Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn revenue and generate income from your website on the Internet. It works well for people who don’t even have any products to sell! All you have to do is refer other websites that sell products, and you can make money on that. Affiliate marketing is an inexpensive way in which webmasters can make money by directing traffic to an online merchant’s website. If this leads to actual sales in the online merchant’s website, then the webmaster is paid a fixed amount or a percentage based commission.
Affiliate marketing helps in generating more targeted leads, contributes in increasing traffic which eventually leads to greater sales. All in all it increases online exposure of the merchant site which in turn helps the affiliate.
So basically, in layman’s term, what is affiliate marketing? It is basically a process, in which you use your website to refer other websites, i.e., you become their affiliate. In the online world, affiliate marketing works due to the technology involved. The referrals you send to the website you are affiliated can be tracked by online merchants through a special link. And if something is actually purchased through the referral, then you are adequately compensated by it.
Ads of merchant websites are placed on your site when you become their affiliate. A tracking code or number is assigned to you. This is known as the affiliate ID. This is a unique number meant only for you. This ID has to be included in the link that you create from an ad in your website that redirects to the merchant site.
Most merchants allow links to their page in the form of text, images, text ads, banners or a combination of all of these. Some even supply you with advanced forms of linking such as search boxes, virtual stores, storefronts, and data feeds etc.
Affiliate programs can be categorized into three types:
PPC or Pay-Per-Click – Here, a fixed amount is earned by the affiliate every time a potential customer clicks on the merchant site’s link from the affiliate site.
PPL or Pay-Per-Lead – In this, the affiliate is paid even when referrals do not necessarily become customers, but just join a program, request information or fill up questionnaires on the merchant website.
PPS or Pay-Per-Sale – The affiliate earns every time the merchant website earns through the sale made to referrals from the affiliate website. The payment is either a fixed amount monthly or commission basis.
There are lots of advantages and benefits of affiliate marketing.
Let’s look at the ways you can get started on affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn money online, especially if you want to start a home internet business. It works for all the people involved, the consumers, internet marketers, online merchants and of course you. So go ahead and join an affiliate program, and let the money begin to roll in!