How To Evaluate An Affiliate Program

Ok so you think you have found a good affiliate program to promote on your website or in your newsletter? There are some basic things you need to look out for before joining any affiliate program. Some of them may seem minor but those little petty things can cause you to lose hundreds of dollars in affiliate revenue.

Here are some of the basic things to watch out for when joining an affiliate program:

No Affiliate Manager Contact Information
If they don't provide you with a way to contact them about their affiliate program then what are you going to do if you have a problem? Who are you going to email or call if your check doesn't arrive?

Commission Is To Low
Do you really want to spend time on an affiliate program that pays a measely 2%? I see these programs all over. They pitch their affiliate program and make it sound like it is a privelidge to join their affiliate program and earn pennies per sale. I usually stay away from programs that offer less than 8% commission. I will go a little lower if the products sell good and there is a good profit.

Unreasonable Cookie Length
Make sure you find this in their terms or information pages. This is the amount of time that the customer that clicks through your link remains yours. The standard cookie length is 30 days. This means that if your visitor clicks your affiliate link then they have 30 days to buy for you to get credit. You really don't want to promote an affiliate program that offers less than a 30 day cookie length.

Merchant Site Has Traffic Leaks
Probably the most common thing I see with affiliate programs. Mostly from newbie merchants that just got their affiliate program started. Most don't realize what they are doing and usually will correct the problem once I explain to them how traffic leaks are hurting their business and their affiliate program. Traffic leaks are links on the affiliate program site that potential customers can click on and go to other sites... sites that the affiliate won't get credit for if the visitor buys something. Leaks can consist of third-party banner ads, Google AdSense ads, popups, popunders, text links, etc...

No Phone Sale Tracking
With the internet market growing so rapidly every year this means more customers are shopping online. Alot of them will call the merchants 800 number to call in their order instead of submitting it online. Where does this leave you? The merchant gets the cash on the sale while you get stiffed. So when evaluating an affiliate program be sure to check to see if the merchant has measures set up to track phone orders for affiliates. It is simple to set up and it puts the affiliates ID number next to the phone number. So when customers call in they are asked for that number so they can manually credit the appropriate affiliate for the sale.

Chet Brzezinski has been in the affiliate marketing and affiliate management industry since 1997. He owns two affiliate marketing related sites. One that offers affiliate program management & consulting services and the other affiliate program reviews, tips and resources.

---

Online Affiliate Programs - 6 Must Read Reasons to Join Them

You must have been exposed to the online hype, and... Read More

How To Build An Email List As An Affiliate

You have probably heard "the money is in the list"... Read More

High Paying Lateral Keywords

If you run AdSense on your site you know that... Read More

How to Booost Your Affiliate Commissions by almost 30%

Affiliate marketing is one tough business. Everyone online... Read More

Affiliate Communication

Communication is Key!When building an affiliate network communicating with affiliates... Read More

Affiliate + Blogs = Money

I've been an affiliate for a long time, trying different... Read More

5 Affiliate Marketing Facts of Life

Affiliate Marketing (AM) is fast becoming a major trend in... Read More

6 Affiliate Mistakes Youre Probably Making...

Everyday I see more and more affiliates making the same... Read More

How To Create Your Own Successful And Profitable Affiliate Program

Most of the truly successful marketers have three competitive advantages... Read More

Why Join 2 Tier Affiliate Programs?

Like the more common single tier affiliate programs, 2 tier... Read More

Affiliate is not a Dirty Word

It wasn't very long ago when the word "affiliate" left... Read More

Marketing A Single Affiliate Program is the First Key to Success

There are a lot of affiliate marketing programs out there... Read More

What are the Benefits of Affiliate Marketing?

Affiliate marketing is a cooperative effort between merchant and an... Read More

The Prosperous Affiliate Merry-Go-Round

In the affiliate world, just as in the rest of... Read More

Affiliate Programs

Basic IdeaAffiliate marketing is a type of marketing in which... Read More

6 Critical Rules When Building An Affiliate Website

There are 6 rules you must use when building any... Read More

Affiliate Assets -- Discover the 3 Secrets That Will Turn Your Affiliate Link Into a Business

Your affiliate marketing business is just that ? a business.... Read More

Ebook Review: The Super Affiliate Handbook

Rosalind Gardner's 270 page ebook "The Super Affiliate Handbook" is... Read More

Basics of Affiliate Marketing

Whether you realize it or not, if you've been on... Read More

Generate More Sales in ANY Affiliate Program ? Part Four

VISUALIZE, STRATEGIZE, ENERGIZE, REALIZE reprogramming is the subject today.Every single... Read More

A Few Words on Affiliate Team Building

It might have been Vince Lombardi or some other famous... Read More

Affiliate! Discover Why You Are Losing $600 Each and Every Month!

Link bypassing is the number one trap affiliates fall into... Read More

Affiliate Marketing - Make Big Bucks Through Your Internet Home Business

Affiliate marketing has become a booming industry thanks to the... Read More

How to Use Solo Ads to Make a Small Fortune

Newsletter advertising has been getting a bad rap lately. Around... Read More

In Mourning for the Google Cash System

Do you remember when you could pick an affiliate program,... Read More

Sell Affiliate Product? Lets Change The Odds

An affiliate is simply an individual or business who signs... Read More

Are Affiliate Riches Within Your Grasp? Discover How to Cash in Starting Today

There is some speculation about how much money you can... Read More

Affiliate Marketing

Simply put, Affiliate Marketing is one of the most common... Read More

How to Make Real Money from Affiliate Programs

It is an often quoted statistic that about 90% of... Read More

Self-Replication, The All Important Third Step in Affiliate Marketing

'Self-replication' sounds like science fiction but it's not. It has... Read More

Things To Test On Your Website To Increase Sales

The Internet is powerful selling tool. Never before has been... Read More

10 Things WalMart Teaches About Affiliate Marketing

We already know about wal mart because of their ads... Read More

Watch Out For Traffic Leaks

When promoting any affiliate program one thing that you, as... Read More