Affiliate Marketing: Everything You Need to KnowAffiliate marketing has grown rapidly since its inception. With the rise of search engines, the internet has grown into a colossal information and e-commerce center – greatly boosting the usage of Affiliate Marketing.

According to Forrester Consulting, the total affiliate marketing sales is expected to exceed $4 Billion in 2016!

Below are some essentials that you should know to get your piece of the $4 billion pie.

What is Affiliate Marketing?Affiliate marketing is a marketing technique where a merchant pays a commission to publishers and affiliates, for referring new customers to their website.

At its core, affiliate marketing is a relationship between the merchant, affiliate and the customer.

How does Affiliate Marketing work?1. First, sign up for an advertiser’s affiliate

program and choose the products you want to sell.

2. Seller/Merchant will provide you with a unique affiliate link that you’ll use to refer the traffic.

3. Affiliate links have tracking mechanisms to ensure you are credited for every sale that you make.

Affiliate programs are run and managed through different affiliate networks. Some are consolidated on a single network while others work on multiple networks.

Cookies are used in the network to track the progress of a customer from the affiliate’s website, through the shopping cart of the merchant.

The network then automatically pays commission to the affiliates based on the rules laid out by the seller.

How do You Get Started?Step 1: Choose a Niche

Before you start building your site, choose a niche that you are passionate about.

Also, consider the competition in your niche and decide if you’ll be able to get your website in the first page of the Google search results.

Step 2: Find a Good Affiliate Program

Research the best affiliate programs by considering the type of sellers and the commission you’re likely to make from the products.

Step 3: Build Your Website

First two steps are about research and feasibility.

It’s time to put your research into action. – building websites.

If you’re new to building websites, the quickest way to set up a site is by using WordPress.

Follow the below steps to have your site up and running: Buy a domain. Buy and set up hosting. Install WordPress. Include an attractive WordPress theme.

Step 4: Create Attractive & Relevant Content

Now that you’ve set up your site, create interesting and relevant content that grabs eyeballs.

The more product reviews, customer feedback and articles you publish on your site, the higher the chances of attracting visitors to the website.

Remember you content should be 100% unique and relevant to your niche.

Step 5: Build Your Audience

Promoting content via social media, investing in paid advertising, SEO tactics are some of the ways to build your audience.

The key is to produce excellent content to attract visitors to generate consistent sales.

Step 6: Promote Affiliate Offers

Finally, you need to promote your affiliate offers.

Some of the popular ways include email promotions, writing honest product reviews, using in-text content link and offering good discounts.

ConclusionAffiliate marketing is an excellent way to earn income from your website, at the same time providing valuable content to the visitors.

If you’re interested in buying something, would you take advice from a friend, or from a stranger?

Of course a friend. Right?

Be a friend. Be real. And be yourself! You’ll achieve success.