Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money online these days. Unfortunately, that is no secret. Thousands of folks are working extra hard to make a living online in this industry. But sometimes you don't have to work harder to set yourself apart from others - you have to work smarter. Using the right affiliate tools can allow you to gain a decisive competitive edge over your competitors without having to spend 15 hours a day in front of a computer trying to make a living.

There are many tools that you can choose from to expand your affiliate business. But not every tool is created equal. For more detail.You wants to focus on tools that give you the best chance to gain advantage over your competitors. Here are a few tools that you can use to dominate your niche:

* Wordze: every affiliate would tell you that Word Tracker is the best keyword tool money can buy. In truth, WordTracker is the tool everyone should own. But to go beyond what WordTracker offers, you should try Wordze to move your niche research process to the next level.

* SpyFu: one of the best spying tools that allows you to find out what your competitors are doing, and how you can beat them. Use for more detail. SpyFu is not limited to only paid search. You can also find out what folks are doing in the organic channel, and what keywords they are using that you should too! SpyFu Kombat is a recent addition to SpyFu that allows you to compare your site with others and find out how they differ.

* Compete: compete is another powerful competitive intelligence tool that allows you to find out valuable information on your market, its top player, and even your own website.

* Linkscape: Linkscape is a great SEO intelligence tool that enables you to find out how folks are getting their links, and how you can too. Linkscape is a powerful tool that is used by SEO professionals to develop gap analysis and link building campaigns.

* Keyword Spy: allows you to spy on other affiliate marketers and find out what keywords they are using to drive traffic to their sites.

These tools are all premium tools, but you should never be afraid of spending money to make more. Not everyone's going to purchase all these tools, but each provide you with an additional research dimension that can help you get a leg up on your competitors.

Interested in learning more about keyword research? Review traffic secret 2.0 to find out how you can utilize top keyword tools to create magnetic content and take your business to the next level.