Can you have more than one affiliate partner or is this not allowed? You can have many affiliate partners however how you use them matters
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
Taking on affiliate partners
There is no limit to your affiliate agreements however they do need to be used sparingly. Google does not appreciate a page of affiliate links and readers will also agree. Overuse is not ideal.
However, there are times when it is certainly appropriate. For instance, I promote both a cheap internet host in Blue Host and a premium partner in Wealthy Affiliate.
But I will not have the links close together nor are they competitive in what they do.
Another example is Product reviews. You may be comparing product A against product B
Product A may be a stand-out winner and many will click on your link however product b will also have an audience. Readers may disagree with you or look at the manufacturer's ideas and buy product B despite all your efforts to lead them in a direction.
Diversify your affiliate offers
In a gardening page, as an example, you will be able to have links that suit the occasion.
It may be shovels and spades or high-end electrical products all residing on one page.
Your readers are all at different stages of a journey and you are catering to the current demand by having a broad approach to utensils.
It could be garden gloves or Kneeling pads for the seniors all in one blog.
With a good Keyword selection, you will narrow these options down to one or two opportunities on any page.
For example, promoting to seniors would not include high-end Chain Saws. All the guys probably want one but it is well down the want list.
Fancy gloves and Pink spades will be great for the girls but not the blokes.
You need to be a bit careful with this because many a guy will buy the girlie stuff as gifts. So don't be too specific with your wording.
How many affiliate links is too many?
You will know the answer to this because it will reflect in your results. There are some things that you must avoid.
- Having links too close together. On a mobile device these will clash and neither will work and your page will be affected in search results.
- Having too many links will appear spammy and chase readers away.
- Using Widgets in the sidebar or bottom of the post is a great place to position your more profitable links.
- Links must be appropriate to the subject. If I am on the Gardening page then Woodworking tools will not be in my interest.
- A common quote is one affiliate link per 300 words
How do you get more affiliate partners?
Finding affiliate partners is very easy but getting selected may be more difficult.
The easy method of finding partners is to type into Google a brand or product, leave a space and add the word affiliate. Here you will find many suggestions that may be of interest.
Then there are the affiliate aggregators that handle all the work for the companies.
- Wealthy Affiliate
- Impact
- ClickBank
- CJ Affiliate
- Shareasale
- Many others
Some will take you on sight others will want to see current performance levels and that you are capable of representing their company properly.
Is affiliate marketing really profitable?
Affiliate marketing can be very profitable however it is not a get-rich-quick scheme. The results you achieve are really open-ended and depend entirely on your performance. Companies use affiliates because it is both a cheap entry to the market and they can spread their sales efforts across many countries and areas.
Affiliates also offer competitive opportunities. A search for Michael Jordon Basketball boots ( expensive) may be moved to the latest products by Dunlop ( cheaper) and provide the same result. ( except for player envy)
There are generally no limits applied to your performance with the exception of underachieving.
Many businesses need to impose restrictions because of stock problems or supply chain issues so your affiliate selection may avoid these areas.
Is Amazon a good partner?
Amazon was the darling affiliate partner. They still offer viable opportunities however most commission rates have been cut to levels that make it difficult to get a reasonable return. Amazon recently accepted they had gone too far and increased some margins to encourage new sales levels but you are still operating at less than 5% on most products. This would not generally allow for a return on paid marketing costs.
Amazon has its imitators in Walmart and others that have gone the same way.
The issue is that the brand has grown so strong buyers are going direct more often than through an affiliate link and Amazon makes more money.
What is Googles take on affiliate marketing?
Google encourages Affiliate marketing as a basic ingredient of the search market. It fulfills the buyer cycle and covers what Google sees as a complete strategy.
However, Google demands that all affiliate links are marked as no-follow links because they don't want to apply traffic to them.
You can see above where Google wants you to make go blue.
In WordPress this is easy and there are also plugins you can use
Affiliate companies may change their strategy
Affiliate companies will change their whole strategy to meet their market expectations. I recently experienced an in-house strategy and moved to an aggregator to handle the workload. However, my history did not follow the change so it was like starting afresh.
Changing rates, products, terms, and conditions can and will happen so having more than one association is recommended more than trying to hold to a single supply.
A problem with pixels
This is an important subject that could affect how you run your business.
- Lifetime pixels hold your referred customer right through the buying cycle whether it be a day or a year.
- 24-hour cycles ( Amazon, Walmart, etc) demand that your referred buyer makes a purchase on the first attempt or the sale reverts to them. It is not uncommon for buyers to shop around and then return for a completion, short pixel times mean you have lost the sale
Conclusion
Having multiple affiliate partners is more a necessity than a desire. It offers choice as well as protection to change of rules or even dismissal. Google will sack you for lack of performance after three months regardless of all your efforts.
With all its pitfalls Affiliate marketing is still the best job in town.
