In this post, I have shared a list of 10 Best Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners.
If you’re new to affiliate marketing, you might feel overwhelmed by all the things you need to do.
Don’t be afraid. When I first started, I felt the same way.
I quit my well-paying job when I started my blog. I knew a little bit about affiliate marketing, but I didn’t look into it too much.
There was a lot to learn!
Anyone can start a blog, but not many people know how to make money with affiliate marketing on that blog. Even “super affiliates” sometimes miss opportunities to make their content better for search engines.
The 10 Best Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners 2024
What Are the Best Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners?
The following factors have influenced my recommendations for affiliate networks:
- User-friendly
- Getting started is easy
- The number of merchants
- Various niches and services to promote
- Payments in a timely manner
It is important to keep in mind that not all affiliate programs are the same. My experience with affiliate programs has been mixed. Several reasons can contribute to this, including:
- Merchant doesn’t know what affiliate marketing is or how it’s different from other kinds of advertising and marketing.
- The fact that the merchant only sends affiliate traffic to the home page shows they don’t know what they’re doing.
- The software used for affiliate marketing isn’t very good at keeping track of clicks and conversions.
- The merchant has bad payment terms or takes too long to pay for legitimate referrals.
- To name a few…
Some of the affiliate programs I recommend aren’t even close to the ones that pay the most (cough Amazon). In fact, I think of Amazon as the last-ditch affiliate program. But I’m not a beginner and I know how to make the most money from affiliate links.
You, on the other hand, are just getting started, so your needs are very different. Because of this, I put it at the top of my list.
Also, my list of programs for affiliate marketing is by no means complete. You can choose from tens of thousands of affiliate programs. Many of them are also not open to the public.
There are probably affiliate programs that work better for your niche. You may also find that some merchants want you to work directly with them instead of going through a network.
But no matter what your niche is, these are the best affiliate programs for anyone just starting out. You can’t go wrong with any of them, so I suggest you join them all.
10 Best Affiliate Programs for Beginners
1. Amazon Associates
Amazon is the affiliate network that many people who are just starting out choose.
Amazon is one of the world’s biggest and most trusted online stores. Amazon is the place to go if you want to link to any products for sale.
For example, Commission Junction, the second network on this list, used to have an affiliate program for Quicken. On my blog, Investor Junkie, I put a few affiliate links for Quicken, and they worked great.
But Quicken’s affiliate program shut down without any warning. I quickly changed my affiliate links so that they now go to Amazon. So, I could still make money from the web pages that talked about Quicken.
If you already have an Amazon account, which almost everyone does, you’re halfway there. If you have a business that is officially set up, you should sign up for Amazon using the information for your business.
The most annoying thing about Amazon is that its affiliate programs are only available in certain countries. If most of your traffic comes from one part of the world, you’ll need to make sure your Amazon links are set up for that country.
Amazon affiliate programs are offered in the following 14 countries:
- United States
- Canada
- Germany
- Mexico
- Brazil
- France
- United Kingdom
- Italy
- Spain
- Japan
- China
- Australia
- India
- United Arab Emirates
I recommend the AAWP plugin for WordPress if you want to better manage your Amazon affiliate links. This plugin can make Amazon links that are relevant to the country of each site visitor.
AAWP can also show you the current prices on Amazon and help you increase sales on your site by making product summary boxes.
2. Commission Junction (CJ)
Second only to Amazon in terms of age is Commission Junction. Most people in the business world call the company “CJ.” It’s not an online store like Amazon. Instead, it’s a network.
This means that, like the other networks on this list, CJ will connect you (the affiliate) with merchants and handle most of those relationships for you.
Since you won’t be working directly with a merchant, affiliate marketing can be a godsend if you’re new.
When this was written, more than 1,500 merchants were using CJ’s service. There are a lot of different types of merchants in this network, so it’s highly recommended that you join.
Signing up for CJ isn’t a very hard process. But once you’re in, you’ll have to apply with certain stores. The application process is different for each merchant in terms of how hard it is. Some will give you approval right away, some will take a few days, and a few will just leave you in limbo with no answer.
3. Impact
Impact is one of the affiliate networks on this list that is one of the youngest. In 2008, people who used to work at Commission Junction, Savings.com, and Leadpoint started the company.
At the time of writing, Impact’s network has more than 1,000 merchants. As with Commission Junction, there is a wide range of merchants that should fit most verticals.
Impact’s application process can be a little bit tougher than CJ’s, but once you’re in, I’ve found that merchants are more likely to accept you.
I think that Impact’s reporting and postback options are much more flexible than those of the other affiliate programs. If a store uses more than one affiliate network, which is common, I always start with Impact.
4. Awin
You might not have heard of the next one on the list. Awin has only been in the game for a short time. It came about when Zanox and Affilinet, two other affiliate networks, merged in August 2017.
Awin is one of the best networks and is easy to use. It has more than 8,000 merchants and is very easy to join. Awin has affiliate programs in many countries, so if you have visitors from other countries, I recommend it. Keep in mind, though, that Awin’s merchants seem to be more interested in selling physical goods than software or SaaS.
5. ShareASale
ShareASale is a part of Awin and has some of the best merchant options. ShareASale works with more than 1,000 merchants who sell everything from physical goods to software services. This makes it a great fit for a site about internet marketing like this one.
The application process is pretty easy, and you can look at conversion data from affiliates who have already signed up. The only thing I don’t like is that most merchants only offer a few links.
The ShareASale service is nice because it lets you know how well the merchants you work with are doing. ShareASale gives you information like the average sale, conversion rate, earnings per click (EPC), and how they rank in the ShareASale service.
6. FlexOffers
FlexOffers is the next one on this list.
In many cases, the affiliate programs that FlexOffers and other networks like CJ offer are the same. More than 12,000 merchants can be found in FlexOffers’ system. It could be one of the biggest affiliate networks.
They work directly with a large number of merchants, and we are also a “sub-affiliate” platform. This means that FlexOffers becomes an affiliate for a merchant and lets bloggers use its affiliate links instead of applying directly to the merchant.
In exchange, FlexOffers will give you a share of the commission for each affiliate that signs up through you. If you are just starting out and are having trouble getting into a certain affiliate program, FlexOffers can help.
The downside is that the payouts are often lower because FlexOffers takes a cut of each transaction.
It can be a pain to sign up for FlexOffers. FlexOffers is partly responsible for the quality of conversions because it is a sub-affiliate. This means that it can be picky about which affiliates it lets into its network.
But if you are just starting out as an affiliate, FlexOffers is a great choice and you should apply. Just make sure that your website is finished and looks good.
7. Sovrn //Commerce
I’m not a big fan of automating the process of putting affiliate links on a blog, but some affiliates want to make money with little work. This can be done through commerce. The name of this product before was VigLink.
This service allows you to select CPC (cost-per-click) merchants or CPA (cost-per-acquisition) merchants.
Sovrn /Commerce will automatically add affiliate links to your blog posts. This can be done through a WordPress plugin or Google Tag Manager. Sovrn /Commerce is the way to go if you want to make money with affiliate links in an easy way.
I don’t use the automated tool; instead, I put Sovrn /Commerce links in my content myself.
A better choice is to use Sovrn / Commerce on user-generated content on your site, like a forum. In this way, the company also has vBulletin and phpBB as options.
8. Skimlinks
Skimlinks works like Sovrn /Commerce in that it will automatically add affiliate links to your content. This could be a good choice for content that is made without your help, like a forum.
You can also add links to your site by hand. Skimlinks is currently working with more than 24,000 merchants in a wide range of niche markets. I also think you should sign up for this one.
9. Fiverr
The service Fiverr is last but not least.
Fiverr is its own service. The nice thing about Fiverr is that you can promote different services that a blogger, small business owner, or contractor might need for their own business. You can choose from tens of thousands of freelancers, which is a great way to suggest solutions to your audience.
The fact that you can earn up to $1,000 per referral on Fiverr is incredible.
The fact that Fiverr offers high-paying jobs doesn’t make me recommend them. However, if you run a website that recommends different business services, Fiverr is a great marketplace to tell your audience about.
Fiverr is available through CJ, but I recommend going straight to them because they have better terms and are more involved.
10. eBay Partner Affiliate Network
Affiliate marketers who are just starting out often forget about the eBay Partner Network because they are too busy applying to other, more popular affiliate networks and programs.
eBay is a popular business, but most people only know it as an auction site.
It can be a goldmine for affiliate marketers in some niches, though, because it has more than 1 billion active listings at any given time.
You can almost always find a product on eBay, no matter how rare it is, and you can earn a commission by sending warm leads their way.
The commission rates on eBay are about the same as those on Amazon, but keep in mind that the most popular items on eBay are brand-new electronics.
That means that as an eBay affiliate, you won’t be able to make more than 2% of each sale.
Even so, it’s easy to join the eBay Partner Network, and approval usually only takes 24 hours.
Quick Links:
- High Paying Blogging Affiliate Programs
- The List Of Best Affiliate Programs For High Commission
- AffiliateWP Review
Conclusion- Best Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners 2024
And there you have it: 10 of the best affiliate programs for people who are just starting out and want to promote them on their affiliate sites.
This is by no means a complete list.
Instead, it’s meant to show what’s possible even if you’ve never done anything like this before.
