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What are the most profitable affiliate marketing networks? Are you looking for a way to make money on your website from visitors clicking on images, content and products that you share? You’re in the market for a product. There are hundreds of options on Amazon, all with reviews from complete strangers.
Are you more likely to spend hours browsing reviews or ask a friend/colleague who has the type of product you’re looking to buy?
You’d ask a friend – it’s human nature. We trust the opinions of other people over the claims of a brand – and even more so if those people are friends or trusted parts of our social networks.
How Does It Work?
To be successful at affiliate marketing, you need a platform. That can be a website or blog even an Instagram (though that’s less common). On your site, you’d then write a short post (or a roundup-type post) on the product and put a special link for your readers to buy it.
If people buy through that link, then you get a part of the sale, aka a commission. Those commissions are passive income, they build without you doing anything past creating the original post.
Sound good? Want to get started? Check out the affiliate marketing programs you can choose from below.
Popular Affiliate Marketing Networks
To make a profit, you’ll need to work through a structured AMN program, like…
Shareasale
This is one of the biggest AMN, perhaps second to Amazon Affiliates. Their site makes it easy to see if products that make sense in your niche are part of the plan.
Here are the details:
- Product Types: General, large selection
- Commission range: 5-20% of sale price (average)
Pros:
- Pays out monthly
- Large range of products
- Trusted/popular provider
Cons:
- Not as many options for small niches
- Must make at least $50 to cash out
Clickbank
One of the oldest sites, this is another general site, but unlike the one above, it offers affiliate options for digital products too.
- Types of Products: Digital and Physical, general niche (lots of options)
- Commission level: average range, depends on the product, similar to Shareasale
Pros
- It’s a trusted site with a broad range of products and a long history of success.
- They have a knowledge base (FAQ) that’s extensive and helpful guides if you need them.
- They even offer classes on how to use the program, which they call Clickbank University.
- You can make more money by signing people up to become a member with your affiliate link (affiliate marketing inception!)
Cons
- Again, this is a generalist site. Particular niches aren’t well-represented.
- Companies don’t go through an intense screening process to post their products on the site, so there are some low-quality or time-wasting products.
Flexoffers
As you can see, we’re starting with some of the biggest and most general providers, before we get into different niches.
Flexoffers is definitely a big site, with over 10,000 people using it.
- Products: General, large range, over 20 million products
- Commission Rates: depends on product, average price-based percentages
Pros
- Instead of just earning a commission when someone signs up to be an affiliate through you, you also receive part of their commissions down the line.
Cons
- This site is one of the more difficult to sign up with, which is counterintuitive. The site isn’t always easy to navigate, but you’ll get the hang of it after a while.
Rakuten Linkshare
Oldest doesn’t necessarily mean best, but there are still plenty of people that vouch for this established site.
- Products: general, but smaller range than the sites above
- Commissions: average, but see cons
Pros
- Rakuten gives you different ways to promote the product by allowing you to use rotating ads for the same product on your site.
- They allow more specific landing page linking than other sites.
Cons
- On the other hand, lately, people have been reporting incorrect or delayed payouts.
- And while this site is one of the oldest, the number of offers hasn’t grown with the times.
Amazon Associates
Probably the most prominent affiliate network is run through Amazon Associates. Yes- you’re putting more money into Jeff Bezos’ pocket when you use this site, but, hey, you get a cut too!
It’s thought that Buzzfeed uses Amazon Affiliates for their product guides, which they must make thousands off of each day!
- Products: It’s Amazon, so everything
- Commission rate: 3-10% of product price
Pros
- There are millions of options to choose from, and their products have a high conversion rate.
- You get forwarded commissions for anything the person you referred buys on Amazon for the next 24 hours, thanks to cookie placement.
Cons
- Amazon’s Terms and Conditions are confusing, which means you can get banned from a simple mistake.
- Referrals have to purchase within 24 hours for you to get a sale.
JVZoo
If you’re someone that promotes products in internet marketing niches, like courses by coaches or paid-programming, this is the site for you.
- Product type: digital, large selection
- Commission: one of the highest, 50% is average
Pros
- You can do a lot with this site! Since digital products don’t take the creators much to make (production upfront, then cheap to maintain), they’re willing to pay a lot for a sale – hence the high conversion rate.
- It’s easy to start, and you can join their learning academy if you need help.
Cons
- They only work with internet marketing products, which can get repetitive, depending on your niche.
- Most money comes from promoting launches, so there’s a small time window.
- Must be approved by the individual product creators/marketers before you can act as an affiliate for them.
CJ Affiliate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=262llWRxMZU
CJ Affiliate is the nickname for Commission Junction, which has been live online and helping people make money since 1998.
They’re probably in the top five when it comes to most users, and top 10 when it comes to most brands.
- Products: Both physical and digital
- Commission: depends on the product, usually higher for digital products (which is normal)
Pros
- It’s a big and well-trusted company. Advertisers (brands) are willing to list with them, which means new products, often.
Cons
- Confusing site set up, with a definite learning curve. You need an individual brand’s approval before you can promote.
- They have slow approvals for campaigns, based on the above fact.
Viglink
This site is unique to the other ones we’ve posted. Instead of running their affiliate program, they connect you to sites where that product/brand is available through other affiliates.
They help you get the best offer on your affiliate links, which is helpful.
CNET uses Viglinks for its affiliate links, which shows they’re trustworthy, even for large scale sites.
- Products: General, must be pre-existing on other affiliate sites
- Commission: average, product price percentage based
Pros
- The site is easy to use and gives you access to a vast range of merchants.
- There’s an algorithm on the site that helps you pick the most profitable products, as well.
Cons
- As with the last few sites, you must get approved through individual brands as well as through Viglinks.
- They take a large portion of your commission (though they make it easier for you to find high-earnings).
Peerfly
According to the banner when you first visit the Peerfly site, they’re one of the fastest-growing AMN in the world. We don’t have the data to back that up, but they’re definitely a new(er) popular contender.
Part of their success is thought to come from their lenient approval process. While other, stricter sites ask you to prove your understanding or experience with marketing, this site doesn’t.
That means you can be a complete newbie and still get approved for campaigns – so keep that in mind if you’re just getting into the AMN game.
- Products: General, medium number of products and growing
- Commission: average, comparable to other large-scale sites
Pros
- Like we said, it’s easy to get approved to post through this site.
- They have an affiliate sign-up program to work through them and
- exceptional customer support.
Cons
- Their generous approval method can make campaigns over-populate.
- They’re not the biggest provider of offers, but they’re working on it.
eBay
What? Yes, it’s true. There are marketing affiliate programs through the auction site. That would have been good to know back in the “I pay you to sell my stuff on eBay days.”
If you haven’t visited the site in a while, eBay is more commercial/wholesale than it was five years ago. While there are still individual consumers listing products, you’ll find the site has an Amazon-esque feel, with wholesale retailers trying to source more clients.
eBay is another site that people trust, which is good for you as part of their “partner network”.
Products: Anything on eBay
Commission: you only earn a percentage of the “auction fee”, which can be quite small
Pros
- Like Amazon, eBay is a trusted site, which means you’re more likely to have a high conversion rate.
- They have a large selection and there are always new products being posted.
- There are double commissions during your first three months as an affiliate!
Cons
- You only make a percentage of the auction listing fee, which is small, even on expensive products.
- Products expire on eBay, so you have a timed-window to make sales.
Ali Express Partner Program
AliExpress is a newer player to the retail scene, at least in the States. They do more wholesale than the other sites, making this a better choice if you’re a B2B blogger/marketer than B2C.
- Products: Large range, but also highly variant quality
- Commission: 8% of the sale
Pros
- There are a lot of products on Ali Express, and they’re all from one company (where the affiliate program is concerned). That means you don’t have to get individual approvals so that you can pick up more campaigns faster.
Cons
- The site is not yet well-trusted in the US and they’re known for advertising low-quality products.
- Their commission rate (8%) is on the lower end, though wholesale orders can get you a decent payout.
Finding the Site for You
If you read through all the options above, good for you. If you’re looking for something specific, feel free to hit CTRL+F and search for the kind of goods you want to sell (like digital).
While there are pros and cons to every option, pay attention to the sites that speak to you. If you have a good understanding of legal terminology, for example, then working with Amazon Associates shouldn’t scare you.