Evaluating Affiliate Programs

Evaluating Affiliate Programs

by Sarah Coles

Affiliate programs, also called partner or associate programs, have become one of the most popular ways to earn money with a website. Participants earn money by receiving commission for clicks, leads, and/or sales generated through a website. But, some affiliate programs are more rewarding than others. Knowing what to look for is the first step in choosing which affiliate programs will be most effective.

Commission and Earnings per Click (EPC)
The commission an affiliate program pays can help you choose between similar affiliate programs, but it is not always the most effective measure of how the affiliate program will perform.

Some affiliate programs get a lot of clicks, but very few sales. You may make more income from companies that pay a lower commission, but are easier to sell. The Earnings per Click (EPC) is the average earnings per 100 clicks and is often a better measure of how much success you will have with different affiliate programs. Many affiliate tracking programs provide the average EPC?s for their participating companies.

Third-Party Tracking
Although most companies with affiliate programs are honorable and will not try to stiff you on your commissions, it is generally a good idea to choose affiliate programs where sales and clicks are tracked by an unbiased third-party. Companies that specialize in tracking commissions normally have much more reliable systems and have no incentive to miss-track your sales.

Website Reporting
If you have a website, you most likely have some sort of program that tracks the traffic to your site, but most site statistics scripts cannot track affiliate links. In order to fine-tune your site to generate the most income, choose affiliate programs that provide free software for tracking which banners or text links are getting the most traffic.

Minimum Check Requirements
Minimum check requirements are the amount of commission that you must be owed before they will send you a check. Ideally, this should be in the $25-$50 range. Much smaller and you could end up cashing dozens of $2 and $3 checks, much higher and it could be quite a while before you receive a check.

Repeat Business and Deferred Sales
Often visitors will click on an affiliate link but not purchase a product during that visit or will return later to make additional purchases. Some affiliate programs will not pay commission even though the customers were referred through your site. When possible, choose affiliate programs that will pay you for repeat business and deferred sales