Building the ‘physical’ website is just the beginning, in fact, with site builders like SiteRubix, you can easily build a new website within a matter of seconds.
You don’t have to be technical at all.
That’s the plus side.
In learning how to build an affiliate marketing website that ACTUALLY earns you money, there’s a bit more learning and effort involved.
You’ve probably encountered people promising fast riches and “done-for-you” websites. When coming across such claims, always air on the side of caution.
Taking the appropriate steps, even very early on, could make or break your business.
If owning a REAL successful online affiliate marketing biz is something you’re after, I’ll show you how and where to get started just below.
One of the best things I’ve done was look to the internet for ways to start an online business which has since allowed me to work from home being my own boss.
How To Build An Affiliate Marketing Website That Earns
Building a successful website is something that takes a commitment of time and effort.
If this is your first go at an affiliate marketing website, expect a learning curve, expect bumps along the way.
It’s recommended that you spend 5-10 hours minimum working on your website each week if you truly want to see results.
Most of your time spent early on will be to write your own articles/posts and on learning.
Once you get to a place where you can put money back into your business, you can begin hiring people to do certain tasks for you so that you can spend your time learning new skills or on other projects.
For now, most people will start out with a limited budget, which is totally fine.
I’ll show you where to get started where you will have proper guidance and a community filled with experienced affiliates to help you every step of the way.
If making a living as an affiliate is your goal, here’s what you need to begin.
Building The Site/What You Need
In order to build the ‘physical’ website, which is the pillar of your online business, here’s what you will need.
We show you where you can get everything you need in one place, complete quality, for a budget price in the next section.
(Get started with your own first website today with included hosting now for free).
The items that you need to build a website include:
- Website building software
- Website design template aka website theme
- Hosting
- Domain name
Again this is the minimum.
There are free tools that can be added such as Google Analytics but then there’s also paid tools.
Paid tools would include an email marketing service, logo design, or premium images.
I’d recommend investing in paid tools later down the line.
Early on the focus should be traffic through creating high-quality, helpful content within your given niche.
You can worry about the ‘attractiveness’ of your website once you begin to experience website visitors aka traffic.
Does Wix or Squarespace Work Well?
When it comes to website builders, there are oodles of options out there.
You’ve likely seen ads for website builders like Wix, Squarespace, Weebly.
With these builders, you can build a beautiful looking website and they’re easy to use.
This ease of use just so happens to be their downfall, however.
Without getting into too much detail, there’s only so much you can do with a Wix or Weebly.
You will get to a point in your business where you will need to edit some things that you will have a difficult time accessing.
An affiliate marketing website requires so much more than just designing a nice-looking homepage, as shown in certain ads.
I would also expect a lack of training when it comes to setting up an affiliate marketing website using the services above.
And optimizing for search engines is just not the same, not like with WordPress at least.
WordPress Is Your Best Bet
Using a website builder that uses WordPress is highly recommended and the only platform you should consider.
Yes, it’s a bit more of a challenge to learn, but it’s ideal for affiliates.
For example, WordPress offers a large plugin section.
Plugins are like little apps that you install on your website which can enhance the performance of your website and some have features that will make running your business much more simple and life a bit easier.
Ultimately, there’s no cheaper or better option than WordPress for affiliate sites.
It’s something you will need to learn if interested in learning how to build an affiliate marketing website that earns.
How Much For All This?
Online business startup costs are significantly lower than that of starting your traditional store.
In the beginning, I only spent about $50 per month.
Today, three years later, I only spend about $100 month to operate my online businesses.
Pretty cool right!?
I used a platform that specializes in affiliate marketing training and they also provide tools you need, such as quality hosting and a website builder all in one place for one price.
Where To Get What You Need
The place mentioned just above is a platform known as Wealthy Affiliate.
It’s where I learned how to create affiliate marketing websites three years ago and I still use their training and services to this day.
From the website hosting and security to the training, it’s the best quality I’ve seen offered anywhere online for anyone looking to start an internet business.
There’s live weekly courses, a community filled with experienced marketers which you can reach out to at any time for immediate help, and so much more.
Everything you need to build and operate a long-term business from home is in one place, including my personal help and support.
Setting Yourself Up To Succeed
As an affiliate marketer, it’s your job to connect people with the best products and/or services.
These could be items or services that you have used yourself in the past or on a daily basis.
Which products and services you choose to promote will depend on your niche.
Choosing your niche just so happens to be the first step in creating an affiliate marketing website, in fact, I would do this before building the site.
The process looks like this:
So after choosing your niche, you build the website, and then you learn how to attract visitors.
Just having a website alone will not bring in visitors!
For 99% of affiliate websites, this is done through creating content. Content relevant to your niche aka your audience.
Once you begin attracting visitors, you can begin earning revenue and the sky is the limit.
Winning Mentality
As we touched on earlier, this is a process that will require your time and effort.
Don’t be in a rush for quick results, it’s not a race.
I think with how fast things are today relating to the internet (instant messaging, buy with one-click, connect with a friend across the world in video chat within seconds) we are accustomed to things happening in an instant.
Online business, regardless of which business model you choose to follow, doesn’t happen in an instant.
It’s a slow grind, but VERY rewarding when done right.
Take your time to learn the steps and do things the correct way, as taught over at Wealthy Affiliate, and you will be on your way to starting a successful affiliate marketing website.
Conclusion – How To Build An Affiliate Marketing Website
Building an affiliate marketing website can be very rewarding if you are willing to put in the work.
The technical things you need, such as website hosting, a website builder, etc, are easy to put in place in our current times.
Likewise, there are millions of niches to choose from with over 500 millions of products you can promote and earn money from.
The most important things you need to succeed would include proper affiliate marketing training and a willingness to do the work.
This combined with your own online business can result in changing your life.
I had considered Wix and Weebly before, but like you said, I ran into complaints about storage problems and things just weren’t customizable enough to run an affiliate website.
I believe Wix and Weebly are better for entrepreneurs offering services (like dog grooming, lawyers, accountants) who only need an online presence, where they can showcase the services and products that they have to offer. Wix and Weebly are good for minimalistic projects.
But affiliate marketing is not a small nor an easy feat, but can be well worth it when done right.
100% agree with you here and that has been my thinking for quite some time now.
You can easily put together a stunning looking website using Wix or Weebly, but they are limited for those interested in becoming affiliates.
Also, there won’t be any specific training in regards to affiliate marketing as found over at Wealthy Affiliate. It is why I recommend them, constant updates, extremely helpful and relevant training, website builder and everything you need found in one place. Your set up to succeed there.
Thanks for dropping by, Reyhana.
Thanks a lot for the interesting post! I enjoyed this read and I like how realistic you are about building your own website. You don’t throw things down our throat but put things into a realistic perspective which I like.
I currently invest about 12 hours a week into my site and I’ve just started to get a small income in 10 months. I’m hoping this increases in the next year but it confirms what you say – hard work is a must. How long have you been working on your site?
Hey Stephen,
I feel that being realistic and getting people into the right mindset early on, is more likely to set them up for success. That’s awesome that you are seeing results within your own affiliate business!
Large income or small income, it shows that you are on the right track. I started Extra Paycheck Online early 2016 and after many, many months, I began earning a small income too.
This continued to grow and grow in the following months.
Keep working hard Stephen, and thanks for sharing some of your results!
Excellent article. Keep posting such kind of info on your blog.
Really impressed by your blog.
I truly appreciate that, Brand.
Putting together quality content is a focus of mine and am constantly working to improve at it.
Thanks, and have a nice weekend.