What Is An Affiliate Network? A Brief Explanation To What They Are

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 29th, 2010

An affiliate network is an online media program that provides a service that includes passing around creative materials, aggregation and it shows campaign performance of tracking and reporting for different affiliate merchant and other affiliates. For the merchants they can provide tracking technology, payment processing, reporting tools and access to a bigger list of affiliates. The importance for the affiliate is so they can have access to such services as one-click applications to new merchants, reporting tools and payment aggregation.

These networks are free but sometimes unless you know where to look can be hard to find. They may run under different names like marketing solutions provider and pay per performance networks, cost per actions (CPA) or advertising networks. There are different payment options as well. They are PPL, which stands for Pay per Lead, PPS, Pay per Sale, PPA, Pay per Action or PPC, which is Pay per Click. However you decide to receive your payment is up to you.

Some of the affiliates allow webmasters access to their networks if they have a certain amount of visitors per month and others allow anyone to join. The affiliates who only allow sites with a certain amount of visitors a month because they want to make sure that by allowing you to play their ads on your site that you will make them money. If you can?t bring in enough people to click on their ads then they may not allow you to use their ads.

Some of the most popular affiliate networks ( http://www.affiliateseeking.com/netwo/23000002/1.html ) are ShareASale, CJ (Commission Junction) and LinkShare. In addition to having affiliate networks, your site must be worth something for people to come and visit. If you have a site with a boring subject and you aren?t pulling great numbers with the site alone, then having the best affiliate programs is not going to help get traffic to your site.

Affiliate Networks are great but it is just as important to have a site that is going to pay off. As we mentioned that is why some affiliates require a certain amount of traffic. You want to make money, the affiliate networks want to make money and it could be a great business all around if everyone does their part. Ads are great and they will make you money as long as you provide the right doorway.