Starting an affiliate program on your website may be easier than you think. Follow the steps below to get started:
1. Plan
How are you going to pay your affiliates? Per click, per lead, per action or per thousand? Per lead or action are the most common, and are easiest to track.
Is your program going to pay a flat rate or a percentage per sale? Is the amount going to be re-occuring, so you pay your affiliate per month that their referral is a customer, or a one time fee?
How much are you going to pay your affiliates? Too much could be too expensive for you, and too little will discourage affiliates from signing up with you.
2. Tracking
How are you going to track sales? If you have a low volume website, you may get away with manually checking website traffic statistics, but most will require a proper program.
Are you going to use an affiliate network to do the tracking? If you do, it may cost you more, but it will be more automated and you will get free affiliate program advertising.
These are some of the programs that may suit you; check out the HotScripts and Scripts.com listings for more
In-House Tracking Software |
Affiliate Networks |
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Post Affiliate- Free
Good if you are starting up- limited features, but it's free! Post Affiliate Pro- $149Good for medium companies- lots of features, and still relatively cheap. Hot Script Listings150 different scripts, some free and some commercial. Not all are relevant, so you may need to sift through ;) Scripts.com Listings60 different scripts, again, some free and some commercial. |
Tribal Fusion
PPM only. The largest of its kind, so only for large companies Trade DoublerFor European markets. £500 start-up fee, so better for medium companies. Commission JunctionCommonly used and excellent for medium to large companies ClixGaloreNo start up fees, with a nice amount of features. Good for small to medium companies. |
3. Extras
What extras are you going to offer?
Banner Makers |
| Animation Online
Free banners, OK quality Ad DesignerFree banners which are high quality, but they do have a small advert on them Bpath Banner MakerFree and paid for banner maker. High quality. |
Banners
Providing your affiliates with premade banners will assist them greatly, and make them use your program more. Make sure the banners look professional, and are a range of sizes.
Incentives
Will you offer any incentives to your affiliates for doing well? You could pay a higher commission on all their sales, or double what they have earnt that month. Make sure you can afford whatever you do, if you do it
Cookie Length
If you are paying per lead or action, then cookies will be needed. You need to decide how long the cookie will be on the referrals computer. If it is on there for a month, then a month can pass between clicking an affiliate ad and actually completing the sale. Remember that the longer the cookie length, the more attractive the program, but it will cost you more.
Tiers
Are you going to pay your affiliates for any affiliates they recruit? Will you pay a set recoccuring commission, a commission on what the affiliate earns or a flat rate? Again, the more you pay the more attractive your program is, but it will obviously cost you more. You will also need affiliate software which will track the referral.
Payment
How will you pay your affiliates? Paypal, BACS, check? How often will you pay, or how much will the affiliate have to accrue before you send payment? If you have a high amount, like $100, it may put affiliates off from joining your program.
4. Advertise
Most importantly, you need to make sure people can find your affiliate program. Add it to the directory here, and on other sites.
Email your users, advertising your affiliate program and ask them to sign up. This is normally very successful.
Join the Code of Conduct program. It will add credibility to your program and give you free advertising.