Best for Newbie, Best Affiliate Programs

Best Affiliate Programs Almost always, affiliate programs are the most profitable way to monetize a site. While PPC ads can bring you money, it's affiliate ads that can bring you real money. However, it matters a lot which affiliate networks you choose. There are thousands of affiliate networks but needless to say, not all of them are equal. If you pick a bad affiliate network, you are simply wasting your time. This is why we compiled a list of the best affiliate programs for you to start with.

1 Commission Junction Commission Junction is one of the first affiliate networks, but it still is going more than well. It has a huge selection of offers, including numerous exclusive offers you won't find anywhere else. Most of the brands that have an affiliate program can be found on CJ but the problem is that for popular brands you need to be approved by the advertiser. Very often when the advertiser isn't accepting new affiliates, you get rejected even if your site and promotion skills are out of this world but still there are many other brands to try on CJ. The commission rates there aren't the highest in the industry but still it is possible to find products that pay 50% or more in commissions.

2 ShareASale Share  ASale is another huge affiliate network with offers in many niches. It has both leads, sales, and even clicks, so the choice is really overwhelming. As a whole, the commissions there are generous, though this certainly depends on the advertiser and the product. SAS has a huge pool of advertisers and thousands of products to choose from. The downside is that many sites are rejected, so if your site isn't a good one, it is quite possible you won't be admitted at all.

3 Amazon Amazon is another very well known affiliate network. In terms of choice of offers it beats every other network - you are free to promote almost any product sold on Amazon. The commissions aren't very generous but you can use it to monetize almost any niche. Amazon is one of the best choices for books and CDs but it also converts well for health products, household appliances and other stuff, food, etc.

4 eBay EBay is also a great choice for almost any niche, though its selection of offers isn't as huge as Amazon's. Admission to the program itself could be a problem because they have many affiliates and are very picky when new affiliates want to join. In terms of commissions, this isn't the highest paying network but if you can reach good sales volumes, you can make decent money with it.

5 ClickBank Clickbank is the best choice for eBooks and other digital products. Its user interface and logic isn't the best you can find and very often you will miss great products simply because you can't find them but as a whole, this is one of the best networks with really generous commissions. Due to their payment terms, Clickbank is kind of hard for a beginner because if you don't make sales you are charged for this but nevertheless, it is still very worthy, especially if you have lots of traffic to your site and are serious in your affiliate efforts.

6 Max Bounty Max Bounty doesn't have the thousands of offers the bigger networks have but it is a really good network. It has many leads and many exclusive offers. It also has some of the easiest type of offers – email submits, which don't pay much but convert much more easily than sales and other types of leads. Many offers allow search traffic, so you can start promoting them right away, even without the need to create a landing page for them.

7 Peer Fly Peer Fly is similar to Max Bounty but they offer more products to promote. They also have many leads and many exclusive offers, as well as a good selection of email submits, so if you are looking for some easy affiliate products to start with, give it a try.

8 LinkShare LinkShare is somehow similar to CJ and Amazon because they offer products in many niches, though the selection is certainly not that huge. One of the best things about them is that if you are from the US, the $1 payout makes it easy to get your money soon, rather than have to wait till you reach $100, as the threshold for most other networks is. One of the biggest advertisers here is Buy.com, where you can find products in many niches. Their commissions are kind of low but still there are products that pay 50% or more. The offers are mainly sales - leads, if any, are very rare, so if you are looking for leads, this isn't you network.

9 Never Blue Ads Compared to the others, Never Blue Ads isn't the best network but if you didn't have success with the other networks on the list, give them a try. They are picky about the affiliates they accept but it isn't that difficult to join them. They do have exclusive offers, so it won't hurt, if you try them.

10 PepperJam PepperJam is also a good affiliate network, though it isn't as big as the others on the list. It has good retail offers, so if you are looking for an Amazon-like site to promote, it is possible to find it on PepperJam.

11 More Niche More Niche is last on the list not because it is worse than the others but because it is a niche network that won't be of interest to the majority of Web masters, who don't have sites in the niches it covers. More Niche is great for weight loss, health and beauty, especially if you have UK traffic because all its advertisers are in these niches and there are many top UK brands. Of course, you can sell these products to a global audience but for UK they are the best fit. Their commissions are very generous and they offer tons of affiliate materials, not only the standard banners and text ads.

There is a lot of money in affiliate ads. It is true that while you learn the ropes you might be making next to nothing but this isn't a reason to give up. If you have good, targeted traffic, affiliate offers are your best bet. Join the networks on the list, find suitable offers, start promoting them, and chances are you will make decent money with this.