Affiliate programs to the affiliate can be a pretty simple concept, but a high level of effort goes on behind the scenes. In order for you as the affiliate to be a part of the payout, someone needs to keep track of activity through the affiliate link ending at the merchant site.

Depending on how the program operates, the affiliate manager will need to determine:

  • The number of clicks on the affiliate link that you have put on your site

  • The number of people who purchase products / services, or perform some other paying action once the affiliate refers them

  • The quantity of banner exposures, to help assess how effective different banner are at attracting attention and generating sales


Affiliate Networks

Affiliate networks are the middlemen who operate between the affiliate and the merchant web sites. The network tracks statistics, arranges payments to you as an affiliate, and can actually help you get ready to sell merchant goods on your web site if you want to sell your goods via a network then Commission Junction is the widest reaching network you can join.

Affiliate networks make it easier for merchants to get more affiliates as they provide categorised listings of merchants, an affiliate looking for example to market financial websites could select every merchant in the finance category. For you as an affiliate, large networks make it very easy for you to find brand name companies to advertise on your site which you could then be paid for.

Here are a few of the leading affiliate networks to join to start earning money with your web site, we recommend you try them all and see which work best for your web site:

Webmaster Affiliate Networks

US Finance

General International Affiliate Networks

General UK Affiliate Networks

UK Finance Affiliate Networks

Pan-European Affiliate Networks

Relationship Finder Affiliate Networks

Gambling Affiliates

In exchange for the convenient tools and reports networks provide, they take a cut of each transaction. Typically, a network takes somewhere around 20 percent of the commission which if fair and still leaves you with a large amount of cash.

Next - Who can join Affiliate programs?