If you have a WordPress website and want to harness the power of ecommerce to monetize your site, we have some great news. With the help of ShareASale, you can take advantage of online sales and make money through your WordPress website.
While hundreds of high-paying affiliate marketing programs are now available online, some are (much) better than others. ShareASale is a highly-acclaimed affiliate program known for its ease of use. Ready to discover the ShareASale affiliate program and how to use it on your website? Here's what you need to know to begin.
What is affiliate marketing?
To quickly recap, affiliate marketing involves promoting a third-party service or product. In doing so, you earn a commission on each sale. The most significant part of affiliate marketing is building trust. Remember when you've landed on a website with nothing but sponsored links and clunky advertisements? Or have you ever read a business blog that features posts that are just marketing copy for merchants?
A crucial part of affiliate marketing is building that trust, and if your website overdoes the sponsored links or isn't picky about what it promotes, you risk your visitors feeling a lack of it. To make affiliate marketing work as a beginner, you must find the right partner and ensure your content captures user interest and compels them to click on merchant links. Plus, it should feel intrinsic to the content you're already creating.
What is ShareASale?
Now that you're in the know about affiliate marketing, let's answer the burning question: What is ShareASale?
ShareASale is a popular affiliate marketing program boasting two decades of sales and advertising experience. It checks many necessary boxes — for starters, the company is reputable, well-reviewed, and free to sign up. Affiliates have access to over 4,800 merchants. These merchants range across a variety of markets and niche industries. Thankfully, this means it's simple to find the perfect match for your site.
Why choose the ShareASale affiliate program?
Generally speaking, reviews of the ShareASale affiliate program are favorable. Of course, there is a learning curve to figuring out how to place and give context for affiliate marketing leads. However, as far as online affiliate income goes, ShareASale is considered to be reliable.
Additionally, from a website owner's perspective, ShareASale is a hit because its user interface is easy to use. Plus, the program offers customizable reports that provide insight into how your affiliate marketing is doing. Maybe best of all: ShareASale provides plenty of resources to help you get started learning.
How does ShareASale work?
ShareASale's website shows that over 270,000 active affiliates are growing their website with the platform. Additionally, it generated 200m sales in 2021 alone. Many different products and services are offered, making it an excellent option for various sites.
You choose any of these merchants to use it and try to direct sales to their websites. You receive a commission for sales that result from your referral. Let's dive deeper into how ShareASale works.
Applying for an Affiliate Account
To start with ShareASale, visit their website and click the Affiliate Sign Up link and begin the signup process.
You’ll be directed to the signup page shown below. Once you create a username and password that you’ll remember and enter your country of residence, then click Move on to Step 2.
On the next page, you'll provide details about your website, including its URL and language. You need an active website to use this platform, so make sure your site is up and running before you apply. When you're done, click Move On To Step 3.
You'll be asked to confirm your email address. Once you provide that information, click Move on to Step 4.
On this page, you'll be asked to fill in contact information where you want ShareASale to send your payments. When the form is complete, click Move on to Step 5.
You'll need to choose a payment option to complete the application process.
Once you click Complete Sign Up, you must sit back and wait. Generally, your application will be reviewed and approved in 2-3 days.
Payment with ShareASale
Want to learn more about payments with ShareASale? Here's everything you need to know.
For starters, ShareASale does not use PayPal but does offer payment via ACH, direct deposit, and physical check. When you sign up, you'll identify how you want to receive your payments.
ShareASale is responsible for tracking the money you make via your affiliate links. If you have questions, check out your handy reporting dashboard. Then, you'll receive one paycheck with a lump sum from your affiliate marketing for the month.
The reporting dashboard is one of ShareASale's keynote features because it provides in-depth insight into which campaigns drive significant affiliate growth.
Remember that with ShareASale, you get paid on the 20th of the month for the previous month's work. So on July 20th, you'll get a paycheck for any sales up to June 20th.
Getting Started With ShareASale
Once your application is approved, it's time to add affiliate links. ShareASale offers a robust search tool. With the help of this, you are able to sift through and filter merchants based on category, keywords, sales commission structure, or even their length of time with ShareASale. Another excellent option is to look at the top 100 merchants on the site to decide if any match your site niche. Then, when you click on a merchant, you'll see both their commission structure and payment amounts.
There are three merchant marketing models. These help you earn funds with the program. Let's dive in.
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Pay Per Lead — With this model, you are paid whenever a site visitor follows your affiliate link to the merchant's lead capture form and completes it.
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Pay Per Sale — Alternately, with pay per sale, you'll get paid when a visitor follows your direct link to a product or page and buys it.
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Pay Per Click — You earn a commission when people click ads on your website.
After selecting a merchant, you can access their referral links and banners through your ShareASale account. If you want to use a link, it's as simple as copying it and heading over to the WordPress post or content you want to use. Next, you will highlight the text you're including and click the Insert/Edit Link button in WordPress. Paste the ShareASale affiliate URL. You did it — your first ShareASale affiliate link!
ShareASale pays commissions monthly, and you are able to check in on your earnings whenever by logging into your account.The ShareASale minimum threshold is $50 to cash-out.
How to Optimize Your WordPress Site for ShareASale
You can insert ShareASale links into any WordPress post you're working on. Alternatively, add affiliate banners anywhere on your website. However, remember that you won't earn money unless users click through.
Want to learn how to optimize your website for the ShareASale affiliate program? Here are four tips.
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Choose a high-quality hosting service that's reliable, fast, and regularly updates your WordPress site to the newest version.
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Pick a simple domain name that communicates what your page is about. For example, if you write a fitness blog, include common terms related to that market niche in your WordPress domain name.
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Select a WordPress theme that's user-friendly and matches the tone of your posts.
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Find and promote products that will appeal to your site visitors. If you're running a popular fitness blog, link to merchants that provide healthy eating options, fitness equipment, or training services.
Making the Most of Shareasale
ShareASale is a reputable, reliable affiliate marketing program offering substantial earning potential. Once you get your program up and running, you may be surprised at the income it can earn you.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2022 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
