You probably started your blog with the goal of making some money somewhere down the line.
And when it comes to making money from your blog, affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to turn traffic into cash.
But affiliate marketing is only a viable strategy if you can find quality products that your visitors are interested in (and that you can feel proud to recommend).
To help, we’ve collected the 3 best affiliate platforms and networks. Collectively, they’ll give you access to tens of thousands of merchants and millions of products.
Whether you want to promote physical products or digital products, or big brands or small brands, you’ll find an affiliate platform on this list that can connect you to something that fits.
Let’s dive in, starting with one of the biggest affiliate platforms out there…
out there…
1. ShareASale
ShareASale is one of the most popular affiliate networks out there.
Whereas Amazon Associates is focused entirely on Amazon products, ShareASale houses affiliate programs for 4,500+ merchants, both big and small.
From one spot – the ShareASale dashboard – you can sign up to all these merchants, generate links, and view your statistics.
Note, you’ll need to individually apply to merchants and be approved by each merchant, which is a pretty standard approach for an affiliate network like this.
Overall,
ShareASale is a great option for both digital and physical products.
For example, on the digital side, you’ll find plenty of WordPress theme and plugin shops, hosting providers, etc.
And on the physical side, you’ll find plenty of big and small merchants. For example, there’s Warby Parker (sunglasses), Sun Basket, Wayfair, Reebok, NFL Shop, plus thousands of other small and large businesses.
Basically – no matter what niche your website or blog is in, you can probably find some offers worth promoting.
What you need to know about ShareASale
Niche/product types: A little bit of everything, including both physical and digital products.
Average commission rate: Depends on the specific merchant you sign up with.
Cookie duration: Depends on the specific merchant you sign up with.
Minimum payout: $50
ShareASale pros and cons
Pros:
Thousands of merchants for both physical and digital products, including lots of well-known merchants
Trustworthy – They’ve been around for many years and work with lots of big brands
Lots of exclusive merchants. Over 1,000 of the merchants at ShareASale only work with ShareASale
Has a bookmarklet that makes it easy to generate custom affiliate links
Cons:
The dashboard design is a little clunky, though it’s gotten a lot better
2. Rakuten Marketing (Formerly LinkShare)
Rakuten Marketing (formerly known as LinkShare) is a popular affiliate network that includes a lot of big merchants. Notable merchants are:
Walmart
Best Buy
Macy’s
Papa Johns
They also have some smaller merchants, though their network isn’t as large as ShareASale,
So if you want access to a huge variety of merchants, you might be better off with one of the other networks. But Rakuten is a good option for getting access to the big guns, and they also have some nice features like the ability to rotate ads without the need for an external solution (like a WordPress advertising management plugin).
What you need to know about Rakuten Marketing
Niche/product types: With 1,000+ merchants, you can probably still find offers in most niches.
Average commission rate: Depends on the specific merchant you sign up with.
Cookie duration: Depends on the specific merchant you sign up with.
Minimum payout: $50
Rakuten Marketing pros and cons
Pros:
Gives you access to big-name merchants like Walmart and Best Buy
A trusted name (Rakuten is a billion dollar company)
Nice-to-have features like easy ad rotation
Cons:
The back-end dashboard looks a little dated in my opinion
Not as big a selection as some other affiliate networks
3. ClickBank
Like Avangate Affiliate Network, ClickBank is another affiliate network that has a lot of digital products, though it also offers physical products as well.
Whereas platforms like ShareASale and Awin have a lot of big, nationally known merchants, ClickBank is definitely more on the “smaller” end of merchants.
For example, you’ll find a lot of merchants who are selling eBooks, online courses, or membership sites. These merchants might not have the name recognition of a national or international brand, but they can be great offers if they fit your niche.
There’s also a downside, though – some of the ClickBank products just aren’t very high-quality products. And while ClickBank has gotten better with its review process to filter out the bad merchants, you’ll still want to be careful about which merchants you choose to promote.
What you need to know about ClickBank
Niche/product types: ClickBank definitely leans towards digital products, but you’ll find some physical products as well (and ClickBank makes it easy to filter between the two).
Average commission rate: Depends on the specific merchant you sign up with, but usually pretty high. You’ll find both percentage and flat-rate commissions.
Cookie duration: Depends on the specific merchant you sign up with, but usually ~60 days.
Minimum payout: $10
ClickBank pros and cons
Pros:
Lots of smaller niche offers that you won’t find at other affiliate platforms
Pretty high commissions for most merchants
$10 minimum payout makes it easy to get paid
Offers weekly payments
Cons:
ClickBank’s generous refund policy means you might lose commissions after the fact
You have to wade through some low-quality products
