How to Choose Affiliate Products for Your Blog
0Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money with your blog. Instead of making a few cents here and there from ad clicks, you can make several dollars or even a few hundred dollars with sales of the right product. However, not all affiliate programs are created alike, and choosing the right affiliate program to promote is critical to the long-term success of your blog.
Here are a few tips for how you can choose the best affiliate products to promote the success of your blog:
Focus on Your Niche First
The affiliate products that you choose to promote should be related to your niche. Otherwise, your customers won’t have a compelling reason to purchase them. Think about it: If you write a blog about athletic shoes, why would you promote dog beds? Doesn’t it make more sense to promote athletic shoes and gear on your blog?
The first step to success with affiliate products is choosing items that naturally complement the content on your blog and offer your readers something they need or want. Don’t try to promote products that don’t fit your blog just because they offer large commissions.
Research the Quality of the Product
Next, you have to make sure that the quality of the products you are promoting is good. While the product may seem great on paper, once customers receive it, they may find that it malfunctions or is poorly constructed. If that person brought the product through your site, it could reflect poorly on you.
Take the time to research any product you promote on your site to make sure that customers are satisfied with it after they receive it. If you can, get a sample of the product to review in person. Of course, it’s even better if you can promote only items with which you have had personal experience.
Evaluate the Program’s Reputation
Finally, make sure you research the reputation of the program itself. Not only could that program have a reputation for late shipping or other customer service issues that could alienate your readers, but it could also have a reputation for poor service with its affiliates. Check out information such as how commissions are calculated and when and how payment is issued.
If the program has happy affiliates, it’s a good sign that you can find success with it. If a lot of people are complaining about the program on forums and blogs, it’s a good sign you should steer clear of it.
Choosing the right affiliate products for your blog is critical to your long-term success. These tips can help you evaluate and select the right products to help you monetize and grow your blog.
How did you select the affiliate products for your blog? Share your tips in the comments!
Kim Willington is a freelance writer and researcher for Helpdesksoftware.org, where she has recently been researching IT help desks. In her spare time, she enjoys antiquing and taking long walks with her retriever, Spencer.