How Affiliate Programs Work What Are Affiliate Programs?

 How Affiliate Programs Work? What Are Affiliate Programs?

Simply put, affiliate programs, also called associate programs, are arrangements during which a web merchant internet site pays affiliate internet sites a commission to send them traffic. These affiliate internet sites post links to the merchant site and are paid consistent with a specific agreement. This agreement is typically supported the amount of individuals the affiliate sends to the merchant's site, or the amount of individuals they send who buy something or perform another action. Some arrangements pay consistent with the amount of individuals who visit the page containing their merchant site's banner advertisement. Basically, if a link on an affiliate site brings the merchant site traffic or money, the merchant site pays the affiliate site consistent with their agreement. Recruiting affiliates is a superb thanks to sell products online, but it also can be an inexpensive and effective marketing strategy; it is a great way to urge the word out about your site.

There are a minimum of three parties in an affiliate program transaction:

The customer

The affiliate site

The merchant site

In 1996, Jeff Bezos, CEO and founding father of Amazon.com, popularized this concept as an online marketing strategy. Amazon.com attracts affiliates to post links to individual books purchasable on Amazon.com, or for Amazon.com generally, by promising them a percentage of the profits if someone clicks on the link then purchases books or other items. The affiliate helps make the sale, but Amazon.com does everything else: They take the order, collect the cash and ship the book to the customer. With over 500,000 affiliate internet sites now participating, Amazon.com's program may be a resounding success.

Over the past few years, affiliate programs have grown enormously in popularity, taking many interesting forms. for several internet sites that do not deal much in e-commerce (selling products or services online) themselves, functioning as an affiliate may be a great way to participate in e-commerce.