Affiliate marketing has become increasingly popular in recent years. Affiliate programs offer merchants the opportunity to employ vast armies of sales people who only get paid for the results they achieve.

The rewards for affiliates are high also, and the skilled affiliate marketer can earn many thousands of dollars a month. This win-win situation has led to an explosion in the number of affiliate programs that are available to the would-be marketer. With this proliferation of opportunities has come many questions; how do you go about choosing the right opportunity for you? What qualities should you look for in a program and which gives you a good chance of making a sustainable income? Below are some tips that will help you to evaluate merchants and their programs, and help you to avoid wasting time and money.

1. How Much Commission Does The Merchant Pay?

This may seem obvious, but it is very important that you know how much you can expect to earn from a sale. There is no point in spending time and money promoting a product that doesn't pay well. You could end up spending more on marketing than you are likely to make on sales. It is probably best to stick with marketing products with a high commission value, unless you have found a niche market where you can sell vast quantities of product, and make substantial commissions on your volume of sales.

2. How Much Traffic is the Merchant's Website Getting?

Try to discover the amount of traffic the merchant's website is already receiving. Alexa.com could be a useful tool for doing this research. If the website is ranked in the top 100,000, the merchant is getting a good volume of traffic, and there may already be too many affiliates. If it is ranked below 500,000 it is either no good or it could just be a golden opportunity to make some real money! Always research a merchant's product if their website has a low traffic ranking. It may be a good idea to buy the product yourself if you can afford to. Otherwise you could do a search to find out if there are any adverse comments about it on the internet. If all is well and the product is good, you may have found a gold mine!

3. How Often Are Commissions Paid?

Some merchants pay commissions every week; some once a month, others only pay every quarter. It is important that you know how often you can expect a pay check if you are going to have financial control over your business. Do you have the financial resources to continue to market a product if you have to wait a long time before you get paid? It would also be wise to find out the minimum commission that you have to earn before you get paid.

4. Does The Company Use Tracking Cookies?

Many customers do not buy on their first visit to a merchant's website. It is important therefore that the merchant uses cookies on their site, so that you get credit if the customer returns and buys at a later date. Check out how long the cookies last. The longer the cookies lasts; the better the chance of getting paid!

5. Does The Merchant Pay On Subsequent Sales?

Some merchants will only pay commission on sales that come through customers visiting their site via a direct link from your site. They pay you nothing for any subsequent purchases that the customer makes if they visit the merchants site directly. It is important that you get paid no matter what route the customer returns by if you are to build a sustainable business.

6. What Promotional Resources Does The Merchant Offer?

Look at the type and quality of the promotional material that they provide. Do they provide articles or content that you can use to promote them on your site or free guides, special offers or samples? If the promotional resources are good it is likely that the merchant will provide good support for their affiliates.

Finding the right merchant can be a tricky business. The best advice is to do your own research. Use the above questions as an aid to finding a merchant that enables you to reach your financial goals. You never know - You could strike gold!