W ant some tips on what the best affiliate marketing programs and networks are?
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn money from your new blog. But, if you don’t know which affiliate programs or networks to join, you’ll waste a lot of time, and it might take a while before you can start making money.
In this guide, I’ll help you find the best affiliate networks and programs so that you can start earning passive income FAST.
And if you’re really in a rush – jump the best affiliate marketing programs here!
Let’s dive in.
In This Guide:
What are Affiliate Programs, and Why Do You Need One?
Affiliate marketing is an excellent way to make money online, and it’s also one of the easiest ways to get started with blog monetization. You only have to promote a product you love on your blog. When readers click on your affiliate link and buy the product you recommend, you earn a commission.
To learn more, read our complete guide on how to get started with affiliate marketing.
But, you can’t start affiliate marketing without joining an affiliate program first.
An affiliate program is an official arrangement where a business pays an affiliate or another business a commission for sending traffic or sales their way.
The business provides the affiliate with a unique link, which the affiliate can use to track the sales or traffic they send. To get paid, the affiliate must use the unique link to promote the product in their blog post or social media.
Apart from the top affiliate programs, you can also sign up for affiliate networks. With an affiliate network, you can access thousands of products/companies you can promote.
Affiliate networks act as intermediaries between merchants selling products and the affiliates promoting them.
Before you start promoting a product from the affiliate network, make sure you negotiate the commission terms. You can opt for a recurring commission or a CPA (cost per action).
Opting for a recurring commission means you will get paid every time your referral renews their subscription. CPAs, however, are a one-time payment for every sale you make. These are often 100-200% more than the subscription plan. It’s important to choose the commission structure that best suits your needs.
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s jump right into the top affiliate networks and programs.
Best Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners
If you love a particular product, you can join that company’s affiliate program directly.
Here’s your ultimate list of the best affiliate programs that pay competitive commissions.
And if you’re already using any of these tools on your website, you’ll want to sign up immediately to start earning.
1. Bluehost
Bluehost is one of the best web hosting services on the market. It powers over 2 million websites and offers one of the highest-paying affiliate programs.
If you decide to promote Bluehost, you can earn an affiliate commission of $65 to $130 per sale generated from your blog.
And the best part is that the affiliate program is free to join. You don’t need any prerequisites to join their affiliate program except, of course, a blog.
Bluehost offers reliable tracking. You can rest easy knowing your sales will be credited to your account. They also have dedicated affiliate managers who can help you with anything you need.
Sign up for Bluehost’s affiliate program today!
2. OptinMonster
OptinMonster is a popular lead-generation tool that will help you convert visitors into subscribers and customers. With this tool, you can easily build eye-catching email opt-in forms, cart abandonment popups, and more.
So, it’s the perfect tool to recommend to readers who are trying to grow their email lists.
You can sign up for OptinMonster’s affiliate program and start earning a 20% affiliate commission on every sale.
For more information on their commissions, check out the details below:
- The basic plan sells for $108 – you earn up to $21.60
- Plus plan sells for $228 – you earn up to $45.60
- Pro plan sells for $348 – you earn up to $69.60
- Growth plan sells for $588 – you earn up to $117.60
OptinMonster’s affiliate program is managed by ShareASale, meaning you will get all the features of that platform, including their sales tracking dashboard.
Sign up for OptinMonster’s affiliate program today!
3. Constant Contact
Constant Contact is an easy and powerful email marketing service for small businesses.
If you’re already familiar with the product, you’d know just how good it is. Recommending it to your fellow bloggers and readers can earn you a good amount of money.
Their affiliate program includes a $5 commission for every qualified lead and $105 per referral when they become a Constant Contact customer.
After signing up, you will also get promotional material, personalized support, and an easy-to-use tracking dashboard.
Sign up for Constant Contact’s affiliate program today!
4. WP Engine
WP Engine, a popular managed hosting platform for WordPress, is another top-paying affiliate program. You can earn $200 for every sale you make.
Their programs also offer high incentives for high sales. For example, if you reach 5 sales in a month, you get an extra $100; for 10 purchases, you get an extra $250.
Another good thing about WP Engine is that it has a 180-day cookie period. If a reader clicks on your link, visits the WP Engine site, and purchases anytime before 180 days, you will be credited with the sale.
The downside is that WP Engine has a low conversion rate because it’s very expensive, and not everyone can afford it.
But it’s a good product to promote if you have relevant traffic. Who knows, you might start making a sale or two every now and then.
Sign up for WP Engine’s affiliate program today!
5. Brevo (Formerly Sendinblue)
Brevo is a another well-known email marketing software, landing page builder, and email automation tool.
Their affiliate program pays you for leads and sales that you recommend. If you refer a user to Sendinblue, you get €5; for every sale, you receive €100. They are quick and reliable to make payments on time. You can get them via PayPal or bank transfer.
They also have a 90-day cookie period and use Tapfiliate to track their affiliate sales.
Sign up for Sendinblue’s affiliate program today!
6. SEMRush
SEMRush is an awesome SEO tool that lets you discover and track keywords, conduct audits, analyze competitors, and more.
Impact manages the SEMRush affiliate program, which offers $200 commission payments for every sale. You also earn $10 for every new free trial and $0.01 for the new signup. Impact also offers a generous cookie life of 120 days.
SEMRush also has many promotional marketing materials that you can use to promote them on your blog. Plus, the signup process is very simple—you can get started in a few minutes.
Sign up for SEMRush’s affiliate program today!
7. GreenGeeks
GreenGeeks is an eco-friendly web hosting service, and its affiliate program has a tiered commission system that pays very generously. For example, you earn $50 if you make one sale per month, three sales per month will earn you $70 per sale, and six or more sales each month will earn you $100 per sale.
You also get access to creatives, content, targeting landing pages, banners, and more to effectively promote the product on your blog.
Sign up for GreenGeek’s affiliate program today!
8. SeedProd
SeedProd is an easy-to-use drag-and-drop page builder for WordPress. Bloggers can use this plugin to create beautiful sales pages, webinar landing pages, squeeze pages, coming soon pages, custom login pages, and more.
SeedProd offers a 30% affiliate commission on all sales. Once you sign up for SeedProd, you will also be affiliated with RafflePress. With RafflePress, you can host giveaways on your blog and social media, and you get a 20% commission on plugin sales.
The SeedProd affiliate program is run by ShareASale, which offers great support to affiliates. If you have any questions, you can go to your affiliate manager.
The signup process is fairly simple. SeedProd will approve your application in 24 hours. Once it’s done, you can start promoting it on your blog.
Sign up for SeedProd’s affiliate program today!
9. ConvertKit
ConvertKit is a marketing platform that offers email marketing automation and other tools for promoting your affiliate marketing business.
If you write for an audience you think can benefit from ConvertKit’s email marketing products, you should consider becoming an affiliate.
Their affiliate program offers a 30% commission for every subscription. ConvertKit’s pricing starts at $29 and goes up to $2000. As you can imagine, your income potential can skyrocket if your referral purchases one of the more expensive plans.
Sign up for ConvertKit’s affiliate program today!
10. WP Rocket
WP Rocket is a popular caching plugin for WordPress. It speeds up your blog by 40% and, in turn, improves its SEO and conversions.
By joining their affiliate program, you can earn a 20% commission for every sale you make. Like OptinMonster, WP Rocket uses ShareASale to help you track your affiliate sales and traffic.
It also has a 30-day cookie period. So, you’ll get paid if a reader clicks on your affiliate link and buys the product anytime within 30 days.
WP Rocket reviews your application to their affiliate program in 48 hours. Once that’s done, you can promote WP Rocket on your blog.
Sign up for WP Rocket’s affiliate program today!
11. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a well-known online store builder tool that powers thousands of stores across 150 countries.
From the affiliate perspective, BigCommerce offers a commission of 200% of the customer’s first monthly payment. You can also opt to promote their enterprise package and get a commission of $1,500. However, the enterprise plan’s conversion rate is much less than that of their regular plans.
BigCommerce offers a generous 90-day cookie period. You can get paid anytime within that 90-day window if your referral makes a purchase.
Sign up for BigCommerce’s affiliate program today!
A List of The Best Affiliate Marketing Networks
Not that we’ve covered great programs, let’s check out the best affiliate networks for beginner affiliate marketers. When picking an affiliate network, make sure that:
- They are 100% free. You should never have to pay to join.
- It has products related to your niche, or you’ll just be wasting your time.
- They offer good customer support.
- It has high-paying merchants, so you get high commissions for your sales.
1. ShareASale
ShareASale is a massive affiliate network with over 3,900 merchants and over 1 million affiliates. It has been around for over 19 years and is considered the industry leader. You can choose from 39 different verticals to promote various products, including fashion, home and garden, food and drink, B2B, and more.
Apart from having a massive list of products to promote, they also offer affiliate marketing courses, training webinars, top product recommendations, and marketing tools.
If you’re looking to get into the affiliate marketing game, then this is where you start.
2. CJ Affiliate
CJ Affiliate, formerly known as Commission Junction, is an affiliate network that has been operating for over 20 years!
They pay over $1.8 billion in commissions to their affiliate partners and process a whopping $16 billion in sales through their platform.
CJ Affiliate has famous brands you can partner with, like Overstock, Office Depot, GoPro, and more.
The only drawback is that those new to affiliate marketing can find it difficult to get approved to work with popular merchants.
You’ll really have to get creative with your email outreach strategy to get a chance to work with them.
Once you join, you’ll find that they have an easy-to-use platform, real-time reporting, and reliable payment methods.
3. Rakuten Advertising
Rakuten Advertising is another great affiliate marketing network that’s been in business since 1997, making it one of the oldest affiliate networks.
Even though they have been working in the industry for a long time, they still aren’t as big as other affiliate networks like CJ Affiliate.
But, they still boast 1000 merchants, including top brands like Ray-Ban, Sephora, Pac Sun, and New Balance.
Rakuten has an excellent user interface, and it’s easy to start. You can easily create your banners and place them on your blog.
They also have a good tracking tool and an easy-to-use reporting system. To learn more about affiliate marketing, you can watch their tutorial videos.
4. Amazon Associates
Amazon Associates isn’t exactly an affiliate network, but it’s worth mentioning because of its size. It has millions of big and small merchants. You can easily find and promote any product related to your niche on your blog.
The Amazon affiliate program offers 1-10% commission based on the product category. The most valuable items you can promote are clothes and beauty products. Promoting these products on your fashion or lifestyle blog can get you a 10% cut on the price.
Amazon is a trusted name, and if your blog redirects your visitors to Amazon, they will already have that trust built.
The only downside is that the Amazon affiliate platform has a very low commission rate when compared to other affiliate networks and programs.
In our opinion, Amazon Associates is a good place for newbie affiliate bloggers to get their feet wet. Once they get the hang of it, they can move on to other bigger networks.
5. Impact
Impact is relatively new in the affiliate industry, but it’s making many waves because it connects affiliates with merchants seamlessly. They have big brands on board, such as Airbnb, Adidas, Allstate, and more.
Impact works the same way as ShareASale. You can sign up for the program and start promoting related products immediately.
Affiliates have a dedicated account manager who guides them in maximizing their revenue. And Impact also offers custom contracts through which you can negotiate your affiliate commission.
6. FlexOffers
FlexOffers is a popular affiliate network that has access to 12,000+ merchants and advertisers.
They have an easy-to-use affiliate dashboard, and they add 50 new merchants every day, making it easy for you to find new products to promote.
FlexOffers assigns a dedicated account manager to every single account. These account managers help you find the best products to promote related to your blog’s niche.
You can also use the custom reports to view how well your affiliate links perform.
7. eBay Partner Network
The eBay Partner Network has over one billion listings from various products. The eBay affiliate program has the same advantages as Amazon Associates. It’s well-known, has high conversion rates, and has a massive list of products.
eBay pays its partners differently. Instead of a regular affiliate commission, you get a 50-70% share of the auction fee, depending on the product category.
You can also use the user-friendly portal to build ads and campaigns and monitor your performance.
These are some of the best affiliate marketing websites you can join today to make money from affiliate marketing.
Now, let’s look at some of the best affiliate programs.
How Do You Know if a Product Has an Affiliate Program?
You often like a product so much that you want to recommend it to everyone. There is no harm in making a few bucks along the way.
So, if you didn’t see a product you use and love on this list, don’t worry. It probably has an affiliate program, you just have to look for it.
Search for affiliate programs in the footer section at the bottom of the company’s website to determine if a product has an affiliate program.
You’ll usually find the affiliate program listed under “Affiliates” or “Affiliate Program.”
Bonus: Affiliate Marketing Tools
After you choose the right affiliate marketing networks and programs, you can start promoting those products on your blog.
But earning money from affiliate marketing doesn’t magically happen overnight.
So, before you go, we want to recommend some amazing affiliate marketing tools that can help you improve your affiliate income.
1. ThirstyAffiliates
ThirstyAffiliates is the best affiliate link-cloaking plugin on the market. With this plugin, you can hide the long, ugly affiliate links and replace them with a more attractive ThirstyAffiliate link.
ThirstyAffiliates also auto-links to keywords in your content. For example, you can set up ThirstyAffiliates to automatically link the keyword “OptinMonster” with its affiliate link. This way, you won’t have to link them manually, and you’ll save time.
The dashboard also provides stats and reports. From there, you can see which of your affiliates gets the most traffic. You can use this data to optimize your affiliate marketing efforts.
2. AdSanity
AdSanity is the best WordPress ad management plugin. It allows you to show ads on your blog and make them look professional.
It’s a great plugin for affiliate marketers because it allows you to add affiliate links to your ads, insert affiliate banners into widgets, sidebars, posts, and more, and see graphical stats for each ad from the dashboard. You can use that information to improve your ads and get more clicks.
3. MonsterInsights
MonsterInsights is the best analytics plugin for WordPress. With this plugin, you can monitor your blog traffic and other important Google Analytics stats from your WordPress dashboard.
But from an affiliate marketing standpoint, MonsterInsights has an affiliate tracking feature that can tell you how many visits you send to your affiliate partners. You can also see how well your affiliate campaigns perform, analyze the data, and make changes based on your findings.
Choose The Right Affiliate Marketing Program Today!
There you have it, folks!
We hope you found our list of the best affiliate marketing programs and websites useful. If you have any questions or if we missed your favorite affiliate program, please let us know in the comments below.
If you liked this guide, check out our guide on getting traffic to your blog.
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An article full of amazing insights and details. It is a must-read for a beginner like me to choose which affiliate network to work for.
So many great integrations are for Word Press. I currently have a site and blog through Square Space. I’m looking into monetizing my blog, but now I wonder if it might make more sense to move to Word Press so I can take advantage of all the integrations and automation. Thoughts?
Hey Susan, we always recommend WordPress.org to users because it gives you more freedom to grow your website how you want, you get access to thousands of WordPress themes and plugins, and you can monetize your website without limitations. If you want more information, you can take a look at this comparison of Squarespace vs. WordPress. Hope that helps 🙂
Finally, somehthing worth reading. It’s great to find posts like this one.