Hello all, I have been pondering around this one for a while, but now it's time to actually start a coupon site. Now, I know how to get traffic to any site, but what I don't know is how coupon sites work. In other words, would I have to go looking for different coupon codes and then sign up for each company's affiliate program? Or is there any sort of coupon program that I can join and get lots of coupons + commisions without having to sign up for individual company programs? If I have to sign up with every company in order to get my commision through them, then that would take ages... I guess I could use cj or some other company, but even then, I would have to do it individually for each company... Furthermore, each company has a different payout structure - some pay a commission, others a flat fee based on a lead... etc etc... I really don't know where to start as this is a new field for me, so any ideas/hints would be greatly appreciated. (EDIT) - ALSO... How do you link the coupons? I wouldn't want to have a site full of affiliate links because I plan to get my traffic through SEO... I notice that most coupon sites have an image link (javascript?) through which you "copy the code and visit the site". That would be great... but I am not sure about how to do it.. Again, would really appreciate any advice. *** P.S. For The Admins: I am not sure if this is the right section for this thread, but based on what I saw, I think it's the most relevant..
You need a coupon script first. Look for one that has plugins that can import coupons. Otherwise prepare to spend year doing this work. You will import coupons ( with the help of the plugins - automated way ) received by big networks ( cj, linkshare, google ). You join them and after that programs that you like ( the fastest way ). On the script you place your affiliate links ... Even under the coupon ( if the script is good ) there will be your affiliate link. Once the visitor clicks the link it will have your affiliate id attached - that means that for each sale you get a commission.
Thank you for your reply. I am actually looking into CouponPress - so if you have any comments about that I would really appreciate it. I want to try and make the site in Wordpress, because I am very experienced with it and I feel that I will be able to customize and work through anything I need to. I am just not sure if it's worth buying a script like CouponPress or customizing WP to be used for the puprose of a coupon site (which doesn't sound like an impossible task). Then again, i would have to figure out a way to import and update the coupon codes efficiently... which brings me to my second question. You mentioned cj, linkshare and google. Can you think of any other big ones? I know that for CJ I would have to apply for each retailer individually, so I don't know how time efficient that would be.. Not sure about the other two since I've never used them. Are you familiar with coupon-specific affiliate sites such as lCodes and Formetocoupon? I found those two from CouponPress since they claim that their script can import directly from them... but I don't know how good/bad these two are. Do they offer a feed or something like that that I could import to WP? Would I still need to apply to individual programs through them, or am I free to use codes and receive commissions? ANY further hints from anyone would be truly appreciated.
Google is quite automated. You will join all 700 programs in about 3 minutes ( ok maybe 10 ). Shareasale is a big one. ( join one by one ) Avangate - only software and scripts. ( automated 1 click you join around 700 programs, the rest 140, 1 by 1 ) Icodes and other like that - they are good but one big disadvantage: you pay each month to get the codes! Look for a plugin that you pay once and after that you get code automated but with no other cost.