How to Start Affiliate Marketing and Make Money

October 22nd, 2024

Do you have your own business, e-shop, or blog, and you are not yet part of affiliate marketing? We will show you what affiliate marketing is and how it works.

If you have overlooked affiliate marketing so far, it is time to change that. Affiliate partnerships have been successful in the US and global market, with more than 80% of brands using affiliate marketing and 88% of influencers inspiring their audience to purchase (Affiliatestats.marketing, 2024). Do not be left behind when it comes to the potential of affiliate marketing.

What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a form of online marketing in which a merchant works with affiliate partners and rewards them through commissions for making a conversion. It is a popular way for bloggers and influencers to make money online. For businesses, affiliate marketing can be one sales avenue.

Affiliate marketing has 3 players:

Company/Merchant: a business that is trying to expand its reach and increase profits.
Affiliate Partner: a content site/social profile owner who recommends products to their fans in exchange for a commission.
Customer: a visitor to a particular influencer’s website or profile who, through a recommendation, becomes a customer of the advertising company.

The affiliate system is also an important part. For the partnership to take place, the company and the influencer need software that records the sales or other conversions made and provides the ability to approve and pay commissions.

For companies and e-shops, this method of marketing is beneficial for several reasons – expanding sales channels, increasing brand awareness, and overall sales. Unlike paid advertising through various platforms, where a business pays per impression or click, affiliate marketing is much more effective. This is because the company only pays for conversions made (e.g., product purchase or website registration).

From a blogger’s position, it is a straightforward way to monetize your blog and gain a source of income.

How does affiliate marketing work

Affiliate marketing works by tracking (affiliate) links. The affiliate (blogger, influencer) places special affiliate links in the form of text or banners in their content.

If a visitor clicks on the link and completes the desired action on the target website, the affiliate gets a commission in the affiliate system.

How affiliate marketing works

Data measurement is ensured by cookies that are stored in the customer’s browser. The merchant checks the commissions received and sends the amount to the affiliate’s account.

Influencers can promote affiliate products using:

Text links: the most well-known form of promoting affiliate products. Blog articles are the most common type of content used. These can be reviews that directly recommend products, but also other types of articles such as a roundup review of travel equipment for example, or recipes using specific kitchen utensils.
Banners: unique affiliate links can also be placed in content by using graphic banners. Their appearance should not be too distracting or untrustworthy but visually attractive enough to impress the visitor.
Social media: affiliate marketing can also be applied well on social media, for example, YouTube or Instagram. You may have noticed that the influencers you follow sometimes offer discount codes for various products. This is an affiliate collaboration. A merchant can easily track the usage rate of discount codes and evaluate the success of the affiliate partnership.

Other affiliate promotions include:

Online magazines
Coupon sites
Product catalogs
Review sites
Cashback portals
Marketing agencies

How to start affiliate marketing for beginners

Businesses just need to choose one of two options to get started with affiliate marketing. The first option is to purchase affiliate software and set up your own affiliate program. This is offered, for example, by Affilbox, which can also be connected to Webnode.

Your own affiliate program: Pros and cons

The second option is to join affiliate networks that bring companies together with bloggers, such as ShareASale or MyLead. This way you can reach thousands of bloggers and influencers at once. Bloggers choose from the offers of different merchants based on the amount of commission, the attractiveness of the product, and the relevance of their site.

Affiliate network: Pros and cons

Is affiliate marketing suitable for your business?

Are you unsure whether affiliate marketing would be beneficial for your business? The conversion does not have to be the purchase itself, but can also be any other action. Influencers can help you meet many different conversion goals:

Conversion from affiliate marketing

How do you set up affiliate commissions that are motivating enough but will not ruin your business?

Knowing the usual commission rates in your industry can help. Commission levels range from 5 to 20 percent. When determining your commission, base it on your margin. The partnership must be profitable for you even after deducting the affiliate commission and the affiliate network or software fee.

With affiliates, you can build a capable team of marketers and advocates for your brand. But do not forget to evaluate your collaboration regularly.

How to become an affiliate marketer as a blogger?

If you have been building your blog for a long time and you send your readers a regular newsletter or stay connected with them on social media, it is the right time for you to start affiliate marketing.

Just join an affiliate network and choose the affiliate partnership or reach out to your favorite brands to see if they have their own affiliate program. Choose one of these strategies and start earning with affiliate marketing.

On the other hand, if you are starting out as a blogger, expect that it will take time and effort to build a successful affiliate partnership. First, you should focus on content creation. For an affiliate partnership to pay off, you should have a blog or social media profile with a solid base of readers and followers.

Choose your niche

If you are starting out as an affiliate, think about the focus of your content. What do you enjoy doing, what do you have experience with, and what do you know a lot about? It is best to choose a topic that you yourself are interested in and want to explore further. Whether you are interested in a particular sport, diet, TV shows, or computer games, choose a topic you can talk about for hours.

The more specific niche, the better. While you will reach a smaller audience, you will find it easier to create content and face less competition. With a specific niche, it will also be easier to optimize your site for search engines and visitors will find your concrete tips, advice, and product reviews. This way you can promote affiliate products in a very casual, informed, and apt way.

Start a blog

Setting up a blog with affiliate marketing can be a highly effective way to make money online. Through a blog, you can display your knowledge and experience in a particular field, provide useful information, and educate your readers.

Once you build authority and people start to respect and trust your recommendations, they will be more likely to click on affiliate links and make purchases. Articles such as product reviews, comparisons, tutorials, or tips can naturally contain links that people are happy to click on if they feel the product will solve a problem or bring value to them.

Tip: We have put together a step-by-step guide on how to (start) writing a blog.

At the same time, a blog can be effectively linked to social media and drive traffic.

Webnode templates for bloggers

Be active on social media

Being active on social media is also important for affiliate marketing. Social networks allow you to reach a wide audience and build your community of followers. This allows you to share your content with people who may be interested in the products or services you are promoting.

One key to successfully building an audience on social media is posting relevant content regularly. When people see that you are sharing valuable and interesting content, they start to trust you more and are more willing to buy the product you are recommending.

But content alone is not enough. Respond to questions and other comments and engage in discussions of related posts.

Which social network should you choose? For more complex topics where readers need longer explanations, YouTube is a viable choice. For highly visual content, you can choose a combination of different social networks such as TikTok and Instagram or Pinterest.

Create quality content

Useful and relevant content is not only essential for success in affiliate marketing. Without engaging and optimized content, you cannot effectively promote products or services and attract visitors to your website. Optimize your website and all texts for search engines, and update and expand them regularly so that they are still useful to your readers.

Tip: Not sure how to optimize your content? Find out in our complete SEO guide.

To make your blog a genuinely good, trustworthy, and searchable resource, it is not enough to just optimize your text by adding keywords. The originality, up-to-date, and informative contribution of the content is crucial.

Remember that the goal is to bring the reader to the merchant’s website with an interest in purchasing their service or product. This is not an easy task, but with professional content, you will gradually pave your way to conversions.

How to choose an affiliate program

The relevance and value of the product to your audience is crucial. Choose an affiliate partnership based on whether the product addresses the problems and needs of your readers.

Choose the product that is the apple of your eye. Your readers will recognize it from your writing. You will promote more products or services over time, but in the beginning, choose a product that you really enjoy creating content about and that you trust.

Of course, consider brand recognition and the amount of commission. Brand awareness determines how much effort you will have to put in as an affiliate. Promoting a market-leading brand may not be that difficult of a task, but you will often receive a lower commission for such a conversion.

Lesser-known manufacturers or services with a specific focus may offer a more attractive commission. And if a brand’s customer segment is close to your audience, you have found the optimal affiliate partnership.

Webnode Affiliate Program

Webnode has its own affiliate program. Webnode pays you $100 for every first purchase of services for a new site. This means that if one user buys 3 packages for 3 sites, you get $300 regardless of the type of premium package or its price.

Webnode Affiliate program

Do you have a blog, website, or e-shop? You can make money by promoting and recommending the Webnode website builder.

Register for the Webnode Affiliate Program.
Fill out the form with your personal information and confirm your agreement to the terms of service.

Registration for the Webnode Affiliate Program

You will receive confirmation of your registration at the email address you entered.
In your affiliate account, also fill in your mailing address and set up your payment details.

Always remember to use your affiliate link when promoting Webnode. This is the only way to ensure that the user is linked to your affiliate account. If the user registers within 90 days of clicking on your link and purchases premium services anytime later, you will receive a commission.

In addition to affiliate links or banners, you can also use DirectLinks. Just enter your affiliate account address and get approved by Webnode. If your affiliate link is e.g., webnode.com/r/519cbf42afe87, after DirectLinks verification, you can place just a webnode.com link on your website and the system will still recognize that you brought the customer.

Take inspiration from our current partners:

Webnode pays out commissions to partners the first time they earn $300. Once you reach the minimum payout, we will ask you to verify your account by sending a PIN to affiliate@webnode.com. You only need to verify once; you will receive all subsequent payments automatically.

Conclusion

Affiliate marketing is a form of promotion that builds on the power of recommendation and can influence customer decision making. It brings benefits and profit not only to businesses, but also to bloggers and influencers.

It is easy to get started – just buy affiliate software or join an affiliate network. If you are a blogger, you can simply join the affiliate program of your favorite brand and start earning through its promotion.

Join the Webnode Affilite Program