How to Get Affiliate Links on Your Website Quickly

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Last updated on November 17th, 2018 at 08:43 am

Do you want to know how to get affiliate links on your website? If so, then you’re in the right place. I am going to walk you through step by step on how to add affiliate links your WordPress blog.

Why WordPress?

Since I’ve been working with WordPress for over 9 years, I will be walking you through step by step on how to use add affiliate links to your WordPress blog.

If you’re a different blogging platform like Squarespace, Weebly, or the free version of WordPress, you’ll have to find a YouTube video to explain the process for you.

Maybe you still need to set up your own blog? If so, check out this step-by-step tutorial to help you get your blog set up in 5 minutes.

Once you have your blog set up, sign up for this free affiliate training program that will help get started on the path towards financial freedom.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Before we get started, I wanted to explain what affiliate marketing is and why I personally love using it as a method to make money online.

Why?

Because you don’t have to create any products or deal with customers. All you have to do is sign up with drive traffic to some of your favorite products or services you use or love, using your unique link.

Whenever someone buys through your links, you get to earn a commission for that sale. Here is how Google defines affiliate marketing.

If you want to learn how to build a profitable affiliate website from the start, then sign up for this free training online.

Signing Up For Affiliate Programs to Promote

Once you’ve decided that you’re going to become an affiliate marketer, it’s time to sign up to become an affiliate for some of the best affiliate programs.

You’ll have to sign up with some of the popular networks such as:

ShareASale
FlexOffers
Amazon
AWIN
and etc

I recommend signing up with at least 2 of those networks. One of the biggest mistakes that most new bloggers make, is they join too many programs.

You won’t make more sales if you join more programs. I recommend signing up with ShareASale and Amazon. If your niche doesn’t do well for Amazon, then sign up with AWIN.

How Do I Find Affiliate Links?

Now that you’ve joined some affiliate networks, let’s take a look at how you find get your affiliate links. I am going to walk you through step-by-step on how to make affiliate links inside of all the networks I mentioned above.

This way, you won’t have any issues getting started and you can sign up and grab your links.

How to Get Amazon Affiliate Link

Amazon is one of the popular networks that most new bloggers join. While I am NOT a huge fan of the Amazon affiliate program, but I do have to admit that you can make money because they are a reputable company.

Visit this link to join the Amazon Associate Program. Once they approve your website/blog, you’ll be able to find your affiliate links inside your dashboard.

Go to Product Linking >> Product Links

This will allow you to create a link to a specific product you want to promote. Just add the keyword to search for the product you want to promote.

This is the method that I personally use most when I am promoting Amazon products on my site. However, you can also use links in the form of:

Banners
Native Shopping Ads
Mobile Popover
Link to Any Page

I really can’t tell you which type of link will convert best for your website. You’ll have to test things out for yourself.

Note: Do NOT cloak Amazon links as it is against their terms of service. They forbid you from using any type of redirection on their affiliate links, but it’s still important to make them Nofollow to stay in good graces with Google.

How to Get ShareASale Affiliate Link

ShareASale is another popular network for many bloggers, me included. I love this program because they offer tons of products in the various niche.

You can join this program by visiting this link. Once you’re accepted, it’s time to start applying for different programs that are related to your niche.

Now it’s time to grab your affiliate links so you can add them to your WordPress website. Log into your account and go to Links >> Get a Link/Banner

You will see all the merchants that have approved you to promote their products and services. Select the merchant that you want to promote and click the green Get Links button.

You’ll see a snapshot of all the text links, banners, videos, datafeeds and other types of links you can work with.

I personally recommend creating a custom link (also known as deep linking). This allows you to create a custom link to a specific landing page for the affiliate program you are promoting.

You’ll have the option of adding an optional tracking code to help you with your marketing efforts.

See how ugly it looks? This is why you would want to use PrettyLinks or ThirstyAffiliates to cloak it to make it look prettier and easier to manage.

Note: Deep linking has been proven to increase conversions because are you are sending your traffic to a specific page.

Where to Find FlexOffer Links

FlexOffers is similar to ShareASale, with thousands of products you can choose from. This is great because regardless of what you blog about, there’s a great chance that you can find something you promote.

To join this program, visit this link. Once you’ve joined, you can browse through all the advertisers and start applying to their program.

Next, go to Links >> Ad

As soon as you click inside the Ad box, a drop-down box will list all the programs that have approved to work with you.

Again, you’ll want to make sure that you’re using the deep link feature to send people to a specific landing page.

One of the things that I have noticed is that not all programs will allow you to link to a specific page. However, if they do, be sure to go to Links >> Deep Linking

Now you can configure the links the way you want.

Note: Make sure that you’re cloaking your affiliate links for this network as well. It not only makes them cleaner and prettier but makes it easier to change out programs if one shuts down or if you find one that converts better.

Finding Your Affiliate Links In AWIN

AWIN is not as big as the other two that I’ve mentioned, but they have over 13,000 brands you can work with as an affiliate.

The biggest difference with this network is that you’ll have to pay $5 to join. I know what you’re thinking, why would I pay to join a network?

Don’t worry, you get your $5 back as soon as you get approved. They just use this method to avoid fraud. Once you get approved, you can start browsing all the advertisers and start signing up to work with them. You can join right here.

If you’re ready to sign up, visit this link.

Now log in and go to Links & Tools >> Link Builder

The thing I really like about this program is that they allow you to build deep links with the generator tool, for programs even if you haven’t joined them. This is great news because it’s a great way to test out different products without joining them.

If you find something that converts really well, you can consider joining them to get access to affiliate banners and other resources.

Note: Remember, don’t try to promote too many programs at once. You’ll have more success if you choose 1-3 programs to focus on. If you’re NOT seeing conversions, then you can start testing out other programs to see if you can find one that increases your commissions.

How to Guides

Most reputable affiliate networks will have how-to guides to help you familiarize yourself with how their system works.

I highly recommend taking the time to watch the videos or read their tutorials. You’ll learn a lot and you will have a better understanding of what features they have available to their affiliates.

If you can’t find their how-to guides, don’t be afraid to open up a support ticket to ask them.

How to Add Affiliate Links In WordPress

Now that you know how to find your affiliate links, let’s take a look at how to add them inside of WordPress. I am going to show you how to add them using a cloaking plugin and without.

This gives you a few options that you can use. They not only make your life easier, but you can use the free option if you decide to use them.

Adding Affiliate Links in WordPress With A Cloaking Plugin

I personally use a cloaking plugin because it makes it so much easier to manage my links. If you ever need to change programs, you can do it in one place without having to go through all your posts individually.

I’ll be showing you how to do this on two of the most popular affiliate plugins for WordPress. I personally use ThirstyAffiliates.

Using ThirstyAffiliates

Once you’ve installed this plugin, you can grab it here. You’ll need to set it up, don’t worry, there are tons of different tutorials available.

To start cloaking you go to ThirstyAffiliates >> New Affiliate Link

A new post will open up and you can add the affiliate link here. You’ll want to give it a name that you can remember and enter the destination URL (the ugly version of your link).

If you have the paid version of the plugin, you’ll have the opportunity choose auto link. Once you are done, you can click complete, you can click save.

Adding In Content

Now whenever you write your content and want to add a link, all you have to do is highlight the text you want to link and click the TA button.

As you can see, there are two buttons. The one that I’ve highlighted is the one you will use if you’ve already created the redirection in WordPress.

The one right next to that one allows you to highlight text and quickly add one if it hasn’t been set up in WordPress.

This plugin automatically makes all your affiliate links “nofollow” so you don’t have to do anything extra.

Using PrettyLinks

Personally, I’ve never used PrettyLinks on my blog. But I went ahead and installed it on my localhost to show you how easy it is to use.

You’ll want to install the Shortlinks by PrettyLinks which is the free version. You can find it in the Plugin Repository inside your dashboard.

Once it is installed, go to Pretty Links >> Add New Link

Next, add your destination URL and fill out all the information. Don’t forget to give it a name that is easy to remember and is related to the program. I usually just name it the same as the program.

Once you have set everything up, you can click on Create at the bottom.

If you have the paid version, you’ll have a lot more features that you can use, such as Geo Tracking, auto link, split testing links and etc.

Like ThirstyAffiliates, this plugin takes care of the “nofollow” for all your affiliate links.

Adding ln Content

Once you’ve written your content, it’s time to sprinkling some affiliate links so you can earn some commissions.

Again, highlight the content you want to link and click on the Prettylink star on your WordPress toolbar.

A box will popup that will allow you to:

Create A Pretty Link
Use An Existing Pretty Link

Choose the one that you want to use and then click Insert. That’s all it takes to use this plugin.

How to Create Affiliate Links In WordPress Without A Plugin

I’ve shown you two cloaking plugins, but for those of you who don’t want to use a plugin, you can do so without a plugin.

Although, I do recommend that you use the Ultimate Nofollow plugin because it will cut down some of the work for you.

Quick WalkThrough

Instead of setting up your affiliate links in advance in WordPress, you’ll be adding them just like any regular anchor text link.

Highlight the text and click the link tab at the top in the WordPress bar. Once you enter your URL, click the settings button beside the link.

You’ll want to make sure that you check the ‘nofollow’ box if you didn’t make all your links nofollow in the Ultimate Nofollow plugin settings.

The Downside to This Method

You won’t be able to create a pretty version of that link. Plus, if you ever have to change programs, you’re going to have to hunt down all the links on all your blog posts to change them out.

If you have hundreds of posts, that could be a nightmare. That’s why I think that an affiliate management plugin is so important for affiliate marketers.

Best Way to Use Affiliate Links That Work

Now that you know how to grab your links and add them to your WordPress blog, it’s time to start adding them.

The rule of thumb is that you don’t want to bombard people with banners and affiliate links. Just because you add more links, doesn’t mean that you’re going to make more sales.

I’ve personally found that if you add 2-3 links per 1,000 words, you’ll do a lot better. Affiliate marketing works best when you focus on educating and helping your audience.

If you’re writing great content and providing value, your readers will eventually click on your links and buy from you.

This free training course will cover everything you need to know about earning money with the content you provide.

Related Articles to Help You Improve Your Strategy:

Final Take Away

Affiliate marketing can be a lucrative business if done correctly. Don’t try to hide your links, you need to create a disclaimer so people know that you’ll earn money when they buy from you.

Plus it’s the law to disclose your affiliate links, so make sure that you’re doing it correctly from the start.

You don’t have to try to fool or try any underhanded techniques just to make a sale. Focus on providing great content and eventually, everything else will take care of itself.

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Hopefully, this tutorial helped you find affiliate links on the most popular networks that most new bloggers use.