Do You Know How Affiliate Programs Work?
Written by Sonja Schuyler Sunday, 21 August 2011 04:31
Do a little research about the types of programs available before joining an affiliate program. There are some questions you should ask.
When are commission checks issued? Every program is different. Some issue their checks once a month, every quarter, etc. Many affiliate programs set a minimum earned commission amount. An affiliate must meet or exceed this amount 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. This factor is extremely important because this tells 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? This is the only way you get credit for a sale so you want to be confident the program will track people you refer from your site. The period of time that those people stay in the system is also important. This is because some visitors do not buy initially but may want to return later to make the purchase. Find out if you still get credit for the sale if it is made at a later date.
Your choice of affiliate program should be capable of offering detailed stats. They should be available online 24/7. Constantly checking your individual stats is important to see how many impressions, hits and sales are 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.
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. Research the company. Know the products.
Is it a one tier or two tier affiliate program? A single tier program pays you only for the business you yourself have generated. A two tier program pays you for your sales and also pays you a commission on the sales generated by any affiliate you sponsor.
What is the amount of commission paid? 5% - 20% is the commission paid by most programs. As you can see from the figures, you will now understand why the average sales amount and hit to sale ratio is important.
After you choose the affiliate program, you need to promote it. This is as important as selecting your program. Writing articles directing potential customers to your affiliate links has proven to be a very powerful and effective way to promote your business. You can submit your articles to the web yourself, but I have found using an article submission service is much easier and less time consuming. Your articles are submitted all over the web for you. When your search engine ranking and credibility increases, you will be rewarded with targeted traffic.
About the Author:
Unique Article Wizard is the single most effective tool on the internet for creating genuine backlinks to your site and increasing your credibility. Rocket your site to the top of the search engines. Drive your affiliate program. This one tactic alone can drive your business to the top of Google in the most competitive of markets.. This article, Do You Know How Affiliate Programs Work? has free reprint rights.