subject: Should You Use Affiliate Programs On Blogs? [print this page] It seems that most everyone runs a blog todayIt seems that most everyone runs a blog today. But not many of these writers are using their blogs to make extra income, a shame in today's tough economy. The key to bringing in cash from your blog is to hook up with an affiliate program.
Affiliate programs - such as those offered by Google and Amazon.com - place ads on your blog. When someone clicks on these ads, or uses them to order a product, you earn a bit of revenue.
This revenue usually isn't much. For instance, every time someone clicks an ad through Google's AdSense, you will receive anywhere from a couple of pennies to a buck. The problem is, it's hard enough to draw readers to your blog. Getting them to click on an ad, or buy a product through one, is even more difficult.
The key, though, is to find the affiliate advertising programs that work best for you. This decision may depend on your blog. If you run a blog dedicated to pop culture, movies, literature or music, you probably want an affiliate program that encourages visitors to purchase DVDs, CDs or books.
Say you write a blog devoted solely to window tinting for automobiles. An affiliate advertising program can then place ads for products that your blog's visitors can use to tint their car or truck windows.
At the same time, your blog is likely to generate visitors who are already interested in buying your affiliate products.
Other blogs, such as those that serve more as personal online journals for their owners, will struggle to generate much affiliate advertising revenue. There are two reasons for this. These personal blogs tend to generate lower traffic, and the people who do visit generally aren't looking to purchase anything.
Before you hook your blog to an affiliate advertising program, then, make sure it's one that will be a good fit. Otherwise, you'll only be wasting your time.
