Not every affiliate program is the same. While one affiliate program may be a good fit for a site, the same affiliate program may not work as well for another site. Depending on the nature of your site and the niche it is from, results and the money you can make off each affiliate program can vary from site to site.

I have list down some basic tips below to guide those of you who are interested in selecting the right affiliate program for your site.

Commission Structure
My rule of thumb is for digital products, the commission needs to be at least 50% of the price. For physical products, anything from 10% to 30% will be good. Also take note of affiliate programs that has a 2 tier commission structure or even offer recurring commissions.

Customer Support
Test out the customer service before promoting the program, otherwise you will run the risk of alienating your loyal customers. Always go for affiliate program that offers at least a decent level of customer support.

Payment
Choose affiliate programs that pay out commission at least once a month. Also take note of the minimum payout amount, ideally minimum should be as low as possible, probably less than $100 will be good. Another important point to take note is the payment mode (such as paypal); make sure you are able to receive your commission.

Pricing of Products & Services
When promoting an affiliate program, please take note of the affiliate program pricing. If your site primary audience is made up of visitors with low buying power, it makes no sense to promote affiliate program with high price products and services that are out of reach for your targeted traffic.

Reputable Merchants
There are many affiliate programs that have merchants with shoddy products and services. That is why if you are able to afford it, try out the products and services first before recommending to your site’s visitors. If not you can always do some research on forums and blogs before deciding whether to promote a particular affiliate program or not.

Tracking
If an affiliate program does not offer you decent tracking tools, you can forget about it. Without decent tracking tools, there is no way you can tweak and test your results to maximize your affiliate commission.

I hope these tips on choosing an affiliate program will get you started on the right track to making healthy commissions off affiliate marketing. As you become more experience in promoting affiliate programs, finding the right affiliate programs to promote is going to be a breeze to you.