PC Doctor+ Guide 20 How To Make Money From Your Web Site (Part 3) Affiliates

How To Make Money from Your Website (3) Let's deal now with Affiliate advertisements. What Is An Affiliate Program? In part 1, we discussed how a web site that is popular and has lots of visitors has an important asset - the attention of people. Companies will pay to have people's attention because they can then show them advertisements. Even the largest of companies have recognised the opportunities the Internet presents for advertising. So how does a large company feed advertisements to other people's web sites? It could maintain a dedicated section or department whose sole function was to promote and maintain accounts for individual web site owners who had signed up with them as affiliates and indeed some companies do just that. The administration costs to themselves though are quite high. The more common approach is to use a third party Affiliate Company to administer the process such as Commission Junction. This is a sensible approach. The third party company can then work on developing the efficiency of the process itself while the advertising company can concentrate on the actual marketing of their products. They do this by producing eye-catching ads which are fresh and keep pace with product cycles, promotions and the like. The range of companies using Affiliate programs is extensive and includes everyone from high street banks and retailers to specialist web-based companies who have no traditional high street presence. I can think of few high street retailers in the UK who are not also running concurrent affiliate programs on the Internet. There are quite a few Affiliate Companies. The majority have an American slant. It's easy enough to search for Affiliate Companies on the Internet but make a large cup of coffee before hand as you may be there for some time! Why Become An Affiliate? At the simplest level it is an additional source of advertisement revenue. The advertisement banners and links produced by the advertisers are almost invariably of very good quality. Their presence on your site actually adds to the professional look and overall feel of it. By using advertisements from well known companies you become associated, albeit in a small way, with quality brands. Remember if an advertiser accepts you as an affiliate they are giving a stamp of approval to your site - always reassuring! So How Do Affiliate Programs Work? In essence there are three parties involved: The Advertiser who supplies the graphics to the Affiliate Company and determines commission rate policy. The Web Site Owner who adds the HTML code to his site which will display the ads. He also looks after the site content. The Affiliate Company who administers everything collecting payments from advertisers and collating them into web site owner accounts. Each party has specific roles in the relationship and if everyone does their bit effectively everyone benefits. Register Firstly, you need to register with the Affiliate Company and create an account. To do this simply visit the appropriate web site. (listed below) The registration procedure seems to vary little between Affiliate Companies. The details you need to supply are: Your name and address Other contact details The URL of your web site Details of your bank The Affiliate Company looks after collecting payments from advertisers and collating these to your account. When the amount in your account reaches a threshold level it is transferred into your bank account. Select Your Advertisers To select advertisers scan through those available. It's best to pick only those that comply with the overall context of your web site. So for example, if you run a site providing DIY tips and instructions you may sign up with B & Q or on-line Garden Centres. You can sign up for the more general advertisers but keep those to a minimum. Be smart. In our DIY example, the site will attract visitors interested in that subject so DIY advertisements will work best for both you and the advertising company. Apply Once you have selected your advertiser you will have to apply to that company