7 Affiliate Marketing Hacks To Earn You More Money

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Are you struggling to make money with Affiliate Marketing?

You are not alone. Most affiliate marketers are having a hard time making sales. Even the most successful ones that today earn millions of dollars at some point struggled themselves. In a way, this is part of the learning process. No one was born a successful affiliate marketer. We all learn by doing.

Affiliate marketing sounds like a simple way to make money online. All you have to do is join affiliate programs and promote their products to your audience. That in theory. In practice things are different. Sharing your links all over the social media or stuffing your content with affiliate links is the worst thing you can do. That is because affiliate marketing is not a “get-rich-quick-scheme”.

It is a legitimate business opportunity. One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking affiliate marketing is an “easy” way to make loads of money fast. You see starting an affiliate business is easy -link (you only need 7 things) but building a profitable affiliate site is not. Knowing the basics is not enough.

Patience, creativity, and persistence are just some of the skills required to achieve success. Finding the right way to market your products to your audience is essential. To better understand how affiliate marketing works I suggest reading my blog post: 10 Affiliate Marketing Strategies For Success.

You see there are hundreds of tactics and ways you can use to earn commissions online. Every affiliate marketer has its method. In this list, I share 7 of my favorite affiliate marketing hacks that you can use to increase your affiliate sales.

By hacks though I don’t mean some secret method or magic trick. Such things don’t exist anyway. My “hacks” are practical ways to earn money as an affiliate and above all they work. All you have to do is give them a try.


Affiliate Marketing Made Simple: Join the world’s largest online training platform and community for affiliate marketers for free


Let’s begin:

1) Design A Professional Website

You don’t need to hire a web designer to create a professional-looking website. There are so many great website builders online you can use to build an outstanding website. But that is not what I mean exactly. A professional looking website is not only a beautifully designed website. But also an easy to navigate site.

User experience and site structure are without a doubt vital elements of success. Site structure is also a vital aspect of your SEO strategy but is very often overlooked. The last thing you want is your visitors to feel lost when they land on your site. Would you ever buy from a website where you can’t easily find the information you are looking for?

You would probably leave right away. I would. Never let your audience guess what their next step should be or how to find what they are looking for. Designing a stunning website menu is important but it’s not the only thing you should focus on. Don’t forget about

  • Internal links
  • Clear calls to action
  • Navigation pages e.g. homepage
  • Categories to group related content
  • Checking for broken links

Also, avoid using the phrase “Click here” on your links. It is not an effective way to make people click your links. It distracts visitors from focusing on your content and we all know how a link works anyway. What you want is your links to say “Click here” but without ever using those words.

A well-defined site structure can also lower the bounce rate, enhance the user experience, and help the search engine crawlers read and index your website faster.

The easier it is for visitors to find the information they are looking for the more likely they are to buy. Happy visitors become repeat customers.

2) Add Links

I am not talking about your affiliate links. I am talking about adding internal and external links to your content. That is something most bloggers and affiliates forget about. Especially the internal links. But internal linking -if done right- can boost your SEO.
Add internal links

Internal links also connect your content and provide Google an overview of the structure of your website. They also help establish information hierarchy. External links can also add value to your post and perhaps rank it higher. Of course, choose to link to sources that add value to your content and are relevant to your visitors. Try adding one external link in each of your articles.

Also, don’t forget about your meta titles and descriptions. To learn more about SEO in 2020 read this roundup post here.

3) Quality is King

Quality is everything. Don’t sacrifice quality for money. Always choose the best products to promote. Products your audience will enjoy and serve them well. After all, consumers are increasingly choosing quality over price.

Don’t choose products to promote entirely based on the commission you’ll earn. You may earn some money in the beginning but long-term your affiliate business will be ruined. Your reputation is everything and people can tell whether you believe in the products you promote or not.

affiliate marketing hacks to increase your sales

Also, stay away from the “online gurus” telling you that the only way to make money with affiliate marketing is by selling high-ticket products. Most times they are just trying to sell you some outrageously overpriced products that aren’t worth the money.

But that doesn’t mean you should always pick low-ticket products to promote. Don’t be afraid to choose high-ticket products that will benefit your audience. But always choose products your audience can afford. There is no point in trying to sell a $500 product while targeting a market that doesn’t have the budget to buy it.

Quality products keep customers coming back for more suggestions. Know what your audience wants and what products are in demand in your niche.

4) Offer Alternatives

In other words, don’t rely on a single product. No matter how good that product is or even if it selling like hot cakes your online income shouldn’t depend exclusively on it. Instead, you need to promote a variety of products.

A combination of both low-ticket and high-ticket products is considered the best approach by many.
offer alternatives But I am sure you’ve heard that affiliate hack before. Here is the difference between what I am saying and what you’ve read in the past. If there is a product/service in your niche that you are not affiliated with it (for whatever reason) but it’s a quality product your audience would love to know more about it promote it.

Don’t hesitate to introduce products to your readers just because you are not affiliated with them. You may not like their affiliate program or maybe they didn’t accept you as their affiliate. It doesn’t matter. If the product is good share it with your audience.

You don’t have to actively promote it but you could publish a review, mention its pros and cons, and suggest it to your audience. They will appreciate your honesty.

5) Promote Your Content Not Your Links

Creating content is the main task of every successful affiliate marketer. Your content can be anything you like. Not just text or blog posts but also videos, infographics, ad content, etc. But you must publish content.

content is king

This is how you will make money as an affiliate marketer. Sharing your links on social media hoping someone to click on them and buy is not going to work. After all, there is no point in doing that if you don’t already have a large network of social media followers. And how can you increase your followers on social media?

By publishing great content. And lots of it. Don’t get into affiliate marketing if you don’t like creating content. Unfortunately, many people do. They are willing to spend hours designing their website and posting on social media but when it comes to creating new content they postpone it for later.

Publish guides, reviews, how-to posts, and tutorials as often as you can. They are great for increasing your website traffic. Start promoting your content instead of your links and soon your affiliate sales will increase.

6) Find Your Target Audience

Don’t expect your audience to discover you first. It is not going to happen. You need to reach out to them. That is why creating content your audience wants is so important. You must know their needs, what they are looking to buy, and what keywords they are using to search online for information.

A common mistake many affiliates do is talking to the wrong crowd. Don’t waste your time promoting your content to people who are not interested in what you are selling. Or trying to convince people to buy a product they don’t care about. Like for example trying to tell someone how to start an affiliate business while they believe affiliate marketing is a huge scam.

Your content promotion strategy (and your ads) should focus on reaching the audience most likely to convert into customers. Social media sites can help you with that. They are great places to connect with people who are looking online for content just like yours. But don’t share your content and then walk away.

Engage with your followers, ask their opinion, and what products they would like to know more about.

7) Be Your Own Hero

Don’t try becoming someone else. Always be yourself. 

You don’t have to talk or write the way other successful bloggers and affiliate marketers in your niche do. You don’t have to behave like them or copy their style to make sales. Trust yourself. Believe in yourself and your abilities. 

be your affiliate marketing hero

Making money online with affiliate marketing doesn’t require you to become the next Brian Dean (founder of Backlinko) or Neil Patel. We all have watched their videos on YouTube and read their blog posts to learn new things or discover how affiliate marketing works. Perhaps they are the reason you got involved with affiliate marketing in the first place.

But you are not going to make money by copying what they are doing. Not because their advice is not good enough or because they are not “experts” in what they are doing. They are the real deal -the real online gurus- but you have to do things your way.

You can publish a 5000 word post about SEO following Brian Dean’s advice but it will never rank on page one of Google. That’s because your site is not Backlinko. You must first become an authority in your niche and you can’t do that by simply doing what everyone else is doing.

Actually, you’ll learn more by following affiliates who earn $10,000-$20,000 per month from their websites. Because that is a realistic goal. It is something you can achieve over time. Before you start dreaming about becoming a millionaire from affiliate marketing start by earning $500 per month.

And of course, you will not succeed by following any of these fake online marketing “gurus“. You know who I am talking about here. Those who make videos in their garage showing of their Lamborghini, or the ones showing you piles of cash telling you how they bought their new luxury house (worth millions of dollars) doing this and that online. And then they try to sell you an overpriced and over-hyped internet marketing course.

Stay away from them. You don’t need to join an online “cult” worshiping its leader from-dusk-to-dawn to earn money with affiliate marketing. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to buy an online course to learn how to build an affiliate site.

Fake gurus are very good at appearing to be more successful than they are to lure you in. They sell the dream and a fake “secret” business opportunity. Say no thanks. Walk away and save your money.

An online course is good only if it is legit!

Final Thoughts

There are tons of affiliate marketing tips and tricks out there. Hopefully, my 7 affiliate marketing hacks will help you increase your sales.

Affiliate marketing like every other business model has its challenges and drawbacks. But it’s a wonderful way to make money online. As long as you are willing to work hard and keep learning you’ll succeed.

If it was easy everyone would be a successful affiliate marketer. Unfortunately, most people quit way too soon. Don’t be afraid to try new things or start over again if you failed before.

You don’t have to apply everything you read here at once. Take your time and try each hack at your own pace. 


 If you want to learn more about affiliate marketing take a look at my #1 recommended course. You can join us for free. No hidden costs.


Let me know what your favorite affiliate marketing hacks are by leaving a comment below. If you like this post please share it with your social media followers.


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30 Responses

  1. Renee says:

    Totally agree with all of this! Too many people think it’s as simple as slapping links on and making sales, there’s way more to being effective with affiliate marketing! Thanks for the tips

  2. Christina Henry says:

    This is the most down to earth advice I have ever read on affilate marketing. It’s been a tough week for me as I added up all I’ve spent on my blog in the last 9 months without earning a cent or having large numbers of followers. I feel like giving up. But this has given me a bit more hope. Thankyou

    • Nikos says:

      Hello Christina,

      Don’t give up now. Don’t throw away 9 months of hard work. Take a moment and rethink your marketing strategy. Perhaps you are not using the right keywords or you need to improve your SEO strategy. Increasing your organic and social media traffic is not an easy thing to do. It takes time. But your blog is not doomed to fail.
      You can turn things around. Take a look at your content and how you can make it better. Find out what content your audience is searching online for. You write for them, not for you. The market is your boss.

      Thank you for your comment. I hope i helped you a little.
      Nikos
      Nikos

    • Kaitlyn says:

      I have had my blog for 3 years and I’m in the same boat but when I first started to today is miles apart ( had kids in-between so my efforts were lacking for about 2 years) and today while I’m still not making money, I see people finally starting to Become interested in my site and content. It will definitely take more time and dedication but changes are gradually happening. The point I’m trying to make lol is that you will see results if you keep going and keep researching on how to be better. Don’t give up if you love what you do! And post your site so we can go see it ?

  3. Christine says:

    Great tips. Affiliate marketing is definitely slow to give results (or it is in my case) but it is great when you do sell something while you are asleep!

  4. Tammy says:

    I am fairly new to blogging and just started learning how important internal and external linking really is. I definitely need to take some of your tips with me.
    Thanks for sharing.

  5. Kathleen Wonders says:

    Love these tips! Very practical and easy to follow. Yes, we really need to keep at it. I feel discouraged when I don’t see any sales but I just have to remind myself that I need to work harder.

  6. Eugene Rivera says:

    Yes definitely agree that affiliate marketing won’t be easy at the beginning, but if we work hard about it we can expect to succeed. Hard work pays off in the long run, so all we need to do is to go for it, take risks and assume responsibility of success and failures as we encounter them. This is a good review of the 7 steps that everybody must go thru and it all starts with a piece of real estate called a website which is the foundation of our business. Develop high quality content to keep it and participate in the daily upkeeping. If you don’t take care of the store, the store won’t take care of itself. After this pandemic, people are looking for the most convenient way to produce an income and especially from home. Good review

  7. audrey Tafadzwa says:

    Thank you so much for sharing your 7 affiliate marketing hacks, oftentimes I convince myself that affiliate marketing is easy but from what you wrote I now understand the need to have a website that provides helpful and great content as you mentioned content is key 🔐 I cant wait to really take action and implement your tips 

  8. Md. Asraful Islam says:

    Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful and informative article with everyone. One of the best ways to become successful in affiliate marketing is to build a great website. I learned a lot by joining the course mentioned in your article.

    Finally, I would like to say that those who want to be successful in the world of affiliate marketing must do this course and start passive income online.

  9. Rosalia says:

    All these hacks are very good. You are right when you say that the most important thing is creating good content. We must repeat it to ourselves every single day if we want to be successful marketers. I’ve tried to simply share my links on social media and I can witness that it doesn’t work!  

  10. Tony says:

    Thank you for such a well written article. I often forget about some of the things listed, and need to go back to basics and remind myself of these cornerstones. I’m keeping your page open and bookmarked so I can refer back to it when I find I’m second-guessing myself!

    Hopefully once I finally reach my goal of *a* sale, let alone more than one I can reach the goal of $500 per month or over a couple of months. From what I can tell once these things gain traction after hard work and patience the rest of it can follow!

    Thanks again,

    Tony

  11. Sj says:

    Your 7 Affiliate Marketing Hacks To Earn You More Money has got some great info. Thank you for sharing these tips. I especially liked Tip # 7 – Be Yourself – This is so inspiring and I can appreciate the encouragement you give to trust your struggle. That rang volumes with me. Thank you again because this is really a good post.

  12. Carolyn says:

    Hi Nikos, Thanks for a great post. You laid your thoughts out very clearly. Don’t follow the shiny stuff, but rather follow those entrepreneurs who are for real. Don’t try to do the great things until you have accomplished the small, made a big impression on me. One step at a time. I liked your ideas of the importance of internal links to make your blog more of an authority website. Offering quality in your written words as well as in the products you promote is what your target market is looking for.

    Thanks for the great information.

  13. Riaz Shah says:

    Great article Nikos!

    I’ve been holding back in creating my own website but now that I’m jobless due to the Covid issue, I’m ready to kickstart my affiliate marketing business and focus on building a blog! Out of curiosity, is the market only in the western world, or will my website have audience from all over the world? 🙂

  14. Matiss says:

    Uuu-uu, I agree with you on so many levels. It’s definitely easy to start an affiliate business. But building a truly profitable website is a bit more of a challenge, to say the least. And it’s a long-term one. Basics are definitely not enough. And tons of skills necessary to really make it work. It’s by no means, an easy way to make money. Or to do it fast. 

    Wholeheartedly loved the hacks. The number one is so true. The number two, indeed, many tend to overlook or forget. I hadn’t thought about number 3 that way. But makes sense, quality over price. Also, reputation over commission is such a great, critical point. Thank you for the “high-ticket products are not everything” encouragement. I needed that.

    To that end, I loved the fourth one. And the fifth really drove it home for me. Thank you for those words. “As often as you can.” Will do. And six and seven were remarkable as well. Thank you. <3

    I don’t think there are words in the English language to express how much I appreciate this. Cheers.

  15. Kaitlyn says:

    I definitely like this article because this is how it works but I will say I wouldn’t call these hacks. More like a how to guide. It’s a hard way to make a living until you get that audience but so very worth it! Thanks for writing this!

  16. Sunny says:

    Incredible article with tips to success! Absolutely agree that the Wealthy Affiliate is the number 1 online platform for affiliate marketers, that everyone should focus on the quality, not links and numbers, and that marketers should offer alternatives. Yes! Because not all the visitors will like the same programs 

    Thanks for sharing,
    Sunny

  17. Mayuri gangwal says:

    Much needed as I am going to start affiliate marketing soon on my blog.

  18. Katie says:

    I really enjoyed this, I am in the midst of setting up all of my affiliate marketing. Thank you for your insight!!

  19. John Mulindi says:

    Many bloggers struggle with affiliate marketing, am glad you have shared some really useful tips to help them improve their game in affiliate marketing. Thanks for sharing.

  20. Tyanne says:

    Great advice! I know that sometimes I try to aim for the higher price items, but not that many people are going to buy a high price item unless they have been thinking about it for a while.

  21. Fransic verso says:

    Great ideas, I agree. It depends on the content ad quality. The Better, the higher money you will receive.

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