Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing describes the process whereby a website owner markets the products of another organization on their site. The affiliate will usually post a review of a product on their website that encourages readers to make use of that particular product or service. Amazon is a company that makes extensive use of affiliates to generate sales.

How Affiliate Marketing Works

An affiliate will register their details on the seller’s website when they sign up. All traffic that is directed to the seller’s site will be identified by the source URL (the affiliate’s website). The affiliate will receive a percentage of the profit of every sale that results from customers who have been directed from their site. The percentage that is paid to the affiliate will vary depending on the seller. There are many sites that are entirely devoted to affiliate marketing and all their income is generated through affiliate programs that they are a part of. These sites make use of writers who are experts in writing objective reviews that always portray the product in a positive way without directly advertising the product.

Any business can utilize affiliate marketing to increase their sales footprint. The benefit of using this type of marketing is that it is not direct advertising. The reader may be more inclined to engage when reading an informative article whereas direct advertising is often ignored. Many blog sites have a trusted and devoted following so regular visitors to that site may read an article that is well written and informative and they will often feel more confident about buying a product that appears on a site that they trust and will take the review more seriously than conventional advertising jargon.