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Best Type of Affiliate Links

Posted by Shawn Collins on November 20th, 2007 | 4 Comments

Thanks for visiting the Affiliate Tip blog. Subscribe to my RSS feed or enter your e-mail on the top left to get updates by e-mail.

I came across the Smart Marketing Affiliates Blog, where they have a post on The Best Kind of Affiliate Link, which reinforces my experiences in testing different types of affiliate links.

The best converting affiliate links you can use are text links that offer a coupon code or mention some sort of discount.

Here’s what I’ve discovered. Internet shoppers are looking for a deal. Anything that’s “in your face” such as large banners, they don’t believe. It screams obnoxious, scammer, etc… Text links they do believe.

Subtle sells. A text link comes across as a recommendation. A text link mentioning a coupon code or discount turns your recommendation into a timely treasured secret.

In the decade or so that I’ve been an affiliate and an affiliate manager, text links have routinely outperformed banners.

The irony is that banners are typically used more often by affiliates.

But another reason why many affiliate programs have a small group of affiliates generating the bulk of sales or leads.

  • Posted in Affiliate Opinions, Affiliate Resources
4 Comments
  1. On November 20 @ 11:17 pm Google Payload said

    I have had a little luck with adsense but hardly any with affiliate programs. I put some banners on sites that get a little traffic but not one click!

    Do you think a site shouldn’t have banners and just do the text links only? And do you think adsense shouldn’t be in the content area of a website?

    reply to this comment
  2. On November 21 @ 12:19 am Shawn Collins said

    I think you should test everything, because there are no absolute rules.

    As far as whether AdSense should be in the content area, I think if your audience keeps coming back and clicking on AdSense when it’s mixed with content, it’s good to keep it.

    But if you’re not getting clicks, dump it there, and try it someplace else.

    reply to this comment
  3. On November 21 @ 1:22 pm Wade Tonkin said

    Great find Shawn and grat original post Jason.

    Info like this is what needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

    Thanks for writing it up :)

    reply to this comment
  1. On November 21 @ 1:21 pm What are the best kind of affiliate links? posted

    [...] just reading my daily update by email from Shawn Collins and he had a really interesting article that he referenced from the Smart Marketing Affiliates Blog that talked about The Best Kind of [...]

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