Affiliate Programs
Another way to make money off of a blog is through affiliate selling programs.
Affiliate programs allow a website, such as a blog, to serve as a “middleman” between a prospective purchaser and an online retailer.
Here’s how affiliate programs work. A site, such as a blog, features a link to a retailer: in some cases, it’s a link to the retailer’s home page, and in some cases a link to a specific product or group of products.
If a user clicks through the link and makes a purchase, then the website operator takes a small cut. Thus, it’s somewhat like PPC advertising – but, in order to make money, the site proprietor needs the user to make a purchase after clicking through.
One of the original affiliate programs is Amazon’s, and many blogs participate. Of course, over the years, countless new programs have emerged.
As with traffic-building strategies, the world of affiliate advertising features several shades of “quality.” It’s not uncommon to come across the unflattering term “affiliate spam.”
In fact, the worlds of search engine optimization and affiliate marketing often collide, as sites jockey for high search engine page ranks in order to generate revenue by driving customers to affiliate links.