Can simply posting a link earn affiliate revenue?

[dhaxe42]

Hey,

Definitely a newbie question here... if I become a registered affiliate with Linkshare, Amazon.com, or specific companies like Nordstrom, can I simply post a hyperlink somewhere on my site and potentially earn affiliate revenue?

I'm just wondering if there is some other step, like registering that link with the merchant or affiliate network. E.g., can I just post 500 links on my site to Amazon.com pages and earn a fee every time someone clicks through to Amazon on one of those links and then buys something?

Thanks so much for the help! Definitely a newbie here!

 

[Ron Bechdolt]

If you use affiliate links for merchants that you are registered for through their affiliate network (like Linkshare, Sharasale, CJ, Amazon) and put them on your site, you have the POTENTIAL to earn a commission from any sales, but it does not mean you will do so. You could have 500 clicks on your links and still not earn anything if the visitor does not follow through and purchase something. At each of these networks there are help pages with information about how to put up your links to get sales. That's the easy part. The hard part is finding qualified visitors that will follow through and buy.

Check out our Newbie Affiliate Forum pages for information just for newbies.

 

[dhaxe42]

Right, got it, thanks.

What I'm mainly wondering though, is if I'm registered as a LinkShare affiliate, and I post a link to some Hanes product (Hanes looks like it is a LinkShare client), and then someone clicks that link and buys $10 of Hanes products.... do I then get a fee based on that $10?

Or do I first need to register with LinkShare or Hanes that I'll be posting that link?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks Ron and I agree.

There is a beginning step you missed and that's that after you join the network you still need to get approved by each merchant before you can get access to their links.

But like Ron said the hard part is getting traffic. TARGETED traffic that's interested in what you are selling. Usually that means creating content that matches the subject and lots and lots of marketing, advertising or SEO.

 

[dhaxe42]

Ah, I see. Thanks so much Linda and Ron - very helpful.

We have a vertical-specific clothing/fashion site, and we'd like to open up a part of it so that the community can post links, share fashion ideas, and share where they can buy various clothing items.

What we'd like to do (of course) is generate some much-needed revenue from the links that we expect users to post. I'm just wondering if it's even practical to join affiliate networks to try to monetize those links and the traffic through those links.

Thanks so much again - any other thoughts would be wonderful!

 

[Ron Bechdolt]

Oh, very good point Linda. I forget from a newbie perspective not every step is clear and that is a VERY important one.

And getting approved can be tough with some merchants if you don't have a site already built. So don't get discouraged if you get turned down by some in the beginning.

 

[andyelle1]

It is best to target people rather than just post a link

 

[WarnerO]

it is very hard to attract targered traffic for me( sales...in that moments i hesitate whether i should do all this!
the problem is that i want to earn now but i understand that it is just impossible(

 

[Louise M.]

yes indeed, it's important to understand it can take some time. It's good that you created your affiliate accounts on these sites. Now comes the marketing part. which is basically driving traffic to your website as you know.
As mentioned, the easiest way is indeed to target your visitors, narrow down your niche in order to have less competition and get visitors that are ready to buy as they come across something extremely relevant to what they're are looking for.

If you want to go for free marketing techniques, you're gonna have to research keywords related to your niche and create content that targets these keywords. Then create links to the pages where you posted your content (can be your own website) so that people will find your articles and website when searching in google for the keywords you're targeting.

Now just be careful not to stuff your website with too many affiliate links. An important part of our job as affiliates is to get our visitors to click where we want them to. Clear call to actions and not being pushy.

Hope that helps, I understand it can be a bit blurry at the beginning but things will clear themselves up as you research and try strategies.

 

[Peoney]

@ warnerO I totally agree with what you said. Yes the problem is we want to earn "now" and it's not happening so we feel there is something totally wrong. @ 7 Days Ron - Yes from a newbie perspective, our mind is in the cloud, seems everything is unclear and feel missing something. that's how I feel.
I saw a website that is built up of all affiliate links to many Deals website. I thought it's cool.

 

[mega]

dhaxe42,its not done like that.If you are looking to promote amazon products,what you need do is to write a review about the product and then drive traffic to it using methods like guest blogging,article writing,blog commenting,social bookmarking to mention a few.The key here is in choosing the right product to promote and the way you structure your review,miss this and you will earn pennies.Hope this helps.

 

[aditd5]

That is pretty much what affiliate marketing is about. Still 500 links it's to much.
Don't try to load your page with to many affiliate links ( 10 I think is to much ).
If a client want's to buy he will click if there is an available link.