Affiliate Marketing for Bloggers: A Comprehensive Guide

When it comes to affiliate marketing, there are a lot of strategies to put in place to become successful. But before I jump into what we have, I would like to explain to newbies what affiliate marketing is all about. But before then, I would like you to drop at the comment section what you understand by affiliate marketing in a lay mans understanding.

If I were to throw this question to the public, I believe everyone would give a definition(s) of affiliate marketing, even the people who are just hearing about it for the first time.

Affiliate marketing is like being a middleman in sales. Imagine you recommend a friend’s product to someone, and when that person buys the product based on your recommendation, your friend gives you a small reward or commission for bringing in the sale.

So, affiliate marketing is about recommending products or services through special links, and when people buy or sign up using your link, you get a commission.

These product(s) can be any digital product such as an online course, a service, subscription plan, or even an ebook/CD etc.

Now we understand what affiliate marketing is, we can then see how a blogger can maximise it to earn passive income from their blog(s).

Let me put it this way. A blogger who has a lot of traffic will stand a chance of earning more from affiliate marketing.

In this article, you will see how to begin promoting your affiliate products on your blog.

This article will address several challenges you must have faced, as well as guiding you on a step by step process on growing your blog and using it properly together with your affiliated platforms to promote quality products.

But we are yet to talk about affiliate platforms where you can sign up to become an affiliate marketer. Many companies offer affiliate programs. Some popular platforms include Amazon Associates, ShareASale, and ClickBank.

In Nigeria, we have Digitstem, Expertnaire, and others.

As a blogger, it is important to choose a niche when you are promoting products. This is because the more niche focus your blog is, the more you will have ideas to write topics on it. Also, you should choose a niche that you are passionate or knowledgeable about.

For example, starting a blog on fashion or beauty niche will enable you find promoting its products easily. You cannot be promoting beauty products on a tech blog. Hope you get.

So, majority of these affiliate marketing platforms have several products in different industries (niches), and you have to be specific about what you are promoting.

Authenticity in Affiliate Marketing

In the world of affiliate marketing, authenticity is paramount. Authenticity builds trust, and trust drives conversions. By promoting products you genuinely believe in, you not only serve your audience better but also enhance the longevity and reputation of your platform. Short-term profit from inauthenticity can negatively impact on your long-term credibility.

So it is therefore very important to take into consideration authenticity when promoting products. Remember you are building an audience who will continually buy from and get others to buy from you.

How to choose the right product to promote

Choosing the right affiliate program is crucial. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

• Commission Structures: There are products with higher commission than others. Look for a balance between a good commission rate and a reputable product.
• Check your Niche: If you are a beauty blogger, you have to only filter products related to beauty niche and start promoting.
• Check Reviews: Look for what other affiliate marketers are saying about the product you are about promoting.
• Test the product yourself. If it is a physical product, you can order for a product and use it. Lets take for example that you are promoting a health product, you can get it and use to see it for yourself before recommending it to people.

Those are just few of the different ways to choose right product to promote.

How do you add Affiliate links as a Blogger to your blog

As a blogger, you are either using WordPress CMS, which is the most popularly used, or you are using Joomla. Whichever one you are used to, there are some how to dos while promoting products.

Some of them includes:

• Using Product Reviews: Write genuine reviews of products you’ve used. Share pros, cons, and personal experiences. This is a powerful way to market products using your affiliate links.
• Use Narratives: Share stories especially personal ones or experiences and organically mention products, linking to them. Powerful.
• Tutorials and How-tos: Write contents and explain how a product is used, and also highlighting its benefits. This is a popularly used strategy.
• Using resources: As a blogger, you can create resources page on your blog. This resources includes for examples hosting platforms, email services that you are using. So while mentioning them, include your affiliate links to these platforms where necessary.

These are just the best few ways to add affiliate links as a blogger to your blog.

You can check out on the different SEO strategies to boost affiliate sales.