Hi, I have a new website that's going up in a day and have some questions about affiliate programs. 1. Will it hurt to sign up right away with affiliates? The website will be complete, not under construction, but won't have much traffic yet. 2. Rank the following according to your preference: Commission Junction, Azoogle, Acclaim, Copeac, Linkshare, any others? and why do you rank them that way? 3. Is it possible not to use banners or provided ads, but just link to an URL? Like if the website just directs people to, say, eBay, but doesn't use an affiliate provided ad - is it possible to link "eBay" with my affiliate info? Thanks for any feedback.
They won't know whether you get traffic or not, they just care of there's a site and it's functional. Search this forum for top affiliate programs, there's entire threads on this subject. But my favorites are CJ and AZ, in that order. Yes, you can use the link URL in any way you see fit.
thanx for the response... i was wondering about question #2 because people all seem to have favorites and vastly differing opinions (i read through the forums) and i'm trying to figure out which one(s) to go with... is it even good to go w/ more than 1?
Here's the deal with that (IMO), some people say I'm gonna focus on Azoogle programs, or I'm gonna focus on CJ/Copeac/whatever programs. That makes absolutely no sense, at all!! Look in each affiliate site (AZ, CJ, etc.) and find the individual products you'd like to market. There are some in AZ that I like, but there are more in CJ that I like. Focus on the individual product you'd be able to market, not necessarily the affiliate company that has that program. Of course to browse through them, you have to sign up. So join all the programs you want, then look through to find what you'd like to push. Most important thing of all: Every single major affiliate company has people making MILLIONS a year from them, so they all work, it's just how well you can market them.
Some affiliate networks require a certain amount of traffic, but the larger ones seem to not care as much if you are a newer site. You should be fine as long as you have a good quality site and is not just a page full of advertisements. They want real sites, which I am sure you have. Make sure none of your sections are under construction, b/c that can be a deterrent in getting approved. And if you get denied, call them and tell them your plans. You will usually get approved then.
Thanks for the replies... MrX, I was actually focusing on individual retailers and products rather than just on an affiliate program, since my site will lend itself well to that. I was just confused because everyone else is talking about just which affiliate program they like... I guess it depends on what kind of site you have? moratraffic... thanx for the thoughts. we're going to have pretty much no ads on our site, and it'll be helpful to many, so it probably will get approved