Why 95% of Affiliate Websites Lose Money - And How You Can Avoid The Pitfalls

In return, the affiliate receives a percentage of sales generated.

Having worked with affiliate programs for several years now I can vouch thats it possible to make a very comfortable living working from home with affiliate programs.

Sure there are downsides - there can be sales tracking issues; dud affiliate programs, and theres always those dreaded returns and commission chargebacks.

But the upside more than makes up for it: you get to be your own boss; you can set your own hours; youre building a potentially enormous recurring stream of income; and theres no workplace politics or overbearing boss to hound you.

But the best part is this: the potential to make money is unlimited - there is no glass ceiling.

So if affiliate programs are such a great concept - why do statistics tell us that only 5% of affiliate marketers ever make money online?

Why arent more affiliates making more money?

In my online experience Ive seen a few affiliate websites that are absolute genius at selling. Most however make several deadly mistakes that are probably costing them thousands of dollars in sales.

Here are the 3 top reasons why 95% of affiliate websites dont make more money and how you can steer clear of the pitfalls:

Reason #1: Trying to sell too many products.

Have you ever visited a website and been knocked senseless with sales offers? Banners flashing, moving text - moving up, down, left to right, right to left, bright laughing images bouncing across your screen.

Then the pop-ups come - pop-ups, pop-unders, pop-overs. Its non-stop sales-pitch overload - and you cant get out of there fast enough. It takes you a full five minutes to re-focus your eyes once you manage to escape from the website

Ok, some affiliate websites arent that bad but you get the point.

While working for a bank several years back, I learned one of the #1 rules of sales: A confused mind always says No. If you give someone too many options, too many choices, or even too much information too quickly - they wont buy anything. They will always say No to the sale.

Solution? Reduce the confusion and youll INCREASE the sales.

Top affiliates will tell you to focus on one or two products per website (or per web page). Never more than that.

If you want to increase your conversion rate, stop selling so many products on one website. Focus on the top one or two that make you the most sales. Youll then have a lot more customers saying yes and putting cash in your pocket.

Reason #2: Website theme is too general.

When choosing a theme for your website, think niche, not general. For example, unless youre Best Buy or Future Shop, you might not want to build a website about computers. Thats way too general and youre now in competition with the big boys. Why put yourself through that?

This is a fundamental mistake new affiliates make. They choose a website theme that is much too general. They choose to make a website about computers or credit cards or diets or insurance.

These are all profitable topics of major interest to many people. But the topics are too broad and youll be running yourself ragged trying to be all things to all people.

Solution? Make your website theme as niche as you can - while still being profitable.

For example, instead of a website about computers, why not a site about laptops only? Instead of diets, why not diet patches? Instead of credit cards, why not no-fee credit cards? You get the idea.

By doing this youll be way ahead of most affiliate marketers. Youll also be setting yourself apart from the crowd - people will remember your website as a specialized website and youll be the first website theyll visit when they want a laptop, or a diet patch review or a no-fee credit card.

Reason #3 Poor Choice of Affiliate Program

If youre an affiliate who isnt making the money you think you should be making - maybe the problem isnt anything youve done. The problem could be the affiliate program.

Not every affiliate program is created equal and for every 1 that makes you money, there are 10 that wont. Its not your fault, thats just the way it works. Youve got to test and try different programs to find the true winners.

Experience will show you which ones are a good fit for your website and your visitors. Learn from that experience and then spend more time and effort on the programs that make you the most money.

And dont just go by the highest EPC numbers (earnings per one hundred clicks). I know of one affiliate who purposely seeks out low-earning EPC affiliate programs because he says theres little competition for them. He makes a tidy little sum from several of these affiliate programs that other affiliates are ignoring.

Your personal experience is the best indicator of what will make you the most money. Ive tried some affiliate programs that were (apparently) huge earners. They didnt make me a dime. Ive tried others that didnt look so hot as far as earnings and they make me $1000+ per month. It really depends on you and your website.

If youre not making the money you think you should be making - and you feel youre doing everything else right, it could just be your choice of affiliate program. Try changing affiliate programs and see if that increases your sales.

Those are 3 main reasons why 95% of affiliate websites dont make the money they could be making. Steer clear of these pitfalls and youll be on your way to being in that top 5% of affiliate marketers making the big bucks.

Kate Fox is contributing writer to Web Conversion

For more free tips and articles on how to improve your affiliate web conversion rates visit:

http://www.Web-Conversion.com

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