Affiliate marketing is no longer a niche side hustle. It’s a multibillion-dollar industry that continues to grow each year.1 For career changers, freelancers, or anyone looking to diversify income, it offers a way to turn your online presence into a business by recommending products and services you genuinely trust.
In this guide, you’ll learn what affiliate marketing is, where it’s used, the pros and cons, and the exact steps to start. We’ll also cover the courses, books, and tools that can help you build real skills and credibility as you grow in this field.
Key Takeaways
• Affiliate marketing works by paying you a commission every time someone buys through your unique link.
• Commission rates and income potential vary widely by niche. Software and finance programs often pay more than retail or physical goods.
• You can promote affiliate products on blogs, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms where you already connect with an audience.
• Building a website, optimizing it for SEO, and creating original content are essential steps to long-term success.
• Free courses from Google and HubSpot, plus in-depth classes on Udemy and LinkedIn Learning, can help you learn practical skills and earn certifications.
What Is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a digital marketing strategy where you earn money by promoting a company’s products or services online.
Affiliate marketing is when a company or retailer pays a commission to an affiliate partner, providing them with unique tracking links and promotional tools, emails, and affiliate websites to drive traffic back to the company. The commission rate varies by company and product but typically ranges between 5 percent and 30 percent per sale.2
Affiliate commission rates vary widely by industry. SaaS and software programs often pay between 15% and 25% recurring commissions, while financial services and insurance can reach up to 30%–40% per lead. In contrast, physical product programs, like Amazon Associates, typically offer 3%–10% per sale.2 Knowing these differences helps you target niches with higher long-term earning potential.
There is a wide range of products and services that affiliates can choose from, so you can choose to promote a product that you love and use often.
What Is an Affiliate Network?
An affiliate network is a platform that connects affiliates with companies offering products or services to promote.
Rather than an affiliate directly contacting a company about promoting a product or service, an affiliate network is like a middleman. An affiliate network allows you, as an affiliate, to access thousands of products, helping you narrow down those that you may want to market.
Although these companies may take time to carry out application reviews and thorough checks of your content and identification, it is worth the wait. Using an affiliate network is one of the keys to finding your niche. For example, if you have a health and wellness blog, you can use the network to find wellness products to make sure your audience is getting the ads that they want.
Some affiliate networks include Commission Junction (CJ Affiliate), ClickBank, Amazon Associates, eBay Partner Network, Rakuten Advertising, and Impact. These are widely used by affiliates who create high-quality, popular content online. CJ Affiliate is one of the largest affiliate networks, founded in 1998 and operating for over 25 years.Each affiliate network has its strengths. CJ Affiliate and Rakuten are known for strict applications but offer high-paying, brand-name partnerships. ClickBank is easier to join and popular for digital products, though average EPCs (earnings per click) can be lower. Impact provides advanced tracking and is widely used by e-commerce startups. Amazon Associates, while lower-paying, is beginner-friendly with high conversion rates due to Amazon’s massive product range.
Where Is Affiliate Marketing Used?
- Affiliate marketing can be used across many online platforms as long as affiliate links are clearly disclosed under FTC guidelines.3
- Facebook. You can post affiliate links on your own Facebook page, or in related Facebook groups. Some people will also use paid advertising campaigns to boost awareness of a brand or product. However, you should always disclose that it is an affiliate. Also, try not to bombard people with products as this might do more harm than good. It is best to start by trying the free, organic traffic route before attempting to use paid Facebook Ads.
- YouTube. Another popular space for affiliate links is beneath a YouTube video. If you have a popular YouTube account, you can add links to products or services that are related to your videos, and also mention them in the video.
- Blog. If you have a blog, you can add affiliate links that tie in with what the article is about.
- Affiliate banners. An affiliate banner is used alongside text links within your blog content. A company will provide you with designs for a clickable banner that links to their website.
- Resources page. If you are an expert in a particular topic, you can create a resources page on your website that has recommendations for the tools you use in your craft and can add links to your affiliates there.
- Instagram. Much like Facebook, you can generate organic affiliate traffic with your posts. For example, you can add a link to your bio, then tell your followers to check out your bio for more information on a product or service.
- Other social media platforms. If you use X (formerly Twitter), Pinterest, or TikTok, you can easily add affiliates to your bio or content. It is best to have the reader or viewer in mind when finding affiliates so that you can provide your followers with items they need. What types of products do they need? How many products should you advertise, and how often? And how can you creatively tell them about these affiliates in a way that won’t deter them?
Types of Affiliate Marketing
Types of affiliate marketing include links, email lists, web hosting, influencer programs, and coupon or loyalty affiliates.
Affiliate Link
These are exclusive URLs that track the traffic from your website to the company’s website. Every affiliate marketer has a unique URL, including random numbers and letters, or a username. These are then linked within copy or pasted onto a webpage next to a product description.
Email List
Building a loyal following is key to affiliate marketing, so you should be sure to have an email list of your fans. Once your readers subscribe to your email updates, you can promote your affiliated products through regular emails.
The trick with this affiliate marketing type is not to spam your followers with products, but to create valuable email content, then occasionally advertise products that you think your readers may need.
Web Hosting
Web hosting is when you pay for server space and a domain name, i.e., “example.com.” The “hosting” will then allow you to load your website in that space.
You will pay for a certain amount of storage and traffic to your site, which your web hosting provider will manage for you. All you have to do is provide the files or folder structure for your website.
If you have experience creating a website, this may be an excellent way for you to earn extra money from your affiliate links. You will need to know about search engine optimization (SEO), how to build a website, and how to drive organic traffic to your website.
Influencer Affiliate Marketing
Influencer affiliate marketing is when social media creators, bloggers, or YouTubers promote affiliate products to their established audience. This method works well because followers often trust recommendations from people they already follow and engage with.
Coupon and Loyalty Affiliates
Coupon and loyalty affiliates drive sales by offering shoppers discounts or cashback incentives. These types of programs are popular with price-conscious consumers and can generate high volumes of traffic for brands.
Pros & Cons of Affiliate Marketing
The pros and cons of affiliate marketing highlight whether it’s the right strategy for your brand or content.
Pros of Affiliate Marketing
Low risk. Because there’s little to no upfront financial capital required, the outcome of using affiliate marketing is low risk.
No cost. This pro is crucial for small businesses trying to get off the ground. There is no cost to becoming an affiliate partner, and as long as you have the right savvy for building a website and producing engaging content to build a following, you can begin earning with no investment.
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Passive income. With just a small amount of effort initially, your affiliate marketing can continue to bring in profit for you as long as the link and the page featuring it are active.Scalability. Affiliate marketing programs can grow as your traffic and audience increase, making it possible to expand income without significantly raising costs.
Cons of Affiliate Marketing
Commission payments. It may take some time before someone clicks and uses your links to make a purchase, and the commission payment may take even longer to be paid out.
Competition. The competition in the affiliate marketing field is steep, with companies partnering with many affiliates as part of their own marketing strategy. Also, getting your blog or content noticed comes with tough competition.Limited control over brand reputation. Since affiliates promote other companies’ products, you have little control over the brand’s customer service or quality, which can reflect back on you if customers are dissatisfied.
How AI Impacts Affiliate Marketing
AI is already reshaping affiliate marketing in several ways.
Content Creation & SEO
AI tools make it easier for affiliates to generate product reviews, blog posts, and SEO-optimized content quickly. This lowers the barrier to entry but also creates more competition, since many affiliates can now publish at scale. To stand out, affiliates need to provide authentic insights and personal expertise alongside AI-assisted content.
Search & Discovery Changes
AI-powered search engines and answer tools are changing how people find products. Instead of browsing multiple affiliate websites, users may see AI-generated summaries that highlight only a handful of sources. This means affiliate content must be authoritative, trustworthy, and original to be surfaced or cited by search platforms.
Ad Targeting & Personalization
AI helps affiliates understand user behavior and predict conversions more accurately. Tools like AI chatbots and recommendation engines allow affiliates to tailor product suggestions, increase engagement, and boost click-through rates with less manual effort.
Fraud Detection & Compliance
Affiliate networks are using AI to detect fraudulent clicks, fake leads, and suspicious traffic patterns. While this improves trust in affiliate programs, it also raises the stakes for compliance. Affiliates must follow guidelines closely to avoid being flagged by automated monitoring systems.
Job Outlook
AI lowers entry barriers by simplifying tasks but also raises expectations for quality. Affiliates who focus on niche expertise, transparent disclosures, and authentic content will be better positioned to succeed in the AI-driven affiliate landscape.
How Can I Learn Affiliate Marketing?
To learn affiliate marketing, you need to follow a structured process from niche selection to strategy building.
Pick a Niche
The first step in learning affiliate marketing is to decide what your niche is going to be. A niche is a unique segment that is part of a greater market. Its focus is typically on a subset of this larger market. This topic is the specialty that your brand will become known for. Deciding on a niche will help direct your plan and strategy to be one that is in alignment with your unique focus.
Choose a Platform
Next, decide which platform you would like to use to promote your affiliate marketing products. This platform is where you’ll build your following and establish your brand and credibility. The top platforms for affiliate marketing include Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, blogs, or content review websites.
Select Content Types
Beyond choosing a platform, it’s important to decide what kind of content you’ll produce to promote affiliate products. Popular approaches include blog posts, YouTube tutorials, TikTok videos, Instagram reels, or in-depth review articles. Selecting the right content type ensures your affiliate promotions align with how your audience consumes information.
Create a Strategy
Any marketing class will tell you that effective marketing begins with a strategy. This might include using a calendar tool to create and post your content at a specific time. Factor this in as you research what affiliates fit with your content.
Your strategy should also focus on how best to reach your desired audience, and what kind of content they will most likely interact with. Understanding your target audience will also allow you to promote products that cater to their needs or interests.
Find Relevant Affiliate Programs
Finding the right affiliate programs is key to becoming a successful affiliate marketer and choosing the best affiliate programs can make your efforts more profitable.
Partnering with the right affiliate programs is very important to becoming a successful affiliate marketer and making your efforts fruitful. Firstly, it’s important to consider the reputation of the affiliate program in the marketing marketplace. Working with someone reputable will make it easier to promote their products and services and receive your commission dues.
Some top marketplaces in the affiliate marketing industry include Commission Junction (CJ Affiliate), ClickBank, FlexOffers, Rakuten Advertising, and Impact. You can also reach out to your favorite brands to see if they offer an affiliate program. This strategy works well as long as the brands and their products align with your niche.Secondly, the commission structure must be worthwhile in order to glean profits from successful affiliate purchases. Good companies offering affiliate programs typically offer 10 percent to 20 percent commission on sales, while software and SaaS programs often provide 15 percent to 25 percent.1 Consider a company’s EPC, or earnings-per-click, too so that you’re aware of how clicks from your site are valued.
Build a Website
Building a website and using it to host your content can help boost your brand as well as your affiliate link click rate. Having a website where you can host a blog allows you to use the content as a place to add affiliate links or to run paid advertisements on the site.
There are many website hosting services and website builders that allow you to build beautiful websites easily, such as Wix. WordPress is also a great website builder to use to quickly and easily launch a functional website and blog. To improve your results, make sure your site is optimized for speed, SEO, and mobile responsiveness, since these factors directly affect both rankings and conversions.
Create Great Content
Now that your website or platform is set up, create original, useful, and optimized content for it. There is no point in getting into affiliate marketing if you don’t have an audience to show your high-quality content to. Create material you love and develop your niche.
Build Your Audience
To build your audience, do some research on what your target audience is interested in. Considering what questions the average reader might have pertaining to your niche or chosen topic is a good place to find content ideas. Making your content clear, approachable, and trustworthy will help promote your affiliate links.
Promote Your Affiliates
Once you have enough content and you’ve created an effective strategy and website, you can begin promoting. If you’re using affiliate links, work the products into the content you’re writing about.
The more naturally the links fit into your content, the more authentic your promotion of them feels. This is where understanding your niche and writing strong content is an important part of the strategy. Learning how to promote affiliate links in a way that feels natural is critical for long-term success.
Best Way to Learn Affiliate Marketing Online
The best ways to learn affiliate marketing are reading blogs and books, taking online courses or free classes, or utilizing other resources shared below.
Online Affiliate Marketing Classes
Below are a few affiliate marketing online courses and classes you may want to pursue. When choosing an affiliate marketing course, consider more than price. Many Udemy courses provide certificates of completion, but LinkedIn Learning and Google Digital Garage issue recognized certifications that can be displayed on your professional profile. These courses also cover practical skills like SEO optimization, analytics tracking, and funnel design, which can be directly applied to affiliate campaigns or even freelance digital marketing jobs.
Udemy
These Udemy classes are useful if you want hands-on affiliate marketing instruction via ClickBank, especially for building campaigns without investing in a website or high ad spend. Certificates of completion are included, which can help boost credibility on your resume or LinkedIn profile.
Courses: ClickBank Success – Affiliate Marketing Without A Website (most-enrolled affiliate course on Udemy—covers creating profitable campaigns using ClickBank without needing a website, includes squeeze pages and Facebook promotion strategies).4
Time: approx 3 hours of on-demand video plus additional articles and downloadable resources.4
Price: Typically ranges around $119–$149, but Udemy’s pricing may vary with frequent promotions.4
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning’s platform provides accredited training with certificates you can display on your profile, offering credibility as you develop your affiliate marketing knowledge. This makes it one of the best affiliate marketing courses for professionals seeking career advancement.5
Courses: Affiliate Marketing Foundations—covers affiliate marketing basics, applying to programs, strategy, and revenue generation.5
Time: Generally 1–4 hours depending on depth and module selection.5Price: Varies; includes a first month free trial for LinkedIn Learning subscriptions.
Free Online Affiliate Marketing Courses
Below are some of the free online affiliate marketing courses to help beginners learn about digital and email marketing.
Google Digital Garage
Fundamentals of Digital Marketing is a free, certified course structured into 26 modules, covering SEO, SEM, content marketing, email, analytics, and more. Most learners complete it in approximately 40 hours.6
HubSpot Academy
Get Certified in Email Marketing typically takes around 3.2 hours to complete; it’s a free course that teaches the fundamentals of inbound and email marketing.7
Community and Peer Learning
In addition to formal courses, you can also learn affiliate marketing by joining online forums, peer study groups, and communities. Platforms like Reddit’s affiliate marketing subforum and dedicated Facebook groups allow you to exchange strategies, troubleshoot issues, and learn from experienced affiliates. This informal learning complements structured courses and helps you stay up to date with industry trends.
Affiliate Marketing Books
Affiliate marketing books are another way to build your knowledge through step-by-step guides and case studies. Books, e-books, and audiobooks alike will help you flesh out your understanding.
Affiliate Marketing: A Step-By-Step Guide To Making Money Online With Affiliate Marketing, Kevin Ulaner
This book discusses passive income, affiliate marketing, blogging, small business ideas, and financial freedom. Check out this step-by-step guide for beginners to learn more.
From Nothing: Everything You Need to Profit from Affiliate Marketing, Internet Marketing, Blogging, Online Business, and more, Ian Pribyl
This is another great beginner’s guide to affiliate marketing. Ian gets straight to the point about how to create successful affiliate marketing plans.
Evergreen Affiliate Marketing, by Nate McCallister
A standout among the best affiliate marketing books, this title focuses on creating content that consistently ranks and converts over the long term through “evergreen” strategies.
The Complete Guide to Affiliate Marketing on the Web, by Bruce C. Brown
This in-depth guide walks readers through choosing profitable programs, setting up content that converts, tracking metrics effectively, and scaling affiliate campaigns online.
Affiliate Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Building a Profitable Online Business in 2024, by Rachel Peters
This recent and highly practical book covers choosing affiliate programs, optimization techniques, and real-world examples to help readers build a profitable affiliate business today^5.
Online Affiliate Marketing Resources and Tools
The Internet offers dozens of affiliate marketing resources that will teach you skills and help you learn more about affiliate marketing. Here are some examples:
Youtube.com
Is there anything that YouTube has not made more accessible and fun to learn? YouTube remains a vibrant resource for learning directly from creators who monetize their channels through affiliate links. Many channels showcase how to integrate affiliate marketing into video content authentically and effectively.
Thirstyaffiliates.com
This link-cloaking tool helps protect your affiliate URLs from hijacking and ensures clean, safe-looking links. It’s especially useful once you start scaling your affiliate promotion efforts.
Smallseotools.com/plagiarism-checker
For any kind of content creation, using a plagiarism checker is a top SEO tip. This will let you know if your content will be flagged by Google’s algorithm as plagiarized, which will cause your content to rank lower on Google’s search results.
Should You Learn Affiliate Marketing?
Yes, you should learn affiliate marketing if any affiliate products align with your core values and online presence. If the prospect of sharing products and services with your audience sounds exciting, then follow our steps to affiliate marketing success.
However, be aware that not all affiliate marketing courses available online are legitimate. Only use trusted websites and research even the classes in this article if you decide to go that route.
We hope this article has shed some light on the positive side of affiliate marketing. We wish you well in your learning process and hope you can help your followers and supplement your income with affiliate marketing.
Learn Affiliate Marketing FAQ
You can learn affiliate marketing for free through online resources such as Google Digital Garage or HubSpot Academy. These reputable companies offer programs for beginners to help them get started in affiliate marketing. There are also a ton of tutorials available on YouTube from experienced affiliate marketers.
How long does it take to learn?
It can take hours to weeks to learn affiliate marketing, depending on the learning resource you’re using. For example, one course on Udemy that teaches affiliate marketing has about three hours of lessons, while another has over 30 hours. Depending on how much time you can dedicate to your learning, it may take you a week or two to go through the longer course.
It can take anywhere from six to 15 months to begin earning steady income from your affiliate strategy. The process may go quicker if you already have a digital marketing background and a large following on your social media or blog.
Is affiliate marketing hard to learn?
Affiliate marketing is not hard to learn. How challenging it feels depends on your prior understanding of marketing concepts and strategies, though no prior knowledge is required to pick it up quickly.
How much money do affiliate marketers make?
Affiliate marketers earn an average base salary of about $59,060 per year in 2025, according to PayScale, with most earning between $39,000 and $73,000 annually.8 Glassdoor data shows that affiliate marketers can earn as much as $90,000 or more at the high end,9 especially those with large audiences or specialized niches.
While affiliate marketers report average salaries between $39,000 and $73,000 per year, the income distribution is uneven. Success usually depends on consistency, niche choice, and the ability to build an engaged audience over time.
Sources:
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/693438/affiliate-marketing-spending/
- https://referralrock.com/blog/affiliate-commission-rates/
- https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking
- https://www.udemy.com/course/clickbank-affiliate-marketing-success/
- https://www.linkedin.com/learning/affiliate-marketing-foundations
- https://skillshop.exceedlms.com/student/collection/1384851-fundamentals-of-digital-marketing
- https://academy.hubspot.com/courses/email-marketing-certification-en
- https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Affiliate_Marketer/Salary
- https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/affiliate-marketer-salary-SRCH_KO0,18.htm
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