Affiliate marketing means earning money by promoting another company’s or individual’s products or services online. For most website owners, the dream is to make money while sleeping. And doing affiliate marketing can help you achieve the holy grail of financial independence: passive income.
You can earn income by adding an affiliate link to your website: your readers can click links at any time. But if you can’t get people to visit your site, you won’t make anything. And that’s the purpose of this article: How to earn passive income by creating an affiliate marketing website.
Affiliate marketing requires little investment, but if you want to make a living this way, you must be willing to put in the effort. As an affiliate marketer, you’ll spend a lot of time building relationships, creating promotional content, and promoting your brand. It’s more than just blogging, vlogging, and product reviews. But it all starts with creating a search-engine-friendly website.
What is an affiliate website
Affiliate websites are sites that promote digital or physical products from other manufacturers or retailers. In this case, you don’t own any of the products; you just promote them through affiliate links and earn a commission.
Commissions on digital products are typically 50%, but they’re much lower for physical products.
It is best to build a niche website around a subject about which people are passionate and willing to spend money. You can also create an affiliate website for holidays like Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. You can promote costumes and decor items on this site.
To Contents ↑Why should you create an affiliate website?
Advertisers and publishers benefit equally from affiliate marketing. Every month, they earn hundreds to thousands of dollars. Here are a few more reasons to create an affiliate website:
- It’s simple to get into. Low costs are a huge plus. You only need to create a website to get started, and you can do so regardless of your current financial situation. Even if you don’t have the resources to create your website, you can still work as an affiliate.
- It doesn’t need constant attention. You can be an affiliate marketer while working full-time or traveling.
- It provides unlimited earning potential. The more your website grows, the more money you’ll make.
- It’s risk-free. Unlike other financial ventures, you won’t have to risk a lot of money or agree to stringent obligations.
How to build an affiliate website in 2023
To create a great money-making website, you’ll need to customize it for a specific advertiser. The best way to do that is to pick a niche and research affiliate programs after that. Only then can you begin building a website and preparing content.
1. Pick a niche
To be a successful affiliate, you must balance personal interests, skills, and market trends. There are many profitable niches out there, but picking one at random isn’t a good idea. To stay afloat, you must consider your preferences so that the business is interesting to you, as well as market trends. Here are a few popular niche ideas:
Travel
Traveling has never been easier, but people still seek advice from seasoned nomads to save money and avoid costly mistakes. This niche allows for the promotion of a wide range of products, including airline tickets and car rentals, as well as insurance agencies and amusement parks, to name a few. Let’s take a look at the top travel affiliate programs that have proven profitable in the past.
- Travelpayouts
Travelpayouts’ affiliate network can provide anything a traveler might require, from lodging and car rentals to plane tickets. It offers a wide range of ready-to-use promotional tools (banners, links, APIs, etc.). As an affiliate, you can earn up to 70% of the total commission, which means that the average commission is 1.6% for flight tickets and 6% for hotel reservations.
- Skyscanner
Skyscanner is a website that helps travelers find the cheapest flights to any destination in the world. It also offers car rental services. Skyscanner is one of the few truly reliable pay-per-click affiliate programs; you can earn up to $0.25 per click.
- Booking.com
When a traveler needs to find lodging in another city, Booking.com is likely the first place that comes to mind. You can earn up to 25% of Booking.com’s commission for every checked-out reservation made through your affiliate link as an affiliate.
To Contents ↑Consumer goods
So many people shop online, and writing reviews of your advertiser’s products can generate many leads for them. You can promote any product, from sports equipment to apparel and beauty products. To get the most out of this affiliate niche, try out the service or product for yourself to avoid misleading your audience and losing credibility.
Start with the two most extensive and most appealing affiliate programs listed below.
- Amazon
Amazon has a reputation for having everything in stock. You can get whatever you need there, whether it’s boots, a new phone, or kitchenware. Affiliates can earn up to 10% commissions through the Amazon Associates program, depending on the product category purchased through an affiliate link.
- eBay
From gardening tools to books to sunglasses, eBay has a wide range of products for sale. If you join the eBay Partner Network, you’ll get 50-70% of the total commission taken by eBay for each purchase made through the link you put on your site.
To Contents ↑Health and fitness
These two have always been lucrative niches because everyone is concerned about their health. You can write about vitamins, weight-loss products, green food, exercises, workout, and so much more. Consider your audience’s location, age, gender, and preferences, among other things. For example, men are more likely to purchase protein for muscle building, whereas women value skincare vitamins.
The health industry is likely to remain one of the most popular – and thus profitable – niches, there are many affiliate programs to choose from:
- DietBet
DietBet encourages its users to lose weight by providing them with a variety of challenges for a prize. DietBet’s affiliate program allows you to become a coach, create your challenge, and invite others to participate. Your commission will be 5-10% of the total prize in the challenge.
- eVitamins
As its name suggests, eVitamins sells vitamins. You can earn a 12% commission on average (depending on the product) from every purchase made through an affiliate link as an affiliate.
- iHerb
iHerb is a natural product marketplace with a global reach. Users can find natural skincare and beauty products, supplements, herbs, and other items here. You can earn a 10% commission on average if you influence your visitors to buy something from iHerb.
To Contents ↑Crypto and finance
You can tell people how to make money online as online entrepreneurship become more popular: develop design skills, start a dropshipping business, start crypto trading, and so on. You can also share your affiliate marketing expertise to encourage others to join this lucrative revenue stream.
To make money in this field, we’ve chosen the top affiliate programs.
- AWeber
AWeber is a company that specializes in email marketing. Every lead generated through affiliate links/banners/ earns affiliates a 30% commission.
- Shopify
Shopify helps new business owners set up their eCommerce stores, promote them with a variety of tools, and quickly turn a profit. You can earn up to $598 for a standard subscription and $2,000 for a premium subscription by promoting Shopify subscription plans.
- Colmex
Colmex is a trading platform for trading Forex, Futures, CFDs, and other financial instruments. You can earn up to 40% commission as an affiliate for each lead you generate.
- Binance
The great thing about Binance is that anyone can sign up as an affiliate and earn a 20% commission. By storing 500 BNB in your Binance wallet, you can double this rate to 40%.
To Contents ↑Tech and gadget
Every year, hundreds of tech companies worldwide pump out thousands of gadgets and millions of software. There’s a lot of money in this niche, and it’s quite easy. From promoting web hosting apps to 3D printers, you can earn a lot of money being an affiliate marketer in the tech niche.
These are just a few ideas, and there are many more affiliate niche website ideas. After you’ve chosen a niche, research potential competitors to see how much traffic, keywords, and how well you’ll fit in.
2. Find the right affiliate program for you
Affiliate-related products and services can be found directly from the source, through the merchant, or through a more extensive network with multiple affiliate programs. Although some companies run their affiliate programs, hiring an affiliate network to manage their programs is more common.
One way to find brands to promote is to search for terms like “brand name affiliate program.” If you search for “Amazon Affiliate Program,” for example, you’ll find several affiliate networks.
Affiliate networks:
You can also use an affiliate network to find products to promote by searching within it. An affiliate network acts as a middleman between a merchant and an affiliate. Amazon Associates is by far the largest affiliate network. Simply sign up, choose which products to promote, and generate as many custom Amazon affiliate links as you want. You earn a commission when someone makes a purchase on Amazon using your link.
To Contents ↑3. Find the right products to promote
It’s easy to get carried away at first and promote too many things on the same website. As a beginner, it’s best to keep your website focused on a single topic. It’s simpler and allows you to establish yourself as an expert in that field.
Affiliate marketplaces, such as the ones mentioned, are the best places to look for new products. Look up the top-performing affiliate programs in your niche. Examine blog posts and articles in your niche as well. Find out what products they’re promoting and how they’re promoting them. You should simply trust that the product is worth your customers’ money. It’s not a good idea to recommend something that could harm your reputation with your site’s visitors.
To Contents ↑Commission vs. product
You’ll notice a significant difference in the amount of commission offered from one product to the next as you browse through them. Frequently, there is a trade-off between the product’s quality and the commission paid. It’s natural to gravitate toward the products that pay the most money per sale (conversion). But, realistically, those products may not be the best fit if they are unlikely to convert.
First, let’s talk about what matters: the commission:
Product A costs $300
Product B costs $100
Surely Product A has gotten your attention, but consider the conversion likelihood before going for high-paying products. Your overall commission is determined by your ability to sell this product. Assume the conversion rates are:
2% for product A
10% for Product B
You can expect $6.00 in revenue for each affiliate click you send to Product A. You can expect $10 in affiliate revenue for each product B sale. We’d like to point out that the customer will not pay more by following an affiliate marketing link.
To Contents ↑4. Check the structure of the commission
You’re probably wondering how you’ll make money at this point. Affiliate marketing compensation depends on how the company or affiliate program rewards you, the publisher, for your efforts in driving traffic and sales. You can usually expect a share of the revenue, which means you’ll get a percentage of the sales you help generate.
Tracking links
All affiliate leads must be accurately accounted for so that all parties are aware of any sales and commissions owed. Lead tracking with tracking links is a real-time, automated process. Advertisers can get a real-time picture of how successful their affiliate campaigns are with reliable tracking. Postback URL and cookie tracking are the most common types of tracking links. Your technical knowledge and the nature of your affiliate program will help you decide which one to use for your affiliate website.
Cookie-based tracking
When a visitor to the affiliate’s site clicks on this special link, their browser saves your affiliate ID in a cookie text file. The reason for using cookies is that if a customer returns a few days later and completes a sale or any other suggested action, the lead is still attributed to the affiliate using the affiliate ID.
To Contents ↑5. Choose a domain name
The domain is the name of your website, and it should be short, catchy, and relevant to attract visitors. It consists of two parts: the name itself like Adsterra, and a so-called top-level domain, which begins with a dot and includes extensions such as.com,.org,.info, and others.
Many website builders offer free domains, but they are often long and complicated. If you create a website on Wix, for example, it will be called username.wixsite.com/siteaddress.
Aside from website builders, there are domain registrars like Google Domains and Hover, auction houses like GoDaddy and Sedo, and more.
6. Select a web host and a website builder
Today’s website builders are simple to use, don’t require coding knowledge, and frequently include web hosting as part of the package. You can use WordPress, Wix, Weebly, and similar platforms to create an affiliate website. These platforms offer free plans with a limited server capacity suitable for beginners and premium plans for larger projects.
Consider what features are most important to you for your website when selecting a platform. WordPress, for example, has a lot of great themes and gives you full control over your website.
You won’t have to worry about website hosting with Medium or Blogger, but you will be completely reliant on the platform’s performance. Website builders and hosting companies, like domain registrars, typically offer annual subscriptions.
There are dozens of free and paid hosting services available on the internet, but not all of them will meet your needs. Take into account the following requirements.
If you do most of the work yourself, running a blog could cost as little as $100. However, if you want to build a website with the help of professionals, be prepared to spend a significant amount of money.
To Contents ↑7. Set up themes and plugins for your affiliate website
On your website builder, you can select a theme. Themes and plugins differ depending on the niche and type of website, such as e-commerce, personal blogs, etc.
Plugins can help you optimize your website in addition to a theme. There are several SEO plugins available for WordPress that can help you increase traffic and conversions. Travelpayouts also offers a WordPress plugin that you might find helpful for your website.
8. Create content for a specific niche
You can begin uploading content once you’ve set up the website. Explore dedicated resources such as Amazines and Article Sphere for articles, Pexels and Pixabay for photos, Pexels Video and Stock Footage 4 Free for video, and many others to find niche content for free.
But it’s better to write articles on your own if you have good writing skills. You’ll need this step-by-step writing guide and tools like plagiarism and grammar checkers to automate the process.
To Contents ↑Styles of conversion hitting content
We already mentioned that making a living from affiliate marketing requires effort. People will trust you if you build a brand: They regard you as an expert and a reliable source of information on a particular subject. To become that person, you must begin publishing engaging and useful content that assists your readers in making informed purchasing decisions while also allowing you to profit from your marketing efforts. Let’s take a look at the most effective affiliate content strategies.
‘How-to’ manuals
How-to guides provide simple and clear instructions on how products work and how to complete specific tasks. They provide clear value to readers and establish you as an authority in your chosen niche.
When using how-to articles for affiliate marketing, there are a few different approaches you can take. You can write articles about getting the most out of a product or direct readers to affiliate products by writing more general how-to articles.
Here are some tips to include in your how-to guide.
- When writing your how-to guide, look at the content in other how-to guides to get ideas.
- Break down your instructions into chapters or steps.
- Add a table of contents to show your readers what’s included and where they can find each subtopic.
- Focus on your readers’ needs. Anticipate their concerns and questions, and provide answers in your guide.
Product reviews
Product reviews are a reliable affiliate marketing strategy. Simply express your thoughts on a product or service based on your own experiences. Reviews are a part of affiliate websites because you’ll spend a lot of time promoting products. They provide value to your readers deciding between similar products while also allowing you to include tracking links to the products naturally.
Given the popularity of product reviews, you’ll need to set yourself apart from the competition. Whatever it takes, whether it’s more detailed writing or a better rating system. Remember these points as you start writing your product reviews:
- Provide in-depth information. Maintain your readers’ trust by providing accurate information on what makes a product or service useful. The goal is to be helpful by being thorough rather than being overly promotional.
- Use a rating system that is simple and easy to understand.
- Try out the product you’re reviewing if at all possible.
- Don’t be afraid to write bad reviews. A negative review is unlikely to increase sales directly, but it will undoubtedly increase trust. Your readers will trust your judgment the next time you review a product.
Product comparisons
Consider your most recent online purchase. You probably tried to figure out the differences between similar (competing) products to determine the best product for you. A product comparison article can answer this type of search query ‘vs.’ The goal here isn’t to push for a sale; instead, just like with reviews, it’s to provide every detail your visitors could want, as well as anything your competitors have missed.
Price comparison sites such as Junglee, CompareRaja, and PriceDekho provide solutions to many online shopping options and choices. They show customers the best deals available from various product sellers.
Comparison sites should write in an educational rather than sales tone. Readers are more likely to click on links on these pages and, with luck, make a purchase. Better yet, they may come to rely on this publisher for future product comparisons.
To Contents ↑Best-of articles
These posts reintroduce tips and tricks that were once irrelevant to some readers but are now extremely useful. Every industry has its set of tools and services that can assist its customers. Making a list of the best tools or services will help them decide where to spend their money.
9. Create an email list
Building an email list of subscribers is one of the most effective things you can do as an online marketer. By building up your email list of niche subscribers, you have already demonstrated that they are interested in what you’re offering by signing up.
10. Use social media to promote your content
You must be active on social media to reach a larger audience and promote yourself and your websites/blogs.
The best platforms for promoting products as an affiliate are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Look for groups that are related to the target market for your product. These types of interest groups are an extremely effective way to increase a product’s organic audience reach.
11. Make improvements to your SEO
You’ll need to optimize your affiliate website for search engines if you want to get the most out of it. The key steps are as follows:
- Use keywords (title, headings, main body, anchors, meta descriptions, tags).
- Add keyword-rich image descriptions.
- Each article should include a link to a few relevant resources on your website.
- Include links to authoritative domains in your niche.
- Add share buttons for social media.
Many platforms, such as SEMRush, Majestic SEO, and SEOMoz, provide an all-in-one solution for your SEO strategy.
To Contents ↑12. Place backlinks
Backlinks are like a vote of confidence from other websites. The more you have, the more likely you are to rank higher in Google search results. Spammy backlinks from low-quality websites, on the other hand, can hurt your website’s promotion. Read our guide to learn how to write articles that drive traffic and backlinks to your website.
13. Set up an analytics system
Set up a few analytics tools to stay on top of your affiliate marketing campaign and make timely decisions. They will allow you to monitor traffic volume and sources, conversion rates, and popular and under-appreciated areas of your blog. Google Analytics is the best tool to use because it is free and provides a comprehensive analysis of your website. Start by watching this video if you’re new to Google Analytics.
You’ll need to keep an eye on affiliate links in addition to the overall performance of the website. Tracking them will allow you to see which elements have the highest conversion rate and better understand your campaign’s benefits and drawbacks.
To Contents ↑Alternatives to classic affiliate marketing
Considering everything we explained above, traditional affiliate marketing will be easy ONLY if you have good SEO, keyword research, and powerful content writing skills. And that’s enough reason to think twice before venturing into the affiliate marketing world.
Fortunately, there are alternatives –– some more viable than affiliate marketing –– for beginners and experienced affiliate marketers looking to diversify their source of income. However, you’ll need to learn some important things to succeed here.
To Contents ↑1. CPA Marketing
You don’t need a website for CPA marketing. You just have to be able to convince the right target audience to perform the desired action: signing up, filling out a form or survey, etc.
You also don’t need to go through the hassle of finding an affiliate program and negotiating with them. At Adsterra CPA, you can be a CPA marketer in just a few clicks, and here’s why you should be interested:
You can earn from 200 to 10000 dollars a week with CPA marketing. Here are two case studies to support this claim
2. Placing ads on your website
This method is almost no different from classic affiliate marketing, but you’ll earn faster if you have good website traffic. You don’t need to write detailed product reviews or how-to guides: You’re essentially selling ad space on your site.
So do you have quality website traffic but no time to search through affiliate programs? Consider putting highly rewarding ads by Adsterra on your web pages.
To Contents ↑Conclusion
Hopefully, you now understand the fundamentals of affiliate marketing. It may appear too good to be true, but keep in mind that affiliate marketing requires effort to yield positive results.
We looked at how to make money with affiliate marketing using these tried-and-true methods. Plus, find out how to go full-time. Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to begin your online marketing career. The only question now is niche.
Learning how to build an affiliate website can be a financially and personally rewarding experience. You’ll learn a great deal about the niche you’ve chosen and the people you’ll be helping through your website.
