Making money online has always seemed like a desirable option for many people. But is affiliate marketing a reliable way to earn something extra, or is it just another gimmick that will waste your time?
What is affiliate marketing?
Before you learn how to make money with affiliate marketing, you'd need to see what it means. Affiliate marketing, in more simple words, is a way to earn money while promoting someone else's products (or services) and receiving a commission fee in return. It is a very modern way to make money because it is simple yet effective.
"You can make millions without lifting your finger," some may say. Well, this is a bit exaggerated, and we are not here to tell your fairytales. Let's see what you need to do to become a successful affiliate marketer.
1. Create quality content
Content is king. You should write every piece of communication in an engaging way. To excel at affiliate marketing, you will need content that both informs and inspires your audience. Both elements are essential - you need calls to action that evoke desire in readers while keeping them well-informed. You can't succeed if you post content for the sake of having it, regardless if it is text, video, or audio.
But how do you come up with quality content? There are a few steps to follow:
- Be accurate with data: users want to see accurate information. Do not lie to them. If you use numbers (for example, 86% of people drink water twice daily), you should refer to the source.
- Maintain consistency: People like predictability. If you come up with articles about dogs, they won't be happy to realize that their favorite article about German shepherds is right next to a Ford Mustang GT review.
- Do not "hit and run": if you create content and you bring up a topic, it's always a good idea to discuss it in a couple of sentences. Otherwise, you leave an impression of someone who is not knowledgeable.
2. Learn the products you are promoting
Affiliate sites offering users various products drive more traffic and sales, following the principle "the more, the better." However, if you as an affiliate have no understanding or experience with your own offered goods, you are unlikely to turn any leads into sales. It's safe to say that you will look like a complete amateur, and what might look great on paper could end up like a total disaster.
The best way to become familiar with the products you are promoting is by researching, selecting questions, and asking the manufacturer/service provider for further clarification. This is how you can acquire the knowledge needed to be convincing when explaining how something works.
3. Pick a niche
Affiliate marketers who don't focus on a specific niche will struggle to get decent results. You should pick a niche, whether you are infiltrating social media channels, promoting with your website, or using your YouTube channel to deliver content. With specialized knowledge of your industry and customers, you'll be able to create content - like video explanations and infographics - that people genuinely want to read.
If you are part of a web hosting affiliate program, you should focus on solving hosting-related problems and targeting such an audience. While it's always a good idea to experiment a bit by offering different insights, talking about various industries will hurt your reputation as an authority in a particular niche. And it will kill your SEO strategy if you rely on it. 
4. Do not sell - educate
Have you seen some of those sites and channels that blatantly sell products and only talk about the company perks? Well, they don't achieve very high rankings. You need to provide information to your visitors - even if it's not related to your affiliate marketing business, as long as it's high-quality and helpful content.
Remember that better content is more valuable than a paid advertisement on your website, YouTube channel, or social media profiles.
5. Be consistent
Affiliate marketing is a reliable means of generating a solid income, especially if you promote SaaS (Subscriptions as a Service) products. However, along with creating quality content, you need to be consistent. We have already mentioned how important habits are to people. Coming up with content at a specific time of the day and the week creates expectations in your users who will wait to find your latest insights.
Sadly, users are not your only problem if you are not consistent with publishing. Google will slam dunk your SEO efforts if you post new things every now and then. To get the most optimal results from affiliate marketing campaigns, you should have a content calendar.
6. Test and analyze your performance
Affiliate marketing is a lot like life - repeating the strategies that worked must be paired with the ability to learn and adapt to new results. This is a long-term strategy, not a get-rich-quick scheme. You should learn to analyze the results, A/B test everything, and make a change if it doesn't work.
Adapting to new user needs is crucial if you want to build a reliable platform that can make you money from web traffic. Do not hesitate to stop promoting products and services that no longer generate revenue for you.
7. Seek high payouts
Affiliate marketing programs aren't associated with high running costs for affiliates. However, you need to consider your time investment. Working with low-ball partners won't make the cut if you want to turn affiliate marketing into a reliable business model.
With Miss Affiliate, you can expect to make up to $3600 per 100 conversions, which is a high payout and something worth your attention.
8. Position links well
We have come across many affiliate marketers who simply don't put links well and, as a result, they suffer from poor results. Having your affiliate links properly positioned could result in increased visibility and more sales.
For example: if you are writing (or talking) about vehicle diagnostics, you should bring your affiliate link around the place where you will bring up the topic of computer errors. Placing the link everywhere is considered spam, and while putting it at the beginning of your article is tempting, the non-related to the paragraph link is off topic.
9. Prepare with patience
You cannot expect to come across immediate success. Affiliate marketing, as with any business, needs time. You should develop your website or social media channels, get enough traffic, and build authority, and only you can get results.
Many people are too impatient and give up too quickly. Finding and joining an affiliate program is easy- the hard part is growing your channel, so you start capitalizing on your efforts.
Last words
Affiliate marketing is a superb way to make money from the Internet. But it is not an easy feat. You should still create high-quality content, post it frequently, and grow your audience slowly and steadily.
At Miss Affiliate, we can offer you plenty of options to make a good income from web hosting affiliate marketing. If you have some questions, don't hesitate to reach us out.
