Finding the best affiliate programs that fits the demographic of your website visitors, is key to getting maximum sales conversions. Unfortunately, most people do not spend a lot of research doing that. They see what some blogging “guru” is recommending and think that is what will make them lots of money.

The truth is, if you want the best affiliate program for YOUR site, you are going to have to do a lot of research and trial and error. It has to be a site you believe in and think visitors might actually buy from it. You have to think of what kind of visitors your website is attracting and target those kind of products to them. Make sure the affiliate program is something useful to your visitors. For example, if the prices are too high, then don’t expect it to convert well. If it’s not something you would buy from, don’t expect many others too either.

There is many other things to consider when picking a affiliate. Find out if the affiliate has a good reputation. Sites with good reputation tend to get better conversions because sales are often made days after the initial clickthrough and with cookies you still get credit. If you are joining an independant affiliate program you might be giving them your SSN or Tax Id, so you want to make sure the site is legitimate. Read the TOS closely so you know what sites and affiliate marketing methods are allowed. Some affiliates leave cookies for 30 or 60 days. The ones that leave cookies for a month or longer are the ones you should strive for because they really maximize your affiliate sales. The average affilite pays at least 10% on a 30 day cookie of sales transactions. I wouldn’t go less than that, unless you are having a difficult time finding alternative affiliates for your website.

To get started looking for affiliate programs, I recommend signing up to Shareasale. Shareasale has thousands of affiliate programs you can join there. They are my favorite affiliate network, as they do a good job of making sure affiliates are in compliance and have many great options for affiliate marketers such as; coupons, datafeeds, direct product urls, and 2nd tier affiliate programs for participating merchants.