Though most people reading or viewing content do not realize it, creating online content is a very time consuming process. The content creators spend many hours daily to create content, and the advertising and affiliate income is often the only compensation they will get for their hard work. In the last few years, the advertising revenues of many non-video content creators has reduced to a great extent. Hence they are interested in finding a suitable affiliate program which they can use for monetizing their website. One of the most convenient methods of finding a suitable affiliate program is using an affiliate marketplace which has a large number of affiliate programs listed. Some of the most important factors which should be considered for choosing the right affiliate program for monetization are discussed.
Relevance
Almost all affiliate programs will pay only if the user will convert into a sale or in a few cases into a lead. So it is important to choose the affiliate program which is relevant to the content where the affiliate link will be inserted or affiliate product displayed. The user should search the marketplace to find the products which are related to the content. It is usually advisable to search if reputed brands have an affiliate programs, since they spend more money on advertising. Also people are more likely to purchase products of well known brands, since they are assured of the quality of the product.
Affiliate commission
Another factor which the content creator or online publisher should consider is the commission which the affiliate program is offering. The commission is usually expressed as a percentage of the sales price of the service or product. Typically for software products and services, the commission is usually higher, it may be 30% or more in many cases. However for hardware products, expensive appliances, the commission is usually lower, since they are high value products. Often the commission for appliances and electronics is 5% or less.However, these products will often cost $1000 or more, so the commission is substantial
Conversion rate
Affiliates should be aware that a high commission does not always guarantee high income or revenues. The affiliate may send a large amount of visitors to the affiliate website, yet these visitors may not convert into sales for different reasons. In some cases, the product or service of the business is not competitive, it may not have the features or specifications which the customer requires. Often the product prices are far higher than that of competitors and the customer may not be able to afford these expensive products. So usually the marketplace will also specify the conversion rate
Testing conversion
Content creators should be aware that conversion rates will vary greatly depending on the type of traffic the website is attracting, whether the visitors can afford to purchase the products which the affiliate is promoting. Getting visitors to a website is often very difficult for content creators, they have to spend many hours promoting their website or content. So if the affiliate finds that he is not getting any conversion, despite sending a large amount of traffic, he should consider testing another affiliate program.
