Top 10 Affiliate Networks List
There are several different ways to monetize websites, blogs and YouTube channels out there. This top 10 affiliate networks list should help you on your way to find a good fit for your marketing efforts.
In order to be an affiliate you are 100% dependent on a third party, because they can provide you with products that will make you a commission when you sell copies of these products. For those not familiar, this is exactly what affiliate marketing is. Commissions are provided through affiliate networks and direct affiliate programs with the supplier. The best bet is to go through the best affiliate networks out there.
It is highly recommended that you promote products and services that you have some experience with yourself. This way it is much easier to be genuine when promoting, which again makes it easier to convince others to buy through your link.
Now, let’s dive into the top 10 affiliate networks list.
Clickbank
Clickbank is the biggest affiliate network out there and belongs in my opinion on the list of top 10 affiliate networks. With its 7000+ products you have plenty of products to choose from, and chances are you’ll find a product which is a great match for your audience. Clickbank primarily focuses on digital products, but they also have physical products.I am a huge fan of promoting digital products because they have low to none delivery fees.
To find products to promote, head over to the marketplace. You can sort products by several different metrics. If you sort by “popularity” you’ll receive the most popular products for affiliates promoting from clickbank.
Another useful metric to sort by are “Gravity”. This tells you how many affiliates have made a sale of that particular product within the last 12 weeks. Here is Clickbank definition of gravity:
“Gravity: Number of distinct affiliates who earned a commission by promoting the vendor’s products during the past 12 weeks. This is not an actual number of affiliates.”
In order to generate your unique affiliate link, click the “promote product” button, enter the details clickbank asks for and click “generate hoplink”. This is the link you send the traffic through in order to receive commissions when you make a sale. Clickbank tracks you traffic for 30 days, so if someone you’ve referred thorugh your link buys the product within the next 30 days, you’ll receive a comission.
Another cool feature that clickbank offers is that you can refer vendors. This refers to product owners that list products on Clickbank. Clickbank vendors pay an activation fee of $49,95 – as a referee you earn $10. If the vendor makes $100.000 in sales, you’ll receive a bonus of $1000 as a referee.
ShareASale
Next up in the top 10 affiliate networks list is the ShareASale affiliate network is a great network for every marketer in all kinds of niches. The network represents 3900+ legit brands in which you may sign up as an affiliate and promote their products. You must be approved for a program before you can get your affiliate link in the ShareASale network.
Become an affiliate with ShareASale! Sign up through their sign up link on the first page. Once signed up I encourage you to browse through the “Power rank”. Take a look and see if you can find a product that fits your audience. These products are the ones that have converted the best for affiliates on the network lately. Thus, you will know that their landing page will do a great job of converting leads once they click.
ShareASale provides you with lots of useful affiliate tools such as marketing material and different generators to get your unique links. ShareASale pays commissions via check or direct deposits. Payout date is the 20th of every month for the previous month commision, with a minimum payout of $50.
ShareAsale even offers their own affiliate program. This program lets you refer companies, merchants and other affiliates to the network. If you refer a company which stays in the network for 6 months or generates $100 in network fees, you will receive $150 in commision. If one of the affiliates that you have referred to the network makes $20 in commission, you’ll receive a bonus of $30.
You can check out ShareASale here
Impact
Impact is a great and popular affiliate network with over 1300 well known brands you can promote. Some examples are Adidas, Loreal, AirBnB and many more. Impact is only accepting affiliates that have a website. This is to secure the quality of the affiliate they are working with, as they hold legitimacy as a strong value. I personally like this a lot because it sends a signal that the network is secure to work with.
This affiliate network has a lot of great features for providing you with marketing material to promote the product you want to promote. You can send people to the brands home page, as well as specific products from each individual brand. Impact provides you with all the links, banners and more material for your marketing.
Sign up with Impact by clicking the “Sign in” button at the top right corner of the home page. Choose “Sign up as partner”. Submit the requested information and complete the account setup. Now you can browse through brands and products inside of Impact.
Commision Junction
CJ (Commision Junction) are, as all the other networks mentioned in this post, free to join. This is a network who hosts a lot of CPA (Click per acquisition/action) offers. This means that you get paid every time you generate a lead for someone. This can be if you get someone to submit their email address for example. You must own a website and be over 18 years old for being approved at CJ.
You can find all kinds of products in many different niches at CJ. Browse through their database of products, generate your links, get you marketing material and start promoting.
Be aware: CJ might deactivate your account if you do not show any results within the first 6 months of being a member. Therefore, this network might be a better fit for established marketers.
SmartBlogger have a great post for beginners over at their blog. It’s all about how you can get started with CJ. Check it out here
CJ pays out via direct deposits, check or Payoneer (for people outside the U.S)
Amazon Associates
Amazon associates are Amazon’s affiliate program, which lets you promote all of the products on Amazon and make commissions doing it. As you know, Amazon has an endless sortiment of products, so there are very few limitations to what you can promote. People are even setting up entire online stores selling products from amazon with a profit.
What is great about Amazon associates is that you make commission on everything the customer buys within the cookie duration – 24 hours.
You would have to submit your tax information in order for Amazon to pay you. This is normal practice on all the affiliate networks. Amazon pays out by direct deposit, Amazon.com Gift Certificate, or check.
You can sign up for Amazon Associates here
JVZoo
JVZoo is a network with mostly digital products in many different niches. Be sure to recommend products that you are familiar with, as your recommendations would be so much more powerful when promoting them if you are familiar and love the products yourself.
You can get paid out automatically by direct deposits, through PayPal or by check. Whats great about JVZoo is that the payouts are automated. You receive commissions through the affiliate programs you sign up to through the network.
They also offer a newsletter where they let you know about new releases and products listings. This is a great way to keep updated on the platform, and do a quick browse for new products to promote.
Browse through the “Top sellers” under the “Products” tab to find products that are converting the best right now.
Direct Affiliate Programs
Direct affiliate programs are programs that you are directly involved with in agreement with a specific company. This is not an affiliate network similar to the other ones, but if you look around youo should be able to find some really good direct affiliate programs! Definitely worth a spot in the top 10 affiliate networks list.
If you use a product you really love, but can’t find it through any affiliate network solution, you may have to sign up for their direct affiliate program through their website. They often place the link to the affiliate program in the footer of their website. If you can’t find the affiliate program, you may have to contact the company directly. Most companies offer opportunities for affiliates. Send them an email and tell them you are interested in working with them.
If you are an affiliate that sells alot and contributes to high revenues for the company, you can use that as a negotioation point for higher commissions further down the road.
WarriorPlus
WarriorPlus is a great affiliate network for beginners in the digital business and make money online niche. Creators of digital information products, courses and softwares are represented as vendors. The network provides a lot of great features to help you sell the products you’re promoting the smoothest way possible. I would say that this network is great for beginners. If it fits your niche, definitely check it out here!
Rakuten
Rakuten definitely deserves a spot in the list of the top 10 affiliate networks because it’s a large network that offers products to promote in several different areas, making it a good choice for affiliate marketers across the globe. You can literally find anything you want to promote inside of Rakuten. The network provides access to promote products in a lot of different categories. If you want to monetize your blog, newsletter or promote products as an influencer, Rakuten can help you out a lot. Definitely deserves a place on this list.
Rakuten offers products within categories such as:
- Business & Career
- Computer & Electronics
- Home & Living
- Clothing & Accessories
- Financial Services
- Internet & Online
- Office
- Sport & Fitness
And much more… Check out all the categories here
PartnerStack
PartnerStack is a network exclusively built for SaaS (Software as a Service) companies. I am a user of the network myself and I must say, I like it!
The user interface is very user friendly. The already made for you affiliate material are easy to access and implement in your content and material promoting the products.
A feature I really like about PartnerStack is that you can communicate with the teams behind the products you’re promoting within the platform itself, making the communication and support easy and hassle free.
Conclusion
Finally, I want to finish up this post by stressing how important it is that you recommend products and services you are familiar with and that you love to your audience. People buy from people they like, know and trust, and so maintaining your trust from your audience is absolutely essential for successful affiliate marketing campaigns.
Related: 6 ways to earn your followers real trust
I hope you got some value out of this post on the top 10 affiliate networks list, and that you are able to find a fitting affiliate network/program for you and your audience.
Do you know of any other great networks that should be on the top 10 affiliate networks list? Let us know in the comments.
