15 Best Affiliate Marketing Tools

15 Best Affiliate Marketing Tools & How to Use Them

15 Best Affiliate Marketing Tools & How to Use Them

When it involves associate advertising and marketing, gear are your pals. They permit you to get extra visitors and do your task both quicker and simpler—specifically as your business scales up.
I’ve been constructing and developing associate web sites for almost a decade and feature currently made a “a couple of six-parent” exit from certainly one of my websites. If it wasn’t for the following equipment that I used on a daily basis, this wouldn’t had been feasible.

Let’s dive into the list.

NEW TO AFFILIATE MARKETING?
Read our newbie’s guide to affiliate marketing.

1. Ahrefs
   Ahrefs is an search engine optimization tool able to helping you with almost any SEO venture you could consider.

I use Ahrefs for plenty of factors on the subject of affiliate advertising. It’s difficult to pick just one or two to show you. That stated, the venture I discover myself doing most customarily is jogging a content material hole analysis for key-word studies.

A content material gap evaluation is the easiest way to fast discover high-cost affiliate keywords. It will show you exactly what your competitors’ first-rate key phrases are.

First, plug your internet site into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer. Then, click on “Competing domains” on the left-hand menu. This will show you your pinnacle competition based totally on your cutting-edge Google keyword scores.

Ahrefs’ Competing Domains report
SIDENOTE. This most effective works if you have already got some Google key-word ratings. If you’re a logo-new website and don’t have any ratings, you can find competitors by way of looking key phrases you’ll like to rank for, reviewing the consequences, and deciding on any web sites you sense are your competition.
Now that you see your competitors, right-click the Content Gap device and open a new tab (under the “Competing domains” button).

Copy-paste three or more competing URLs from the Competing Domains record into the tool. Make certain your internet site is inside the “But the following target doesn’t rank for” field and click “Show key phrases.”

Ahrefs’ Content Gap tool
Ahrefs will do a little records crunching and display a listing of key phrases that your competition rank for, but you don’t. Peruse these keywords and pick any you sense will be a great goal to your own website.

Content gap analysis the usage of Ahrefs’ Content Gap device
I love this document as it allows me to discover excessive-price key phrases for my associate websites quick and easily.

2. Rank Math / SEOPress / Yoast search engine optimization
   Let me start via saying that WordPress is the maximum used content management machine (CMS) within the international and the only I endorse for affiliate marketers. I apply it to all my websites in any case.

Because of that, I will be recommending a number of WordPress plugins. Chief amongst the ones are search engine optimization plugins like Rank Math or SEOPress.

I used to apply Yoast search engine optimization, because it became the only search engine marketing plugin to be had that did what it did for a long term. However, I decide upon the others because I like their UIs better. Personal preference.

Whichever plugin you pick out, the use case is the same: Ensuring your pages have ultimate on-page search engine optimization earlier than you put up them, in addition to doing essential technical search engine marketing obligations like putting in your robots.Txt report and sitemap.

For example, right here’s what SEOPress looks as if whilst I’m writing a blog put up:

SEOPress metadata settings
As you could see, it lets in you to set the meta tags in your posts to exchange how they’ll be displayed in Google search results. It may also display you if your name or meta description is just too long, as it’s miles inside the screenshot above. This allows you keep away from your effects being truncated (cut off) in the seek effects.

Three. Link Whisper
Internal links are a essential and often overlooked a part of search engine marketing. You can keep in mind them as one way links you may completely control. And as you’ve probably heard, back-links are a huge ranking factor.

Link Whisper is a WordPress plugin that allows you to feature, put off, or edit your inner hyperlinks with the click of a button. It also helps you to see precisely what number of hyperlinks every web page for your website is getting at a glance to perceive important pages that don’t have lots of internal links.

Link Whisper hyperlinks record
You may even visit a put up and see pointers for inner links to that submit from other posts for your web page, such as anchor textual content hints. Just take a look at the containers subsequent to the links you need to feature and click “Edit Sentence” to without problems exchange the anchor text.

Link Whisper anchor textual content hints
four. Hunter
Hunter allows you to find electronic mail addresses at scale—that is specifically useful for those electronic mail outreach campaigns to sell your content and construct inbound links.

But similarly to finding and confirming electronic mail addresses, you may additionally use Hunter to manipulate your outreach campaigns. And it’s a free characteristic.

All you have to do is create an electronic mail listing through uploading a listing of websites, then upload that list to the campaign supervisor and connect your email to it. From there, you could create e mail templates, automate observe-ups, and notice the records of your campaigns.

Hunter.Io e-mail marketing campaign supervisor
five. Google Docs / Google Workspace
This may be an obvious tool to you—my editor attempted to get me to dispose of it due to the fact he felt it become too apparent. But I use Google’s equipment more than nearly any other tool in this list, so it’ll be a disservice no longer to mention it (in case you’re come what may now not already the use of it).

I use Google Docs to write every single blog submit before I add it to WordPress to be posted. This makes it easy for me to work with writers on edits and hold the whole lot prepared while avoiding giving too many people access to my WordPress login.

Additionally, I use Google Workspace to create and manage professional e-mail addresses for my websites. So when I do electronic mail outreach, I encounter as a legitimate enterprise instead of a few random man at the internet.

6. Wordable
   Once I’ve finished an editorial in Google Docs and am prepared to upload it, I do so with the clicking of a button using Wordable.

Wordable imports your Google Docs straight into WordPress with out you wanting to do it manually. It will upload your images, formatting, and hyperlinks—at the same time as also doing away with any undesirable more code—within minutes.

Wordable upload settings
You simply set up your import settings one time, then use the ones to add all of your destiny articles. It saves me hours of work each month no longer having to manually upload articles.

7. ConvertKit
   ConvertKit reporting dashboard
   ConvertKit is my electronic mail advertising device of choice due to its robust automation abilties. However, it is also highly-priced in assessment to other e mail equipment. And in case you’re just beginning out, the superior features may not be important. Something less expensive like BirdSend or ActiveCampaign may be better for you.

That said, right here’s a tip for the use of any email advertising device to capture extra emails: create content material improvements for your highest-appearing articles.

A content material improve is, properly, an upgrade in your content that you provide your readers in trade for their e mail addresses.

For instance, I wrote a manual to the satisfactory small tour trailers for one of my web sites. On that page, a pop-up indicates up with a proposal of a large spreadsheet evaluating 50 of the fine small tour trailers.

Email lead gen pop-up
This type of directly applicable provide tends to transform lots better than a customary “subscribe to our electronic mail list” type of provide.

Eight. Canva
Canva is one in all my favourite associate advertising gear. It makes developing custom blog pix particularly easy for absolutely everyone, although they don’t have any layout talents.

In specific, I use it to create a Pinterest photograph for every weblog submit I put up. This allows me to promote my content and add more visual aspects to the submit.

Canva Pinterest photograph creation
nine. Google Analytics
Google Analytics (GA) gives critical data you need to realize as an affiliate web page operator. For example, I frequently use GA to peer which pages are bringing the most site visitors to my website online and, usually, to keep tabs on my visitors fluctuations through the years.

Google Analytics pages and screens report
It’s also beneficial to add annotations with dates whenever you are making adjustments on your website online, along with updating a page’s content material or metadata, to track whether or not or now not these adjustments enhance your site visitors through the years.

It’s easy in the old GA—you simply go to Behavior > Site Content > All Pages, click the little arrow under the data chart, then click on “+ Create new annotation.”

Adding annotations in Universal Analytics
However, in GA4, it’s a bit extra complex. You want to download an extension for Google Chrome, open the dashboard, then click on “Add Manual” to add annotations.

Adding annotations in GA4
Follow our manual to Google Analytics for SEO to learn how to set it up and a few first-rate ways you could use it to develop your business.

10. Google Search Console
    Google Search Console is a ought to-have device for all of us who cares approximately search engine marketing. But did you realize you can use it for lots extra than just getting Google to see your website?

For instance, you may use it to discover pages to your internet site which might be gradually declining in visitors and need to be up to date to recover their rankings.

To do this, visit the Search outcomes report, then upload a date range evaluation to see stats for the beyond six months in comparison to the preceding six months.

Google Search Console reporting date range
We best care approximately clicks, so toggle off the “impressions” container by means of clicking on it.

Google Search Console file on general clicks
Click on “Pages.”

Sort the file by way of Difference in ascending order to peer the pages with the largest site visitors drops.

Traffic distinction in ascending order
If you click on at the URL, then transfer to the Queries report and kind by using “Difference,” you may see which queries are sending less visitors than the previous six months.

Queries sending much less site visitors
You can then use this data to update the page, making it more applicable to the maximum crucial queries sending traffic to that web page and (with a bit of luck) improving your rankings.

11. ThirstyAffiliates
    Once you have more than one associate partners and also you’re using special monitoring codes for each page and even different positions on every web page, it receives complex quickly.

Having an affiliate link control and cloaking tool like ThirstyAffiliates is a first rate way to hold music of your hyperlinks, see information to recognize which links are getting the maximum clicks, and save you others from effortlessly copying your website and swapping the links with their very own affiliate IDs.

12. AvantLink / ShareASale / Refersion
    If you want to locate the satisfactory affiliate advertising programs, you must be a part of multiple associate networks. Three of the satisfactory include:

AvantLink
ShareASale
Refersion
I point out those three, specially, due to the fact they’ve a massive choice of normally extraordinary associate programs. When looking at associate packages, I search for the subsequent:

High payout (10%+)
Quality product or choice of merchandise
Good logo identity
Long cookie length (preferably 30 days or more, but whatever over 48 hours continues to be precise)
Quality customer service, each for clients and for me as an affiliate accomplice
That closing factor is critical. My fine reports as an associate marketer have been with agencies that recognize how crucial associate marketing is and feature committed associate managers whose handiest job is working with associate companions.

The best manner to figure out if a enterprise has this is by accomplishing out to its affiliate supervisor (their electronic mail is usually displayed when signing up for his or her program) and asking them a few questions, along with how they work with affiliates.

If they reply right away and respectfully, there’s a good risk they have a devoted person and will be there to assist you as a associate in place of as a faceless advert channel.

Thirteen. Ezoic / AdThrive / Mediavine
If you’ve been going for walks an affiliate web site for a while, chances are you’ve got a few pages that get lots of traffic however don’t convert nicely. These pages are best for going for walks display commercials on—permitting you to monetize traffic that in any other case gained’t make you whatever.

However, strolling advertisements your self is each a headache and doesn’t have the best payout. That’s in which advertising management businesses come in. In unique, there are three predominant players:

Ezoic
AdThrive
Mediavine
These agencies paintings immediately with loads of advertising and marketing partners to get the exceptional possible charges for their websites’ display advertisements. They handle the placement and the whole lot. All you need to do is deploy some basic code for your internet site (and that they’ll even do that for you too).

The one caveat to these agencies is that you need to observe and regularly need a minimum quantity of month-to-month traffic to get in. Last I checked, you want at least 10,000 in keeping with month for Mediavine, 50,000 according to month for Ezoic, and 100,000 for AdThrive.

That stated, in case you’re near those numbers, you could constantly follow and they will make an exception for you. So it is able to’t hurt to attempt.

SIDENOTE. While marketing can make you some extra cash, it’s easy to overrun your internet site with manner too many commercials and break the consumer revel in. These agencies permit you to pick how aggressive you need to be with advertising. I advise sticking to a UX-centered or balanced approach in preference to one that’s merely revenue-focused.

14. Kinsta Hosting
    Website velocity is a Google ranking factor you ought to be taking note of. If your web site masses too slowly or doesn’t skip Google’s Core Web Vitals, it can avert your success inside the seek effects.

Not best that, but site pace additionally plays an vital role in user experience, so it’s worth making an investment in. A fast website online prevents visitors from leaving because of frustration.

One of the easiest and fastest methods to improve internet site velocity (and safety) is by way of enhancing your website’s website hosting. Most associates begin on reasonably-priced shared website hosting like SiteGround or Bluehost. These are extraordinary to get you started but aren’t the maximum comfy or quickest alternatives.

Upgrading to a committed website hosting company like Kinsta is an obvious preference when you’re making decent money and getting solid visitors (100,000 traffic according to month or greater). It also has a devoted CDN (content delivery community), that is a recreation-changer for web sites with geographically dispersed audiences.

It’s expensive—however well worth it.

15. Wordfence
    One frequently neglected element of affiliate advertising is website protection. It’s all too smooth in your internet site to be hacked and which will lose profits (or worse).

Not best is that this a ache, however it could damage your enterprise within the long term. Better to installation protections earlier than you want them. One such manner is via putting in the Wordfence WordPress plugin.

This plugin gives better protection features like -element authentication, malware scans, a firewall, and internet site monitoring. It’s now not very high-priced and worth the peace of thoughts.

Final thoughts
These associate advertising gear had been vital for me to scale my businesses to six-figure earnings earners. Some of them are luxurious. But so long as they’re bringing you a effective go back, they’re really worth the funding.

Itching to examine extra? Here are some other affiliate advertising and marketing guides to check out:

nine Key Affiliate Marketing Tips for More Money & Traffic
Here’s How Much You Can Really Make From Affiliate Marketing
How to Easily Find a Niche for Affiliate Marketing in 2022