How to Start Affiliate Marketing with a Website for Beginners

Are you keen on making money online but don’t know where to start? Affiliate marketing is an excellent option for beginners wanting to generate income. With the bonus option of working from anywhere.

You can build a profitable business without creating your own products. How? You promote other people’s products and earn a commission.

In this post, I give you quick tips on how to start affiliate marketing with a website so you can work from anywhere and earn a living..

Learn How to Start Affiliate Marketing with a Website:

1. Create your Very Own Sparkly Website

First up let’s build a website or blog. Show off your affiliate products and provide valuable information to your audience.

Don’t worry about spending hours creating a beautiful site! Focus on creating a user-friendly site with top-quality content that speaks to your readers’ interests.

You’ll build trust and credibility with your audience. Which is key for successful affiliate marketing. So let’s get creative, have fun, and start building your empire one post at a time!

Where can I Build my Website?

I learned how to create a website/blog from Wealthy Affiliate (read my review here), this is where I bought my domains, and have my sites hosted, with 24/7 tech. It’s a one-stop shop for keyword research, writing, and training. The community support and collaboration are amazing and your questions are answered quickly. It’s free to join and try it out.

2. What Niche do I Choose for Success?

Your chosen niche refers to the specific market or audience that you target. You’ll promote and sell products or services to them to help them reach their goals, needs, and desires.

A sub-niche is even more specific and more targeted with less competition. For example, ‘Finance’ is a niche, and ‘finance for retirees’ is a sub-niche.

Your goal is to create awesome content that people love and then you can recommend products that you believe in.

You’ll build trust with your readers and establish yourself as an expert in your niche. When you know your stuff, people listen to what you say and trust your recommendations.

Also, when you create content your audience enjoys, you’re more likely to make those sweet sales. But this isn’t a rags-to-riches story – it’s hard work!

What’s your Passion?

So think about subjects you’re interested in or know something about. Share your knowledge, and recommend products that you believe in. It’s a win-win! Your readers get valuable information, and you get to earn a commission. Let’s do this!

Examples of Niches: Gardening, gaming, finance, lifestyle, health and fitness, make-money-online, eco-friendly products and services, online learning, travel, pets, and outdoor pursuits.

3. Make Money with Affiliate Programs

Research and compare different affiliate programs to find those that offer products or services that suit your target audience and niche.

For Example, ShareASale offers affiliate programs for photography, travel, weddings, real estate, legal, and lots more. See more of their categories here…

Shareasale categories - How to Start Affiliate Marketing with a website

Do Your Research

Identify a few potential affiliate programs. Then take the time to research and compare them. See what people are saying about these programs on forums like Warrior Forum. Are the affiliates trustworthy? Do they pay out regularly?

Also, look for programs with products or services that are a good match for your target audience and niche.

Consider factors like commission rates, cookie duration, and payment methods. I use a spreadsheet to keep track of the programs and compare these factors. So if I see a longer cookie duration then I’ll choose that one!

Some programs may offer higher commissions but have shorter cookie durations. This means you only get credit for sales made within a certain timeframe. Others may have longer cookie durations but lower commissions.

Do your research and compare the pros and cons of each program before making a decision. Remember, the goal is to find programs that are a good fit for your website and give value to your audience.

4. The Importance of Keywords

how to start affiliate marketing with a website

Let’s talk about the magic of keywords! Focus on smart keyword research and find the perfect words and phrases to target for your niche. And with the power of long-tail keywords, you can stand out from the crowd and attract more traffic to your site over time.

Sprinkle those juicy keywords into your content:

You’ll boost your search engine rankings
Get more eyes on your site
And increase your chances of earning those sweet commissions

Keyword Intent

Research the intent behind a keyword. Is your post targeting people who need information? These keywords are called informational. Like this one, you’re reading!

Are you writing a review about a product? These keywords are buyer keywords and your reader is ready with their credit card!

I use Jaaxy to research my keywords for monthly searches, competition, and quality. You can try Jaaxy out here for free (requires a sign-up but is worth a look).

Tip: Use keywords in your blog posts, YouTube videos, social media posts, and reels.

5. Time to Promote

Hey there, social media gurus! Harnessing the power of online platforms can help you promote your affiliate products.

Whether it’s on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or even Quora, you can reach a wider audience and drive more traffic to your website. Share posts, create videos and reels, and even run ads to get in front of people who are interested in your niche.

Always Add Value

Facebook - How to Start Affiliate Marketing with a Website

But remember, social media is all about valuable content, not annoying ads.

So, make sure you craft useful information and entertaining content that your followers enjoy.

And don’t be afraid to collaborate with other influencers in your niche – you’ll expand your reach and get in front of new audiences. So let’s get creative, have fun, and start earning those commissions!

6. E-mail your Followers

Want to keep your audience engaged and excited about your posts and products? Email marketing is the way to go!

Collect email addresses from your website visitors
Create personalized emails that are informative, and not spammy
Share new products, special offers, and exciting news within your niche

And the best part? Mailchimp and Get Response make it easy with templates to design and launch your newsletters.

How to Start Affiliate Marketing with a Website: Loyal and Happy Audience

Stay in touch with your audience with email marketing and keep your followers up-to-date. You’ll build a loyal following who keep coming back for more. They’re also more likely to buy through your affiliate links.

You want your subscribers to look forward to hearing from you, not dread seeing your name in their inbox!

So let’s get started and keep those emails coming! Your audience will thank you for it.

Affiliate Marketing Resources

Join Wealthy Affiliate for free, try the training, and see if affiliate marketing is for you
Want to travel and earn money? TravelPayouts is an Affiliate Network with programs, including Booking.com, Tripadvisor, Agoda, Discover Cars, travel insurance, and lots more.
Get help writing, marketing, editing, and crafting e-mails with Writesonic’s affordable AI. (way more options than ChatGPT)

7. Track and Analyze = Success

Time to track your blog or website and analyze the results. See what’s performing and what’s not!

Sign up for Google Analytics to track your website traffic and see which pages and posts are getting the most action. Are your posts on page one of Google? Which ones need a little love?

Use this information to optimize your website for great performance. Edit and update old underperforming posts, give the page an exciting title (but don’t change the URL), and are the H2 and H3 headings in order?

Check your Affiliate Programs

And don’t forget about the affiliate programs you’ve joined. Most programs give detailed reports on clicks, conversions, and earnings.

Take a look at these metrics regularly to track your progress and identify areas for improvement. When you track and analyze your results every day, you can make smarter decisions about your affiliate marketing strategy. And that means more success for you!

So let’s get tracking and see what you can achieve.

8. Persistence Wins!

Ready to crush it in the game? Remember, success in how to start affiliate marketing with a website takes time and effort. So stay patient and stay persistent!

Affiliate marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time to see results, but trust me, the payoff is worth it.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see immediate results. Keep pushing and putting in the work, and you’ll get there. And remember, consistency is key! Create content regularly, e.g. publish a post daily.

Stick to your strategy and promote your products day in and day out. (Facebook and Instagram reels, Twitter, Quora, and Pinterest work well for me).

With a little patience and a lot of persistence, you’ll be an affiliate marketing rockstar in no time!

9. Industry Trends – How to Start Affiliate Marketing with a Website

Want to stay ahead of the game? Stay updated on industry trends and changes! The world of affiliate marketing is evolving, and it’s important to stay in the know.

To ensure you use the most effective strategies and tactics for success:

Follow industry blogs
attend webinars
and read up on the latest news

Stay up-to-date so you can adapt to changes and stay ahead of the competition. Don’t get left in the dark – keep your finger on the pulse of affiliate marketing and watch your success soar!