4 Best Tips for Getting Accepted by an Affiliate Network

Joining an affiliate network enables you to find and promote products more quickly and efficiently. However, in many cases, you can't simply apply for a program and be accepted. Instead, you may need to meet specific criteria before approval.

Fortunately, you can use some tips to increase the likelihood of being accepted by an affiliate network. By making a plan and ensuring your website looks and performs well, you have a better chance of your application passing a network's criteria.

In this guide, we'll explain some of the benefits and requirements of joining an affiliate network. Then, we'll explore four key tips to get accepted by your desired program. Let's get started!

Why You Should Consider Joining an Affiliate Network

An affiliate network is a platform with marketers and companies. Businesses offer commission payments to affiliates in exchange for promoting their products.

For example, Amazon Associates is one of the most well-known affiliate networks. It enables marketers to make commissions on Amazon product sales through affiliate links:

This setup is very convenient. As an affiliate marketer, you won't need to scour the internet to find companies that want you to promote their products. Instead, you'll find these businesses and their links within your network's framework. Those enterprises might even reach out directly to you with offers.

Furthermore, using a network enables you to compare options. You can quickly review commission levels and other criteria for specific businesses. As such, you can opt for products that best suit your audience and marketing skillset.

Finally, many affiliate networks also enable businesses to join. If you want marketers to promote your company and its products, you can find them easily by signing up for one of these programs.

The Requirements for Joining an Affiliate Network (and How to Choose One)

The requirements for joining an affiliate network will depend on the specific program you choose. However, most of these setups will require you to have a platform to promote products.

For example, to join Amazon Associates, you'll need an active website, blog, app, or YouTube channel. You'll also need to provide some key details so that Amazon can verify the validity of your website. Finally, this network doesn't accept members who run “Unsuitable Sites”.

However, some affiliate networks are more demanding. They may require you to have a specific follower count or monthly traffic numbers.

For instance, to join the Twitch TV affiliate program, you must have completed at least 500 total broadcast minutes and have at least 50 followers, among other criteria:

Some affiliate networks may charge membership fees or take commission percentages from your payouts. Therefore, it's worth reviewing several programs before choosing. By taking your time, you can select the best option for your budget, marketing needs, and website niche.

4 Tips for Getting Accepted by an Affiliate Network

You'll need to meet the base criteria to get accepted by an affiliate network. Additionally, you can speed up the decision on your application by following some of the following tips.

1. Make a Plan

Some affiliate networks have exclusive requirements. You'll need to explain why the program should accept you and provide concrete examples. By creating a plan, you can show the network administrators that you have thought seriously about your application.

Your plan might include ideas for specific marketing strategies. If you intend to use paid search, search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, or email marketing, consider putting this information in the application. You might even qualify your statements with evidence of your site traffic or newsletter subscribers:

Additionally, if you have a proven track record of successful affiliate marketing, you can showcase this data. If you use our Pretty Links plugin, the information is readily accessible from your WordPress dashboard.

2. Create a Professional Email Address

You don't necessarily need a domain-specific email address to apply for an affiliate network. However, if you want to join an exclusive program, a custom address can make your application look more professional.

For example, if your website is “examplewebsite.com”, a domain-specific address could be “contact@examplewebsite.com”. This setup contrasts with a Gmail, Outlook, or other generic email address.

This is a small tip, but it can make a difference in how legitimate your application looks. Therefore, a network manager may approve your request to join sooner.

Many hosting providers will enable you to set up a custom email address from your dashboard. Otherwise, you can investigate other options such as Google Workspace:

A custom email address will likely cost you money. However, keep in mind that it can also boost your business's overall professionalism and curate your brand image.

3. Optimize Your Website

An affiliate network may view your website before approving or denying your application. The program will likely want to see that you have a neat, user-friendly, and intuitive design. Well-written content and a site blog could also boost your website's credibility:

Furthermore, some affiliate networks may review your website's rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs). This term refers to the list of posts and pages that appear when users type a phrase into Google or another search engine.

For example, if you run a digital marketing blog, you'll ideally want your site to appear on this first page:

You can boost your rankings by including relevant keywords in your content. You should also consider following some SEO best practices.

4. Provide Accurate and Complete Information

Finally, the simplest tip is one of the most important ones. You'll want to ensure that you accurately fill out each step of your affiliate network application.

This process will involve reviewing all the questions and requirements. You'll want to ensure that you provide accurate data. We also recommend making sure that your application is free from spelling and grammatical errors. These are small details, but they can tell a lot about your business's level of professionalism.

It might be tempting to exaggerate your visitor numbers or sales to gain access to an exclusive affiliate network. However, lying can be problematic if the program fact-checks your claims. Therefore, we recommend maintaining honesty during the entire process.

Conclusion

Many affiliate networks have demanding requirements. If you don't want your application to be rejected, you may need a little help. Fortunately, you can use simple strategies to stand out from other applicants.

To recap, these are four tips for getting accepted by an affiliate network:

1. Make a plan.
2. Create a professional email address.
3. Optimize your website's content and design.
4. Provide accurate and complete information.

Do you have any questions about joining an affiliate network or program? Let us know in the comments section!

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