How to Promote Affiliate Links: Where Can They Be Placed?

Affiliate marketing can be a great way to make money online. 

If you have a website or blog, you can promote products and services for other businesses and earn a commission on the sales that you generate.

But how do you go about promoting those affiliate links? 

And where should they be placed? In this article, we will discuss some of the best places to put your affiliate links in order to maximize your earnings for your online business!

What Are Affiliate Links?

Affiliate links are simply links to products or services that are being sold by another business.

When someone clicks on one of your affiliate links and makes a purchase, you will earn a commission on the sale. The amount of money that you can earn per sale will vary depending on the product or service that is being sold, as well as the company that is selling it.

But if you can get people to click on your affiliate links and make purchases, you can generate a good amount of income from affiliate marketing.

How Do Affiliate Links Work?

An affiliate link is a unique link that when clicked and if a sale is made, the vendor (person or company you registered as an affiliate for) will know the sale came from you.

There are two parts to an affiliate link:

The first part is the “affiliate ID”, which is your unique identifier given to you by the vendor. This is how the vendor knows that the sale came from you.

The second part is the “vendor URL”, which is the specific product or landing page you are promoting.

Most affiliate links have a "cookie" meaning that if a person clicks your affiliate link today but doesn't purchase anything until 30 days from now, you will still get credit for the sale. 30 days is the average, some are longer and it depends on the vendor as the duration is set by them.

16 Ways on How to Promote Affiliate Links

Now that we know what affiliate links are and how they work, let’s discuss some of the best ways to promote them!

1. Product Reviews

If you are a content-focused affiliate marketer, then you likely are already focusing on content that involves informational posts and review-type posts.  These are the two most common types of content that people search for when they are looking to buy a product.

And if you can provide helpful and informative reviews of products, then you can embed affiliate links in those reviews. Just be sure to disclose that you are an affiliate for the product and include your affiliate link in the review.

In your review post, be sure to use both contextual links and a button link. A contextual link is simply a text link that is placed within the body of your review. A button link is a graphic or banner that includes the affiliate link that you can place within the review near the product. For example:

Both types of links are effective, but many people prefer button links because they are more visible. But ultimately, it will depend on your specific website or blog and what will work best for you.

Do Product Comparison Type Reviews

This is another great way to promote your affiliate links. In these types of posts, you compare two or more similar products side-by-side and discuss their pros and cons. This is helpful for people who are trying to decide which product to buy.

And at the end of your post, you can include your affiliate links for each of the products that you discussed.

2. Tutorials and How-To Posts

You can also include your affiliate links randomly in tutorials or how-to posts.

For example, if you have a blog about gardening, you can write a tutorial on how to start a garden and include an affiliate link for gardening tools. If you have a cooking blog, you can write a how-to post on making a specific dish and include an affiliate link for the cookware that you used.

These posts are a great way to build up trust, authority, and credibility with your readers. And once you have established that trust, they will be more likely to click on your affiliate links and make purchases.

3. Banners and Images

You can also insert your affiliate links on banners and images throughout your site. They can be placed in the header, sidebar, footer, or within your content. This is a great way to promote your affiliate links if you have a lot of traffic to your site.

When adding banners and images, make sure that they are relevant to the content on your page. For example, if you have a blog post about hockey, then you would want to add a banner or image with an affiliate link for hockey sticks, gloves, or some other related product.

Here's a sample of a banner from my "Start a Blog" page. It's clickable and takes you to another page. This can be anything, including an affiliate product as well.

Just be sure not to go overboard with the banners and images. You don’t want your site to look like one big advertisement. A few well-placed banners and images should be sufficient. There is something that's called "banner blindness" and it's when people are used to seeing so many banners that they tune them all out and don't even see them anymore.

4. Email List

If you do email marketing (and you should!) then this is one of the most effective ways to make affiliate sales. You can promote your affiliate links in your email newsletter, in autoresponder messages, or in one-time broadcast emails.

When promoting your affiliate links in email, be sure to use a trackable link. This way you can see how many people clicked on your link and made a purchase.

You should also consider using an email service that allows you to personalize your emails. This way you can add the recipient’s name in the subject line or in the body of the message.

By personalizing your emails, you will be able to build a better relationship with your subscribers which will lead to more clicks and sales.

Make sure your emails are not too promotional either, as this will turn people off. You want to strike a balance between providing value and promoting your affiliate products.

5. Product Roundup Reviews

Another very effective area to place your affiliate links is on a product roundup review page.

A roundup review is basically a post where you review a group of similar products.

For example, let’s say you have a blog about coffee makers. You could do a roundup review of the different types of coffee makers on the market and include your affiliate links for each one that you discuss.

This is an effective way to promote your affiliate links because it allows you to provide value to your readers by giving them a comprehensive overview of the different products available. And it also allows you to include multiple affiliate links in one post.

When creating product roundup reviews, be sure to only include products that you have actually used and would recommend to others.

At the very least, promote ones that have good feedback from other customers if you can't purchase them yourself. You don’t want to promote any old product just because it has an affiliate program. Only promote products that you would actually recommend to your readers.

Here's an image of my roundup review from the page - "Best Affiliate Marketing Course"

6. Pay-Per-Click Ads

You can also use affiliate links with PPC - pay-per-click ads. However, you can't use affiliate links in your ads. You can only use them on your landing pages.

When using PPC to promote your affiliate links, you want to send people to a specific landing page that's designed to convert visitors into buyers.

Your landing page should have a clear and concise message that tells the visitor what they will get when they make a purchase. It should also include your affiliate link prominently so that people can easily find it and click on it.

Your landing page could also just have a free download offer, where you'll capture their email address and then sell to them via an email campaign.

Facebook and Google ads are the most popular form of PPC, but there are other platforms you can use as well. Just be sure to set a budget for your PPC campaign and track your results so that you can see how much money you're making from your affiliate sales.

7. In an eBook

If you are giving away a free eBook, you can promote your affiliate links in it. Just be sure to add them in a way that's not too intrusive or obnoxious.

For example, you could have a section at the end of your eBook that promotes products that are related to the topic of your eBook. Or you could include a banner ad on one of the pages with your affiliate link.

Just don’t go overboard and add too many affiliate links or banners. You don't want to turn people off from your eBook with too much promotion.

8. Affiliate links on YouTube

Many YouTubers make money online not just from the YouTube partner program, but also with affiliate links. So if you have a channel, you can promote your affiliate links in your YouTube videos as well.

To do this, simply add a link to your affiliate product in the video description. You could also include a banner with your affiliate link in the video if it's allowed by YouTube.

Some people even mention their affiliate link in the actual video content itself. For example, they'll say something like "click the link below to buy this product" and then include their affiliate link.

Be careful with doing too many promotional videos, though. You don't want your channel to become an ad farm. Try to keep the ratio of promotional videos to non-promotional videos about 50/50.

It's also a better practice to link to a landing page or blog post, which includes your affiliate link like I have done on my YouTube channel:

9. Affiliate links on Facebook

You can use Facebook ads for your affiliate links, but they should also go to a landing page first. 

Just like with PPC, you want to send people to a specific page that's designed to convert them into buyers.

With Facebook, you can also do this for free. One way is to build a community on your Facebook page and then promote your affiliate links to the people in that community. Don't be spammy about it though. Only promote products that are relevant to your page and that you would actually recommend to your fans.

You could also join Facebook groups, but beware of spamming. Write content that actually helps people by solving some kind of problem. Once you build trust, you could promote your affiliate products.

Just be sure to read the group rules before you start posting. Some groups don't allow any self-promotion, so you could get kicked out if you're not careful.

10. Affiliate links on Twitter

Twitter is another great social media platform to use for affiliate marketing. Just like with Facebook, you can build up a following and then promote your affiliate products to the people who follow you.

The key to Twitter is not to be too spammy. Only tweet about things that are actually interesting and relevant to your followers. And don't just tweet links to your products all the time. That will just annoy people and they'll unfollow you.

You could also try paid advertising on Twitter. Promoted tweets can be a great way to get more eyes on your affiliate links. Just be sure to set a budget and track your results so that you know how much money you're making from your affiliate sales.

11. Affiliate Links on Pinterest

Pinterest can be a great platform for promoting affiliate products.

By creating pins that are visually appealing and target a specific keyword or niche, you can attract a large audience to your affiliate website or blog. In order to maximize your earnings, it is important to choose affiliate products that are relevant to your niche and that offer a high commission rate. 

You should also be sure to include a clear call to action in your pin descriptions, urging users to click through to your website. It does take a lot of effort to promote links on Pinterest, but having a large existing audience can help.

12. Affiliate Links on Instagram

This one is a little different. Since you can't include links in your post as Instagram doesn't allow it, you should be directing all your traffic to your bio page where your link lives.

This is why it's so important to have a catchy and descriptive bio that tells people what they can expect when they click on your link.

Always have a call to action in your posts, such as "check my bio for more info", "see my bio for a list of the best products", etc.

And since you're limited to one link, make sure it's an affiliate link to your best-selling product or most popular blog post. You want to make sure people are clicking on your link so that you can earn commission from sales.

There are plenty of social media channels to post links, but above are the most popular ones that get the most traffic.

13. Podcasts

Podcasts have become known as the "new guest post". You can have a guest on your podcast that has a product with an affiliate link. You'd make sure you grab your own link from them and promote it.

Your guest gets free exposure, you get content for your podcast and the chance to make money with your link. 

You can mention and link to your affiliate products in your podcast episodes, just like you would on a blog post.

You can also put a link in your show notes or in the description of your podcast on iTunes. People who listen to your podcast and like it are likely to click on any links that you include, so make sure they're relevant and that they lead to something valuable for your audience.

14. Resource Pages

A resource page is where you list all the common tools you personally use. This is a great opportunity to include your affiliate links.

Your readers will trust your recommendations because you're not just promoting anything, you're promoting products that you actually use and believe in.

Make sure to only include products that are relevant to your niche and that would be of value to your readers.

Don't just add a bunch of random products with no explanation. That will just make your page look spammy and people will leave without clicking on any of your links.

15. On Guest Posts

If you are active with guest post outreach, you not only can include a link back to your site, but you might be able to 'sneak in' an affiliate link of your own. 

Make sure it is cloaked with your URL, so it looks like a regular page on your site. The site you are submitting your article to may or may not notice, so there's a chance it could get rejected. However, some might not even care as long as you're adding value to their site.

16. Alongside Your Own Products

If you sell your own products, you could also offer other products that compete with it. Of course, these would be products that have an affiliate program. This way, you're not only promoting your own product, but you're also making money from promoting a competitor's product.

If your product has its own affiliate program, then send them a link to this article to help them!

A good opportunity here is with a roundup review. You could list your product in the #1 spot and the rest could all be affiliate products. If they don't like yours, then chances are they will buy an alternate but you'll still make money!

How Can I Hide My Affiliate Links?

When creating affiliate links, many affiliate marketers worry about how to make them “look” natural. 

The goal is to create a link that doesn’t stand out as an advertisement, but there are a few different ways to do this.

One way is to use a URL shortener. This will make your link shorter and more manageable, but it won’t necessarily hide the fact that it’s an affiliate link. 

Another way is to use a cloaked URL. This type of URL hides the fact that it’s an affiliate link behind a redirect. cloaking can be done using a number of different methods, but the most common is to use a script that redirects the user to the affiliate site after they click on the link.

Since I use WordPress on all my blogs, (so should you by the way!) I use a free plugin called "Pretty Links". This cloaks the affiliate link so it looks like it's a normal link on your site.

Finally, you can also use a simple HTML trick to hide your affiliate links. By adding a period at the end of the URL, you can make the link invisible to most people. However, this method isn’t foolproof and should only be used as a last resort. 

How Can I Track Affiliate Links?

There are a few different ways to track a link for any affiliate marketing program. The first is through a URL shortener. 

By using a URL shortener, you can see how many people click on your link and where they come from. This can be a helpful way to see which of your marketing efforts are working and which ones aren't. Bit.ly has tracking built in and it's pretty decent.

You can also use tracking software to track your affiliate links. This software can be installed on your own website or on the websites of your affiliates. This will allow you to see how many clicks each link gets, as well as where the traffic is coming from. 

An easy way to track your links is directly from the affiliate dashboard of the product you are promoting.

Any reputable affiliate network will have its own tracking. Here, once you log into your affiliate account, you can get detailed information on the number of sales made, what the conversion rate is, and how much affiliate revenue you made. 

Some robust dashboards might even include other demographics like gender, age, and location, so you'll have a more accurate picture of who your customer is. You can use this info to better target your marketing efforts.

Do Affiliate Marketing Courses Teach Other Strategies for Placing Links?

The short answer - is yes, you'll learn more about how to add affiliate links. However, it depends on the type of affiliate marketing course. Some courses teach you affiliate marketing through blogging, while others teach it on social media like Facebook, YouTube, or Google.

You'll likely get more deeply into the topic of linking with a course, so if you are planning on expanding your knowledge, it's something to consider.

Conclusion

So there you have it. I trust that you got some good information in this post on where to promote affiliate links when doing digital marketing.

If you're an existing blogger, it's time to make sure you are using these strategies on your blog.

There are opportunities elsewhere like social media and podcasts. You're not limited to just your blog when it comes to promoting affiliate links! And if you don't have a blog, now is the time to start one and use these strategies. There's a lot of money to be made in affiliate marketing!

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