Monday, August 22, 2011

How About An Affiliate Program?

By Sonja Schuyler


Before joining an affiliate program, there are some questions you should ask. It is important to do a little research about the types of programs available.

When do they issue the commission checks? 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.

The average number of hits to a banner or text link that it takes to generate a sale is called the hit per sale ratio. 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.

Are affiliate stats available online anytime you decide to check them out? Your choice of affiliate program should be capable of offering detailed stats. Check your individual stats constantly to know 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.

Who is the online retailer? Is it a solid company? Know the products. 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.

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.

Promoting your affiliate program is as important as selecting one. Writing articles about your niche 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. Your search engine ranking and credibility will increase. You will be rewarded with targeted traffic.




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