Affiliate marketing is a great online business. It has been for years. An enterprising individual who wants to create an extra stream of
income can make serious money as an affiliate marketer. The trick: knowing what opportunities will net the best returns.
So, how do you choose the best affiliate marketing programs to get involved with? There are several factors to consider when making your choice. We are going to look at the ones that matter most and analyze them.
What Product Interests You?
The fact is simple. If you can’t get behind a product, then your efforts to promote it will be lackluster at best. Choose a product that interests you. Convincing others to try it won’t be as hard when you can personally see reasons why it can benefit for someone else.
Does the product mesh with your niche market? If you have already created an online presence, then it is less work to promote affiliate products similar to what you are already talking about or selling to your existing audience.
Is There Demand for the Product?
You might like nutrient spikes for your vegetable garden but are others clamoring for them too? Perform a keyword search to evaluate:
- What words are getting the most traffic
- Is the competition high or still low enough to bring a profit?
In a competitive niche with low search volume but high competition, the market is likely saturated with other marketers and your ability to gain leads will be harder. Instead, try for a niche or sub-niche that has a high search volume but not as much competition. To determine this, use a keyword search tool like the one offered by Google AdWords. It can help you determine the search volume for each word you enter plus an estimate of the competition level.
What does the Sponsor Website Look Like?
Visit the website sponsoring the affiliate program. This is important because if visitors are not impressed with the site that you are linking them to, your number of clicks will wane as will the number of conversions resulting from those clicks.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Is the site user-friendly?
- Are their images of the products available for viewing?
- Does it provide rich content?
- What are past and current visitors saying about the website?
Reputation is all you have in business. Online, when your reputation takes a hit, the bad news can spread like wildfire. Preserve your reputation by choosing reputable sellers to partner with for affiliate promotions.
What is the Conversion Rate for the Product?
Conversion rates refer to the number of people who actually buy the product after clicking on your affiliate link. You want the rate to be as high as possible and it is a percentage out of 100. For example, if a seller has 3 people out of every 100 clicks who buys a product, then the conversion rate is 3 percent. This is not bad but if you want to turn a profit, there is more to consider than this.
What is the Average Order Volume?
Also consider the average order volume (AOV). The AOV is the average amount of the purchase made by the consumer. Average orders that are below $100, for example, won’t pay you much depending on your affiliate commission. High average order volume with lower conversion rates can still become a profitable investment for you.
What is the Commission?
Now we are getting to the nitty-gritty. How much will you get paid for your advertising efforts? This, combined with the conversion rate and the average order volume, determine how much money you can make with each sale.
Let’s say that a seller offers you a 10 percent commission. If the average order is $80, you will make $8 per person who purchases the product. With a 3 percent conversion rate, that equals $24.
This can change of course. Larger order averages can balance out with lower conversion rate percentages. Do the math to come up with realistic numbers in order to compare programs before you invest your time and money.
What Tools are Available?
Every affiliate program needs to have an Affiliate’s Toolbox. These are the goodies that the seller provides to help you promote their 
product. It may be code for banner ads, text ads, your links, coupon codes and the like. Evaluate the tools to see if they will meet your needs for advertising. The lack of tools means that the seller is giving you no help at all.
Another tool that many overlook is the support. Is the affiliate program manager dedicated to helping you do your best work for them? If you have questions are they available with a ready answer? Lack of tools and support is a no-no.
Is there Competition for this Niche?
There will always be competition. The question is how strong that competition is and can you still earn decent money? You already have some sense of it from your keyword research in the beginning of this process.
Take a look at who else is promoting similar products. Evaluate them on the same basis as you have this affiliate program.
There are many affiliate programs out there to choose from. Avoid making a hasty decision without checking the facts and asking yourself a few questions like the ones posed above.