Affiliate Marketing: The Top Pros and Cons Bloggers Should Consider
Over the last several years, millions of bloggers worldwide have started to discover the power of affiliate marketing.
An industry worth billions of dollars with the opportunities and the smart strategy is potentially endless when it comes to including it within your blog.
But for those who haven’t ventured into the world of affiliate marketing and aren’t entirely sure of what it means, it might seem very daunting.
To put it simply, affiliate marketing in blogging involves the blogger partnering with a business to promote its products or services.
Usually done through an affiliate program, the blogger will include links to the product/service throughout an article.
When a reader then clicks onto the link and purchases the product/service, the blogger will receive a sales percentage.
If you’re considering integrating affiliate marketing within your blog, it’s essential to consider the pros and cons associated with it.
So, to ensure that you’re on the right track, here are several of them to dig your teeth into, along with a brief guide on how to do it effectively at the bottom of the article:
Let’s start with the pros
It’s Considered to be Passive Income
One of the biggest pros related to affiliate marketing is that it’s considered to be passive income.
Not only do you have the potential to earn money off of the link from the moment that it’s published on your site, but in the future.
You could get paid for the link for months or even years afterward.
Of course, there are certain cases when this isn’t the way – such as when a business only offers a ‘limited time’ program.
If that’s the case, then you’ll have to promote the link as much as you can to receive the level of commission you want – but in a way, that’s not too pushy to your readers.
It Can Be Helpful For Your Readers
For example, if you create an article around ‘top Christmas gifts for him,’ then not only are your ideas useful, but the links that you’ve inserted into the text make finding a present easier for them.
They will then start looking for your recommendations in later blog posts, trusting what you say about the product/service.
It Can Complement Your Blog Wonderfully
If you choose affiliate links that complement your articles and your blog’s theme, they can fit seamlessly within it.
Not only in the sense that it’s helpful for your readers but that it’s more credible and has a better chance of succession.
To find the most effective affiliate links for your block, make sure that you do your research.
Thankfully, numerous resources can guide you on this (click here to see the best-performing niches).
Anyone Can Do It
Although it’s undeniably helpful to know the ins and outs of how affiliate links work, it’s good to know that you don’t have to be an expert.
After joining an affiliate program and reading several articles to get a flavor of how you can include them, you’ll be able to start doing it yourself.
Next, let’s take a look at the potential downsides that you should consider: It Can Be Time-Consuming
When joining an affiliate program, it’s important to keep in mind that inserting affiliate links within your blog will take time to craft quality content surrounding them.
You can’t publish a link anywhere on your blog or within unrelated content—this will result in the link not being clicked and you not receiving the commission you should have.
Therefore, it’s vital that you place the link naturally within related content and identify the use of the product/service and the likelihood of your readers clicking on it.
Not Always Immediate Results
Although sometimes you will receive commission straight away from certain articles, as mentioned above, it can take a while for the money to come in.
Therefore, you might be waiting for some time, which can be frustrating, especially if you’re relying on this income alone.
You must also pay attention to the commission rate offered by each affiliate link. Businesses offer a variety of commission rates.
Therefore, what you receive from one affiliate link may differ from another.
A Risk of Alienating Your Readers
When you start to include affiliate links within your blog, you must state that you’re doing so both on the articles themselves and at the bottom of your home page/about page.
Not only is this because it will showcase to your readers that you’re receiving a commission from each link but in some countries, it’s required by law.
However, some of your readers might be put off by the sponsored link when you do this.
Having the opinion that you’re only promoting the products or services because you want to get a commission off of them, they will either ignore the affiliate articles or might even go straight to the source itself.
Top Tips When Including Affiliate Links
To help guide you, here are some top tips that you can use when including affiliate links:
- Try only to include affiliate links that will be relevant to your audience – never for the sake of it (as tempting as that could be!).
- Only work with businesses that you like and that you know to produce quality products or offer exceptional services.
- Don’t let the links take away from what you’re saying within the content – unless, of course, you’re writing a review for the product or service.
- If possible, try the products or services yourself first to give an accurate review or depiction of it. Honesty is the best policy when it comes to affiliate marketing!
