Affiliate marketing has been around for years. But more and more people today are interested in creating their own affiliate websites in order to make money online. In fact, since 2015, revenue from affiliate marketing programs grows by 10% annually. This impressive trend is expected to continue at least until 2021.

Affiliate marketing is easy to get started with and easy to manage because you don’t have to produce, buy, or distribute any products yourself — all you have to do is promote them.

So, are you interested in diving into the world of affiliate marketing this year? Here’s how to build an affiliate website in 2019.

Build your affiliate site.

Of course, the first step is to actually start a website. Building an affiliate website from scratch might seem difficult, especially if you have no previous experience creating websites.

Don’t worry though, you can easily create a professional-looking affiliate site in no time using WordPress. WordPress offers a number of themes made specifically for affiliate marketing like the one below called GeoDeo.

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Another great feature of WordPress is the option to install plugins. There are thousands of free WordPress plugins available to enhance your affiliate site. You can use Yoast SEO to improve your site’s SEO, SeedProd to set up a coming soon page and start building an email list, and ThirstyAffiliates to easily manage your affiliate links.

With WordPress you can have your affiliate website up and running quickly and without having to spend a ton of money.

Choose a niche and join affiliate programs.

Now, you need to find affiliate products to promote on your site. However, it’s essential to select a niche for your affiliate website first. If your site includes all kinds of products, from software to pet supplies to clothing, it will lack focus. By choosing a niche, you can concentrate on a specific target audience. This will simplify management and help you promote products more effectively.

Once you’ve decided on a niche, it’s time to find products you want to promote. The easiest way to do that is by joining affiliate programs. Some of the most popular affiliate programs are Amazon Associates, ShareASale, and Commission Junction. Create an account and browse through these sites to find products that you would love to promote.

Attract an audience with helpful content.

After choosing affiliate products that you like, you’ll get an affiliate link for each that you can share on your site. But you can’t just list all of your affiliate links along with images of the product and expect sales to start rolling in. Instead, you need to attract online shoppers by creating useful blog posts.

Blog posts that include investigational keywords will help your target audience discover your website. Investigational keywords are used when users search for information that might lead to a transaction. Some examples of investigational keywords include:

  • Review
  • Best
  • Alternative
  • Comparison

For example, a user that’s interested in purchasing photo editing software might search Google for “best photo editing software.” If you create blog posts of your reviews and recommendations with similar keywords, you can increase traffic to your site. So, create in-depth, helpful content based on the products you’re promoting.

Optimize your site for conversions.

You’ve got a website, awesome products to promote, and helpful content to attract the right audience to your site. But, does all of that mean they’ll choose to click on your affiliate link and buy? Not necessarily. Which is why you need to optimize your site for conversions. There are a number of tips and tricks you can use to encourage your site visitors to buy products via your affiliate links, including:

  • Create Urgency – Creating a sense of urgency will make shoppers take action faster. For example, you can use phrases like “limited time offer”, “sign up now”, and “25% off today.”
  • Add a Contact Form – Add a contact form to your site using a plugin like Formidable Forms so that you can collect useful information about your readers and they can easily get in touch with you if they have questions.
  • Add Social Proof – If your site is trusted by others, you website visitors will feel more comfortable trusting your recommendations too. So, show social proof on your site.

For an example of social proof, check out the successful affiliate marketing website Making Sense of Cents. They include social share numbers as well as the number of monthly readers they have.

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Overall though, what will help you generate the most affiliate sales is being passionate and honest with your readers. As long as your love for the products you’re promoting shines through, your audience will grow to trust your glowing recommendations.

Over to you.

It might seem difficult to build a successful affiliate website, but with these tips you’ll be that much closer to making a steady stream of income online. So, don’t wait any longer, get started with affiliate marketing today.

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