I’ve written a couple of articles on making money, with a few focused on how to earn money with affiliate marketing. I realized, however, that I’d never written an article on how to make money with affiliate marketing for beginners.
As a beginner, embarking on the affiliate marketing journey is akin to setting sail on a vast sea of opportunities. In this guide, we’ll navigate the waters of affiliate marketing, unraveling the strategies and tips that can transform your online presence into a lucrative income stream.
Get ready to explore the affiliate odyssey and discover how to make money with affiliate marketing for beginners.
Table of Contents
Creating a Plan and Roadmap
Before jumping into anything, it’s crucial to make a plan for how to make money with affiliate marketing for beginners. There are many strategies to make money online, even within affiliate marketing, which can easily overwhelm many beginners.
Making a plan and following it will make life simpler and give you the focus needed to succeed.
For beginners, I highly recommend starting a blog for affiliate marketing. This is a sample plan that you can follow:
- Choose a niche
- Build a website
- Research keywords and topics to write articles on
- Publish articles
- Apply for affiliate programs and add relevant affiliate links
- Analyze and repeat steps 3-5
This is the same strategy I followed to build my first affiliate marketing business, which I learned from Wealthy Affiliate. I highly recommend checking out the platform if you want to shortcut your way to success.
==> Check Out Wealthy Affiliate Here, No Credit Card Required
Choosing a Niche
As shown in the plan above, the first step is to define your niche – the specific area or industry you are passionate about or have expertise in. This sets the foundation for your affiliate journey, allowing you to tailor your content and promotions to a targeted audience.
Whether it’s fitness, technology, or lifestyle, finding your niche is the compass that guides your affiliate marketing ship.
While you can be successful in pretty much any topic, I highly recommend you choose a niche that’s specific at the start but give yourself the ability to branch out. This will allow you to focus better at the start and build momentum faster while giving you room to scale in the future.
For example, you could choose something very specific, like caring for Samoyed dogs. But don’t make your business a Samoyed-only brand. Keep your brand open to expanding into dogs as a whole.
Build Your Website
Once you’ve decided on a niche, the next step is to build your website. Don’t worry, this step is much easier than many think.
I recommend beginners start with WordPress. First, find a hosting platform like Bluehost, Siteground, or my favorite, the SiteRubix hosting you get at Wealthy Affiliate.
Most hosting platforms will allow you to buy a domain and give you instructions to set up your WordPress site easily. At Wealthy Affiliate, you can build a website in a few clicks. Here’s a tutorial showing you how you can create a WordPress website at Wealthy Affiliate:
Online Entrepreneur Certification Level 1 – Building Your Own Website
Once you’ve set up your first WordPress website, we need to complete a few more housekeeping items to get us going. Here’s a quick checklist:
- Delete the default posts and pages
- Activate and set up your SEO plugin (download if you don’t have one; Rank Math, The SEO Framework, Yoast SEO, etc., are all great options)
- Publish an About post
- Publish a Privacy Policy page
- Publish an Affiliate Disclosure page
- Create navigation menus
Again, I highly recommend checking out Wealthy Affiliate for in-depth lessons and guidance.
==> Check Out Wealthy Affiliate Here, No Credit Card Required
Research Keywords and Topics To Write Articles On
Once you set up your website, the next step is to research keywords and topics to write articles on. This step is essential as our primary strategy revolves around writing helpful content and making affiliate sales from people who find our website via search engines.
To research keywords, you’ll need a keyword research tool. I use Jaaxy, but other tools like Ahrefs will work, too.
The keyword research strategy I recommend beginners start with is to look for “low-hanging fruit keywords.” These are keywords with few websites ranking for that still get a decent number of monthly searches.
We want to start with these keywords because our website is brand new and has low domain authority. Beginners generally don’t have the skills to create content that competes against the thousands of websites for higher valued keywords yet.
Each keyword research dashboard is different, but in Jaaxy, I look for keywords with an average monthly search volume of over 30 and less than 100 websites actively ranking for the keyword.
Check out this article as well if you want a more in-depth guide to this keyword strategy:
How To Use the SEO Strategy That Brings Me 10k+ Viewers Every Month
Write and Publish Content
Now, onto the heavy lifting – creating content.
In affiliate marketing, content is your strategy’s beating heart. As a beginner, focus on creating high-quality, authentic content that resonates with your audience.
The best advice I can give is to write a lot. We need practice to get good, and the great thing is that you can always edit your blog posts in the future.
Whether it’s product reviews, tutorials, or recommendations, tailor your content to provide value and address the needs of your audience.
Beyond writing with an authentic voice and practicing a lot, the next most important thing is readability. Separate your paragraphs more often and use headings to define different sections. Add images and videos when it makes sense, too.
Generally, reading other people’s blog posts and noting what you like and dislike will help you improve your work. You can also use tools like the Wealthy Affiliate’s Site Feedback tool to get feedback on your website and how to improve.
Apply For Affiliate Programs and Add Affiliate Links
When you have a decent number of articles published (20-30) and begin to see your website coming up on the first pages of search engines like Google, it’s a good time to start applying for various affiliate programs and monetize your website.
The first thing I would do is think of products you would like to recommend. Most companies have affiliate programs in the menu at the bottom of their websites.
There are also reputable affiliate networks like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, or ClickBank, with thousands of products you can link to and earn money from.
Once approved for a couple of affiliate programs, integrate affiliate links seamlessly into your content and ensure they complement the narrative rather than disrupt it. A natural and genuine approach to affiliate promotion builds trust with your audience, increasing the likelihood of conversions.
Remember, the goal is not just to sell but to guide and inform your audience, establishing you as a reliable source in your niche.
Analyze and Repeat Steps 3-5
It is worth mentioning that you should integrate tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console into your site at this point. These tools will allow you to monitor your website performance and find what works best.
Based on what you see, your strategy is simply a repeat of steps 3-5 – research keywords, write content, and add affiliate links.
How To Make Money With Affiliate Marketing For Beginners
And that’s it! There are many ways to make money with affiliate marketing, but as beginners, we must keep things simple to maintain focus. In this guide on how to make money with affiliate marketing for beginners, follow the six steps below until you make a decent amount of money, and that’s when we can explore other strategies.
- Choose a niche
- Build a website
- Research keywords and topics to write articles on
- Publish articles
- Apply for affiliate programs and add relevant affiliate links
- Analyze and repeat steps 3-5
For more information on making money with affiliate marketing and blogging, you can also check out the following articles:
- How To Make Money With Affiliate Marketing Without a Website
- How To Start An Online WordPress Blog And Make Money
Remember, however, that knowledge is nothing without implementation. Thousands of people read this article, but few implement what they learn.
But if you are one of the few ready to work, I highly recommend you join Wealthy Affiliate. This platform has everything you need to start making money with affiliate marketing as a beginner. And you can get started absolutely free.
