Affiliate Marketing Training:
Do Affiliate Programs Work?

By Sarah Jamieson

The question: Do Affiliate Marketing Programs Work? is often asked because many beginner affiliates try using the model but quickly fail.

Over the last few years, Google has picked up the affiliate marketing world and given it a hard shake. And if you look at why this happened, you can understand where Google is coming from.

Affiliate marketing had gotten a bad reputation, which was somewhat deserved. Questionable affiliate programs for acai berries, weight loss, and get rich quick schemes sprouted up like mushrooms.

Terrible ads blared, "Is Product X A Scam?" in a feeble attempt to attract interest, then linked direct to the merchant's sales page, or used a one-page "bridge" site as the ad landing page.

Understandably, Google didn't feel these "thin" affiliates were providing a quality user experience for its searchers. Google's number one goal is always be to provide value and relevance to searchers. Otherwise, searchers will go elsewhere and take their credit cards with them!

So Google cracked down hard on affiliates who didn't provide value or misled searchers. Some people say that "Google hates affiliates". This is just not true. Read exactly what affiliate tactics Google doesn't allow.

A high standard of value and relevance benefits everyone. Google's rules give users a higher level of trust in AdWords, which is a good thing for everyone who wants to build a legitimate business.

If searchers are getting spammed by misleading ads or are being ripped off, they are not going to turn into loyal customers. Treating your prospects badly is just not the way to built a long-term business!

So is affiliate marketing dead? No not at all...

Well, the kind of spammy, misleading tactics Google banned are long gone. However, there are still many legitimate affiliate programs for real companies and individual marketers, many of whom have been in the affiliate business for a long time.

I'll give you some tips on how to use affiliate programs effectively as an affiliate marketer, but first let's look at the question: What is affiliate marketing?

Affiliate Marketing Training > Do Affiliate Marketing Programs Work? > What is Affiliate Marketing?