{"id":32669,"date":"2020-04-13T16:15:46","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T16:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/corp\/?p=32669"},"modified":"2025-07-14T09:16:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T09:16:21","slug":"affiliate-program-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/","title":{"rendered":"Affiliate Marketing: A Beginners Guide to Opening an Affiliate Program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/what-is-affiliate-marketing\/\">Affiliate marketing<\/a> is a very dynamic marketing strategy with several common approaches. This can make it difficult to know how, or where, to begin creating an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-programs\/\">affiliate program<\/a> for your brand and products. This blog will help you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/research\/market-research\/increase-website-traffic\/\">increase your website traffic<\/a> and sales by providing a breakdown of what affiliate marketing is, and how to find, empower and manage high-quality affiliates, as well as explore factors that need to be considered when defining goals for your affiliate program.<\/p>\n<h2>What is Affiliate Marketing?<\/h2>\n<p>Affiliate marketing is a common marketing strategy used to drive sales and generate online revenue. It has increased in popularity as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/marketing-strategy\/marketing-tactics\/\">digital marketing tactics<\/a> have taken off. In fact:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/the-affiliate-marketing-report-how-mainstream-publishers-are-turning-performance-based-marketing-into-a-fine-art-2015-11\">Business Insider<\/a>, 15% of total digital media advertising revenue is attributed to affiliate marketing<\/li>\n<li>94% of publishers use more than one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-networks\/\">affiliate network<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Read More: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-marketing-statistics\/\">52 Affiliate Marketing Statistics for 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<p>To contextualize the above statistics consider the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/website\/target.com\/vs\/walmart.com\/\">comparing Target to Walmart<\/a>, Walmart wins 73% of all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/corp\/web\/affiliate\/\">affiliate traffic<\/a>. This means, due to strong partnerships, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/website\/walmart.com\/\">walmart.com<\/a> wins approximately 12M visits monthly via affiliate traffic, whereas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/website\/target.com\/\">Target sees approximately 4M monthly visits<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-32670 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/referrals.png\" alt=\"referral traffic\" width=\"680\" height=\"243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/referrals.png 680w, https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/referrals-300x107.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Affiliate marketing has become so popular because it benefits both the referred and the referrer. The referred brand can increase sales while the affiliate earns a commission. Affiliate sales are tracked via links on all relevant sites so both parties know how much traffic the affiliate is bringing and how much commission they\u2019ve earned.<\/p>\n<h2>What Can Affiliate Marketing Do for My Business?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/website\/groupon.com\/\">Groupon<\/a> was originally built on an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/what-is-affiliate-marketing\/\">affiliate marketing strategy<\/a>. In 2009, Groupon was a struggling startup that was considered dead in the water, but after opening their affiliate program, the site took off and now has upwards of 50M active users.<\/li>\n<li>In eCommerce, affiliate marketing has about a 16% <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/ecommerce\/retail-insights\/ecommerce-conversion-optimization\/\">conversion rate<\/a>, the same rate as email marketing, and you can pay per sale. By comparison, paid search traffic converts at a rate of approximately 20% and requires you to run costly ads.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As a rule of thumb, brands need affiliates that are good matches for their products, as opposed to affiliates with the largest audience reach. Along the same lines, it\u2019s better to open an affiliate program with a handful of quality affiliates rather than opting to work with many affiliates that have irrelevant traffic. For example, an affiliate that has millions of football followers would not be an effective partner for a perfume brand.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-79717\" src=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/your-affiliate.jpg\" alt=\"Your Affiliate\" width=\"938\" height=\"784\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/your-affiliate.jpg 938w, https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/your-affiliate-300x251.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/your-affiliate-768x642.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 938px) 100vw, 938px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, your affiliate program runs off three main parts &#8211; your product, your affiliates, and your customers &#8211; to generate a steady flow of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/marketing-strategy\/quality-traffic\/\">quality traffic<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Not All Affiliates are Created Equal: How to Find the Right Affiliates<\/h2>\n<p>Just as you would recruit for any open position, use multiple avenues to ensure you have found the most relevant, high-quality affiliates for your product. You already have several main channels at your fingertips to explore.<\/p>\n<p><b>Email<\/b>: First, you could use your email list to let your subscribers know about your program and ask them to spread the word to potential affiliates and, if fitting, apply. This method allows subscribers to become affiliates and brands to open refer-a-friend programs to create a regular stream of potential affiliate leads.<\/p>\n<p><b>Your Website<\/b>: As simple as it sounds, advertise your affiliate program on your site. Anyone who is on your site is already familiar with your brand and probably likes your products.<\/p>\n<p><b>Social Media<\/b>: You already have followers on networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, so why not reach out to them? Promote your affiliate program on all your social channels and then your followers can either apply or share your post &#8211; or both.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-32996 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1.jpg\" alt=\"affiliate marketing toy story meme\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/1-1536x864.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Remember, when you promote your affiliate program you should always include information that candidates would want to know. For example, include information about your products, your tracking platform, your payment options, and your business\u2019s reputation. Just as importantly, make it easy for candidates to apply.<\/p>\n<p>A great place to start looking for relevant affiliates is by understanding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/find-competitors-affiliates\/\">which affiliates your competitors are using<\/a>. That information gives you an inside look at your competitor&#8217;s strategy and playbook so you can get one step ahead of them. There are several tools you can use to do this including Google Alerts, Similarweb and more.<\/p>\n<p>To conduct this research with Google Alerts, set a query for your competitor\u2019s name &#8211; every time their name is mentioned in an article you\u2019ll get an alert directly in your inbox so you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/corp\/search\/backlink-analysis\/\">track their backlinks<\/a>, and mentions of the company.<\/p>\n<p>Similarweb has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/corp\/web\/competitive-analysis\/\">tool<\/a> that allows you to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/marketing-strategy\/competitive-analysis\/\">compare several competitors&#8217; incoming traffic<\/a> at once as well as to see the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/marketing-strategy\/traffic-share\/\">traffic share<\/a> each wins. This provides insight into which competitors are working with which affiliates and how successful those partnerships are. For example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/corp\/clients\/afiliza-success-story\/\">Afiliza\u2019s<\/a> Business Development team is responsible for global expansion and partnerships approached Similarweb last year looking to understand more about its competitor&#8217;s strategies. Since then, Similarweb Affiliate insights surfaced 35 new partnerships that generated a 2% increase in revenue and improved the ROI of SEM, or paid search, investments by 15%.<\/p>\n<h2>Do Less and Earn More! Drive More Sales With Affiliate Marketing.<\/h2>\n<p>Opening an affiliate program isn\u2019t a necessity for all brands, but if you find affiliates are a good match for your products and services, this form of marketing can help drive traffic, and ultimately sales, through the roof.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33005 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/10.jpg\" alt=\"affiliate marketing meme\" width=\"588\" height=\"351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/10.jpg 588w, https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/10-300x179.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 588px) 100vw, 588px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Consider how your affiliate program will support your existing marketing and sales efforts and tailor your program to your target audience.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re ready to get started building an affiliate marketing strategy for your website or to become a sought-after affiliate marketer download the checklist that fits you below to have the information you need to succeed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to Open a Successful Affiliate Program<\/strong><br \/>\n<div class=\"stepped-form stepped-form--background\">\n  <div class=\"stepped-form__content\">\n      \n<div data-contact-us-hidden-sub-subject=\" \"\ndata-contact-us-should-get-chilipiper=\"false\"\ndata-contact-us-boolean-always-show-phone=\"false\"\ndata-contact-us-i18n-subtitle3_tell_us_more=\" \"\ndata-contact-us=\"split\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-subject=\"no cu\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-asset-type=\"N\/A\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-campaign-name=\"N\/A\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-campaign-solution=\"N\/A\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-campaign-region=\"ALL\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-form-location-breadcrumbs=\"Form Corp\/Reports\/Affiliate Marketing: A Beginners Guide to Opening an Affiliate Program\/Content\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-message=\"I want to download the file\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-button-caption=\"Download\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-cta-description=\"null\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-cta-url=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2705_Affiliate-Pillar-Piece-1.pdf\"\ndata-contact-us-i18n-title=\"How to Open a Successful Affiliate Program\"\ndata-contact-us-i18n-submit_button=\"Download\"\ndata-contact-us-i18n-success_title=\"Thanks for downloading!\"\ndata-contact-us-i18n-success_subtitle=\"We hope you enjoy these insights.\"\ndata-contact-us-i18n-success_sub_subtitle=\"Ready to dive deeper?\"\ndata-corp-form-type=\"split-download\"\ndata-contact-us-file-url=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2705_Affiliate-Pillar-Piece-1.pdf\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-file-url=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2705_Affiliate-Pillar-Piece-1.pdf\"\n>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to Become a Successful Affiliate<br \/>\n<\/strong><div class=\"stepped-form stepped-form--background\">\n  <div class=\"stepped-form__content\">\n      \n<div data-contact-us-hidden-sub-subject=\" \"\ndata-contact-us-should-get-chilipiper=\"false\"\ndata-contact-us-boolean-always-show-phone=\"false\"\ndata-contact-us-i18n-subtitle3_tell_us_more=\" \"\ndata-contact-us=\"split\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-subject=\"no cu\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-asset-type=\"N\/A\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-campaign-name=\"N\/A\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-campaign-solution=\"N\/A\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-campaign-region=\"ALL\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-form-location-breadcrumbs=\"Form Corp\/Reports\/Affiliate Marketing: A Beginners Guide to Opening an Affiliate Program\/Content\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-message=\"I want to download the file\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-button-caption=\"Download\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-cta-description=\"null\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-cta-url=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2705_Affiliate-Pillar-Piece_2.pdf\"\ndata-contact-us-i18n-title=\"How to Become a Successful Affiliate\"\ndata-contact-us-i18n-submit_button=\"Download\"\ndata-contact-us-i18n-success_title=\"Thanks for downloading!\"\ndata-contact-us-i18n-success_subtitle=\"We hope you enjoy these insights.\"\ndata-contact-us-i18n-success_sub_subtitle=\"Ready to dive deeper?\"\ndata-corp-form-type=\"split-download\"\ndata-contact-us-file-url=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2705_Affiliate-Pillar-Piece_2.pdf\"\ndata-contact-us-hidden-file-url=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2705_Affiliate-Pillar-Piece_2.pdf\"\n>\n    <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/p>\n    <div class=\"post-banner post-banner--base\">\n        <div class=\"post-banner__wrapper\">\n            <div class=\"post-banner__text\">\n                                    <p class=\"post-banner__title\">Enjoy 360 Visibility 24\/7<\/p>\n                                    <p class=\"post-banner__subtitle\">Get the data you need to adapt to market changes and industry trends in an instant.<\/p>\n                                <div class=\"post-banner__button-wrapper\">\n                                            <a class=\"swui-button swui-button--solid swui-button--primary post-banner__button js-post-banner\"\n                           href=\"https:\/\/account.similarweb.com\"\n                           data-disable-dynamic-tracking\n                        >Try Similarweb for free<\/a>\n                                    <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Affiliate marketing is a very dynamic marketing strategy with several common approaches. This can make it difficult to know how, or where, to begin creating an affiliate program for your brand and products. This blog will help you increase your website traffic and sales by providing a breakdown of what affiliate marketing is, and how [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":85460,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6401,2803,7009],"tags":[1876],"class_list":["post-32669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-affiliate-marketing","category-marketing","category-marketing-strategy","tag-agency"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Building Affiliate Programs: A Beginners Guide | Similarweb<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This blog provides a breakdown of what affiliate marketing is, and how to find, empower and manage high-quality affiliates.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarah Mehlman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sarah Mehlman\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1445056f91bbac6c8191b2fb67cbe170\"},\"headline\":\"Affiliate Marketing: A Beginners Guide to Opening an Affiliate Program\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-13T16:15:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-14T09:16:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/\"},\"wordCount\":1066,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thumbnail-Affiliate-Marketing_.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Agencies Insights\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Affiliate Marketing\",\"Marketing\",\"Marketing Strategy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/\",\"name\":\"Building Affiliate Programs: A Beginners Guide | Similarweb\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thumbnail-Affiliate-Marketing_.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-13T16:15:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-14T09:16:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"This blog provides a breakdown of what affiliate marketing is, and how to find, empower and manage high-quality affiliates.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thumbnail-Affiliate-Marketing_.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thumbnail-Affiliate-Marketing_.jpg\",\"width\":1416,\"height\":840,\"caption\":\"affiliate program management\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Affiliate Marketing: A Beginners Guide to Opening an Affiliate Program\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Similarweb\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Similarweb\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/1587374135933.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/1587374135933.png\",\"width\":200,\"height\":200,\"caption\":\"Similarweb\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Similarweb\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Similarweb\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCVCI01HR6iB4AA4ChW08cvQ\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/similarwebinsights\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/similarweb\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Similarweb\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1445056f91bbac6c8191b2fb67cbe170\",\"name\":\"Sarah Mehlman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sarah-Mehlman-Headshot.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sarah-Mehlman-Headshot.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Sarah Mehlman\"},\"description\":\"Sarah is a Senior Content Marketing Manager at Similarweb. With 5+ years of experience in the field, she is passionate about tapping into the power of words to create memorable content that engages readers and drives business goals. Outside of work, she loves traveling, enjoying time with her family, baking, and binging whatever\u2019s new on Netflix. Sarah earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology from Clark University. Originally from Boston, Sarah now resides in Israel.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sarah-mehlman-aab975115\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/author\/sarah-mehlman\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Building Affiliate Programs: A Beginners Guide | Similarweb","description":"This blog provides a breakdown of what affiliate marketing is, and how to find, empower and manage high-quality affiliates.","robots":{"max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sarah Mehlman","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/"},"author":{"name":"Sarah Mehlman","@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1445056f91bbac6c8191b2fb67cbe170"},"headline":"Affiliate Marketing: A Beginners Guide to Opening an Affiliate Program","datePublished":"2020-04-13T16:15:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-14T09:16:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/"},"wordCount":1066,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thumbnail-Affiliate-Marketing_.jpg","keywords":["Agencies Insights"],"articleSection":["Affiliate Marketing","Marketing","Marketing Strategy"],"inLanguage":""},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/","url":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/","name":"Building Affiliate Programs: A Beginners Guide | Similarweb","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thumbnail-Affiliate-Marketing_.jpg","datePublished":"2020-04-13T16:15:46+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-14T09:16:21+00:00","description":"This blog provides a breakdown of what affiliate marketing is, and how to find, empower and manage high-quality affiliates.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"","@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thumbnail-Affiliate-Marketing_.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Thumbnail-Affiliate-Marketing_.jpg","width":1416,"height":840,"caption":"affiliate program management"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/affiliate-marketing\/affiliate-program-basics\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Affiliate Marketing: A Beginners Guide to Opening an Affiliate Program"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/","name":"Similarweb","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":""},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Similarweb","url":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"","@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/1587374135933.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/1587374135933.png","width":200,"height":200,"caption":"Similarweb"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Similarweb","https:\/\/x.com\/Similarweb","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCVCI01HR6iB4AA4ChW08cvQ","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/similarwebinsights\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/similarweb","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Similarweb"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1445056f91bbac6c8191b2fb67cbe170","name":"Sarah Mehlman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"","@id":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sarah-Mehlman-Headshot.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Sarah-Mehlman-Headshot.jpg","caption":"Sarah Mehlman"},"description":"Sarah is a Senior Content Marketing Manager at Similarweb. With 5+ years of experience in the field, she is passionate about tapping into the power of words to create memorable content that engages readers and drives business goals. Outside of work, she loves traveling, enjoying time with her family, baking, and binging whatever\u2019s new on Netflix. Sarah earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology from Clark University. Originally from Boston, Sarah now resides in Israel.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/sarah-mehlman-aab975115\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/author\/sarah-mehlman\/"}]}},"lang":"en","translations":{"en":32669},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32669"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204461,"href":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32669\/revisions\/204461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}