Ask questions first before you join an affiliate program.



Do a little research about the choices of program that you

intend to join into. Get some answers because they will be

the deciding point of what you will be achieving later on.

Will it cost you anything to join? Most affiliate programs

being offered today are absolutely free of charge. So why

settle for those that charge you some dollars before joining.

When do they issue the commission checks? Every program is

different. Some issue their checks once a month, every quarter,

etc. Select the one that is suited to your payment time choice.

Many affiliate programs are setting a minimum earned commission

amount that an affiliate must meet or exceed in order for their

checks to be issued.

What is the hit per sale ratio? This is the average number of

hits to a banner or text link it takes to generate a sale based

on all affiliate statistics. This factor is extremely important

because this will tell you how much traffic you must generate

before you can earn a commission from the sale.

How are referrals from an affiliate's site tracked and for how

long do they remain in the system? You need to be confident on

the program enough to track those people you refer from your site.

This is the only way that you can credit for a sale. The period

of time that those people stay in the system is also important.

This is because some visitors do not buy initially but may want

to return later to make the purchase. Know if you will still get

credit for the sale if it is done some months from a certain day.

What are the kinds of affiliate stats available? Your choice of

affiliate program should be capable of offering detailed stats.

They should be available online anytime you decide to check them

out.

Constantly checking your individual stats is important to know how

many impressions, hits and sales are already generated from your

site. Impressions are the number of times the banner or text link

was viewed by a visitor of your site. A hit is the one clicking on

the banner or text links.

Most of this information comes straight from the affiliate pros.

Careful reading to the end virtually guarantees that you'll know

what they know.

Does the affiliate program also pay for the hits and impressions

besides the commissions on sales? It is important that impressions

and hits are also paid, as this will add to the earnings you get

from the sales commission. This is especially important if the

program you are in offers low sales to be able to hit ratio.

Who is the online retailer? Find out whom you are doing business

with to know if it is really a solid company. Know the products

they are selling and the average amount they are achieving. The

more you know about the retailer offering you the affiliate program,

the easier it will be for you to know if that program is really

for you and your site.

Is the affiliate a one tier or two tier program? A single tier

program pays you only for the business you yourself have generated.

A two tier program pays you for the business, plus it also pays

you a commission on the on the sales generated by any affiliate you

sponsor in your program. Some two-tier programs are even paying

small fees on each new affiliate you sponsor. More like a

recruitment fee.

Lastly, what is the amount of commission paid? 5% - 20% is the

commission paid by most programs. .01% - .05% is the amount paid

for each hit. If you find a program that also pays for impressions,

the amount paid is not much at all. As you can see from the figures,

you will now understand why the average sales amount and hit to

sale ratio is important.

These are just some of the questions that needed answering first

before you enter into an affiliate program. You should be familiar

with the many important aspects that your chosen program should

have before incorporating them into your website. Try to ask your

affiliate program choices these questions. These can help you

select the right program for you site from among the many available.

Now you can understand why there's a growing interest in affiliate.

When people start looking for more information about affiliate,

you'll be in a position to meet their needs.