Affiliate Programs - Best Way to Monetize Your Traffic
These days, it's incredibly easy to set up your own website. All you need is a computer or laptop connected to the Internet, and you can choose from hundreds of thousands of pre-made webdesign templates to construct a simple personal page. You can even get an URL for free and store your content online. Put some advertisements and, just like that, you can start making money online. An affiliate program in South Africa is exactly when you need if you want passive income. Read below for more.
What is an Affiliate Program?
All those who have just started out in the world of online business – whether it is a site selling products or just a blog to share your thoughts – might have come across the term ‘affiliate marketing’ more often than not. Due to the different forms and structures that one has to adhere before setting up a regular business in South Africa, there has been a proliferation of people trying to come up with online start-ups. The biggest growth has been seen with regard to blogs.
While starting an online business is well and good, monetising the business is one of the biggest challenges. This is where affiliate programs step in, as they provide the ability to monetise an online business almost instantly. In a nutshell, these programs are all about selling products of other businesses to an affiliate member. The affiliate member receives a commission whenever any of the products promoted receive a sale or get a click through from your site.
Even though most of the highest paying affiliate programs are for products available across the world, there are several region specific affiliate programs as seen by the several options for South Africans looking for top paying affiliate programs.
How Do Affiliate Programs Work?
While each affiliate program comes with its own set of rules and procedures, it is possible to find a common ground on which almost every program is based upon. Here is how a best affiliate program will be able to benefit a rugby blog – a hugely popular sport in South Africa:
- A sportswear manufacturer has a product – like a jersey – that fits the theme of your site.
- The manufacturer will provide a special link to you. This special link is used to attribute any potential lead to your account.
- The link is primarily shared on the rugby blog, although the manufacturer will not place any such restrictions.
- Thus, it can be shared on all platforms including social media – if permitted.
- A reader is interested with the product and uses the special link to reach the buying destination. A short while afterwards, the reader purchases the product at the listed price.
- The manufacturer pays out a commission as agreed.
An affiliate program in South Africa should be chosen to be complementary with your niche. Never go for something that doesn't fit with your ideas, goals or niche.
While this happens to be the basic structure of a top affiliate program, the different needs of an online business owner can be met due to the sheer number of options that have sprung up in this regard. Affiliate programs provide different commission methods in order to suit the varied taste in the industry. It is possible to find affiliate programs that pay top money in South Africa to go with a percentage model or a flat rate model.
What are Affiliate (Partner) Programs?
The sheer number of affiliate program options for a South African online business owner has led to categorisation of the segment. Today, it is possible to segregate the program is based on aspects like the niche it belongs, the way it works, or the devices supported. Here are some of the top categories:
Niche
Affiliate programs are available depending on the niche. This allows online business owners in South Africa to spot the program that would fit into their business seamlessly. Some of the top niches are gambling, shopping, adult, and financial.
Offers
The mode of operation is a key factor that separates online affiliate programs in South Africa. Pay per click, pay per sell, or pay per lead are some of the different types on which a program can be classified.
Device type
The sheer availability of several devices does limit the impact of the program, as something that looks good on a desktop will not necessarily work out in a similar fashion on a mobile. Hence, programs can be segregated on the basis of devices that they support.
How to Make Money with Affiliate Programs?
A common question from newcomers is the way to make money through an affiliate program in South Africa. The first and foremost option would be to share the affiliate links on your website. If it is a site that primarily caters to the local region, it is best to take a look at the top affiliate programs for South Africa. Since the link can be promoted in a number of ways, the affiliate is free to use several means in order to promote. Since most of the options in the segment are free affiliate programs, signing up does not take more than a couple of minutes.
Yet, making money can be quite tricky especially if the destination of the affiliate link does not receive much traffic. In such a scenario, the online business owner should be prepared to promote those links through all possible mediums – including social media. As the link generates interest and meets the objective, the commission is received.
Best Affiliate Programs for Newbies
Affiliate marketing programs for beginners are a tricky aspect, as many of the high paying programs will be reserved for the experts. Hence, a beginner should look at three major aspects before choosing a program:
- Is it free?
- Is it easy to use?
- Does it have a good payout?
The entry for a newbie ranks as a key element. A good experience can be the foundation towards big successes in the future. It is therefore important to look at a program that has these aspects.
The best affiliate programs for newbies include: Amazon, Share a Sale, Click Bank and Wealthy Affiliate.
What are The Ways of Earning with Affiliate Programs?
The Internet has several billion users and it will continue to grow as more are connected. South Africa has also seen a huge rise in Internet users. We are already capable of buying several things online and the list will only continue to grow.
With Website
The affiliate program for website is one of the starting points. Yet, there is a sea of options in this regard with online business owners capable of going with deals affiliate program, pay per click affiliate programs, CPA affiliate programs, or even cost per lead affiliate programs.
Without Website
How to make money with affiliate programs without a website?’ is a common question on the lips of many. The misconception is that these options are only meant for online business owners with a website. Yet, this is not true, as the affiliate program directory do not have such recommendations. As there are plenty of avenues to promote content online, it is possible to get started even without a website. Obviously, possessing a website that has high traffic does provide plenty of income, but one can always depend on external sites like forums or the social media to promote the affiliate links.
What is White Label?
White label is one of the web affiliate programs that involve an affiliate using their website to promote a product; the difference in this form of money making affiliate program is that there is no reference to the real merchant. The affiliate continues to earn money through commission, but it comes in the form of pay per sale method.
Advantages
- Freedom to create and develop your own brand
- Sell products directly on your website
- Control the sales process
- Reach new levels of success by growing a white label business from scratch
Disadvantages
- Your reputation is at stake
- You are fully responsible for handling customers' problems
- You need to invest more time
What is Rebill?
As a blogger or business owner, you want to make more sales, so rebill offers.
Rebill or recurring offers allow you to sell different products and services that are based on a membership. Basically, the customers are charged on a regular schedule that you pre-set.
If you are looking for unique methods to create a steady flow of income for your business (a monthly one, for more stability), know that this works great! All in all, when a client purchases a recurring service or product, they pay the standard price, then pay a rebill price at certain intervals.
What are Traffic Sources for Partner Programs?
Traffic is the key ingredient for the success of any affiliate program in South Africa. Since the affiliate links can usually be promoted anywhere across the Internet, there is plenty of accumulated traffic waiting to be tapped. Here are some of the top traffic sources for affiliate programs that pay money:
SERP
Search engines provide the highest volume of traffic, and they are organic. The latter part means that the South African readers would be able to trust the links shared on a site. This in turn translates into better conversion figures.
Social Networks
The social media has a key role to play in the success of even the super affiliate programs in South Africa. The testimonials on the likes of Facebook and Twitter have produced great results in terms of conversion. Facebook alone has over 1 billion users and promoting on such social networks will see the link of the highest paying PPC affiliate programs receive a huge amount of exposure.
Email Marketing
Email marketing happens to be of the oldest forms of promotion in this segment. A well-planned email marketing program involves great selection of products, precise promotion, availability of a bonus, and endorsing a product. Top affiliate programs for bloggers tend to succeed with email marketing, as the popular bloggers usually tend to have several thousand followers on email.
Other Channels
Some of the other channels of promoting best affiliate advertising programs in South Africa are coupons, landing pages, or reviews on other sites with an affiliate link. While these may seem insignificant in terms of the impact when compared with SEO or social media promotion methods, they can pay rich dividends in the long run.
What is The Amount of the Commission in Affiliate Program?
The amount of commission for an affiliate program in South Africa depends on the product sold. Generally, the top paying affiliate marketing programs in South Africa provide more commission for selling a digital product rather than a physical product. The commission for selling physical products range between 4-15%. On the contrary, the commission for selling a digital product ranges between 40-60%. Subscription or signups are usually rewarded with a flat fee.
How Much Can I Earn With Affiliate Programs?
This is one of the grey areas since the success of a campaign depends on various factors. While companies that offer affiliate marketing programs in South Africa will be able to provide details about the commissions, the earning ability from the program is dependent on aspects like the popularity of the product sold or the traffic received by a website where the link is promoted. Typically, beginners can expect to earn anywhere between $30-50 per day through the affiliate sales.
The best commission affiliate programs pay is between 4-20% for the physical products and almost 60% for the digital products. A high traffic site in South Africa can expect to make around $100-150 per day. However, the highly popular individuals in the business make close to $500,000 each year through the top 10 affiliate marketing programs.
Where’s My Money or Good Luck!
The great affiliate programs have gone from being an option to generate passive income towards becoming a real source of revenue for the online business owner in South Africa. For someone starting up into this industry, the sheer number of options with regard to the free affiliate program may be overwhelming.
However, it does not take long to segregate the top earning affiliate programs from the rest. Those who have hit the right spots in terms of promotion will be seeing the money flow through the roof. If you are a South African looking for companies that offer affiliate programs, good luck with the venture. Put in the effort, and you will reap the rewards in the long run. An affiliate program in South Africa really can pay huge dividends.
