If you run a blog then you have probably thought about how you can monetize it. Affiliate marketing is a very good way to do this as all you need to do is promote offers and then you get paid a commission. You do not have to deliver products or handle any of the customer service issues. Not all networks are equal though, our list of the best affiliate networks for bloggers like yourself should put you on the right track.

Now I know what you are asking “How much can I really make?”. Well, there are bloggers out there making thousands of dollars every month by partnering with affiliate networks. But it is not as simple as it sounds.

Promote Relevant Offers

You need to provide targeted offers that match the theme of your blog. If you promote a fat loss product on a blog that is in the finance niche you are unlikely to make many sales. No matter what the niche of your blog, there are sure to be affiliate networks that can provide relevant offers.

Types Of Offers

There are different types of offers. There are commissions for sales made, cost per action (CPA) offers, cost per lead (email leads) and PPC affiliates where you are paid if a visitor click on a link to an advertisers site.

Offer Different Products

It pays to research the different networks and find unique or new products to offer. If you can, it is a good idea to order a product and test it to ensure that you will be happy promoting it. If the same products are available on all blogs in your niche then your commissions will suffer.

Check The Payment Terms

You need to know where you stand when it comes to payments. Check out what the minimum payouts are and whether you will receive the payment by check, PayPal or bank wire (or whatever other methods are available). You may live in a country where PayPal is not an option so find out if the network can pay you via services such as Payoneer (http://www.payoneer.com).

Joining Affiliate Programs

Some of the affiliate networks will want to approve you as an affiliate. This can even require a conversation on Skype. Others will accept you without any form of check. Do you due diligence on each network. How is their affiliate support? Are their customers happy?

The following 20 affiliate networks are some of the best and trustworthy out there. They have not been rated, as your choice of network depends on the niche that you are operating in. They are presented in alphabetical order. 

1. Amazon Associates Network

A hugely successful and trusted retail shopping store that offers commissions on product sales from 4%. They operate in many countries across the world and offer different payout options. If you can match physical products to the niche of your blog then they are well worth considering.

Amazon carries different products from over 1.6 million different vendors. The affiliate program is very easy to understand and very user friendly. It provides affiliate capabilities for the beginner as well as the advanced developers who will use their API.

With the millions of products available on Amazon you should never be struggling to find something to promote. It is very easy to display products on your blog. The only downsides are the small commissions and their net 60 payout which means that you can wait up to two months to receive your commissions.

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/

2. Avangate

If your blog is in the software niche then Avangate could be for you. They offer online commerce, subscription billing and global payments for software vendors and SaaS and online service companies. There are many products and services to promote in different categories.

Very reputable software companies trust and use Avangate to sell their products and services. These include BitDefender, HP software and Kaspersky Labs. It is fairly easy to become an affiliate and commissions are offered up to 75%. There is an approval process to become an affiliate.

Affiliates are paid by wire transfer or other means 20 days from the end of the month for which the commission is due. There is a minimum month target of 100 Euros which has to be obtained otherwise the commissions due will roll over to the next month.

http://www.avangate.com/affiliates/

3. Clickbank

Clickbank is one of the oldest and most established digital marketing companies out there. They only market digital products so their customers are able to receive their products immediately after payment via digital download.

Clickbank offers a very wide range of products in different categories ranging from arts and entertainment, business and marketing, cooking and food, education, green products, health and fitness, languages, self help, sports and travel to name but a few.

It is very easy to become a Clickbank affiliate. Just complete the simple application form and you are instantly accepted. You can promote any product that you want. You do not need the vendor’s permission as you do with other networks.

Commission payments are made via check every 15 days. If you start making regular commissions then they will offer you the option of a wire transfer payment. The affiliate interface is very easy to use and understand.

Clickbank have a very good reputation with affiliates. They always pay on time. Some of the products on Clickbank are of very high quality and some are average at best. They have tightened up their product acceptance procedures over the years.

http://clickbank.com

4. ClixGalore

Clixgalore is a relatively new affiliate network that is gaining momentum. They offer CPA, CPL and commission on sales offers from over 9000 merchants across the world. They have an approval process which takes 24-48 hours to process and approve.

Advanced graphical reporting tools are available to affiliates and they report in real time. Performance is rewarded for active affiliates and they offer a second tier affiliate program. Payments are provided by check or PayPal on a monthly basis. There is currently a minimum payout threshold of $50 (and similar amounts in UK pounds, AUD dollars, Euros etc).

A lot of affiliates like Clixgalore as they offer unique products that you will not find anywhere else. If you want to be really different then Clixgalore is worth checking out.

https://www.clixgalore.com

5. Commission Junction (Now CJ Affiliate By Conversant)

Commission Junction otherwise known as CJ has been around since 1998 and is one of the most trusted networks out there. It is one of the largest and most reliable networks and can provide you with everything that you need to be a successful affiliate marketer.

They have one of the largest selections of advertisers to affiliates and some very recognizable brands to choose from. The site has some incredibly good features and the reporting is first rate. Their site is very easy to use with an intelligent search function to help you to find what you are looking for.

There is always a downside of course, and with CJ you have to be accepted by every offer before you can promote it. This can often be difficult as the advertisers can be really choosy about where ads for their products and services will appear.

Commissions are paid on time each month via check or direct deposit. Checks can be in US Dollars, GB Pounds, Australian Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Japanese Yen, Hong Kong Dollars and Philippine Pesos. Direct deposit payments can be made to many countries.

The support offered by Commission Junction is also to a high standard and they have support offices in many countries across the world. Their onsite training is also very comprehensive.

http://www.cj.com

6. eBay Partner Network

eBay is one of the world’s oldest and most well known e-commerce sites out there. Their affiliate (or partner) program can be a very good choice for monetizing your blog. They have operations in over 30 countries so local support shouldn’t be a problem.

The partner program offers a range of tools to help you succeed. You can promote interactive ads and customizable banners and there are even product feeds that you can use on your site. There are literally thousands of products that you can choose from.

They have a consistent payout program where all payments are processed on the 22^nd of each month (excluding holidays) and they offer payments via PayPal which a lot of other networks do not. They also have a low payout threshold of US $25.

Support is provided via an online contact form and it might surprise you to know that there are no telephone numbers, chat facility or email support. Do not let that put you off as the support is good. There is also a comprehensive help section with videos and user manuals.

It can be difficult to get accepted into the network. If they do not believe that your blog is growing and receiving quality traffic then you are unlikely to get approval. eBay does not offer flat commission rates either.

https://www.ebaypartnernetwork.ebay.com/files/hub/en-US/index.html

7. Flexoffers

Flexoffers is nowhere near as large as some of the other networks that you will find in this post. That doesn’t mean that they should be ignored. They have around 300 advertisers with around 500 campaigns to promote that are either commission per sale or CPA.

There is an approval process to become accepted as an affiliate and you will need to provide them with some compelling reasons to accept you. If your blog is doing well in the search engines this will certainly help. Once accepted you will be allocated an affiliate manager.

There are several key features to the site and one of those is the customizable templates which makes integrating offers into your blog very easy. There is also a message center which allows affiliates to communicate directly with the advertisers that they have applied to work with.

The reporting system is good and there is an overview and detailed reporting section. The detailed report shows activity per ad and commissions earned each day. This can be sorted by category, campaign or advertiser. Minimum payout is US $100 either weekly or monthly and payments are made via check or bank wire.

http://www.flexoffers.com

8. Google Adsense

When Google Adsense was first launched it was a goldmine for blog owners. Sadly those days have gone but it is still worth considering. While it isn’t affiliate marketing per-se it’s still a good place to start when trying to make money through your blog. You can think of it as PPC affiliate marketing. You place Google Ads on your website and if they are clicked you receive a commission.

Once you are accepted by Google to use Adsense on your site the ads will be automatically generated. All you need to do is enter the special code that Google provides to you. Getting accepted is more difficult than it used to be but any quality blog should be OK.

There are some strict rules on the placement of ad blocks and what appears above and below the ads which are all explained in the rather long terms and conditions. It is advisable to read this though as you can be banned for the smallest infringement.

Payments are generally made to bank accounts directly once you have met the threshold (that you can set). If you receive a lot of traffic to your blog then Adsense can be a good way to monetize but beware that visitors may find the ads annoying.

https://www.google.com/adsense/start/

9. Impact Radius

Impact Radius has been around since 2008 and was created by some of the brightest minds in affiliate marketing that were behind Commission Junction. It focuses on the platform and technology behind it to allow merchants to manage their own programs.

Getting accepted by the network isn’t easy. You have to complete an online form and provide W9 details etc. Then there will be a phone call from a rep who will want to know details about how you will work with the network.

Once you are accepted you will find that their administration system is all that it claims to be. You can communicate directly with the merchants and easily promote their offers. The system will provide all of the necessary code that you need to get started.

The reporting system is very comprehensive and you can see every detail that you need. Payments are made monthly and you can set your own minimum threshold from US $25 to US $5000. Payments are made via direct deposit, bank transfer or check.

http://www.impactradius.com/media-partners

10. JVZoo

JVZoo is a relatively new player but has grown in popularity especially amongst the Internet marketing crowd. If your blog is in the make money online niche then it is certainly worth considering this network. There are many sellers offering up to 75% commissions (even 100% in some cases) and many have recurring commissions.

They have other products too but Internet marketing and making money online is their core business. Payments are via PayPal and instant although some vendors will request that you wait until the refund period has expired.

It is free to join but you will need acceptance from any vendor to promote their products. Like Clickbank, product quality varies.

https://www.jvzoo.com/affiliates

11. Maxbounty

Maxbounty is a very popular CPA affiliate network that connects advertisers with web content publishers. They offer bloggers the opportunity to make passive income by offering good payouts and have a wide array of offers across many markets.

Signing up for Maxbounty is a lot easier than with other similar networks. However you will still need to convince them that you have a good strategy to drive traffic to their offers and that you will adhere to their terms and conditions.

Maxbounty is the largest CPA network with over 600 offers available. They cover many different markets and the most popular are health, finance and making money online. Their tracking tools are good but could be improved.

Payments are made via check, PayPal, Payoneer, wire transfer or direct deposit. They have a good reputation and provide support via phone, live chat and email.

http://maxbounty.com/

12. Neverblue

Neverblue is another well known CPA affiliate network that has been around for a long time and is trusted by many. It provides many high quality offers and tries very hard to support their affiliates with competitive payout rates.

The sign up process has been greatly simplified and now there are just a few questions to answer. Despite this simplification, it can be very difficult to become accepted as an affiliate as the company is very well versed in black hat traffic strategies that they want to avoid. You will need to be really convincing here.

The network boasts one of the best interfaces of all of the networks which is simple to navigate and filters can be easily applied to find what relates to your blog. There is a wide diversity of markets and things are well organized thanks to their personalized tracking system.

There is a minimum payout threshold of US $25 and this can be paid weekly or bi-weekly via check, wire, direct deposit or PayPal. The affiliate managers will often follow you up to make sure that things are going smoothly for you.

https://www.neverblueads.com/

13. Peerfly

Peerfly is another CPA affiliate network. The site is well set up and the navigation is easy and intuitive. They have a large amount of CPA offers and their affiliate tools are rated as some of the best in the industry.

A lot of the Peerfly offers are geo targeted so you will need to bear this in mind. It is said that gaining acceptance as a Peerfly affiliate is a lot easier than the other networks. This may be true but you will still need to assure them that you know what you are doing.

There is a minimum payout threshold of US $50 and this can be paid daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly via PayPal, check, Payoneer, wire or direct deposit.

https://peerfly.com/

14. Rakuten Marketing (LinkShare)

LinkShare is a very old affiliate marketing network which can be compared to Commission Junction in the way that it operates. It does not boast the same number of merchants as CJ but it is still a worthy player.

One of the best things about LinkShare is its ad rotation feature. With this you are able to show different versions of the same ad with a single piece of code that you paste into your blog. This can help to increase conversions as visitors will see different versions each time.

The backend of LinkShare is nowhere near as sophisticated as CJ but this doen’t make it bad. All of the necessities are there to help you find the products that you want to promote and the reporting side is generally good.

The payment system is different to CJ. Rakuten waits until the advertisers pay them and then they pay you at the end of that month so you can wait quite a while. There is a minimum balance threshold of US $50 and payments are made via check or direct deposit.

http://marketing.rakuten.com/affiliate-marketing

15. Shareasale

Shareasale is another established network offering CPA, CPL and commissions on sales. There are currently over 2500 advertisers on the site and they are able to provide the affiliate with a wide range of offers covering several niches.

A unique facility of Shareasale is the ability for affiliates to create videos. Previously recorded content can be used to make a video for your site and cue points can be added to promote relevant offers. This has been good for conversions.

The back end system is very easy to use and feature rich. Searches can be made via commission levels and by product niche. The database can actually be downloaded in CSV format for offline browsing. Tracking URL’s are included in this.

Adding offers to your site is very easy with their Make A Page feature. Once you have selected the offers, an HTML link is provided with your pre-coded affiliate link. This can be easily copy and pasted into your blog.

There are some good reporting tools enabling you to drill down to minute details. Minimum payment threshold is US $50 and payments are made via check or direct deposit.

https://www.shareasale.com/

16. Shineads

Shineads is an ad network affiliate program. It is a pay per visit network that pays you based on the originating traffic location (e.g. USA and UK traffic will receive the highest payouts. It is different to most of the other programs listed here.

The company is based in India and many affiliates rave about the service and claim that a lot of money can be made from it. They have a minimum payout threshold of US $50 and payment is made 30 days after commissions are generated. Payments are via PayPal or wire.

Movie and entertainment blogs are the best fit for this program.

http://shineads.net/home.aspx

17. TradeDoubler

TradeDoubler has been around since 1999 and is a CPA and commission on sale (as well as other offers) type of network. It is based in Europe but has global acceptance. It is generally regarded as one of the best affiliate networks out there and has stood the test of time.

Although it accepts affiliates worldwide it is better if you are based in Europe as you are able to promote offers that are specifically geared towards your country. They have well known clients and most European languages are available.

Some of their advertisers are very impressive including Reebok, HP, GE Capital Bank, AOL. Apple and Sony.  They offer real time statistics and an easy to navigate back end where you will find many different offers.

They make payments to affiliates monthly and they have a minimum payment threshold of 70 Euros. Payments are made via bank transfer only. If you are based in Europe then TradeDoubler is well worth investigating.

http://www.tradedoubler.com/

18. Travelpayouts

If you have a travel related blog then you can earn commissions using Travelpayouts. It is actually a mini network of search engines that scan through popular sites and return results about flights and hotels. You can therefore offer your visitors the best deals on flights and hotels.

The members area of Travelpayouts will let you build your own banners, create widgets and search forms for your blog. There is even a WordPress plugin that will incorporate search right into your blog.

Affiliates will receive up to 70% of Travelpayout’s income on each sale which means around US $9 on airline tickets and US $15 on hotel rooms booked. They make payments to affiliates once a month and there is a minimum payout threshold of US $50.

https://www.travelpayouts.com/

19. Udemy

Udemy is a platform and a marketplace for online learning that was launched in 2007. They have a vast array of courses in niches such as business, health, fitness, music, languages, computers and making money online.

The Udemy affiliate program is actually run and managed by LinkShare which have already been discussed here. The reason for specifically mentioning Udemy is that it is growing strongly and online learning is in great demand.

Some of the courses on Udemy have a very high price tag and if you can drive traffic to them then it can be very lucrative. Having many different categories there is bound to be a few courses that will be relevant to your blog.

They claim to provide competitive commission rates and exclusive content to their affiliates.  An affiliate manager will be dedicated to you and you will be provided with a number of promotional assets. Your application will take 2-4 business days before it is approved.

https://www.udemy.com/affiliate/

20. Wrike

If you have a business blog then the Wrike affiliate program for you. It is a leading work management and collaboration program that enables global teams to complete projects to time and budget.

There are professional and Enterprise subscriptions and you will be paid US $100 for professional and US $200 for the enterprise edition.

As an affiliate you will have access to the best promotional materials that have above average industry click through rates (CTR). These were specifically designed for Wrike affiliates to bring in more leads and sales.

https://www.wrike.com/affiliates/