Design Web Site Around Affiliate Programs

When starting a Web business, most people choose a topic
for their Web site and then look for products and
affiliate programs related to that topic. In this article,
I suggest searching for a group of related affiliate
programs first, then designing your Web site around those
programs.

There are many affiliate directories and affiliate network
Web sites where you can search for the best programs. For
this example, I use Commission Junction http://www.jc.com
This affiliate network site provides a vast amount of
searchable information on over 1200 affiliate programs.

On Commission Junction's front page, click on the link
"Search all advertisers". This will take you to a page
with a drop down list where you can select a category. In
order to search the information on Commission Junction,
you must be a member, but membership is free. After you
login to Commission Junction, go to the bottom of the page
to "Find Advertisers & links". Here you can get a list of
all advertisers, search advertisers by keyword, or browse
for advertisers.

Click on "Browse for advertisers". This takes to to a
table where you can arrange the affiliate programs based
upon "EPC" or "Network Earnings". EPC is the average
earnings per 100 clicks. It reflects the affiliate
programs ability to convert clicks into commissions.
Network Earnings is a rank, on a scale of one to five, of
an affiliate program based on the amount of commissions
paid. In the head of the table, click on the name of the
parameter you are interested in. This rearranges the
entries based upon that parameter.

After you arrange the entries, you have to page past all
the "New" programs. I guess Commission Junction puts the
new programs at the top of the list to help promote them.
As you analyze the data you will discover that the
programs that pay the highest earnings per click do not
necessarily provide the highest total earnings.

Some important points:

- Commission Junction is not the best affiliate network.
Their fees to advertisers are too high. Search Google for
other affiliate networks and affiliate programs.

- Join several good programs. You don't want to build your
Web site around one program that may be discontinued.

- Don't join too many programs. It takes time and work to
promote each program.

- Don't be in a rush to join affiliate programs. Take your
time and select a profitable category and high quality
programs.

Most people get an idea for a Web site, and then look for
related affiliate products to sell. Why not research
affiliate programs first? Then you can learn what
categories of affiliate products and services are going
you earn you the most money. You can then design the topic
of your Web site around the most profitable product
categories and affiliate programs.