The 15 Best Affiliate Networks For Bloggers

Spread the love

In case, you are new to affiliate marketing or if you are still thinking about trying it you should know that it does work. That is absolutely true and there is no doubt about it. It’s not only a legitimate way to earn money online but it’s also one of the most popular ways too. But you need to figure out a method that works for you. In other words, you need to make things happen. Affiliate marketing is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It will take some time before you can see any real results and i am afraid hard work is necessary if you want to succeed. But the results can be truly impressive.

List of top affiliate networks

Finding an affiliate program to join is not that difficult. There are thousands of affiliates programs available out there no matter what your niche is. I really mean that. There is an affiliate program for everything and you can directly join a number of them. You don’t need to use an affiliate network if you don’t want to. But they can make things a lot easier for you.

Here are 2 easy methods you can use to find affiliates programs in your niche:

1) Just Google It

It is actually that simple. That’s also a great way to find product and services relevant to your niche. All you have to do is type in Google’s search bar your “keyword + affiliate program”.

Obviously, you could use your niche (e.g fitness) as a keyword. But you could also use the name of a specific product to find out if there is an affiliate program available. Certainly, there will be a number of products in your niche you’ve used yourself in the past. So, you will know first hand if they are good or not.

You can use this method to find affiliate programs in broad niches, various products types and also for micro niches. But the results will be in various forms. From blog posts that list popular affiliates programs to affiliate networks. So, you will have to do some work to sort out the ones you like the most.

2) Take A Look At Your Competition

Knowing what affiliates programs your competitors are promoting can help you become a better affiliate marketer. I am not talking about stealing your competitors content or anything like that. But keeping an eye on your competition can provide you with many new ideas. After all, they will be promoting products their target audience will want to buy.

And they will be probably doing the same thing anyway. But don’t just look at the affiliate programs they use. Take a look at the keywords they are targeting and all the methods they are using to monetize their website. Learn from your competition. Analyze their strategy and try to understand how and why they do things the way they do.

Top affiliate networks for 2017 and beyond

Affiliate marketing is all about trying new things and testing what works and what doesn’t on your website. Practice makes perfect. There is no other way to succeed as an affiliate marketer. By the way, don’t forget to read my post where i mention 10 affiliate marketing strategies for success. It will help you better understand what affiliate marketing is all about and how it works .

What Is An Affiliate Network?

I believe it would be appropriate at this point if i briefly mention what an affiliate network is. In case someone doesn’t know what an affiliate network is it’s simply like a marketplace. A place where products owners and companies will submit their products/services (for a fee) and then affiliate marketers like you and me will choose the ones we like the most and promote them to our readers in exchange for a commission. An affiliate network is just a place where you can find a great number of affiliates programs from many industries all at the same place.

Once you are accepted from an affiliate network in most cases you will have to submit an extra application to any companies or specific products inside that network their affiliate program you want to join. So, usually, you will have to submit minimum two applications. One for the affiliate network itself and one for the company’s affiliate program you want to join. But if you are approved by an affiliate network in the first place the application process for the company is really fast and it’s pretty rare to get rejected.

You should also know that every affiliate network has its own standards when it comes to accepting new affiliates (publishers). It might be difficult to be accepted in some networks if your website is not up to their standards. That’s why you should always read their terms & policy before joining them. You should also check how often they pay their members (publishers) and what payment methods they use (PayPal, cheque, direct deposit etc) so you can be sure you chose the right one for you.

The good news is you don’t have to choose just one. You can sign up to more than one affiliate networks at the same time. It’s totally fine. The networks mentioned in the list below are some of the best in the industry and they offer all kinds of products. So, no matter what your website/blog is about or what kind of products you are selling (digital or physical) you will definitely find plenty of affiliates programs on the following networks.

So let’s take a closer at them:

1) Rakuten Marketing

Top 10 Affiliate networks

One of the oldest and most popular affiliate networks. Formerly known as LinkShare is being described as one the best networks for several years now. Although their network is smaller compared to some of its competitors they still offer a large selection of products and brands in numerous categories. They focus on physical products and work with companies like Macy’s, Ashley Homestore, Best Buy, Sephora etc.

Pros: The signup process is simple and completely free. Their dashboard is easy to use and navigate. They offer flexible deep linking options so you can link directly to products. And also many features for their affiliates like rotating ads. The minimum payment amount is $50.

Cons: Their payment schedule is unpredictable. They only pay their affiliates once they collect the commissions from their partners. You might have to wait up to 60 days to receive your payments from certain advertisers.

2) ShareASale

Best Affiliate netwroks

One of the biggest affiliate networks with 4000 plus merchants with many of them exclusively on ShareASale. That means there are a number of affiliate programs and products that are available only inside ShareASale. They cover pretty much every niche and they offer both digital and physical products. But they focus a lot more on the physical products.

Pros: They have been operating for almost 2 decades now, they always pay on time, they offer a number of valuable different metrics and it’s easy to compare offers and advertisers against each other. Minimum payout is $50.

Cons: Their dashboard is a little outdated and you may find it difficult to work your way around it at first. Contacting merchants directly is also not an easy thing.

3) ClickBank

Bets affiliate network for Digital products

One of the most popular affiliate networks and THE place to singup for if you want to promote digital products. They also have a number of physical products you can promote. It’s one of the oldest and largest networks out there with millions of products. They constantly keep adding new products and merchants in their marketplace.

One thing you should know though before start promoting products on ClickBank is that there are a number of low-quality products that have high refund rates available in their network. So make sure you do your own research first and choose carefully the products you will advertise to your audience. Don’t start promoting anything so you can just earn a few extra dollars. Your credibility is the most important thing.

Pros: Easy to use, it’s completely free to join, many categories of products, they have a referral program and is one of the oldest networks. They also offer a paid training program called “ClickBank University” and they have a number of useful features that can make your life easier. Minimum payout amount is $10.

Cons: A few physical products. Many low-quality digital products.

4) CJ Affiliate (formerly Commission Junction)

One of the largest affiliate networks

It’s probably the biggest affiliate network currently available if we don’t include Amazon Associates. It’s one of the most popular and well-respected networks and they have affiliate programs of some of the world’s biggest brands. They have products (both physical & digital products) for almost any niche. Some of their most famous partners are Home Depot, Home Shopping Network, H&R Block.

Pros: User-friendly and their dashboard is very easy to navigate. It’s also very easy to sign up since they don’t have any special website requirements. Their payment schedule is one of the most reliable ones in the industry and a number of great tools and resources are available to their publishers (you).

Cons: Customer service can be slow sometimes.

5) Pepperjam

Best affiliate networks for 2017

Although not a very large network compared to the ones mentioned above (around 1000 programs) it’s still one of the most well-respected networks. They focus on physical products and they are partners with companies like Puma, Volcom, Kate Spade, Grace & Lace. You should definitely check it out.

Pros: The sing up process is easy and quick. One of their main advantages is they provide you with an ad widget which allows customized ads from multiple advertisers at the same time. Publishers can easily communicate with the advertisers.

Their support is very good and professional. Once you are accepted into their network you will have access to your own personal account representative. They also offer a variety of affiliate marketing options (banners, widgets, CPA ads) and some very nice tracking and reporting tools. Minimum payment amount is $25 (one of the lowest).

Cons: Their dashboard is considered to be blunt and not very user-friendly.

6) PeerFly

Top CPA network

PeerFly is one of the biggest and fastest growing CPA (Cost Per Action) networks in the world right now. CPA means you will get paid for a number of specific actions the visitor does and not just if you make a sale. That action could be filling out a form, completing a survey, downloading software etc. Most affiliate networks offer CPA programs anyway. But PeerFly focuses more on CPA affiliate programs. Here you can find both digital and physical products. They have a large selection of products.

Pros: High commission rates. Partnered with many well-known brands. They have a referral program. They offer many payment options like PayPal, Payoneer, direct deposit, cheque. Minimum payment amount is $50.

Cons: If you are not making any sales your account could get suspended.

7) Awin

Biggest affiliate network in Europe

Affiliate Window is an affiliate network based in Europe and a very popular one. They are similar to networks like ShareASale and CJ Affiliate and is one of the biggest networks in Europe. They offer both digital and physical products and there is a broad range of merchants for you to choose from. They cover pretty much everything.

Pros: Their website is user-friendly. There are a number of useful tools available to you like deep linking. There is also a referral program you can join. Plenty of affiliate programs and many products to choose from. Minimum Payment Amount is $20.

Cons: There are some complaints by affiliates their dashboard is a bit confusing. Some people would prefer to see more US-based merchants.

8) Amazon Associates

Biggest online shop

For better or for worse Amazon is the biggest online retailer in the world right now. Although technically speaking Amazon is more of an affiliate program and less of an affiliate network you just can’t afford to ignore them. When it comes to physical goods they have everything. The main reason why Amazon is so successful is 1) you can find everything 2) it’s so easy to shop on Amazon. Plus they are the most popular online shop so adding them to your website makes perfect sense. Amazon Associates is usually the first choice for new bloggers and affiliate marketers. It’s just so easy to use.

Pros: Very easy to sign up. No third-party advertiser approvals. They don’t have any special website requirements and it’s very easy to get accepted. They have the world’s biggest selection of physical products. You get paid from any products your visitors buy once they land on Amazon through your affiliate links and not just for the products you promote on your website. Commissions are great for some categories.

Cons: Low commission rates, cookie duration is only 24 hours and their Terms of Services is not very clear (leads to misunderstandings). There are basically 2 payment methods direct deposit and cheque. They are also pretty famous for deleting and banning accounts without offering an explanation. Their support representatives can be rude sometimes.

9) Skimlinks

One of the most popular affiliate network

The main characteristic of Skimlinks is that allows to monetize your blog/website with very little effort. Once you are accepted all you need to do is add a code to your website. That code will automatically scan your content for products and it will add affiliate links to them if they also happen to be on their network. Both digital and physical products are available in their network. Also, if your application gets approved from Skimlinks you are automatically approved from all the merchants in their network. You don’t need to apply extra to any individual merchant later.

Viglink is an alternative option if for whatever reason you don’t like Skimlinks. It works in a very similar way.

Pros: Very simple and easy to use. One of the best options if you don’t want to bother yourself with creating links and signing up for different affiliate programs. They have over 20,000 merchants and it’s totally free to join. They have a referral program. Minimum payment amount is at $10.

Cons: They take a percentage of your commissions. In some cases, you can earn more money if you join some of the affiliate programs directly and not through them.

10) JVZoo

Make money with infoproducts

Is considered by many as the new ClickBank. Some also believe that JVZoo will eventually completely replace them. I don’t know much about that but i guess time will tell. The truth is they look very similar to each other. They offer both digital and physical products. But the number of physical products in JVZoo is quite small. Some of their most popular products are info-products like plugins, apps, ebooks, software, tools related to email marketing, list building etc. You should be careful when choosing what products to promote from JVZoo. The way they filter their affiliate programs for scams is not very effective.

Pros: A lot of digital products to choose from if your niche is online marketing, MMO (make money online) or blogging. They add new products all the time. Easy to use dashboard. A number of useful metrics and data are available to you. They always pay on time and PayPal is available as a payment method.

Cons: There are many low-quality products available in their network. Some of their products are unfortunately scams or totally useless. They don’t handle refunds themselves like ClickBank does. A number of product categories (especially physical products) are actually empty. No products are available at least for now.

11) FlexOffers

best networks for publishers

FlexOffers is an affiliate network that has been around for many years now. They offer both digital and physical products and they are partnered with thousands of advertisers including some very big brands. There are products and programs for almost every niche in their platform. They focus more on CPS (Cost Per Sale) but they support all kinds of programs.

Pros: Their website is easy to navigate. The dashboard is user-friendly and it’s very easy to find the affiliate programs you were looking for. Thousands of affiliate programs are available to you. Deep linking is also available. They have a very good referral program. The minimum payment amount is $50.

Cons: Signing up can be a challenge.

12) Tradedoubler

Affiliate networks for Europe

Tradedoubler is another European network that’s being in the market for almost 20 years now. They have a list of over 2,000 advertisers including some big brands like Philips, HP, Microsoft, The Body Shop and more. Although it’s a global network they focus more on the European market. If you are an American you may not find the retailer you are looking for here. Tradedoulbler is a very popular network in Europe but not so much in U.S.

Pros: A large selection of advertisers, access to many different metrics and with one account you can manage multiple affiliate websites. Payments are made once a month.

Cons: Not a lot of information is available on their website. If you want to work with advertisers based on the UK your website must generate a significant amount of UK traffic in order to be accepted. A limited number of payment methods are available compared to other networks.

13) RevenueWire

Performance marketing

Is an award-winning affiliate network that deals primarily with companies that sell digital products online. RevenueWire is a Canadian based business and they have been around for more than a decade now. They have a really good reputation and they work with some of the best advertisers in multiple verticals. Some of their advertisers are Adidas, Spin Academy, IObit, Kromtech and others. One of the best networks for digital products.

Pros: It’s free to join and the signing up process is easy. They offer high commission rates and a number of very helpful real-time data analysis tools. Their user interface is very well-designed. Several payment options like PayPal, cheque, wire transfer, direct deposit. 

Cons: They don’t have a great variety of products. They focus more on the digital market.

14) LinkConnector

Affiliate networks for success

It’s considered to be one of the top affiliate networks and is trusted by many big brands. They have a large variety of products (digital & physical) for almost every niche. They value quality over quantity and they have a zero-tolerance policy towards frauds. So, you can be sure the quality of the products in their networks is indisputable. What makes this network stand out from the rest is their innovative technology.

Pros: It’s free to join. A very professional affiliate management team that responds quickly to affiliate inquiries. They offer private coupon codes, easier social media sharing, EPC (Earnings Per Click) based on the type of promotion, innovative link technology (naked links) that can only be found here.

Cons: It can be a little difficult to get accepted into their network. There are some complaints online they focus more on helping their merchants and less their publishers.

15) AvantLink

Affiliate networks for marketers

One of the best and in my opinion easiest to use affiliate networks. AvantLink is one of the most beginners friendly networks and you should definitely take a look at it. It was founded back in 2005 and it is considered to be one of the best networks for many years now. Professionalism and consistency are their two main characteristics. They have a large list of merchants both small and big in many product categories. They offer both digital and physical products but they focus more on the physical ones.

Pros: A simple and user-friendly interface that is easy to use. It’s really easy to browse through all the different categories and find the programs you are looking for. A large number of merchants. Lots of information about their merchants are available on their website without requiring from you to sign up first. You have access to detailed descriptions of their tools so you will know exactly what you will get before signing up. 

Cons: They don’t have live support. Support is only accessible via email. So, it could take a while before they respond.

Conclusion

There are certainly a lot more great affiliate networks out there but the ones mentioned above are considered to be the best in the industry right now and are very well respected. Every affiliate network has its own advantages and disadvantages. The only way to find out what works the best for you is to try several of them on your website at the same time. 

You should also know that many large merchants use a number of different networks to sell their products. The only way to find the best offer is by signing up to different networks. But now you know from where you should start. Don’t forget the beginning is the half of every action. 


Do you want to learn more about affiliate marketing? Click the button below and join one on of the world’s best affiliate marketing training programs. The first 10 lessons are available for free right now. Only an email is required. Plus you can join a great affiliate program that offers a high commission rate. And yes, it’s also free.

Join Wealthy Affiliate For free


Do you like this content? If you did please leave a comment below and consider sharing it with your social media followers.


Spread the love

You may also like...

30 Responses

  1. Louise says:

    Wow thank you!!! These tips really help me! Can finally choose my links and get on with it x

  2. matthew says:

    Great post. I have always wanted to join an affiliate program but not too sure of them. This article has really opened ways for me to select from. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Christine says:

    Very helpful tips for beginners like myself. Thank you 🙂

  4. Eric Chen says:

    Hello Nikosth,

    Thank you for your list of affiliate networks! I just started affiliate marketing and have been searching on google for my niche related affiliate. There are many out there, but it’s hard to tell which one is actually good.

    This list is very detailed and has helped me find my affiliate retailer and should help many of those who are new as well.

    Thank you,
    Eric

  5. Joshua says:

    I’ve bookmarked this as this is so helpful! Thank you so much! I’ve actually been struggling with this very thing so this has really helped solve that problem! Would you say it’s generally better to use affiliate networks rather than individual affiliate companies?

    By the way, I really love the look of your website – that banner image is so cool!

    • Nikos says:

      Hello Joshua,

      Generally speaking i would say working with an affiliate network is better. It is usually safer and more organized.  But it depends on the niche too. For some niches it might be better to join affiliate programs directly. 

      Thank you for your comment.

  6. Marco SJ says:

    I’ve heard about ClickBank many times and always wondered about it. If it’s only for digital products, it might not work for my site (not right now at least). I use ClickShare and like what I have access to there. You’re right about the dashboard – it is kinda primitive. But it still serves its purpose overall.

    I just signed up for Pepperjam. Actually, I wanted to join the Affiliate network of a specific product, which turned out to be Pepperjam. I literally just got approved yesterday so it’s nice to know that there are other brands in Pepperjam. Interesting how you mentioned that their support is very good and professional, as I thought they were super slow. It took them over a month to review / approve me, after their automated messages said that they’d get back to me within 24-48 hours. I had to always follow-up with them.

    Any chance you can include examples of the more famous brands from each Affiliate network? That’ll help people choose.

    • Nikos says:

      Hello Marco,

      Generally speaking there are not many complaints about Pepperjam’s support but certainly having to wait a month for your site to be reviewed is too slow. But it’s considered to be a good network to work with.

      I’ll try to add some popular brand names from each network. I do mention a few of them in some networks like Rakuten and CJ Affiliate but i’ll definitely look to cover all of them. That’s a nice suggestion.  

      Thank you for your comment.

  7. Latricia Turner says:

    Thank you for this article. The affiliate programs are more than I thought. This is good information. I am new to affiliate marketing and the article will improve my results, I am sure.

  8. Emma Conrad says:

    I’m brand new to blogging but I’m happy to see that a few of the networks I was accepted to made your list! Pinning this as well for my followers who are looking to monetize their sites.

  9. Lacy Ngo says:

    I use Shareasale and amazon affiliate, but there are so many more opportunities. Thanks for sharing!

  10. Weston says:

    Great post! I didn’t know there were affiliate networks where I can search several affiliate programs at once. That is very helpful to know. I’ve only signed up as an Amazon affiliate, but would like to sign up for more.

    I appreciate you listing the top affiliate networks. I’ve heard of some of them, but didn’t know what they were. I will definitely check out a few of these and sign up for more affiliate programs.

    Thank you!

    Weston

    • Nikos says:

      Hello Weston,

      There are plenty of affiliate networks out there waiting for affiliates. There is definitely something for everyone no matter what your niche is. I am glad i helped. 

      Thank you for your comment. I really appreciate it!

      Nikos

  11. Chris says:

    I didnt realize there were so many affiliate programs.
    I signed up for the Amazon program last night and i will see how that goes.
    I will hopefully check out the other tonight.
    Thanks for the great post.

  12. Caitlin says:

    Fantastic list of affiliate programs. This month one of my goals is to look into affiliates so I am definitely bookmarking this page! Thanks for sharing (:

  13. Stefan Vogt says:

    Hi there, this is very good information. I need affiliate partners sometimes and to have this list handy will save a lot of time in future.
    Is it possible to work with more than one network on the same website?

  14. Great post. And you are right because I believe in this line of work we don’t just want to waste time but to be able to get a good return on our investment and these programs can really reward us well for our hard work. Thanks for sharing.

  15. Jacqueline says:

    This is a great list!

    As a newbie to Affiliate Marketing, I have only subscribed to Amazon.
    I will definitely check out the other companies.

    Thanks

  16. Max Jr says:

    Hi NIKOS,
    I want to ask you a affiliate marketing related question. i am an new blogger, almost a year back i started two blogs that i worked hard on and no i have a good number of following and traffic built that it feels like i should start putting affiliate links of products and i might just make some sales.
    BUT the thing is i don’t know what company’s program i should join. Here in UK there is this company that is offer good deal of commission and everything that is required to achieve that startup that i am looking for but review is required.
    I’ll try to address you to the list revglue(.)com/free-wordpress-plugins maybe you can help me out decide or maybe suggest me something else if you can.
    Anyway appreciated.

    • Nikos says:

      Hello Max,
      The key to success is to offer your audience products and services that will help them solve a problem. Now i haven’t personally used Revglue so i can’t offer you any advice about that. But if you are satisfied with their products and you believe they will help your audience i don’t see why you shouldn’t promote them.

  17. Daniel says:

    I can say that this is exactly what I was looking for. I am currently an Amazon Associate and I must confirm that you are right. Their support is rude and don’t want to give an explanations. I heard that Clickbank is great affiliate network but I saw many products to be a scam. You think they are trusted?

    • Nikos says:

      Hello Daniel,

      In my opinion Clickbank itself is a legitimate affiliate network. But you have to be careful what products you choose to promote. One way to be sure is to sell products you have personally used or have received great reviews and always do your own research. In other words don’t trust Clickbank’s quality control. 

      Thank you for your comment,

      Nikos

  18. Michel says:

    Thank you for this list of affiliate networks to try. Some I use, and others I have never heard of.

    I love Clickbank, because the commissions are really good, but as you say, there is a lot of rubbish on there and you really have to look long and hard to find the diamonds in the dust, but they are there. I make it a rule to stay away from most of the make money online stuff.

    Amazon is another favorite of mine, but the commissions are low. The good thing is that it is easy to sell products there, so the commissions do add up when lots of people buy.

    As you mentioned in your post, the best way to find these partners is to Google them. It is amazing what comes up, and there is usually a good partner out there for every niche.

  19. Evald says:

    Hey Nikos,

    thanks for such informative article, I found it to be very helpful and I’ve also learned a lot of new & great affiliate programs! AvantLink definitely caught most of my attention because it’s very user-friendly, they offer a big variety of different merchants while also providing a lot of information regarding their merchants on their website and give You access to their detailed description of their tools. Great stuff! I also found PeerFly to be quite interesting as it offer CPA network which opens the door for numerous possibilities to be paid not only via commission from product sales. PeerFly seem to be very flexible and versatile, therefore creating great opportunities to earn income. On top of this, they also offer high commission rates which is great!

    All in all Nikos, thanks for an awesome article, I’ve really enjoyed reading it- I am bookmarking this page 😉 Keep ip the great work !

    • Nikos says:

      Hello Evald,

      I am glad you liked my post. There are plenty of opportunities and thousands of affiliate programs to choose from.

      Thank you for your comment, 

      Nikos

  20. jessie palaypay says:

    In regards to the Amazon Associates program, I have heard from people who managed to get 3 sales within 180 days still get their accounts shut down. While it is a great place to shop at, their affiliate program is lacking in a lot of areas. I sometimes wonder if people within their affiliate support are even affiliates themselves?

    • Nikos says:

      Hello Jessie,

      Unfortunately i’ll have to agree with you. Amazon’s affiliate support is not the best one and there are quite a few complaints. That doesn’t mean though their affiliate program is not a good one. After all, people like shopping from Amazon. But there are definetely many more options and affiliate programs to choose from.

      That’s actually the beauty of affiliate marketing. There are so many choices. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *