10 Minutes To Increase Your Affiliate Income
By Richard Baker

The easiest way to increase your affiliate income is to get the basics correct...and I mean the very basics. You will be able to increase your affiliate income by following each of the simple tips hereinafter described. The best thing about these tips is none of them should take you any longer than 10 minutes to implement.

Check Links
Check that all your links are properly functioning. Affiliate links can be long and wrap around 2 or more lines. It is not difficult to copy them incorrectly. Sometimes affiliate links are deactivated. Check your links on a weekly basis against the links offered by the merchant.

Check Programs
If you use a back-end affiliate provider like Commission Junction or TradeDoubler, check that the affiliate program is still being operated. Occasionally, programs are stopped. Check on a weekly basis and also check the email account you initially signed up with for messages.

Appropriateness
Consider whether the affiliate programs you are advertising are appropriate to your audience. You can increase your affiliate income by simply joining programs that your visitors will be interested in. Look at the content and theme of your website and join appropriate programs...often that means going for those which DO NOT pay the highest commission, but have the greatest relevancy.

Text and Product Links
Consider making greater use of text and product links instead of banners. Often text and product links can be weaved into your web copy in context and link directly to a relevant page on the merchant's website. Stats seem to show text and product link up to 10 times more effective than stale banner adverts.

Improve Your Credibility
Give a telephone number, fax number and email for your visitors to contact you. If they are more willing to trust you, they should be more willing to take on your recommendations.

Update Your Site
Spend a few minutes each week looking at your site and updating it. Move old information to an archive page. Adding fresh content will give not only give you more credibility, but encourage visitors to return.

Domain Name and Email Address
Don't use a free domain when your own domain name can be purchased relatively cheaply. Get your own it will add to your credibility.

Too Many Affiliate Programs
Don't promote more than 2 or 3 affiliate programs. Promoting too few programs makes you look less than independent, while too many makes your website look tacky and will only serve to confuse your visitors. You can find great affiliate programs at whichaffiliate.com

Presell with Content
Pre-sell not "sell" to your visitors. This way you will be more credible in your recommendations and those visitors that click-through will do so with an open mind. Don't try to sell off your affiliate site. Visitors will recoil at the hard sell and even if they do click-through, what do they get but another sell (probably repeating exactly what you said). Warm your visitor by selling nothing more than your credibility with content.

Review Affiliate Statistics and Test
Look at your affiliate stats each week. Look at which links are performing well and consider why this is. More importantly, which links are not performing? Only use the best performing links if you wish to maximise your click- throughs. Of course, you should test different links on different pages for the most objective results.