot of facets that you want to include with your questions, the most obvious one is about the cost. You want to know whether or not there is cost involved to join the program. Most affiliate programs being offered today are absolutely free of charge. The fact that most of these programs are free does not signify a lack of quality in the programs. Therefore, there is no ground for us to prefer the paid over the free program. In addition, there is also no cause for us to join paid affiliate program if both programs do offer the same quality. On the other hand, even if a program is a paid affiliate programs they might offer you benefits, such as passive or residual income that might not be offered by other free affiliate programs.
Another aspect that you might want to consider is the time they issue the commission checks, because each program is different. Some programs dispense their checks on a monthly basis, and others on a quarterly basis. Some people may not be able to wait for the whole quarter before receiving their payment, while it is not a problem for others. Whatever your preference is it is important to know this ahead of time and to pick the payment method suitable to your needs. Many of these affiliate programs set a minimum earned commission amount that you must meet or exceed in order for them to release their checks.
As an affiliate, your job is to generate traffic to the merchant’s site. Therefore, you want to know how much traffic needs to be produced before you can start seeing sales. This is called hit per sale, a crucial statistics in affiliate marketing.
What about the tracking system? This is also another important point to consider. How does the merchant track affiliate’s referrals? How long do these referrals remain in the system? Ask yourself if you can trust the merchant’s tracking system. Since your commission payment will be based on the tracking system, it is of utmost important that you have enough confidence in the program’s tracking system. Moreover, the time period that the visitors stay in the system is also important. Not all visitors to your site will buy right away, some of them may want to think over it, and return later. If that’s the case, you want to know if you will still be credited for the sale when it is done months after the first visit.
What about the availability of affiliate stats? Whatever program you opt for should have the capability of offering detailed stats. The stats should be available online anytime you desire to check them out. It is important to know how many impressions, hits and sales generated from your site. Impressions are the number of times the visitor of your site views the banner or text link presented. A hit is when the visitor click on the banner or text links.
Besides commissions on sales, does the affiliate program also pay for the hits and impressions? This is another significant factor to examine. It would be better if the program also pays for these impressions and hits because that will add to your bottom line. This is especially important if the program you are in offers low sales to be able to hit ratio.
What about the company background and history? It is absolutely necessary that you know whom you are doing business with. Do your research before making your decision to determine whether or not the company is solid. Study their offers, and find out the average amount they have been realizing. The more you perform your due diligence the easier it will be for you to arrive at conclusion whether or not the program is really for you.
Is the program a one or two tier program? A single tier program pays you only for the business you yourself have originated. A two tier program not only pays for your business but it also pays you a commission on the sales generated 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 acquire a portion of these monthly fees. With this kind of program not only you need to be successful in creating 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 obtain the benefit of passive or residual income from your sponsored affiliates.
Lastly, what is the amount of commission paid? Some programs do pay high commission percentages, but most of them only pay about 5% – 20%. Further, those programs that pay for impressions, only pay .01% – .05% for each hit, not much really. Dependent on your situation, this may or may not be enough for you. And, this is why you want to know the average sales amount and hit to sale ratio.
The above is just some of the components that you need to think over in each program; there is more, of course. However, you can at least familiarize yourself with the elements presented above, and get your questions answered. The answer to your questions will help you in determining on the right affiliate program for you.
