ALWAYS learn about the affiliate program you’re joining so you don’t get caught by surprise later on.
1. The commission amount.
2. The traffic to the merchant’s site. Is this merchant receiving a lot of traffic already? If so, then check to see if the market is saturated with affiliates. Not many affiliates? Try to find out why. You can check the merchant’s traffic ranking at www.alexa.com. If the ranking is in the top 100,000 – the merchant is receiving decent traffic on a daily basis. Around 500,000 – not too impressive. Anything lower than 900,000 and you should probably stay away.
3. How often they pay their affiliates. Some pay out as much as once per week, others pay every quarter (3 months).
4. The minimum amount you must earn to get a check. Most affiliates never check this out. However, let’s assume that after a few sales you decide to not promote the product anymore. Make sure you know the required MINIMUM earnings to actually receive a check.
5. Research the merchant online. Are there negative reviews about their products/service?
6. Are there already too many affiliates promoting that program? “Too many” is hard to define. But try searching in Google for some common keywords related to the product. If the first 2 pages are saturated with affiliate web sites, see if you can find a quality product with less competition.
7. What are their competing merchants offering to customers and affiliates? Affiliate Classroom tries it’s best to find you the best merchant, but dozens of new affiliate products are launched daily. Always look for alternatives and give yourself choices.
8. Does their affiliate program allow you to see up-to-date tracking information? You need to see how many sales you’ve made, how much commission you’ve earned, how many people you’ve referred, etc.
9. Are they maintaining their own affiliate program or do they use a service such as CJ.com, Linkshare.com or ClickBank.com? You can be more confident about a site if a reputable program coordinator is running their affiliate program. You can also check that merchant’s history with that coordinator.
10. Do they cookie your referral visitor? In case that customer buys later, will you still get credit? Many times visitors don’t buy right away. Make sure that you’ll still get credit if they come back and buy in the future. Cookies can last anywhere from a few hours to years – obviously the longer the cookie, the better for you!
11. Does the merchant offer other products besides the one you’re promoting? Will you earn commission on those other products from customers you refer?
12. Does the merchant offer any promotional resources? Examples: content, articles, free samples, free guides, trial offers, etc.
how to choose a good affiliate merchant, and how to work with merchants directly.
working with affiliate merchant
1. Try the "email test."
Email silence from a merchant can be a useful warning sign. So before you invest a lot of time and money in promoting an affiliate product, write to the merchant.
If he doesn’t respond after one email, try again. If he still fails to respond after a second or third email, that bodes no good. Email silence might also be a sign of future trouble - including nonpayment.
2. Check the payout threshold.
Some merchants offer high commissions, but also set an unrealistically high payout threshold. Few affiliates will ever reach that minimum - which means they’ll NEVER get paid. Affiliates drop out, but not before the company has made a killing. Many MLM (multi-level marketing) programs work this way, which guarantees that only the top guns will ever make serious money.
Working with one of the major affiliate program providers (like ClickBank, Commission Junction, ClixGalore, etc.) minimizes this risk, since they usually issue one commission check for ALL the programs you promote within their network.
3. Choose merchants who are serious about helping their affiliates.
Face it, some merchants don’t expect much from their affiliates, so they don’t really support them. If the merchant doesn’t offer solid sales copy, good banners and ads, and information that can help you make a real case for their product, you’ll have to do all that yourself.
Is it worth putting that much effort in before you ever make any money? Sometimes, if it’s an extremely attractive product with few competitors. But usually, if a merchant doesn’t offer you the tools to make sales, you’d be better off promoting someone else’s product.
4. Choose merchants who listen.
Unless your site is getting a few hundred thousand hits a month, don’t start nagging a merchant for higher commissions. But if you have a solid sales record, there’s nothing wrong in sending polite and constructive feedback to a merchant. If you think a banner ad could be improved, say so in a professional manner and offer constructive suggestions.
The best merchants appreciate this kind of communication, and realize that good affiliates aren’t a dime a dozen. They’ll listen, treat you respectfully, provide as many resources as they can, and will investigate any payment inquiries promptly.
connects advertisers and publishers who want to increase sales and drive leads through affiliate marketing.
As an advertiser using Google Affiliate Network, you’ll discover pre-screened publishers who can refer consumer traffic to you. As a publisher, you can market your site to advertisers in the network; if selected to participate in an advertiser’s program, you’ll earn a percent of sales or a referral bounty.
Google Affiliate Network offers:
* Industry-leading advertiser and publisher service
* Rigorous network quality standards
* Reliable conversion tracking
* Detailed reporting
* Automated payments to publishers
* Simple link and creative delivery tools
* Flexible commissions
* Access to top brands on the web
Advertisers
Attract quality publishers. Drive more sales.
With Google Affiliate Network, you can manage a custom affiliate marketing program and attract publishers to grow your affiliate channel.
Affiliate marketing expertise
Consult with our affiliate marketing specialists on planning and distribution, account optimization, and technical issues.
Network depth and breadth
Choose from a wide variety of high-quality publishers based on detailed profiles and metrics.
Tracking and reporting
Track conversions, evaluate performance, and optimize your program with actionable data.
Network quality
Work only with qualified publishers who are continually screened, reviewed, and advised by our quality team.
Performance-based pricing
Rest assured that cost-per-action pricing means our interests are aligned with yours.
Publishers
Connect with quality advertisers. Earn more revenue.
Sign in to ConnectCommerce
Sign up to join Google Affiliate Network
Google Affiliate Network can help you discover new advertiser referral programs and generate more revenue.
Easy to use
Save time with an intuitive user interface, fast-loading pages, and creative trafficking tools.
Tracking and reporting
Track conversions and member IDs for loyalty marketing. Schedule and save reports.
Automated payments
Receive electronic payments, consolidated across advertisers, twice a month. Choose from a variety of commission structures.
Support and development
Contact our experts for technical support or to help you find new revenue opportunities.
Publisher recognition
Earn AffiliateVIP status and enjoy exclusive marketing opportunities and greater visibility in the network.
