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How To Evaluate An Affiliate Program
by Chet Brzezinski
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Ok so you think you have found a good affiliate program to
promote on your website or in your newsletter? There are some basic
things you need to look out for before joining any affiliate program.
Some of them may seem minor but those little petty things can cause you
to lose hundreds of dollars in affiliate revenue.
Here are some of the basic things to watch out for when joining an affiliate program:
No Affiliate Manager Contact Information
If
they don't provide you with a way to contact them about their affiliate
program then what are you going to do if you have a problem? Who are
you going to email or call if your check doesn't arrive?
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Commission Is To Low
Do
you really want to spend time on an affiliate program that pays a
measely 2%? I see these programs all over. They pitch their affiliate
program and make it sound like it is a privelidge to join their
affiliate program and earn pennies per sale. I usually stay away from
programs that offer less than 8% commission. I will go a little lower
if the products sell good and there is a good profit.
Unreasonable Cookie Length
Make
sure you find this in their terms or information pages. This is the
amount of time that the customer that clicks through your link remains
yours. The standard cookie length is 30 days. This means that if your
visitor clicks your affiliate link then they have 30 days to buy for
you to get credit. You really don't want to promote an affiliate
program that offers less than a 30 day cookie length.
Merchant Site Has Traffic Leaks
Probably
the most common thing I see with affiliate programs. Mostly from newbie
merchants that just got their affiliate program started. Most don't
realize what they are doing and usually will correct the problem once I
explain to them how traffic leaks are hurting their business and their
affiliate program. Traffic leaks are links on the affiliate program
site that potential customers can click on and go to other sites...
sites that the affiliate won't get credit for if the visitor buys
something. Leaks can consist of third-party banner ads, Google AdSense
ads, popups, popunders, text links, etc...
No Phone Sale Tracking
With
the internet market growing so rapidly every year this means more
customers are shopping online. Alot of them will call the merchants 800
number to call in their order instead of submitting it online. Where
does this leave you? The merchant gets the cash on the sale while you
get stiffed. So when evaluating an affiliate program be sure to check
to see if the merchant has measures set up to track phone orders for
affiliates. It is simple to set up and it puts the affiliates ID number
next to the phone number. So when customers call in they are asked for
that number so they can manually credit the appropriate affiliate for
the sale.
About the Author
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Chet Brzezinski has been in the affiliate marketing and
affiliate management industry since 1997. View more affiliate program
related articles at any of Chet's sites below:
http://www.affiliate-program-review.com
http://www.proudmedia.com
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