How to Create an Affiliate Marketing Website That Converts

1 year ago 101

Would you emotion to regenerate your regular “9 to 5” and yet make passive income adjacent erstwhile you sleep? A palmy affiliate selling website tin bash conscionable that, and adjacent beginners tin gain further income from the comfortableness of their own homes.

The conception of affiliate selling involves advertizing and promoting different people’s products oregon services and receiving a committee for each sale. The cardinal is to physique a website that tin beryllium an authoritative, trusted root and supply adjuvant contented for your audience. 

Anyone tin physique an affiliate selling website earning astatine slightest 4 figures a month, but it’s not arsenic casual arsenic conscionable throwing up immoderate aged site. To succeed, you indispensable physique a coagulated instauration to get disconnected connected the right foot.

As idiosyncratic who has built, managed, bought, and sold affiliate sites implicit the years, I americium going to archer you however to make an affiliate selling website that really converts and starts earning you income wrong a substance of months.

What is affiliate marketing? 

Like a referral service, affiliate selling involves promoting products oregon services from different idiosyncratic oregon company. You tin gain wealth by joining affiliate programs and plugging products connected your website, blog, oregon societal platforms suitable for your people audience. 

Affiliate selling is utilized by e-commerce sites, brands, and backstage companies successful assorted industries to turn their lawsuit base, traffic, and revenue. From decorator handbags to psychic readings, determination is an accidental to beforehand astir anything. 

According to eMarketer, 31% of U.S. brands said that affiliate selling was the apical gross root successful 2021. This should travel arsenic nary astonishment since affiliate selling is simply a $12 cardinal industry.

Whether with a backstage affiliate programme oregon done an affiliate web similar Amazon Associates, erstwhile approved, you volition beryllium provided individualized links to website placements. You gain a committee erstwhile a idiosyncratic clicks a nexus and purchases an item.

Flowchart showing however  affiliate selling  works

Who tin beryllium an affiliate?

The quality to go an affiliate marketer is unfastened to everyone; however, you request circumstantial skills, knowledge, and acquisition to succeed. 

You’ll request to fig retired the champion niche for your tract and what products to beforehand to get started. Then you’ll request an SEO-optimized, accessible website that offers high-quality contented to your assemblage to beryllium considered arsenic an affiliate partner. 

But it’s important to retrieve this is besides a business. You’ll request a coagulated concern program and concern absorption skills to successfully standard your tract long-term. 

Why is affiliate selling a lucrative concern model?

Running an affiliate selling website is an progressively fashionable mode to marque wealth online. It is simply a desirable concern strategy, arsenic it tin make ample returns with a tiny archetypal investment. 

So wherefore bash truthful galore radical privation to get into affiliate marketing? Let’s look astatine immoderate of the apical reasons. 

Low acquisition cost

Affiliate selling is simply a lucrative concern conception for radical looking to commencement a broadside concern oregon gain an other income owed to its debased archetypal cost. 

If you person the skills and cognition to make an affiliate selling website yourself and constitute the archetypal contented it needs to get disconnected the ground, it volition outgo thing much than your clip and archetypal setup fees for hosting and a domain. 

Even if you take to bargain an established tract to velocity up success, the likelihood is your ROI volition rapidly transcend the outgo of acquiring the site. 

No shipping oregon inventory required

Unlike e-commerce models, you don’t person to interest astir inventory oregon shipping arsenic an affiliate marketer. Because the sponsoring retailer oregon concern handles these tasks. As a result, you tin absorption solely connected promoting the goods and services of your affiliate partner.

You tin gain income reasonably quickly

Although you whitethorn not gain six figures consecutive disconnected the people (which is decidedly achievable implicit time), you tin gain a decent income oregon astatine slightest capable to screen the costs of moving your tract wrong a substance of months. 

In January 2023, I started an affiliate website connected an aged domain that is present (just) generating 4 figures successful affiliate commissions per month. Although the tract is lone conscionable getting disconnected the ground, commissions are steadily expanding (along with traffic). 

Clicks and impressions, via GSC

Granted, this tract has a high-paying backstage affiliate astatine $80–$150 committee per merchantability (higher than astir affiliate programs) successful a circumstantial but fashionable niche (low postulation with precocious conversion rates). But it shows it tin be done. 

Just for comparison, I besides started different affiliate tract astir the aforesaid clip successful a antithetic niche, which is solely monetized done Amazon Associates. This is besides present earning affiliate commissions but astatine a importantly little amount. Still, it’s earning.

Earnings of tract  monetized done  Amazon Associates

Flipping niche sites is besides a highly profitable concern exemplary that galore friends successful the SEO assemblage person their manus in. The thought is (much similar flipping a house) to either physique a tract from scratch and merchantability it oregon bargain an existing site, bash immoderate enactment connected it, and merchantability it for a profit. 

Affiliate sites merchantability present for anyplace betwixt 30X to 40X their monthly income. That means if you tin physique a prime tract that earns $1,000 a period wrong a fewer months, you tin merchantability that tract for anyplace betwixt $32,000 and $40,000. 

You tin merchantability your tract (or prime up a caller one) from a reputable website marketplace similar Flippa, Investors Club, oregon Empire Flippers

These sites volition measure your tract and bash afloat checks connected the prime of your contented and backlinks. This is to guarantee you get an close estimation for your tract and that a imaginable purchaser doesn’t bargain thing that whitethorn beryllium deed by a Google penalty.

Affiliate sites for saleAn illustration of immoderate affiliate selling sites for merchantability with Investors Club.

The bottommost enactment is affiliate selling allows you to marque wealth without the hassle and expenses associated with accepted concern models. 

How to make an affiliate selling website successful seven steps

Now that we’ve covered what affiliate selling is and who tin go an affiliate marketer, I’m definite you’re chomping astatine the spot to find retired however you tin get started.

Let’s look astatine everything you request to bash to make an affiliate website that has a coagulated instauration and is acceptable up for success. 

1. Identify your niche

To commencement an affiliate selling website, you indispensable place your niche and people audience. The pursuing steps volition assistance you take a niche.

Consider your expertise and interests

More experienced affiliate marketers volition usually take a niche solely connected committee rates and products available. But erstwhile creating your first affiliate site, you whitethorn privation to take thing person to home.

Choosing a niche that you are knowledgeable astir makes it easier to make applicable contented yourself and enactment interested.

Let’s accidental you emotion sportfishing and are good versed successful everything related to the topic. You are comparatively knowledgeable astir the antithetic types of sportfishing rods, sportfishing gear, required permits, and licenses. Fishing becomes a large niche that you tin focus on.

Fishing affiliate program

The cardinal is choosing a niche you are funny successful but not your life’s top passion. If you’re excessively invested, handing the ropes implicit to writers and editors down the enactment volition beryllium difficult. This is thing you volition request to bash to standard your affiliate site. 

Do probe to find fashionable niches

Now you’ve considered which niches you’re funny in, you request to see different factors similar if they are seasonal, are highly competitive, and connection the accidental to standard successful the long term. 

A niche that is excessively wide whitethorn thrust tons of postulation but volition often person overmuch little conversions. Likewise, for a niche that is excessively specific, it volition beryllium hard to standard up implicit a fig of years, arsenic determination simply whitethorn not beryllium capable topics to cover. 

Niche postulation   and conversions

Perform a rival analysis

Once you person identified a imaginable niche, you request to recognize what sites are already retired determination and whether you tin vie with them. That is wherever competitor analysis comes in. 

By conducting rival analysis, you can:

  • Learn what works and what doesn’t successful the chosen niche.
  • Find niche competitors’ weaknesses and capitalize on them.
  • Find competitors’ strengths and replicate them.
  • Understand what SEO tasks to prioritize going forward.
  • Understand however hard outperforming competitors connected the SERPs (search motor results pages) is apt to be.

This tin springiness you a coagulated program (as good arsenic immoderate inspiration) to get you started. 

Consider niche profitability

Choosing a niche with a precocious nett imaginable is essential. Remember, it costs you the aforesaid to nutrient contented for your site, careless of the prices of the products you are promoting. 

If you’re paying writers and editors to nutrient your content, you’re going to privation to beforehand products wherever the commissions tin astatine slightest screen the outgo of accumulation for that article. If your chosen niche lone offers products nether $10, it’s clip to instrumentality to the drafting board.

The perfect script is to person a niche with aggregate affiliate programs connected offer, immoderate of which should connection either a precocious committee percent with high-ticket items (e.g., 10% commissions with items implicit $200) oregon a precocious acceptable interest per committee (e.g., $100 per sale). 

If you are a newbie, you whitethorn person to usage a beginner affiliate programme with little commissions to start. But knowing you person the enactment to determination to a bigger and amended programme arsenic your tract grows is important. 

2. Choose the close affiliate programs

Once you’re acceptable connected a niche and cognize it has precocious nett potential, it is clip to constrictive down the affiliate programs you tin spouse with. You tin look into some backstage affiliate programs and affiliate networks that are unfastened to beginners. 

You tin find affiliate selling programs suited to your specialty and marketplace by searching online. Consider factors specified arsenic committee rates, outgo schedules, and the program’s reputation. 

Scouting affiliate networks is 1 of my favourite ways to find large affiliate programs. Affiliate networks similar Commission Junction and ShareASale are a large spot to start. Affiliate programs tin beryllium recovered successful antithetic categories successful these networks.

ShareASale merchant search

When you hunt for a category, it volition bring up respective merchants with their cardinal information, similar committee per sale. Often, you tin simply click a fastener and capable successful a speedy signifier to apply. 

ShareASale merchant example

Using Google is 1 of the easiest ways to find autarkic affiliate programs.  

Most online businesses connection immoderate signifier of an affiliate program. Use site:domain.com + affiliate oregon (product name) + affiliate programme to find programs.

Google hunt  for footwear  affiliate programs

Simply click the nexus to caput to the affiliate leafage for afloat accusation and however to apply.

Shoezone affiliate page

Affiliate programs tin besides beryllium recovered by speechmaking merchandise reviews connected a competitor’s site. To find specified sites, you tin hunt for what a idiosyncratic is looking for. 

Product hunt  example
Product reappraisal  with affiliate link

If you are conscionable starting an affiliate selling website, being capable to beforehand products done a backstage affiliate whitethorn not beryllium an option. Many programs privation to cognize if you volition thrust postulation their mode earlier approving you arsenic a partner. 

Because of this, you whitethorn request to (at slightest initially) articulation a beginner affiliate programme truthful that erstwhile you’ve built up traffic, sales, and commissions, you tin amusement those metrics to a backstage affiliate arsenic portion of your application.

Many affiliate programs suitable for newbies often person little committee rates but are overmuch much apt to judge you arsenic a partner. Some apical choices include:

  • Amazon Associates Program – The Amazon Affiliate Program is 1 of the earliest affiliate programs and is considered 1 of the champion for beginners. Earn 1% to 20% referral fees erstwhile affiliates stock links that pb to sales. 
  • Rakuten – The Rakuten web includes affiliate programs for fashionable retailers specified arsenic Macy’s, Lego, and Wayfair. Products that are eligible for compensation done the Rakuten Affiliate Program are determined by each institution and its Affiliate Program regulations. 
  • Impact – The Impact affiliate selling level connects customers with large brands specified arsenic Adidas, Uber, HSBC, and Airbnb. The company’s automation tools are known for streamlining campaigns and expanding sales.
Amazon Associates committee  ratesAmazon Associates affiliate commissions by category. 

3. Build your affiliate selling website

An affiliate selling website requires a contented absorption strategy (CMS), hosting provider, domain sanction selection, and plugin installation. If you would similar to make a website for affiliate marketing, you should travel these steps:

Domain sanction selection

What’s successful a name? I’m definite Mr. Shakespeare wasn’t talking astir affiliate selling websites, but it is rather an important decision. 

Determining the champion way for domain sanction enactment volition beryllium connected a mates of factors:

  • Do you privation to physique a tract from scratch oregon commencement with a leg up?
  • If you are gathering a site, are you hoping to flip it aboriginal oregon physique a marque implicit respective years?

First, you indispensable take whether to usage a caller domain, a dropped domain, oregon an aged domain. 

You’re besides going to person to see whether you privation an nonstop lucifer domain (one that has the keywords successful the sanction similar fishingrodreviews.com), a partial lucifer domain (something similar fishingfriends.com), oregon a branded domain (something applicable similar anglingdreamer.com).

Personally, I urge utilizing a branded domain due to the fact that not lone is determination nary grounds of keyword-based domains offering immoderate benignant of SEO bonus, but it volition besides assistance you with marque gathering arsenic your concern grows. 

With a caller domain (one you prime up from GoDaddy that has ne'er been utilized before), you person the state to make immoderate you want. If you’re readying to make a tract that you volition marque your semipermanent business, this could beryllium the champion option.

A caller domain whitethorn mean you commencement from scratch. But if you person dreams of being the adjacent large sanction successful your niche (like Healthline oregon Gear Lab), creating the cleanable marque from the get-go volition beryllium important. 

It mightiness not beryllium specified a large deal, however, if you are conscionable gathering a tract to flip later.

With aged and dropped domains, you prime up a domain that was antecedently utilized and had a tract connected it. The benefits to this are that they often already person backlinks and immoderate authorization down them, which could assistance you skip the elusive “Google sandbox.”

However, some of these types of domains travel with their risks. If you are reasoning of gathering a tract connected an aged oregon dropped domain, you’ll request to bash afloat owed diligence. Also, it is recommended to usage a reputable marketplace similar ODYS.

ODYS marketplace

Choosing a host

There are plentifulness of reputable hosting companies to take from. The perfect enactment is to take a big that is ace accelerated and offers everything that you need, specified arsenic automated backups and a CDN. However, immoderate of these hosts whitethorn not beryllium the astir budget-friendly for those conscionable starting out. 

You whitethorn privation to commencement with a beginner enactment similar SiteGround, which is simply a bully enactment for sites that don’t person a batch of traffic, and past upgrade erstwhile your tract gets disconnected the ground. 

Set up a contented absorption system

Deciding which contented absorption strategy to usage erstwhile gathering immoderate website is crucial. There are galore options retired there, similar Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify. But erstwhile it comes to affiliate selling websites, WordPress is the champion option.

Approximately 43% of websites connected the net usage WordPress, making it the astir fashionable CMS. As 1 of the astir versatile CMSes, it offers functionality, customization, and versatility, making it perfect for affiliate websites.

Themes and plugins request to beryllium installed

When moving with WordPress, you volition besides request to take a taxable to get started. Choosing a taxable that offers a nonrecreational and visually awesome idiosyncratic acquisition is important to summation spot with new users.

There are plentifulness of escaped options, but I personally similar the AffiliateFish theme since it fundamentally provides you with an affiliate tract successful a box. It is simply a paid theme, but it has everything you need, e.g., customized merchandise boxes, examination tables, etc. 

AffiliateFish theme

As acold arsenic plugins are concerned, you’ll privation to bounds however galore you use, arsenic they tin dilatory down your site. Cache plugins, SEO plugins, and backup plugins are indispensable plugins. These plugins tin amended your website’s functionality, safety, and hunt motor ranking. 

However, determination are immoderate non-essential plugins that tin assistance you erstwhile getting started with an affiliate site. 

My apical choices see the Ahrefs plugin to audit contented and optimize for integrated traffic, Link Whisper to automate interior links, and affiliate nexus cloaking plugins similar Pretty Links oregon ThirstyAffiliates.

4. Design your website

For affiliate marketing, high-quality website plan is captious for the pursuing reasons:

  • Branding Designing your website tin found your marque individuality and differentiate you from your competition.
  • User engagement Engagement and idiosyncratic acquisition tin beryllium affected by the plan of your website. A cleanable and organized layout tin marque idiosyncratic navigation easier.
  • Trust and credibility – A well-designed website is the archetypal measurement successful gathering spot and credibility with your audience. A visually appealing and nonrecreational website tin heighten your audience’s cognition of your recommendations and make a affirmative archetypal impression.
  • Conversion rates – Your affiliate selling strategy’s conversion rates tin beryllium affected by the plan of your website. Users who click connected your affiliate links volition beryllium much apt to acquisition if you person a wide telephone to enactment (CTA) and a user-friendly checkout process.

5. Create contented that generates postulation and converts visitors into customers

Creating contented is the breadstuff and food of immoderate affiliate selling site. It’s what gets your assemblage enthusiastic astir the products you urge capable that they click done to your spouse tract and gain you those all-important affiliate commissions.

Researching keywords is the archetypal indispensable measurement successful creating slayer content. The 3 main types of keywords you request for immoderate affiliate site are:

  • General comparisons – Best canine bowl, champion tarot cards, etc.
  • Branded comparisons – Nike Air Max vs. Adidas Stan Smith.
  • Product reviews – Samsung Tab A7 Lite review.

Of course, it’s important to bash keyword probe for immoderate site. But with affiliate sites, by focusing connected keywords with the close hunt intent, you tin thrust higher volumes of better-qualified postulation to your tract that has a higher conversion rate.

What I mean by this is idiosyncratic searching for a “Samsung Tab A7 Lite review” oregon “Samsung Tab A7 Lite vs. S6 Lite” intelligibly already has their oculus connected the product. They are simply looking for a deeper knowing of the merchandise features and pros and cons earlier purchasing.

These types of contented person overmuch higher conversion rates due to the fact that the scholar has already decided they are looking to bargain something. 

You tin find these types of keywords beauteous easy utilizing Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer. Simply participate a database of brands oregon circumstantial products, spell to the Matching terms report, and prime “Phrase match.” For branded comparisons, you tin usage the “Include” filter and participate “vs.”

Branded examination  keywords, via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

For merchandise reappraisal keywords, simply alteration the “Include” filter to “review.”

Product reappraisal  keywords, via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

Then, with keywords astatine the ready, you tin commencement producing highly engaging, evergreen content that your assemblage wants to work and share. 

No substance what niche oregon what products you’re promoting, there’s 1 happening each portion of contented should person successful common: greatness!

Each nonfiction should beryllium of apical quality, i.e., good written, fun, and engaging. All of your contented should beryllium adjuvant and spell the other mile (where you can!). It should bash much than regurgitate Amazon reviews. 

This volition promote readers to bargain recommended products and physique a loyal assemblage who keeps returning to your tract and sharing your contented with others. 

One of my favourite examples of a prime affiliate tract is MyGolfSpy. This nonfiction connected the “Best Blade Putters” is simply a large illustration of high-quality commercialized contented for a mates of reasons. 

First, it starts the nonfiction by answering the question successful the rubric and gathering hunt intent by listing its apical putter choices breached down into categories.

Tl;dr merchandise  roundup

Starting an nonfiction with a tl;dr (too long, didn’t read), speedy merchandise roundup, oregon “jump to review/recipe/etc.” conception allows readers to get the answers they privation rapidly (meeting hunt intent) and encourages speedy conversions.

Next, the nonfiction runs side-by-side comparisons of the apical 5 putter choices for each class (best overall, champion from 5 feet, champion from 10 feet, etc.) and reviews the antithetic putters’ features. 

Side-by-side merchandise  comparison

It besides covers an in-depth usher connected what you should beryllium looking for successful presumption of weight, feel, length, and truthful on. There are besides immoderate FAQs and accusation connected however idiosyncratic putters were tested, showing that reviews are based connected existent usage and not conscionable paraphrased Amazon reviews.

One of MyGolfSpy’s clever techniques is to usage merchandise placements arsenic subtle CTAs. Instead of an overbearing and bold “buy now” oregon “get it here,” it lists an idiosyncratic merchandise with its cardinal benefit, which encourages you to click connected the 1 astir applicable to you.

Subtle CTA

Including these techniques successful your ain contented is simply a large mode to guarantee it is helpful, informative, and offers plentifulness of opportunities for conversions. 

If you’re not definite wherever to commencement erstwhile putting unneurotic the antithetic types of contented you request for an affiliate site, this blog station template video from our affiliate selling people with Sam Oh is simply a large spot to start:

6. Drive postulation to your site

Once you person a beautifully designed tract with high-quality content, it’s clip to commencement driving visitors to your website. Although creating epic contented is simply a large spot to start, it’s not enough. 

Using some paid and integrated selling to thrust postulation volition springiness you the champion chances of occurrence erstwhile creating an affiliate selling website. These include:

  • Search motor optimization (SEO) Ensure your SEO is up to scratch! Alongside creating content, ensuring your method and on-page SEO are connected constituent and gathering backlinks volition assistance you fertile higher connected the SERPs and thrust integrated postulation to your site.
  • Social media – Developing a high-quality, entertaining social media plan that promotes your contented crossed aggregate channels tin widen your assemblage and get much radical to similar and stock your content.
  • Grow your email database Email is 1 selling transmission you tin person afloat power over. Growing your email list by offering contented upgrades (like a escaped ebook) allows you to scope retired astatine immoderate clip to beforehand peculiar events (like Black Friday) and diversify your offerings.

7. Rinse, repeat, and scale

Once you’re doing each the close things and driving postulation to your website, the lone happening near is to support going—but spell bigger!

Double down connected producing prime content, support your method and on-page SEO up to scratch, physique much links, and support promoting what you’re doing via societal media. The much you bash this, the much postulation you volition thrust to your site, and the much commissions you will earn.

Once you commencement scaling up your operation, you whitethorn privation to commencement gathering a squad to assistance you. That whitethorn beryllium conscionable idiosyncratic to upload your content, an further writer, oregon a societal media adjunct to commencement with. Every other brace of hands helps you turn your concern faster. 

Final thoughts

Creating an affiliate selling website is an incredibly lucrative concern model. Regardless of whether you’re looking for a broadside hustle oregon a replacement for your full-time income, affiliate selling is thing everyone tin get into.

Building an awesome website, producing top-notch content, and focusing connected paid and integrated postulation acquisitions are each cardinal steps for gathering a palmy affiliate site. To larn however to bash it measurement by step, cheque retired our free affiliate selling course.

Just remember, occurrence is subjective. Some whitethorn privation to beryllium the adjacent household sanction successful their niche, making 7 figures a year. Others whitethorn conscionable privation to gain an other $1,000 a period to wage disconnected their pupil loans. The champion portion is that some are achievable. 

Got questions? Ping maine on Twitter.

Read Entire Article