In most of my posts that mention monetization strategies, I tell you to google your niche and affiliate programs. And really, that’s all you need to do! However, here we are going to dig a bit deeper as I explain exactly how to find affiliate programs in your niche in 3 simples steps.
How to Find Affiliate Programs In Your Niche
As i guide you trough the following three steps to find affiliate programis in your niche, I am going to aslo help you make sure you find the right affiliate programs. So let’s get to it!
1. Do Some Competitor Research
Yes, your competitor research matters. That’s where I dropped the ball with most of the blog I created in the past. Seing what other websites are in your niche and what your competitors are selling will take a lot of the guesswork out of the equation. Bonus: You will know exactly what to write about after finding out what keywords bring trafic to your competitors’ websites.
How to Research Your Competitors
First, you are going to need the Ubersugggest and Keywords Everywhere chrome extensions. Then Google a few questions people in your niche might be asking. For example, if you picked the relationship niche, you could look up How to improve your marriage (if your target audience is married couples).
Next, scroll through the websites that rank to look for your competitors. When I look for competitors, I avoid sites that have a domain authority higher than 50. As much as possible, I pick sites that have achieved an organic traffic between 10,000 and 50,000 monthly visits. In this example, the first site to rank fits the bill (use your Ubersuggest chrome extension to see this data):
Most keywords will require more digging though. In this case, you can look at the keywords suggestions that appear on the right (from your Keywords Everyehre and Ubersuggest extensions)
What If Your Competitors Don’t Sell Affiliate Programs?
How do you find affiliate programs in your niche if your competitors don’t sell affilaite programs? Most likely, you will be able to eventually find some competitors that do, but another option is to check if your competitors have their own programs and sell their programs. Becoming an affilaite for your competiros will allow you to experiment with selling digital programs in yoru niche without the upfront time investmenet of creating them yourself. Once you figure out what your audience needs and wants, you will know with confidence that if you create your own, you can sell it.
Would you like to see this niche research in action? Don’t forget to sign up for my Niche Site Workshop.
2. Check the Main Affiliate Networks
Affiliate networks are super convenient for anyone sellikng affiliate products.
- Amazon Associates – You can find anything on Amazon, so it’s an excellent affilaite option for any niche! Just make sure you have decent traffic to your site before you sign up because you need to make three sales in 180 days for your account to remain active.
- ShareASale – This is my favorite affiliate network. It offer a vast array of high quality affilaite programs.
- Clickbank – Mostly digital products in all possible niches. After creating your account, click on Marketplace and select your categories.
- Rakuten – Over 90,000 products to choose from and tons of digital products and services.
It is almost impossible to not find affiliate progams in your niche using affiliate networks. They offer practically anything! After narrowing down your options to a few affiliate products, make sure you actually purchase them yourself! Don’t sell affilaite programs that you haven’t purchased and cannot truly endorse.
3. Research Some More and Brainstorm
After researching your competitors and various keywords in your niche, what else there to research you may ask?
You also need to think of products you love and use yourself already in your niche. Why reinvent the wheel? Brainstorm all the ideas of products in your niche. Write them down and research their affiliate opportunities.
How to Find Affiliate Progams in Your Niche Using Google
You may be able to think of some of your favorite products in your niche and not know if they offer affiliate programs. If that’s the case, Google is your friend. Google the name of the product and affilite. if there is an affiliate program, it will come up. If not, you can always reach out to the company and ask.
Lastly, yiou can simply Google your niche (for example dating or relationships) and affilaite programs.
Best Niches for Affiliate Marketing
You may be curious about the best niches for affiliate marketing. How do you define best affiliate niches? Well, that would be niches that are not too competitive and where people are willing to spend money. Some of my favortie affilait emarketing niches are:
- Hobbies
- Relationships
- Travel
- Home Decor
- Money
- Fitness
- Pets
- Personal Development
That being said, you can build a full time income with your niche site in pretty much any niche. It may take more time and effort in some niches than others, that’s all. To learn more, read What Are the Best Affiliate Niches (and Why).
Top Selling Affiliate Products
When picking a niche to sell affiliate programs, it’s helpful to have an idea of what are the top selling affiliate products on the market. I really enjoyed reading the article 7 Top Affiliate Marketing Products of 2020. It explains the basics of affiliate marketing and goes on to give some specific affiliate program ideas in the following niches:
- Finances
- Dating
- Real Estate
- Travel
- Gaming
- Fashion
- Gardenng
It also gives you some more affiliate network ideas (for example, I hadn’t heard about Awin before!).
In Summary
In this age of information technology, finding affiliate programs in your niche should be the easy part. The possibilities are almost limitless! However, be wise as you pick your affiliate programs. Don’t pick too many, focus on a few products that you love and that offer a decent commission (I like to pick products with a commission of at least 15 percent). Then, drive the kind of traffic that needs what you are selling to your Website. That’s how you crate a sustainable income!
