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When deciding between CPA (Cost per Action) or CPL (Cost per Lead), which do you believe is more effective? To help you make the right decision, I interviewed a few bloggers who make a decent living off affiliate marketing and discovered that CPA has been the most effective for them. CPL can be effective as well, but again, according to the pros, CPA is the one that brings in the majority of their income.

After you’ve decided between CPA or CPL and selected the advertisers you want to feature on your blog, your next step will be choosing the products and services you want to promote. When you reach this step, you will want to select products and services related to your niche. If the product or service you choose does not relate to your blog, then you probably won’t do well at all.

Tiffany Washko said, “I always try to use affiliate links where I get anywhere from a 4-50% commission on the sale.”

Even though a higher commission is great, Darren Rowse from ProBlogger cautioned, “If you recommend rubbish you’ll lose the respect of your readers. Only promote quality products — every recommendation you make not only is a money making opportunity but it says something about you.”

What happens when you discover advertisers that carry the same quality merchandise at the same price? Which one should you choose then? When Michelle Madhok finds herself in this situation she said, “We choose the one with the higher CPA?”

Not sure which affiliate programs perform well? Try one of more of the following programs. When I asked bloggers what affiliate advertisers generate the most income for them, these four came out on top:

1. Google Adsense
2. Chitika
3. Amazon Associates
4. Tribal Fusion (requires a minimum of 2000 unique users per day to qualify)

Ad placement plays a big role in affiliate marketing as well. If you do not place your ads in the right locations on your blog, then they may not generate the income you’d like. According to the professionals, the best places to place ads are above the fold or near the content, at the bottom of the post, and 125×125 banners near the top of the right sidebar. Many also said that writing reviews and placing a direct link in the review performs well. You could always contact the advertiser and request the product to review. Or, another option would be to buy the product, then write a review; sometimes you have to be willing to invest money to make money.

Jonathan Volk advised, “When promoting affiliates via a blog, it’s important to outline the benefits of the program and make sure that you’re coming across as honest. On the Internet, there is so much deception that any bit of truthful, genuineness seems to convert very well.”

Darren Rowse agreed with Jonathan. “I find that readers respect when I give both the positives and negatives about a product — again, this is about creating a readership that will stick with you for the long haul.”

The above advice on affiliate marketing is sure to help you get started, but no matter what advice you follow, Joel Comm and Zac Johnson were 100% on the money when they said you have to test everything to determine what will work best for your blog.

If you’d like to learn more about affiliate marketing and making money with your blog, you can check out the newly released ProBlogger book by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett.

Are you great at affiliate marketing? Then please share your affiliate marketing advice in the comments area.

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