Finding Affiliate Programs and Where To Start

Most of us have difficulty getting started on a task, especially when we are new to the subject we are beginning, and finding quality affiliate programs for our web site or blog is no different. We just need to get a small kickstart for our brain to start processing the information we need to find.

There’s a really easy way to get things started, go look at one of your competitors. There are tons of ways to do this: the easiest way would be to put your keyword(s) into Google and see what pops up.

The order of the results is based in good part on Google’s PageRank, which has a lot to do with the number of other sites that link to a particular site.

Pick one of the results near the top and click on the link. Hover on a banner or text advertising box and see where the URL leads. Take note of the particular network such as Commission Junction, ClickBank, Linkshare, etc. and the particular programs on the site. I keep a list using Microsoft Notepad when I surf competitive sites for clients.

Most of the time I ignore CPM-based networks like DoubleClick or AdBrite, and contextual ad networks like Google and Yahoo. I do pay particular attention to the category affiliate network banners and text ads. For example, if you surf a few competitors and find a lot of banner advertising for web site hosting, that means your competitors are having at least some luck with website hosting affiliate programs.

When you come up with a good list of networks, programs and categories, go visit the networks that appear the most on the sites (try to go to 5 or 6 different sites so you can see any patterns that emerge).

After searching several sites listed for the niche you are interested in you should have a pretty good idea of where to start. Now take the list of affiliate networks, programs, and keywords you have collected and go to the networks and search around to find the best paying programs listed which you think your visitors would find valuable resources.

While you’re on the other sites, try to get a feel for where on the page the ads are placed, which can make a huge difference in clickthrough and conversion.

While you are visiting the other affiliate sites, take a close look at where on the page the ads are located and the method they are using within the content to link to the affiliate programs. Placement of ads and the proper linking structure within the page content can make all the difference for successful clickthrough and conversion ratios.