A blogger has e-mailed me seeking advice on affiliate programs that work best on blogs.
In scenarios involving blogs the choice of the affiliate programs to partner with should not be based on the means of promotion (banner/ad placements on blogs), but rather on the topical match between the blog and the affiliate program. If you are passionate about photography, blog about it regularly, and have a loyal targeted traffic — you want to join affiliate programs of merchants that sell photographic equipment, camera bags, photography-related magazines and other related merchandise. If it’s horseback riding that you blog about, start serving your visitors ads of horse tack merchants, horse magazines and other merchandise and services your readers are likely to be interested in.
While choosing the affiliate programs to partner with (i) look at the metrics (EPC or average affiliate earnings per 100 clicks, reversal ratio, and conversion), and (ii) search the web for reviews on the program you are considering to join (if there are things you should be aware of, the likelihood that others have already blogged about them or discussed them in forums is very high).
And remember: there is no such a thing as an affiliate program for a blog. All of them can work for bloggers (who fit into the category of content[-generating] affiliates) if carefully chosen and properly served.
It’s funny,
You can always tell which bloggers are out there strictly for the money, and which bloggers are supplementing their passion for a specific subject with blogging and affiliate marketing.
The former type of blogger can rarely keep my attention for more than a minute or so, are dry and robotic, and seem like there are just pasting in information from an article database.
The passionate bloggers always grab my attention, make me laugh, force me to reflect, and keep me captivated.
Needless to say, I return again and again.
I always make sure AWeber affiliates are aware of the difference between the two types.