to be or not to be (an affiliate)

I have a couple of sites that have affiliate links on them and they do make us money. I think a lot of it comes down to how they are placed within your layout (not as pop-ups) and how well you think about what type you put on and their relevancey to your visitors. I have found that if you use an affilaite scheme rather than lots of individual ones you can manage it all much better.

IMO adding affiliate links can be a great success for a site if you choose your affiliates properly/carefully.

Select affiliates that add value to the content and purpose of your site. For example, if you sell golf clubs add golf related affiliates (nothing that competes with you directly of course ). If you sell auto parts add automotive related affiliates. Don't add webhosting or cooking affiliates as it makes no sense for that type of site.

I don't believe ecommerce sites should display advertising, it kind of says that they aren't making any money selling their own products and cheapens their appearance. I suppose you could sneak some affiliate programs on your site, but don't go overboard with banners, popup ads, and the like -- there's a reason sites like Dell.com, Microsoft.com, Amazon.com, etc. don't have ads for other sites.

I agree with Marc. Use that space instead to advertise your own products.

Thanks for your reply..........I think there is merit in what you say. I'd guess if you you wern't very careful you could shoot yourself in the foot!

It depends, as long as the affiliates aren't selling the same as you but is related it can be seen as offering good additional content to visitors.

Absolutely........I just finished up developing an initial page of potential affiliate links.......and I was surprised myself how long it took to find a good/appropriate sites that fit the criteria..........

:-)

We have an affiliate link to a registrar on an inner page. I cannot see us putting that link on the index page. Now, when we can offer registration we will put that as a link to a new page. I cannot see putting that on the main page either.

I wouldn't put it on the index page but a sub page is fine. We get a decent monthly stream from affiliate sales.