How to Use Commission Junction for Affiliate Marketing

Most webmasters and e-zine publishers have learned that writing copy for a product and making a portion of the profits through affiliate advertising can be a lucrative way to boost their online incomes. For that matter, it can be a broad single source of income all by itself, so long as the writer is knowledgeable on how to create enticing copy. However, learning how to use an affiliate program (a program that allows users to place ads for other companies or products on their sites in exchange for a share of the profits) can be a daunting task for the beginner. For that reason, the following is a guide to using CommissionJunction.com, one of the largest and most sophisticated affiliate networks on the web.

Step #1: Creating your publisher account. You do not have to be an expert at affiliate marketing to simply produce an account. All you will need to do is provide your contact information and the information for your website, newsletter, blog, or whatever means you desire to use for your affiliate marketing program. Simply beget in the form under the trace up link and go from there. No research required. Do be prepared to define the purpose of your site and what kinds of products you feel would benefit the most from your articles or promotions.

Step #2: Search for links. Perhaps the quickest and simplest way for the beginner on Commission Junction to pick up products and services to promote is by simply entering key words that match their own sites or pages into the search box and taking a look at what comes up in the results section. For example, if you run a website on pet care, you might type in “dog,” “cat,” “vet,” etc. While you can certainly ask for a complete list of all advertisers, this method ensures that you will view the most relevant affiliate programs first. Programs that have used similar key words to describe themselves for the site’s search engine will appear for your perusal. Be aware that some programs will allow you to sign up instantly by clicking on the “join network” link, while others will manufacture you wait through an application process. If that is the case, you will be notified if you are accepted, usually within a couple of weeks.

Step #3: Be choosy. While you can decide to sign up for as many affiliate programs as you like, it is best to begin by really getting to know those that will serve you best. In other words, you want to promote products and services with professional websites that have working links and that will pay you well. Make clear to visit the outgoing pages that your visitors will be taken to should you they click on these links to make positive that the ad matches the result (in other words, an ad that you promote should never be misleading or useless to the customer). Ask yourself if you would be interested in the actual product provided based on the ad that took you there. Does the advertisement suggest that it is a link to a professional medical website, when in fact it leads to a site selling an herbal product? This is exactly what you want to avoid. You want your readers to actually earn something useful from these links, and to be interested in seeing what you promote each day. Settle wisely.

Step #4: Understand how you make money. Unlike Google Adwords, affiliate networks rarely, if ever, pay per click. Instead, they pay only upon an staunch remove or action. A purchase profit is self-explanatory. You will obtain a percentage of the profits from each sale that originated with a click on one of your links. However, some affiliates will pay you for every person you send them that completes a certain action, such as filling out a form, completing a survey, or signing up for a newsletter. On Commission Junction, you can earn out how an affiliate pays you before signing up with them by simply clicking on the link you are interested in. If the payment information is not clear, do not impress up!

Step #5: Choose your ad. After choosing your affiliates, you will need to select the type of ads you want to use. Most offer text ads, keyword links, and various banner ads. What you choose will depend on the section of your web page that you opinion to advertise in, as well as the actual offers made in each ad. For example, you might feel that the words used in a particular banner ad for one affiliate are more enticing than the text ad they have created. On the other hand, you may feel that a text ad would be more suited to your space requirements. You can decide a different ad every time, and you can choose html or Javascript codes for each.

The best part about using Commission Juncion is the service provided for beginners. The process is simple. Sign up, choose your programs, and get the codes. Commission Junction will tell you how many clicks have been made on your links, as well as what your commission totals are, legal on your publisher home page. Fair place ads well, and Commission Junction will do the rest.