How To Start Affiliate Marketing and Make Money Online: Guide for 2024

Thinking about starting affiliate marketing and make money online but not sure about the first place?

You’re in the right place.

Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest ways to earn money online, even if you’re just getting started. The beauty of it is that you don’t need your own product or service to make money—all you need is a platform to promote products you believe in.

It doesn’t matter if you run a blog, a YouTube channel, or social media accounts, affiliate marketing offers a flexible way to turn your audience into income.

In this guide, we’ll guide you on how to start affiliate marketing and make money.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a way for businesses to pay affiliates for bringing in new customers. It’s all about performance—you, as the affiliate, promote a product or service, and if someone makes a purchase, you get a commission.

There are three main players in this: the company, you (the affiliate), and the customer. Your job is to get the customer to buy what the company’s selling.

Let’s say you have a blog and share a link to a book. If someone buys that book through your link, you earn a commission.

It’s popular because it works for everyone. The business gains new customers, and you earn money for helping make that happen.

How Affiliate Marketing Works?

To get a grasp on how affiliate marketing works, let’s break down its key parts:

• Merchants These are the brands or businesses with a product or service to promote. Whether it’s a solo entrepreneur or a large company, merchants benefit from affiliates driving sales. They only pay when a sale is made, making it a low-risk, low-cost setup.
• Affiliates Affiliates are marketers who promote the merchant’s products, usually through blogs, social media, or other content. They earn a commission for every successful sale made through their unique link.
• Consumers These are the people who click on affiliate links and make purchases. The affiliate earns a commission from each sale the consumer makes.
• Affiliate Marketing Programs These programs, also known as affiliate networks, connect affiliates with merchants. They provide a list of products for affiliates to choose from and generate trackable links. One popular example is Amazon’s Affiliate Program, where you can create custom links to promote anything sold on Amazon.

In a nutshell, affiliates use networks to find products they can promote. They then share unique links in their content. When a consumer clicks the link and makes a purchase, the affiliate gets paid a commission, with the network tracking all the clicks and sales in the background.

How Do Affiliate Marketers Get Paid?

Affiliates can earn money in different ways, depending on the setup of the program. Here are some common payment methods:

• Pay per sale (PPS): This is the most popular model. You get a commission for every sale you help generate for the business.
• Pay per click (PPC): You earn money whenever someone clicks on your affiliate link, even if they don’t buy anything.
• Pay per lead (PPL): In this case, you’re paid when someone you refer takes a certain action, like signing up for a free trial or filling out a form.
• Revenue sharing: Instead of a flat fee, you earn a percentage of the revenue from each sale.
• Cost per action (CPA): You get paid when a specific action, like subscribing or downloading, is completed by the customer.
• Tiered commission: As you hit higher sales numbers or referrals, your commission rate increases.

Different programs offer different payment options, so you can choose the one that suits your goals.

How To Start Affiliate Marketing and Make Money Online: Step by Step Pocess

Now that you’ve got a handle on how affiliate marketing works, let’s walk through the step-by-step process on how to get started with affiliate marketing.

Step 1: Choose your niche

Your niche is simply the area you want to focus on and promote.

To stand out in today’s crowded internet, it’s smart to narrow your focus. Instead of choosing a broad topic like food, pick something more specific, like grilling. This can help attract a more targeted audience and might even give your SEO a boost.

Here are four questions to help you find your niche:

• What am I good at?
• What do I enjoy?
• What topics interest me?
• What do others say I’m good at?

Choosing something you’re passionate about is key. Affiliate marketing requires a lot of content, so if you pick a topic you don’t enjoy, staying motivated can be tough.

For example, when I built my first website, I picked a hobby of mine—breakdancing. Even though I had no clue about marketing, I managed to grow it to around 2K visits a month. Passion makes a big difference!

Step 2: Choose a content platform

Choosing where to do your affiliate marketing is up to you, and there are plenty of options:

• Website
• YouTube
• Social media (like Instagram or TikTok)
• Newsletter
• Podcast

The platform you pick should fit both your style and your niche. For instance, if you’re teaching breakdancing, video content on YouTube might be better than a blog, even if you prefer writing.

That said, building a website and using SEO is a great long-term strategy. It helps your content rank higher on Google, bringing in steady traffic—and more chances for people to click your affiliate links!

Step 3: Build a Website

Think of your website as your digital storefront.

It’s where you’ll showcase affiliate products and connect with your audience.

When setting it up, prioritize good on page SEO, a clean, easy-to-navigate design, and content that genuinely helps people.

The key is to get it started, even if it’s not perfect. You can always tweak and improve it as you go.

Step 4: Choose an Affiliate Program

Pick an affiliate program that fits your niche and interests. There are three types of affiliate programs you can choose from:

• High-paying, low-volume – These programs offer big commissions but cater to a smaller audience. For instance, ClickFunnels pays high commissions for its software, but it’s mainly used by businesses, so the audience is more niche.
• Low-paying, high-volume – These are everyday products that lots of people buy. Take Walmart’s affiliate program, for example. They don’t offer huge commissions, but since they sell a wide range of products, you can still earn by volume.
• High-paying, high-volume – These programs offer both high payouts and appeal to large audiences, like promoting luxury travel packages. The challenge is that they often attract experienced marketers who might use aggressive tactics.

Make sure the products are relevant, and keep an eye on things like commission rates, payment terms, and how reliable the program is. For example, some programs, like Semrush’s, offer a flat rate—$200 per sale and $10 for free trial sign-ups.

Others, like Amazon Associates, pay a percentage of sales, up to 10%.

Take the time to compare programs. Check out their payment options, the support they offer, and any tools or resources that can help you succeed.

Step 5: Create High Quality Valuable Content

Affiliate marketing is pretty straightforward, and getting started isn’t too hard. But generating enough traffic to make a decent income takes time and consistent effort.

A common beginner mistake is posting random content with affiliate links thrown in. This hit-or-miss approach might bring in some revenue, but if you’re serious about increasing your earnings, you need to make sure your content reaches the right audience.

Your target audience is people who are thinking about buying a product but aren’t sure if it’s the right choice. They’re looking for reviews, comparisons, or product ratings to help them decide.

Sometimes, they might not even know which product suits their needs, and that’s where you come in. As an affiliate marketer, your job is to guide them by offering helpful content that points them toward the best solution. Once they’re ready, you can direct them to the product’s site to complete the purchase.

Pro Tip: Focus on keywords with investigational intent. These are the search terms your audience uses when researching products. Need help finding the right keywords? Check out our guide for tips.

Step 6: Drive Traffic to Your Website

You’ve got great content, now it’s time to get more eyes on it so people click your affiliate links. Here are three traffic strategies you can try:

A. Paid Traffic

This involves paying for traffic, typically through pay-per-click (PPC) ads.

The upside of paid traffic is that you’ll start getting visitors as soon as your ads are up.

But there are downsides too.

First, paying for ads eats into your profits, and it’s common to lose money before you figure out how to make it work—if you ever do. Optimizing a paid campaign takes time and patience.

Second, once you stop paying for ads, the traffic stops as well.

Paid ads can be a smart move if you’re promoting high-ticket affiliate programs where the commissions justify the cost. But if you’re just starting out with a tight budget or working with lower-paying programs like Amazon Associates, paid traffic may not be the best option

B. SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is all about getting your pages to rank higher on search engines like Google. The goal is to generate steady, passive traffic by ranking well for the keywords your audience is searching for.

SEO involves:

• Figuring out what your target audience is searching for.
• Creating content around those topics.
• Making sure Google understands what your page is all about.
• Building or earning links that boost your rankings.
• Ensuring Google can easily find, crawl, and index your content.

The better you optimize your site, the more consistent traffic you’ll get without needing to pay for ads.

Pro Tip: Focus on improving the on page SEO of your website. If you are not sure on how to optimize you website, you can take help of SEO freelancers. Need help finding the right SEO freelancer? Check out our guide on “How to Hire SEO Freelancer” for tips.

C. Build an Email List

An email list gives you direct access to your audience anytime.

With it, you can let your subscribers know about new content and keep them coming back, which can lead to more affiliate clicks and sales.

You can even include affiliate links in your emails for additional opportunities to earn.

To grow your email list, you’ll need to offer something valuable in exchange for sign-ups, like a free eBook, an email course, or other useful resources. This helps motivate your readers to join your list and stay connected with your content.

Step 7: Promote Your Affiliate Products in the Content

Just like picking the right keywords, you need to approach your content with the same level of thought. Focus on topics that provide the info your audience is searching for.

Once you’ve done your keyword research and have content ideas ready, it’s time to add your affiliate links.

How you add these links depends on the article you’re writing.

For example, if you’re reviewing a single product, don’t flood the post with five different affiliate links. Keep the focus on driving traffic to that one product’s link.

But if you’re creating a list like “Top 10 Tools for Solving X,” it makes sense to include affiliate links for each tool on the list, giving you more chances to make sales.

The key is to place your links in a way that makes sense and boosts your chances of conversions.

Here are some tips to make the most of your affiliate link placements:

• Only link where it fits: Don’t force affiliate links into your content if they don’t belong. Irrelevant links can hurt the user experience and cost you potential sales.
• Add links early: If your article features multiple products, place affiliate links at the top. Many readers won’t scroll all the way down, so make sure they see your links early on.
• Make use of your site’s layout: Floating bars, banners, and sidebar widgets are great spots to promote affiliate products. They help boost your content’s effectiveness and increase sales over time.

Step 8: Get clicks on your affiliate links

Just because you’ve written great content doesn’t guarantee people will click on your affiliate links.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

A. Link Placement

If you tuck all your affiliate links at the bottom of the page where hardly anyone scrolls, you won’t get many clicks.

On the flip side, if you turn every other word into a link right at the start, it’ll look spammy and might turn people off.

The trick is to place your links thoughtfully while keeping the other factors below in mind.

B. Context

Let’s say you’re writing about affordable fitness trackers. Your intro shouldn’t look like this:

“Here are the best fitness trackers.”

That feels out of place, and the links seem random. A better approach might be:

“In this post, I’ll compare three fitness trackers under $100 that are available on Amazon: tracker 1, tracker 2, and tracker 3.”

C. Callouts

Using elements like buttons, tables, or boxes can grab your readers’ attention and make your content easier to skim.

For example, sites like TechRadar use comparison tables with product links when sharing their top gadget picks, which helps readers quickly find the info they need.

Step 9: Convert clicks to sales

In affiliate marketing, there are two most important things that need to happen for you to earn money.

First, you need to get someone to click on your affiliate link. That part’s up to you, and you can use the tips mentioned earlier to boost your chances.

The second step is getting the person to actually buy the product. This is out of your hands, as it depends on the merchant’s checkout process and how well their site converts visitors into buyers.

To stack the odds in your favor, it’s smart to work with affiliate programs that have a good track record of turning clicks into sales.

Here’s how you can find them:

A. Public Income Reports

If people are earning good money from a particular affiliate program, it’s a sign the product converts well.

How can you tell if a program is profitable for others?

Look for bloggers who share their income reports. These reports detail how much they’ve made through different affiliate programs. A quick search like “affiliate income report Shopify” will show blog posts where creators share their earnings, giving you insight into programs that perform well.

If you’re in the same niche, you can also check where their other affiliate earnings are coming from and consider promoting those products too.

B. Ask Questions

When there’s little info about an affiliate program, don’t hesitate to sign up and ask. You could inquire about average conversion rates or what their top affiliates earn each month. This can give you a better idea of whether the program is worth your time.

C. Trust Your Instincts

Sometimes, it’s all about trusting your gut. If something about the program or product feels off, or if it’s not something you’d recommend to friends or family, then it’s probably not worth promoting. Follow your instincts!

Hiring Freelancers for Affiliate Marketing Success

When starting affiliate marketing, freelancers can be a game-changer in multiple areas of your business. For instance, hiring a web developer can help you build a professional, user-friendly website that converts visitors into buyers. If design isn’t your strength, a freelance graphic designer can create eye-catching visuals and banners to enhance your content.

You might also bring in an SEO expert to optimize your site for search engines, ensuring consistent organic traffic. Additionally, content writers can help create engaging product reviews or blog posts to keep your audience informed and interested. Hiring freelancers lets you tap into specialized skills, allowing you to focus on scaling your affiliate marketing business.

Additionally, KonKer offers a great affiliate program that can help you make money while promoting freelancer services. With KonKer’s platform, you can easily find skilled freelancers to support your affiliate marketing efforts and earn commissions by referring others to the platform. It’s a win-win, allowing you to grow your business while also benefiting from their affiliate program.

Conclusion

Affiliate marketing is a fantastic way to earn money online, and with the right approach, you can turn it into a steady income stream. By choosing the right niche, promoting products you believe in, and focusing on providing value to your audience, you’ll set yourself up for success.

Remember, it takes time and effort, but the rewards can be well worth it. Stay consistent, keep learning, and tweak your strategies as needed. Before you know it, you’ll be making money through affiliate marketing and growing your online presence at the same time.

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