Despite what negative people say about affiliate marketing, it has thrived over the last 20 years and is still going strong—so strong that even retail giants like Walmart and even online behemoths like Amazon and eBay are now jumping into the bandwagon and offering affiliate programs.
Surely, no one in his right mind will share his earnings. And having said this, there is simply no way we can find out how much affiliate marketers earn. But if you do the math, you will be able to figure it out.
Here, we will be taking a look at the most successful affiliate marketing websites so you can draw inspiration from them. These are sites that have been around for a while, and they have also managed to bring consistent traffic.
NerdWallet
Nerdwallet is a review website that is focused on the financial niche. Specifically, it reviews financial products for consumers such as insurance, mortgages, and credit cards. It does not deal with stocks so much, but it does offer reviews for online brokers.
The best thing about this site is that you can click on a compare button for a type of product, and then you can see specific offers from different companies that will let you decide which choice is better.
There is a wide variety of content which provides advice in the following sub-niches:
- Loans
- Credit cards
- Banking
- Investing
- Mortgages
- Insurance
NerdWallet SummaryNiche:
- Consumer finance
- facebook Followers: 142,000
- Twitter Followers: 55,900
- Monthly site traffic: 10.6 million
Earning Method:
If you visit the site, you will notice that it has no advertisements. The primary method of Nerdwallet to make money is to get commissions. The site promotes products from GEICO, Capital One, Upstart, Quicken Loans, and many more.
NerdWallet is above its competition because it developed tools like the Compare button, and it also has other calculators that will show you how much you can afford if you intend to loan money.
The Wirecutter
This company is a subsidiary of the New York Times. It is an affiliate website that reviews electronic products. If you take a look at the site, it has also branched out into gardening, DIY, Money, travel, and appliances.
What this means is that you can also expand your niche to draw more customers and site visitors.
The company was founded by the former editorial director of Gizmodo, a popular electronics website. It has been around since 2011, and it has a myriad of products in each category.
Today, The Wirecutter is one of the top 6,000 websites around the world, and it helps people find the right products on the niches that it covers.
Wirecutter Summary:
- Niche: Product reviews and guides
- Facebook Followers: 121,000
- Twitter Followers: 87,400
- Monthly site traffic: 3.6 million
Earning Method:
The Wirecutter is an affiliate website that receives money in different ways. It earns by commissions from affiliate links. The site gets its affiliate links and products from Amazon and Best Buy.
The site does not offer sponsored posts. It also does not sell its own products. Primarily, it reviews products and convinces you to buy. If you do, it will earn commissions from the vendors.
The Wirecutter was so successful that the New York Times bought the business for $20 million.
One strategy that you can learn from The Wirecutter is that you can explore several niches. Also, it does not post a ton of articles as many people do. It posts a few articles per month, but these posts are long-form.
What this means is that the posts are in-depth. This site is the best example of choosing quality over quantity.
The Points Guy
Anyone who has a credit card knows that every purchase gets rewarded for points. It is only a matter of how the points are used. Some can use it for fuel, some for travel, and some for items.
The Points Guy is a successful affiliate marketing website that offers everything you need to know about earning credit card points and where you can use them.
The main focus of the site is travel, and it helps people learn what to expect from cruises. If they use their points to travel, they can make informed decisions before they make a commitment.
The Points Guy Summary:
- Niche: Credit card point system
- Facebook Followers: 1.8 million
- Twitter Followers: 313,000
- Monthly site traffic: 33 million
Earning Method:
The Points Guy makes money if people sign up for credit cards. If the site was able to convince a visitor to sign up for a credit card, the credit card company pays The Points Guy a commission.
The Points Guy mostly earns money from Citibank, Chase, and American Express.
What you can learn from this site is that it is doing a good job in solving a problem, or answering a question on a specific niche. It tells people how to make the most of their credit card reward points specific to travel.
Just a Girl and Her Blog
It is hard to say if this affiliate marketing website is run by only one person or a team. On the outset, the person who owns it is a girl named Abby. It has a very personal touch to it, and the website is focused on blogging, organizing, decorating, and DIY Crafts.
This site is the perfect example for those who are just starting out in the affiliate marketing business. The site home page is straightforward, and the website offers a lot of free resources and projects for your DIY.
Just a Girl and Her Blog Summary:
- Niche: DIY crafts, blogging, and decorating
- Facebook Followers: 29,000
- Instagram: 35,500
- Monthly site traffic: 53,000
Earning Method:
This site makes money mainly by endorsing products on Amazon. Since she also talks about blogging, she earns money by endorsing BlueHost. On top of these two, she sells her own courses. Word on the street is that this site earns about $40,000 a month.
What you can learn about this site is that you do not have to be a big business to be able to sell. You just have to be focused on what you do, and make sure that you offer things that add value to people’s lives.
Summary
There go our successful affiliate marketing websites. As you can see, they are a combination of big and small companies, plus one that is run by only one person.
Affiliate marketing requires hard work, and most of the people who say that it does not work are those who did not keep up with the intensive requirements of the business.
Just to sum up, here are the key points that you should remember to become successful
- Expand your niche or focus on one – if you are just starting out, focus on one niche, so you do not get overwhelmed. You can do a review website, or focus on solving one problem.
- Add value to people – always make sure that you do something for people for free. Build your credibility, and then make a pitch later on. Do not be a hardcore seller, as site visitors often frown on these kinds of websites.
- Sell your own – create your own products or services, and then sell them. Examples of these are instructional materials, courses, and eBooks.
Remember, only hard work will make your affiliate marketing efforts pay off.
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