Does Affiliate Marketing Still Work in 2018?

Affiliate marketing is one of those fabled work-at-home opportunities that people want to aim for, but few actually understand how to get started. Unfortunately, many people don’t even bother trying because they assume that they’ve missed the train. They think that other affiliate marketers are well ahead of them and that there’s no chance to make a lucrative amount of money from it or even turn it into a full-time job.

But that’s just not true!

Affiliate marketing will be around for as long as reviewers are needed. Whether you’re listing the best toasters to use or the best budget laptops, there’s always a chance that you can continue to grow big as an affiliate marketer. To help you out, we’ve put together a few of the most useful tips that will catapult your career and get you off to a fantastic start.

Know Your Audience

The first thing to consider is knowing your audience. If you don’t know your audience then you’re not going to grow and you’re not going to get more clicks on your affiliate links.

1. Solve their problems – Your website content needs to solve a problem for your audience, not introduce more or be filled with pointless content that doesn’t appeal to them. For example, if you’re going to create a tech website then you should focus on articles that target different price points or use cases. “Top Windows Tablets for Artists” or “Best Budget Gaming Laptop” are fantastic examples because they’re straight to the point.
2. Appeal to a niche – Building a broad reach is difficult especially when you’re starting out. This makes niches far more lucrative if you have some existing knowledge in them. If you can get involved in communities that focus on the niche, then it becomes much easier to build an audience and eventually grow it.
3. Focus on your audience’s experience – Everything about your content needs to be accessible to your audience so that it’s easy to digest. Whether it’s categorizing your content or just simply adding a search function to your site, usability is incredibly important.

Focusing on the Technical Side

Next, we need to think about the technical side of affiliate marketing. If you only think about how you can dazzle your audience with your next review but neglect to think about SEO or analytics, then you won’t get very far in this business.

1. Understanding how SEO works – If you don’t understand how SEO works then you won’t appear very high (or at all) on Google search pages. Make sure you take SEO seriously and consider hiring a third party to help you if you need to manage a large website with a lot of content. Alternatively, there are cloud-based tools that will help you rank your page higher by examining your content, but these are often robotic and can be slow.
2. Black vs white hat – Black and white hat SEO are both used to boost your page rank. However, white has is often the superior choice because black hat tends to ruin your reputation and doesn’t build your audience organically.
3. Working on your reputation – Speaking of reputation, it’s important that you have a solid history so that more companies are willing to enrol you in their affiliate program.
   Creating original content – Original content is one of the key components of good SEO, meaning you should always write your own content or hire someone–never steal!
4. Analytics are important – Don’t neglect the power of analytics. They can help you determine what type of audience you get and they can also assist in helping you plan your next product review or article.

Creating a Website Isn’t the Only Possibility

Affiliate marketing is often seen paired with blogging or a website that focuses on news and reviews. Thankfully, you don’t need to rely on a blog or website as your only source of income.

1. Creating content through YouTube – YouTube is becoming an increasingly popular platform for affiliate marketing thanks to the video format and lack of website management. It takes hard work to build a YouTube channel but it can arguably be more successful than a website or blog.
2. Becoming a social media guru – Social media can also be a lucrative platform for affiliate marketers that know how to spur engagement. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter or even Instagram, the more platforms you focus on the more exposure you’ll get.
3. Email marketing is still around – Lastly, you can always turn email lists into a marketing opportunity. It takes a lot of work and you’ll need to customize each email and write honest content, but it can still work if you’re patient.


Not only are these options great alternatives to creating and managing a website, but they’re also fantastic as alternate sources of income that can boost your profits.

Some Final Words

As you can see, affiliate marketing still works in 2018 and will continue to work no matter what year it is. As long as there is a demand for content about new products or a niche line of services, there will always be a place for affiliate marketing. Make sure you get to know your audience and don’t neglect the technical side of affiliate marketing. If creating a website isn’t your cup of tea then change it for something else. Whether it’s creating YouTube content or getting more involved in social media, there are plenty of alternatives that don’t involve making your own site.

Whatever you do, affiliate marketing is still alive and these trends and tips will help you overcome your limitations and turn affiliate marketing into a viable career choice.