How to Make Money with Affiliate Marketing (Easy Strategies for Bloggers)

What would you say if I told you there was a way to make a passive income using your blog?

Whether you’re a new blogger or a seasoned blogger looking for ways to generate some extra income, affiliate marketing is the way to do it.

Although some may not agree, affiliate marketing is the best way to monetize your blog. For most bloggers, it’s also their primary source of revenue.

In this post, Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers, you’ll learn easy and proven strategies for getting started with affiliate marketing, as well as how to make the most of your partnerships with affiliate programs and networks.

Let’s get started…

In this guide, you’re going to learn everything you need to know about affiliate marketing so that you can start generating an income today.

By following these tips that we lay out for you, you’ll be well on your way to a successful affiliate marketing career.

We’re going to teach you how to monetize your blog so that you can finally start earning a passive income.

We’ll also share our best tips for getting started and introduce you to some of the best affiliate programs for bloggers available.

If you’re looking for ways to monetize your blog quickly to make money, learning affiliate marketing is the best way to do it. As a new blogger, this is also the fastest method for you to start making money from your blog.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

If you’re a blogger looking to make some extra money, affiliate marketing might be for you.

This type of online marketing pays bloggers based on their ability to promote a product or service effectively.

Affiliate marketing is when you promote a company’s product to potential customers, in your case, your blog’s audience, which will earn you a commission if one of your readers ends up making a purchase.

Bloggers not only have to put in the time and effort to create high-quality content, but they also need to find ways to market their affiliate products.

Although it takes a little bit of effort on your part, affiliate marketing is one of the easiest ways for bloggers to make money.

What is An Affiliate Marketer?

The people who help promote a product and earn a commission are known as affiliate marketers or affiliate partners. The organization that sells the product is typically called an affiliate merchant or advertiser.

Affiliate marketing can soon become your main source of income if you’re successful in promoting affiliate products and constructing your affiliate blog or website.

Your level of success will be determined by how successful you’re at promoting affiliate products and building your affiliate blog!

How Does Affiliate Marketing Work for Bloggers?

As an affiliate marketer, you promote other companies’ products or services on your blog.

When you promote affiliate products within your content using their special links, and someone clicks on the link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission!

If you’re new to blogging, affiliate marketing can be a struggle in the beginning because there’s more to it than just developing content.

Like anything else, affiliate marketing has a small learning curve, but once figured out, it will become second nature.

If your whole purpose in reading this is to learn everything you possibly can about affiliate marketing, here’s a quick overview of the way it works:

1. Start a blog to showcase and promote your affiliate products
2. Choose affiliate products that you genuinely believe in and use to promote on your blog
3. Choose the affiliate network or merchant for the brand that sells the product you want to promote
4. The affiliate network/merchant will give you a special link, which you can add to your content to promote the product, which in turn will earn you a commission when they purchase
5. By having content on your site that is valuable to the reader, you are more likely to promote affiliate products successfully. Be sure to share your experiences with the product. This will help you build credibility and help you make more sales
6. When a customer clicks on your affiliate link and buys the product, you earn a commission! There’s no added cost to the shopper. The company will pay the commission for every successful sale that you bring in
7. The amount of commission or payout you receive will vary from company to company

The first step is to choose amazing affiliate products for your blog.

Make sure the product you’re promoting lines up with your content so viewers are more inclined to buy it after reading your post or watching a video about the product.

How Much Money Can You Make With Affiliate Marketing?

How much money can you earn with affiliate marketing? The answer can depend on a few factors.

If you’re starting out as a new blogger or affiliate marketer with no name recognition or traffic to your site, you probably won’t make many sales at first.

As you build up your blog and social media following, you’ll start to see more sales come in.

The size of your blog audience will play a huge role in how much money you can make from affiliate marketing.

Traffic and engagement are directly correlated with how successful your blog can be. The more people that are reading your blog and enjoying your content, the more likely you are to make affiliate sales.

It’s not uncommon for bloggers to make a few hundred dollars per month from affiliate sales, and some even make over a million dollars per year!

Affiliate marketing is one of the quickest ways to monetize your blog. If you put in the work and choose good products to promote, you can start seeing results almost immediately.

Making money from your blog can take hard work, but it can be a very rewarding way to make a living if you’re successful. Consistent effort will lead to your success!

While you can make a lot of money from big affiliate marketing programs, you don’t necessarily have to. Smaller affiliate platforms or even products available on bigger networks (such as Amazon Associates) can offer good commissions too.

What Content Should Affiliate Marketers Create?

You must write content with lots of value to keep your readers engaged. This involves doing extensive research before promoting the affiliate products.

Write informative blog posts using videos and images to help sell your information, then be sure to link back to the affiliate products page when somebody clicks on your link.

Your affiliate posts should be helpful and informative and promote the products in a way that’s easy for your readers to understand.

How To Create An Affiliate Marketing Blog

If you’re a newbie blogger, you’re going to want to learn everything you possibly can about affiliate marketing, which will help in your efforts to reach success.

Creating a blog will function as a platform where you can endorse and sell different affiliate products. You’ll want to make sure your site is optimized for SEO so people can find it easily.

Affiliate marketing is most lucrative when done through a website or blog, but not a requirement, but if you have a large following on social media networks, you can make some easy money by sharing affiliate links on platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

While you can always outsource the creation of your affiliate marketing blog, I believe that it’s much more beneficial for you to learn how to do it yourself.

Not only is it not difficult, but you can also get started for less than $70 if using a platform like WordPress with SiteGround.

How to Find the Best Affiliate Marketing Programs

At first, it can be tough to pick affiliate products for a new blog. But as you become more acquainted with the industry and what your target market is looking for, it will get easier.

While searching for things to sell through your site, you’ll want to choose affiliate products or services that relate to your niche market.

To have the best chance for success, always start with a product that you already use and love.

If you want to be looked upon as an expert in your field and increase conversions, then choose affiliate products that are related to your niche.

A great way to find the best affiliate marketing programs that fit your interests is to look in the footer of websites for the company’s affiliate program.

The link will take you to a page with more information about the affiliate program. Be sure to read the terms and conditions for joining before getting started.

While some affiliate programs will accept you as soon as you finish the application process, others may take longer to approve your membership.

The approval process might involve looking at your website, the traffic it gets, and your social media following and engagement rate.

Don’t be discouraged from applying to a company’s affiliate program just because you don’t think you meet all the requirements.

Unless the company clearly states that there are specific criteria that must be met, apply anyway!

The worst that can happen is that you get a rejection. Then you can just try to apply to the program again at a later time.

List of the Best Affiliate Marketing Networks for Bloggers

If you’re just getting started in affiliate marketing, it’s helpful to know which affiliate marketing program is best suited for beginner bloggers.

There are so many top affiliate networks and programs available, so it can be difficult to know where to start.

Here are some of the best affiliate marketing networks for bloggers:

Awin

Awin is an affiliate marketing platform that offers programs for a range of brands and businesses. They help partners achieve their desired results quickly.

Awin has recently won four awards with partners at the Global Performance Marketing, including ‘Best Affiliate Network‘ and the ‘One to Watch‘.

Commission rate: This will vary depending on the product.

Amazon Associates

Amazon Associates Program is an affiliate marketing program that is free to bloggers. It’s one of the largest and most well-known affiliate programs. It’s easy to join, and you can start promoting products right away.

Commission rate: This will vary depending on the product category and products purchased.

Clickbank

Clickbank is an affiliate network that hosts affiliate programs for products ranging from weight loss to all kinds of products.

With over 100,000 affiliates worldwide, no wonder they’ve chosen ClickBank as their preferred marketplace.

Commission rate: they offer some of the highest commissions in the industry. Over 50% commission rate is the norm on the majority of offers available in Clickbanks marketplace.

CJ – Commission Junction

CJ.com (Commission Junction) is a popular affiliate network with a wide variety of merchants to choose from.

By partnering with some of the world’s most well-known brands, you have the opportunity to earn a commission.

Commission rate: Varies depending on the products sold.

eBay Partner Network

eBay Partner Network is a way to make money by directing traffic and creating sales on one of the world’s most expansive markets.

Commission rate: Varies depending on the products sold.

FlexOffers

FlexOffers is an award-winning partner network that provides comprehensive solutions to advertisers and publishers.

With over 10,000 affiliate programs, their network offers advanced payment options and established reach.

Commission rate: Varies depending on the products sold.

MaxBounty

MaxBounty has over 3,000 active campaigns. MaxBounty has the perfect solution for your affiliate marketing goals. By utilizing our global network of affiliate marketing channels, you will see a significant increase in sales.

Commission rate: Products you promote can earn you up to $500 or more per sale.

ShareASale

ShareASale is another well-known affiliate program with a mix of large and small businesses.

Commission rate: Varies depending on the products sold.

Rakuten Advertising

Rakuten Advertising, formerly known as LinkShare, is another large affiliate network with a wide array of merchants.

Commission rate: Varies depending on the products sold.

Things to Consider When Applying for Affiliate Programs

Before you apply to an affiliate marketing program, take some time to brainstorm how and where you would like to promote their products.

This will give them a better idea of whether or not you are a good fit for their program.

Every single affiliate marketing program has different requirements, so you must familiarize yourself with the information to avoid breaking the rules and being banned.

As an affiliate partner, you’ll have access to the affiliate dashboard, where you can find links and banner images offered by the affiliate manager.

Always check the commission percentage an affiliate program offers; the higher it is, the more money you can earn from being an affiliate.

It’s also crucial to consider how much information and training an affiliate program offers to help you as a blogger.

What Are Some Best Affiliate Programs for Bloggers?

If you’re new to blogging, there are a few things you should know before signing up for an affiliate program.

Select items that are related to your niche, as stated previously.

A smart move as an affiliate marketer is to look into affiliate programs that give you a recurring commission. This means that every time someone uses your affiliate link to subscribe to a product, you’ll get paid over and over for as long as they keep their subscription active.

Below are a few products with recurring commissions:

Canva Pro

Canva is a graphic design platform that lets you easily create invitations, business cards, graphics, and more using professionally designed templates.

You can also upload your own photos and add them to Canvas templates using a drag-and-drop interface.

Commission rate: 25% of a full year’s subscription.

ConvertKit

ConvertKit is an email marketing platform that was designed specifically for bloggers by a blogger.

ConvertKit’s email sequences are based on both site activities and email behavior, which allows for more creative list segmentation techniques.

Commission rate: 30% monthly recurring.

Jasper

Jasper is an artificial intelligence writing software that has received over 3000 five-star reviews. This software is known for being intuitive and advanced.

Jasper is not only an AI content writing tool that helps you with writer’s block, but it also brainstorms blog topic ideas, writes long-form posts using Jasper BOSS mode, and even helps you with grammar.

Commission rate: 30% monthly recurring commission.

Tailwind

Tailwind is an Instagram and Pinterest scheduler that lets you visually plan your posts ahead of time.

You can also use Tailwind to find content, schedule reposts, and track your analytics.

Commission rate: 15% to 25% per month, recurring until canceled.

How to Create Content for Your Affiliate Links

In order to be a successful affiliate marketer as a new blogger, one of the most important steps that you can take is to create high-quality content where you are able to include your affiliate links.

Your readers will appreciate your blog more if you promote affiliate products that are actually helpful to them.

For example, you could:

• Mention affiliate products in a post about DIY projects or how-to’s
• Include affiliate links when you’re writing reviews on specific items or brands
• Add banners for affiliates into older blog posts where they would complement the topic

If you want to be successful in affiliate marketing, it is critical that your readers trust you. This can only be accomplished by ensuring that the content you provide is valuable and not simply a sales pitch.

If you provide potential customers with helpful advice or information, they will be more likely to view your affiliate products as genuine attempts to help them with their problems instead of appearing like a sales pitch.

Affiliate marketing can be very profitable if you’re able to include affiliate links in a way that doesn’t appear spammy.

How to Drive Massive Traffic to Your Affiliate Links

The best way to enhance your affiliate income is by driving additional traffic to both your content and links.

SEO (search engine optimization)

SEO is the best affiliate marketing strategy and should be one of your top priorities for generating traffic back to your blog. Why? Because SEO lives on forever!

Now, you need to know that SEO takes time to produce results, but once the traffic starts coming in, it doesn’t let up unless you do something severely wrong.

The great thing about SEO is that, Yes, you will have to continually make sure your content is up-to-date and fresh, but it will always be there for you, bringing in massive amounts of traffic to your site.

How much traffic will depend on the strategies you implement. One of the main strategies is to optimize your blog posts for specific keyword phrases that relate to the products you’re promoting as an affiliate.

The best way to increase your blog’s traffic is by writing SEO-friendly content that appeals to your audience.

In-depth blog posts containing 2000 or more words of useful content are the most shared and have the best chance of ranking in search engine results, making them a vital step to success.

Using Your Social Media Accounts

Sharing your content on social media is another way to increase visibility and get more traffic.

You can use social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram, to not only increase blog traffic but also promote any affiliate products related to the topics you cover in your posts.

Without a doubt, posting on social media is essential for businesses.

However, it’s not enough to post once and then never return to your page again.

You need an effective social media marketing strategy:

• Focus your time and energy on the most relevant platforms for promoting your blog content
• Make sure to connect with people on social media, including influencers and brands
• To amplify your social media presence, get involved in relevant online communities

Social Media Sharing Sites

These next social sites all work through reciprocal sharing. You earn ‘credits’ for sharing other people’s content, and then you can use those credits to post your own content and get it shared by others.

• Triberr is an easy way to get more eyes on your blog. Your posts will be imported automatically. Just be sure to engage with your tribemates and share their content.
• ViralContentBee is a content promotion platform that allows bloggers to share their content on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. By sharing other people’s content, you earn credits that can be used to promote your own content. For more successful affiliate marketing, focus on sharing niche-related content.

Social Bookmarking Sites

Social bookmarking sites are a great way to keep track of your favorite stories, images, and videos.

You can use tags to organize them so that you can easily find what you’re looking for later on.

Other users can not only save these ‘bookmarks,’ but they share them with an unlimited number of people.

Many of these websites have a voting system so that users can vote for their favorite posts.

The posts with the most votes rise to the top, which can send more visitors to your blog, which will gain you more exposure for your affiliate links.

Flipboard is a popular social bookmarking site. Flipboard is more like a social magazine application than your average bookmarking site. It can be as simple as creating an excerpt of your article with a link back to your blog post.

More Social Bookmarking Sites >> List of Social Bookmarking Websites

Social Groups & Communities

If you want to be a success in online communities, you have to put in the effort. That means being involved in discussions and adding value instead of just dropping links.

Join well-moderated, established groups that are active in your niche.

• Facebook Groups
• LinkedIn Groups
• Web Forums
• Pinterest Group Boards
• Quora

Email Marketing – Using Your Email List

Email marketing services are more powerful and cost-effective than any of the latest marketing fads.

According to a Litmus Report – email marketing gives you $36 for every dollar spent. That’s a 3,600% ROI!

Building an email list is a great way to drive traffic to your affiliate links. subscribers are more likely to buy the products you promote.

The best way to build your email list is by offering exclusive content, such as a free downloadable checklist, eBook, video series, or even a discount for a product in exchange for their email.

Email Newsletters

If you want to boost your affiliate sales, be sure to include affiliate links in your email marketing newsletters.

By including affiliate links within your newsletter content, you can make it much easier for readers to find products that they might have been looking for all along.

By sending an email to your subscribers about your latest blog post, you will not only receive more website traffic but by engaging with more people through comments and shares.

People who follow you are more likely to share your content if they’re already subscribed.

Although keeping up with an email list can be tough, having a good relationship with your die-hard fans is one of the most crucial assets bloggers can have.

Best Types of Content For Affiliate Marketing

Here are some tips on what content to create that will result in more clicks on your affiliate links.

1. The Transactional “Best Of…” Article

The playing field has changed in recent years. Creating “Best of…” articles seems to work the best for affiliate marketers in the 2020’s and beyond.

People nowadays are looking for products, so they search for the “Best Climbing Shoes,” “Best Golf Clubs” or the “Best Backpack“. These people are usually ready to make a purchase, not just looking for information.

This brings me to the next “Best” type of content to bring visitors to your blog, leading to more affiliate sales.

2. Product Reviews

Affiliate marketing is greatly enhanced by product reviews because people tend to trust the opinion of other customers.

By placing affiliate links within your product reviews for specific items/brands, you’re giving potential buyers ways to find a reliable affiliate product that will match their needs.

Affiliate links in product reviews serve both the reader and vendor by earning a commission from affiliate sales.

3. “DIY” Types of Content

DIY content is usually very niche-specific but can be a great opportunity to add an affiliate link within your content.

Let’s say that you’re showing someone how to put a bookshelf together. The reader sees how easy it is to put together using the latest time-saving gadget, so they see the benefit of the product, reach for their credit card, click on your link, and make the purchase.

4. How-To’s and Tutorial Blog Posts

How To’s and Tutorials not only help people achieve their goals, but they also provide affiliate marketing opportunities.

People looking for “How To” do something, usually are looking for a way to accomplish something. Similar to the “DIY” type of article, if you’re able to show the reader the benefit of whatever affiliate product you are selling, the chances are good that you could make a sale.

Best Affiliate Marketing Practices to Increase Earnings

Cloaking Affiliate Links Using a WordPress Plugin

Link cloaking is the process of protecting and shortening URLs provided by an affiliate program.

Cloaking your affiliate links can turn more of your blog’s website traffic into affiliate income without annoying your audience.

Cloaking your links serves a few purposes:

• Cloaking will make the link more aesthetically pleasing and easier to share
• Cloaking will hide your affiliate ID, protecting your commissions from thieves
• Cloaking will allow you to automatically insert affiliate links into your blog posts via keywords with the use of a plugin

Google Analytics & Your Affiliate Links

Another good practice is to keep an eye on your Google Analytics to see how well your articles are ranking.

One way to improve your affiliate marketing income is to take a look at your top 20 to 30 blog posts to see where you can weave affiliate links within your content, where it looks natural and makes sense.

If you are driving loads of traffic to your posts, why not explore ways to generate revenue from your audience?

As you come across new affiliate products that you’d like to market for some extra income, peruse your blog posts to see if any of your articles might allow you to add affiliate links within the content.

One method I do is to run a search using keywords that would represent a product, once the blog posts show up in my search results, I check them out to see if I can weave an affiliate link within the content naturally.

Create a Resource Page for Your Best Tools and Software

Creating a resource page with your favorite tools and products is another great way to make a passive income using your affiliate links.

A resource page is normally one location of all your favorite tools (products, services, apps, subscriptions, online courses, etc.) that will provide value to your audience.

Your resource page is the perfect location to add your affiliate links for the best and most highly recommended products, tools, and software.

When you set up your “Resource” page, be sure to categorize your products or services in a way that it’s easy for your readers to find the product or service they’re searching for.

Dedicate Articles to a Favorite Product, Service, or Online Course

When your audience can see how your product, service, or course will improve their life, they are more likely to make a purchase.

If you want to show your affiliates some love, write a dedicated and detailed blog post featuring one of them in the limelight.

In the post, be sure to explain all the reasons you authentically love the product, service, or online courses and the benefits of making someone’s life better.

The more a person reads about something, the greater their chance of thinking, “Hey, this could be really helpful – I need to have it.”

You should focus on your top-performing affiliates to make the best use of your time.

Unless an affiliate has a high earnings potential or is a great way to earn a commission and content fit for your site, it’s not worth creating dedicated blog posts for an affiliate that has a low earnings potential.

Required Affiliate Disclosure

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires affiliate marketers to let their audience know if they are being paid for product promotion, which upholds advertising transparency and honesty.

So, you’ll need to let your readers know that you may receive a commission if the person decides to click on the affiliate link and make a purchase.

This way, your reader can make an informed decision about whether or not to buy the products and services that you recommend.

So, whenever you create content as an affiliate, you are required to disclose that you may profit from the product or service that you’re discussing, along with any link that leads to the product or service’s site.

The way to go about doing this is to have a statement along with a link leading to an Affiliate Disclosure on your blog. Follow the link for my affiliate disclosure for an example.

There are many services and plugins that provide users with pre-made legal pages; all you need to do is follow the steps on their websites.

Here are a few options to help you: a Free Website Terms Generator by Termly or Legal Bundle templates.

There’s a WordPress plugin called Legal Pages that can help too. This plugin will help you with a Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, and Cookie Notice.

Conclusion: Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers

If you want to make money online, affiliate marketing is a great way to make money from your blog.

By finding the best affiliate programs and using effective blogging tips and strategies, you can start generating a passive income that will help you achieve your financial goals.

It’s an easy way for new bloggers to earn money with their site without any skills or investment needed.

Furthermore, if you have individuals who always look to you for answers, it can be quite a lucrative business!

What are you waiting for? Start researching affiliate programs and creating content that converts today!

Thanks for stopping by!