Knowing what ads to place and what revenue your Web site generates isn't magic. Once you join an affiliate program you then are able to choose the products or banners you want to include on your Web site, and then receive the code you will need to insert on specific Web page or throughout your Web site. This changes, however, when you select an ad revenue partnership, such as Google AdSense, for example where you have little or no control over the advertisement displayed. In joining the affiliate program, you will agree to their terms of service, called an affiliate agreement, which will tell you what requirements you must meet and how the click-through, lead generation or sales are tracked.
Here is an example of one affiliate program, how it works and the requirements of the affiliate:
WorldWinner is a "Pay to Play" online game Web site that offers a revenue-sharing affiliate program. From the WorldWinner Web site (the advertiser in this case), you would first fill out an application to become an affiliate by providing basic information about yourself and your Web site through a Web-based sign up form. If you're accepted as an affiliate, WorldWinner will provide you with an affiliate ID as well as the address to a Web page where you can generate the code to place different links advertising WorldWinner on your own site. They offer rotating or static text links, banners or buttons, and co-brand Web sites are also allowed. When you generate the code to place on your own Web site, it will contain your unique affiliate ID. Any user who clicks a link to WorldWinner that contains your ID is tracked by WorldWinner via cookies. If they become a paying player and deposit money to their account and play games for cash, you then earn money yourself; it will be a percentage of that user's deposits for as long as you remain an affiliate (this particular affiliate program offers a 25 percent share in Net Applicable Revenue). WorldWinner also hosts and provides you with all the statistics and information you need to determine how many users your are sending to their Web site, if they are depositing funds, and also provide you with your revenue and payout information.
For the most part, affiliate programs work by using a combination of a unique user ID and cookies to track your leads and subsequent revenues. Most will offer a private affiliate section on their Web site where you can get your HTML code and also check your affiliate account status and information. Through the use of browser cookies, any person who uses your link to make the desired action within a set amount of time contributes to your affiliate revenue.
For example if a user follows your link and looks through an online software store they are tracked as "your referral" by the browser cookie. If the person makes the purchase before the cookie expires, you get the referral commission. So even if a user sits with items in their shopping cart but doesn't go back and make the purchase for two weeks, you can still get the commission, provided the cookie is still active.
For the Webmaster, one of the the hardest things about using an affiliate program to earn money is finding a good one that will actually produce results for you. To better your chances of earning revenue from affiliate marketing here are some tips to get you started;
Always read the fine print. Make sure you understand how the payouts are structured, if you need to earn a minimum dollar amount before a payout, and, of course, compare commissions between similar affiliate programs.
Once you have narrowed down your options to a handful of possibilities, take a look at the merchant or marketers' Web site rankings and traffic. If, for example, you have your choice narrowed down to three computer software e-tailers, you can use Google and Alexa rankings to help you determine which may have a better volume of traffic. While their Web site traffic won't directly help you promote their products, this may tell you which company has a larger customer-base (more traffic). A well-known name that your Web site visitors may be familiar with might encourage them to click the advertising links on your own site.
Choose affiliate programs that complement your Web site content. If your site is all about sports, then chances are you'll want to skip on setting up a co-branded Web store for cartoon themed car accessories, for example. Also, if affiliate programs offer customizable banners, buttons or splash pages that can be edited to reflect elements of your own site design, be sure to take advantage of those options.
Don't be afraid to play the field and try a couple affiliate programs, or opt out of one and choose another if you're not seeing any results after time. Results are going to be based on how much traffic your own Web site gets. If your site serves only a couple visitors a day, you can't expect high click-through numbers.
The more products you promote, the less believable each of them becomes. If today I recommended Company X, and tomorrow I recommended Company Y and Company Z, each of their “stock” immediately goes down.
The more products you promote, the more difficult the decision to choose between them becomes. I’ve been to a number of personal finance websites that offer sign-up bonuses for 4 to 5 different banks (sometimes within the same post!). It hurts my brain.
If you keep promoting the same products time and time again, your audience will begin to realize that there must be something special about the specific ones you keep bringing up.
Here is an example of one affiliate program, how it works and the requirements of the affiliate:
WorldWinner is a "Pay to Play" online game Web site that offers a revenue-sharing affiliate program. From the WorldWinner Web site (the advertiser in this case), you would first fill out an application to become an affiliate by providing basic information about yourself and your Web site through a Web-based sign up form. If you're accepted as an affiliate, WorldWinner will provide you with an affiliate ID as well as the address to a Web page where you can generate the code to place different links advertising WorldWinner on your own site. They offer rotating or static text links, banners or buttons, and co-brand Web sites are also allowed. When you generate the code to place on your own Web site, it will contain your unique affiliate ID. Any user who clicks a link to WorldWinner that contains your ID is tracked by WorldWinner via cookies. If they become a paying player and deposit money to their account and play games for cash, you then earn money yourself; it will be a percentage of that user's deposits for as long as you remain an affiliate (this particular affiliate program offers a 25 percent share in Net Applicable Revenue). WorldWinner also hosts and provides you with all the statistics and information you need to determine how many users your are sending to their Web site, if they are depositing funds, and also provide you with your revenue and payout information.
For the most part, affiliate programs work by using a combination of a unique user ID and cookies to track your leads and subsequent revenues. Most will offer a private affiliate section on their Web site where you can get your HTML code and also check your affiliate account status and information. Through the use of browser cookies, any person who uses your link to make the desired action within a set amount of time contributes to your affiliate revenue.
For example if a user follows your link and looks through an online software store they are tracked as "your referral" by the browser cookie. If the person makes the purchase before the cookie expires, you get the referral commission. So even if a user sits with items in their shopping cart but doesn't go back and make the purchase for two weeks, you can still get the commission, provided the cookie is still active.
For the Webmaster, one of the the hardest things about using an affiliate program to earn money is finding a good one that will actually produce results for you. To better your chances of earning revenue from affiliate marketing here are some tips to get you started;
Always read the fine print. Make sure you understand how the payouts are structured, if you need to earn a minimum dollar amount before a payout, and, of course, compare commissions between similar affiliate programs.
Once you have narrowed down your options to a handful of possibilities, take a look at the merchant or marketers' Web site rankings and traffic. If, for example, you have your choice narrowed down to three computer software e-tailers, you can use Google and Alexa rankings to help you determine which may have a better volume of traffic. While their Web site traffic won't directly help you promote their products, this may tell you which company has a larger customer-base (more traffic). A well-known name that your Web site visitors may be familiar with might encourage them to click the advertising links on your own site.
Choose affiliate programs that complement your Web site content. If your site is all about sports, then chances are you'll want to skip on setting up a co-branded Web store for cartoon themed car accessories, for example. Also, if affiliate programs offer customizable banners, buttons or splash pages that can be edited to reflect elements of your own site design, be sure to take advantage of those options.
Don't be afraid to play the field and try a couple affiliate programs, or opt out of one and choose another if you're not seeing any results after time. Results are going to be based on how much traffic your own Web site gets. If your site serves only a couple visitors a day, you can't expect high click-through numbers.
The more products you promote, the less believable each of them becomes. If today I recommended Company X, and tomorrow I recommended Company Y and Company Z, each of their “stock” immediately goes down.
The more products you promote, the more difficult the decision to choose between them becomes. I’ve been to a number of personal finance websites that offer sign-up bonuses for 4 to 5 different banks (sometimes within the same post!). It hurts my brain.
If you keep promoting the same products time and time again, your audience will begin to realize that there must be something special about the specific ones you keep bringing up.
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