Affiliate Program Rules – What you should know before you start
What is affiliate marketing? Simply put, a seller agrees with a marketer who helps others to find and buy what is being sold. In return, the seller gets a commission for each sale.
How exactly does affiliate marketing work? When affiliates blog reviews with affiliate links, readers can click on the link to buy a product or service and blogger gets a small commission.
Seven Reasons Why It’s a Great Idea
- Low-cost startup: There’s very little cost to get started on affiliate marketing. For instance, Amazon’s affiliate program only requires you to sign up for an Amazon Associates account, fill out a tax form, and wait for approval. You get your own dashboard, presto, you’re now an affiliate marketer.
- Promote what you like: You do not have to promote anything that you don’t like. If you love the product or service, your readers will know it and they will respond accordingly.
- No manpower management: You don’t need to manage people. All you need is internet access, a computer or laptop, and some time and space for you to do your work.
- No capital, no space: You do not have to buy products or find space for storage of goods and stocks.
- No heavy physical work: There is no need for you to provide sales, shipping, or delivery services. You don’t even have to open an e-commerce account.
- You can help people: You can add additional value to goods and services that you review. For instance, you can offer a bonus or a discount, or you can combine different offers and you don’t even need to create a new product.
- No clicks, no worries: There is no need for you to pay anything if nobody clicks on your links. Of course, you don’t earn a commission. To increase your clicks, you just have to write better articles.
Nine Rules To Remember
Many will tell you that affiliate marketing is all about creating a website and regularly adding new and useful content so that readers keep coming back. You are warned not to reuse or spin articles from elsewhere, that content quality is critical, and so on.
At the same time, very little information is available about the rules and regulations about the articles that you can publish on affiliate sites. Some of these rules are stated very clearly such as one the Commission Rockstar Affiliates site. On the other hand, others do not provide clear explanations.
Here is a summary of seven most common rules and regulations that you should know.
- Link positioning: Some affiliate programs require that links can only be placed in certain areas in articles that promote their product or service. Verify and make sure if this rule is required.
- Non-pushy promotion: Many affiliate programs will tell you not to tell or ask your readers to click on a link. When you join an affiliate program, clarify if this rule is implemented.
- Text formatting. Other affiliate programs require you to provide articles that use a specific font style and size. If this is not clear to you when you join an affiliate program, ask.
- No stale content. Most affiliate programs will tell you to use fresh content. Even without this rule, this is very important because your readers will always want new content and, of course, you want repeat visitors who revisit your website for new reading material.
- No filler content. No one wants to read fluff or articles that say much but mean little. Nobody likes unnecessary repetitions or filler text.
- Relevance is key: Of course, the content and topic of each article should be related to the product or service that you are reviewing. Unrelated content on a website is a lost cause, wasted effort, and a marketing no-no.
- Transparency disclosure: You are required by law to disclose the fact that you’re an affiliate. You must state the you receive some form of compensation in return for promoting a product or service.
- Source usage: Some merchants have strict rules about and how you cite links and sources. For instance, links are not allowed in emails, pop-ups, PDFs, guides, or e-books according to Amazon Affiliates rules.
- Write what you love: Keep in mind that you are not trying to mislead your readers into clicking your links so that you get a commission. Your audience should be able to trust that you are promoting something with real value.
Before you publish articles on your affiliate site, try and understand fully what your affiliate program requires. Almost all affiliate programs have their own rules and regulations about what should be in the articles on their affiliates’ sites. Save yourself a lot of wasted time and trouble; read and follow their rules about content.
Affiliate marketing is a wonderful way to make extra income by writing about the things that you or your audience loves. Try and establish relationships with reputable merchants who offer a decent commission. Pass on the blessings and provide your readers with discounts, bonuses, and special offers.
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