7 Things to Consider in an Affiliate Program

Guest post by Dave Martinez, the owner of PPC Fool.

When I first started affiliate marketing, I basically looked at one thing, how much were they paying? I was naive to say the least, and have since learned my lesson. Pay has its place, but there is much more to consider when looking at an offer to promote. Below are 7 key factors to consider when joining an affiliate program:

1. Tracking
Does the program offer tracking? Tracking is key in this business, and if you're not using it your flying blind. Most CPA networks offer this, and if it's just a lone company email the affiliate manager and ask them. With conversion tracking so easy to setup with a simple code on the landing page, this should be high up there in the priority list.

2. In Demand
Is the product or service in demand? This is an easy one, just because there is no competition is not necessarily a good thing. You want to promote an offer that is more than just 10 searches a month for the core keywords. If you're going to put a lot of time and money into promoting an offer you should be compensated for it.

3. Access to Affiliate Manager
You want to have a direct line to your affiliate manager, preferably by phone. To be able to call when you have issues, questions, or just need some pointers, it can only help.

4. Landing page
Very important. I remember one time I was promoting a biz opp, was sending 100's of clicks a day and my conversion was nil. Looking back on that campaign it is easy to see my inexperience at the time. The landing page design was horrible and unprofessional. It doesn't matter it they pay $100/lead, if their page doesn't convert consider an alternative offer. If you're looking for some good guidelines on how to make a killer landing page, check out my 10 Day Landing Page Series.

5. Will the offer last
While not a bad thing, is the offer just event focused, such as Valentine's day or Christmas offers or will the product always be in demand in season and out of season? Just something to consider.

6. Payout Frequency
How often do they pay? Can this be changed over time as you increase volume? Can you get a bump in payout at a certain levels of sales or leads?
I've seen some standalone programs that pay net 60 or 60 days after the month of which you made the sale in... unless you have a lot of capital you may want to renegotiate this or find a similar offer.

7. Sound product
Last is it a quality product and does it offer true value. It so much easier to promote an offer that you can support or have used in the past with a solid review. This will also help in refunds which can be another thing to consider. Do they absorb refunds or not? A quality product will have less refunds which will mean more money in your pocket!

Dave Martinez is the owner of PPC Fool, where he blogs on tips, strategies, and insight about making a living with pay per click and affiliate marketing.