Sometimes creating a new affiliate marketing website can seem a colossal challenge. There can be a lot of content or products to load up and affiliate accounts to join and get accepted to. New business owners often feel these tasks are a struggle and divert most of their energy. But that's not necessarily how you should look at these websites.
Your head is probably aching, thinking about the many things you need to cover to make your website a success. Which formats to use? Whether to opt for WordPress or some other platform? Should you pay someone to create a website for you? Are computer codes a crucial part of the process?
We’ll walk you through every detail for how to build an affiliate marketing website. In a short space of time you will have the structure for your online business to have a website if you follow our step-by-step guide.
Things to Know Before You Start Off
Before you begin, it is essential to have some knowledge of the market you are stepping into. First, you need to learn about how the model works to make money for your online business.
Affiliate marketing is where you market someone else's physical or digital product on your website. If the customer likes the product and clicks on the link, it goes through to the products website and hopefully they complete the purchase there. The link they click on in your website is a unique affiliate URL, set up just for you, and this is how the product seller knows that your website referred the customer to them and you then get paid a commission for this sale. Commissions vary and can range from a dollar amount per purchase to a percentage of the sale price. This is the affiliate marketing business model in a nutshell.
You might not want to invest much money in building a website right now, but you must understand, such tasks do incur costs. It will bring you a higher return later on, so view it as a one-time investment for your online affiliate marketing business.
Tips to Choose a Niche
Before you think about how to build an affiliate marketing website, the big question to ask yourself what the website be about. Without answering this, there’s no going forward.
Understand that the need for the market or niche you choose should align with your online business goals. Think about the topics you want to cover on your website and ways to make your content unique. Prepare a list of services that will help you promote your goods and services on the web.
For help, you can take online training courses about affiliate programs and website building. It's alright if you want to wait to define the right niche for your website. Whatever content you produce must align with your niche. Give it some thought.
Working Within a Budget
You can inexpensively set up a WordPress website. WordPress is currently the world's largest website builder, and the best part is that it is free. Although it’s easy on your pocket, you will have to spend a few dollars on two other items:
Domain Name
The URL you consider using for your website is known as a domain name. It's time to contact a domain registrar to get your online business a domain name. Getting the right domain name and a hosting website will cost you about $2.95 every month. Domains are fundamental, so you can't proceed without one.
Web Hosting
A web host will help you make your website visible to users on the internet. With this help, you can rent a web server that will allow people to see your functioning website. You can find web hosts that do everything from scratch for you.
It's Time to Choose a Domain Name
Once you decide on your niche, you will have a clear idea about what your website is going to target. But choosing a domain name is not that simple. You need an available domain name. You can get help from online tools and websites that generate domain names using keywords. One option is BrandBucket who not only show you domain name options, but the neatly tie this together with logos and branding as a complete package for your business.
Don't go for lengthy domain names. Keep it short and simple so visitors can easily remember it. Make sure the name is easy to spell and reflects your website and brand or product name.
When searching for a domain name the key is to type the keyword in the search bar to see if it is available. If not, then don't click on the register option. Look for the best name with the keywords you want and register it. Consider using a .info or .org domain if the .com version is already taken, but consider if the .com one is selling a similar product to you, then you may want something different so your two companies don't get confused by customers.
Choosing a Reliable Website Host
If you don't know how to host websites or anything about Web Hosting companies in general, there are thousands available to cater to the needs of new online business websites.
We’re not saying they're not distinguishable or unique at all, but most offer the same type of services, so you just have to select the website host that’s right for you.
The services are better today because it has turned into a hot commodity due to the shift toward online businesses. To your benefit, hosting has become much cheaper.
The main things you need to consider are their support team, price, and WordPress installation methods, so focus on these points if you are doing comparisons between two hosts.
Bluehost is a well-established website host that has been around for years. You can use Bluehost to build a website, choose a domain name, register it, and install WordPress – all in one. You can use their discount links to pay $2.95 every month and access of all their services.
Below we've outlined the steps you need to take to set up your domain and hosting with Bluehost.
Visit BlueHost Website
Visit the BlueHost website by clicking here and scroll down to the bottom where the $2.95 option is shown.
Select Your Hosting Plan
The service offers multiple hosting plans with different price ranges. The basic one only costs $2.95, while the plus and prime packages cost $5.45 per month. It's your decision, but we would always recommend the basic package of your first website. It will allow you to plan accordingly, and you can always upgrade to a higher package.
Register the Domain Name
By now, you should have a clear idea about your domain name and have found one available with your business keywords. If not, you can choose the option that says, ‘choose a domain name later’ and continue with the process. Understand that there is no rush. It is your website and your business; you can take as much time as you want.
Account Details
Enter all the details that the step requires for completion; these are basic details like your first and last name, business name, country, street address, city or state, zip code, and contact number. All this is used to generate a receipt for you. It is highly secure and confidential, so don't worry about your personal data surfing the web.
Then you will be asked by the website to go over your package details once more to avoid any future confusion. Cross-check whether your payment details are correct. After the confirmation, you can add a payment method and move ahead.
Check Your Email to Set a Password
Once you set up your account, move to your email inbox. The website will send you a welcome email and will ask you to set a password for your account. Click on the box that says, ‘create a password,’ you will be taken to a blue screen where you will have to set a password that you can remember and feel is secure. Now log in to your Bluehost dashboard.
Installing WordPress
When you start using WordPress, it will display numerous templates which are pre-built sites. Pick your own and customize it as you please. Bluehost makes the process much easier. Once you make your choice, click on the ‘start building’ button.
The website will ask you the purpose of your website. If you are a small online business ready to operate, then go for business because you want to start affiliate marketing through the website.
You can now investigate the site and learn more about WordPress. Take a good look at your website; once you're done, click launch to proceed further.
Enter your desired title and website description to generate a link that appears on search engines. The description will appear as text underneath the link, hence keep it accurate and relevant.
Create Your Page Using WordPress
Your pages and posts are a crucial aspect of the WordPress dashboard. Pages can be for disclaimers, about me sections, privacy policy, and the home page. Posts are the general articles and blogs you want to include on your website. Have a good read through the WordPress help documentation to get a feel for how to use it best to create your website.
Other Hosting Options
If Bluehost isn't for you then other hosting alternatives include:
The Growth of Your Affiliate Marketing Website
One key thing when looking at how to build an affiliate marketing website is content. Content is king. You need to keep the content stream going to be successful. Make the content interesting, informative, unique while keeping it engaging. Don't stop after a few days or so. You regularly have to update the content to increase traffic.
Make the Customer’s Visit Worthwhile
Don't be an affiliate marketer who focuses on earning quick money rather than providing good services to users via your website. Focus on the long term. You want to make sure people return to your site and help you generate passive income. You need to give them a proper website with tabs and tools that enhance the aesthetics. Make the visit worthwhile.
Don't Give Them a Page That Looks Like a Brochure.
You want affiliate links in your website content to be able to gain the affiliate commission from sales of products. You want your content to be informative and natural to read, without cramming affiliate links in everywhere. No one likes being shown adverts throughout the content they are wanting to read, and too many affiliate links can appear like an advertising brochure.
Create Value for Visitors
When you are trying to sell affiliate products and improve the level of your overall affiliate sales for income, understand that your website must offer something that a user needs; value. Everything is controlled by the value that your website provides; the CTPM process will be your thing. It concerns content, traffic, pre-sell, and monetization.
Monetizing is the last part of the process, so if you try to put it first, you are doomed to fail. Money comes in after you do the work by writing great value in content. Avoid this mistake if you want to be successful in affiliate marketing.
Let your creativity flow and come up with good quality content. Once users visit your site and if they like your content, they will visit again due to the engaging and exciting blogs and content they see.
Your content will bring in free traffic from multiple search engines to your website, and you can promote products in a way by providing users valid information such as a product review online.
Have you ever heard of Amazon Associates? It’s an affiliating marketing program that helps website owners market their products and sell them via Amazon; the best part is that the service is free. You can create links for products and embed them in places on your website for users to visit. It is an excellent way to sell a product online.
You are Building a Business, Not Just a Website
There is no shortcut to success when it comes to affiliate marketing. There might be online blogs and gurus going around telling you tips and tricks to start making money the day you build your website. However, it takes time and effort to start and grow an affiliate marketing website. Avoid any get rich quick offers and start doing your work.
You can't build a strong business with a good customer base unless you put in your effort and energy into it. The beginning will be a bit slow, and you might not see the expected results. But once your payments start showing up one by one, helping your business grow, you will feel like all your hard work is finally paying off. Don't look at it as just building a website; look at it as you are building an entirely new online business and an affiliate model that fits your business needs in this new digital era.
Products and Services You Could Sell
Once an affiliate website gets to its first sale, it’s joined one of the most lucrative online models out there. Once you start generating traffic to your website, you want to make money. There is no point in having high traffic and visitors pouring in if you can't turn it into value for your benefit. When you are thinking about a potential niche to focus your website on, be sure to research it to make sure that its a viable option in terms of amount of traffic. Google Trends will give you a steer on if its trending and Google Keyword Planner will show you potential traffic numbers of keywords related to your proposed niche.
Once you've chosen a niche, and set up your website, start producing content on the topic and then become an affiliate and add these products to the content of your website. You can partner with companies who want to advertise their products on your website and earn a commission on each sale.
If you want more ideas on selling products and services, the best place to start is from home. Look around your house and find the products you feel add value to your lifestyle and consider selling these types of products online via affiliate marketing. Look at Amazon's Best Sellers lists for your niche and see what's selling, then join Amazon Associates and link from your website to these products.
Example: Promoting digital apps and games is also a high commission way to practice affiliate marketing. How to do this? Come up with creative content related to games and apps. You know how young adults and teenagers feel about gaming these days. They will read your blog posts and check out the links you embed there to increase the sales of these digital apps.
FAQ
Is Affiliate Marketing a Pyramid Scheme?
No, affiliate marketing is not a pyramid scheme. It is a proven and long established online business model with a sound track record and popularity.
How Much Money Can You Make With Affiliate Marketing?
Low-level affiliates can make up to $300 a day, while intermediate affiliates can make $3,000 a day. Super affiliates can reach up to $5,000 in a day or more with high ticket affiliate products.
How Many Articles Should Be Written for an Affiliate Website in a Month?
There is no correct number to consider when you write articles for an affiliate website. Looking at technical and fundamental indicators can help an online business owner decide on the number of articles for the affiliate website. Ideally a minimum would be three articles per week, so 12 per month for the first few years to get established.
Is Affiliate Marketing Easy?
Affiliate marketing is not a quick money-making method. You will have to put in a lot of work to create new and valued content that people will want to read and also be able to maintain your website over time.
Recommendations
Building an affiliate marketing website can be a challenge, but many online service providers will help you make your first website. If you don't want to go through the hassle of building a website, these services will provide you with websites you can consider buying and using for your business.
Buying a Website
If you want to develop a profit-making online business website, Human Proof Designs will never fail you. You will get countless options for affiliate websites to get started with the growth of your business.
What We Like
Although the website is costly, they offer discounts to beginners with their friendly and high-quality customer support service.
Want to buy and sell an online business? Approach FE International to save money and make profits. The award-winning service will get you started quickly by buying a solid affiliate marketing website that's already making money.
What We Like
It is a reliable and award-winning service. There are no minimum fees required to join the community or purchase a website.
Flippa is a digital platform for easy buying and selling online businesses at reasonable prices. It is more like a marketplace for digital products from around the world, all on one platform.
What We Like
Vigorously monitors all accounts against illegal activities. Overall, it’s a user-friendly service that wants to help businesses develop and grow digitally.
Building a Website
Besides helping new online businesses, Human Proof Designs also builds websites. If you don't want to go through the process of building your own website then HPD will do it for you.
What We Like
The website values customer experience and uses WordPress premium packages to help you build a website. It’s the world's largest website builder with an overall reliable package.
Conclusion
After viewing the guide, you shouldn't feel intimidated by the entire process. You have more knowledge about how to build an affiliate marketing website and know which services you can approach for help if you don't understand any of the steps in the article.
Without overthinking it, focus on growing your online business with an affiliate marketing model. Whether it is finding the domain name on a search engine or creating a blog post to embed affiliate links, you now have a base knowledge to begin the process. It's time to start.
