Nov 12, 20186 min read

How to Setup a WordPress Affiliate Platform

What is WordPress?

WordPress is one of the most simple, most popular way to make your very own blog or website. This powers more than 32% of the websites you can find on the internet. Most of the websites you visit are actually powered by WordPress. On a more technical level, this is an open source content management system that is licensed under the GPLv2, this means that any person can use or modify the WordPress software without needing to pay. This is basically a tool which makes it easier to manage the different aspects in your website such as content without having to know anything related to programming. This program was created as a standalone project way back in 2003 and it originated as an offshoot for a previous project which was known as the b2/cafelog. WordPress is also actually made by a community of contributors, but really started from the collaboration of Mike Little and Matt Mullenweg. Matt Mullenweg has become the face of WordPress and also the founder of Automattic- the company that’s behind the for-profit of WordPress.com Service. When you use WordPress, one thing is for sure, it’s that you are in a good company for publishing on the web. A lot of famous news outlets, blogs, site for music, celebrities are actually using WordPress. To name some, TechCrunch and Mashable are two well-known blogs that use wordpress. Some news outlets like CNN on-air personality, and The New York Times Blog use WordPress as well. There’s a lot of ways to use WordPress, you can use it to Blog, for eCommerce, News, Business purposes, Photography, Memberships, Music.

What is an Affiliate Program?

An affiliate program is also called an associate program which is an online merchant website that help track and pay websites or people a commission for sending an online business traffic. These people or sites have their unique links that they would use on their own sites or social media channels and if a sale is from that link the affiliate program tracks it and adds it to their payout, depending on the agreement. The agreement comes in different ways such as per sale, the number of traffic sent to the online store, clicks, and others more. But basically, if the affiliate brings the online store traffic agreed on or money then the online store would be paying. Affiliate programs make the job of both the online store and affiliate safer and easier by tracking, releasing payout in a safer way, giving other options for payout, making sure that both parties have features to make it easier to share and maximize the time. Affiliate marketing is one of the best marketing strategy because it make sure you reach real people who are more likely to be interested. A wordpress affiliate software will definitely benefit your business.

Why Setup an Affiliate Program?

Affiliate marketing is a very good strategy for every type of business may it be online or in brick and mortar shops. A lot of people still question the value but more and more people who have tried it on their eCommerce stores can prove the efficiency of this strategy. Numbers clearly show the tremendous growth and massive earning potential of affiliate marketing. From a marketer’s point of view, it’s an online ads and promotions that an affiliate would do with a tracking link that would redirect to the website of the online store. This helps the online stores brand to grow traffic and popularity on the internet as the affiliate introduces it to more people. It’s a very effective way to attract and reach more and more shoppers online. The world of businesses is huge and complex, no matter who you are, you can join and open a business to compete with the traders. This makes affiliate programs more important, because it’s an edge to the other businesses who do not have it yet. A lot of businesses disregard affiliate programs but little did they know that it’s easy to build, run, and manage. It’s even easier than creating your very own product which would take a long time. An affiliate program, helps you make your products more popular, and uses different advertising strategies from different people. There’s no need to risk money to start your affiliate program because if there’s no sales, or if the agreement wasn’t met then there’s no payout. Profit comes in faster because it reaches more people who are more likely to be interested.

What is OSI Affiliate?

OSI Affiliate Software is an affiliate software that has been known in the industry for helping businesses of all sizes increase their sales and traffic through affiliate programs. This affiliate program can help you turn your customers into affiliates or brand ambassadors who will promote your business to their friends (people who stay together tend to think alike) and bring more sales into your business in exchange for freebies, discounts, and others. Affiliate programs are effective because it’s a win-win situation for both parties. OSI will be tracking, and giving other advertisement options to your customers to make it easier for them to share.

Why is it Good for WordPress Users?

Affiliate programs are good for WordPress users because it offers a lot of benefits such as free content marketing, search engine optimization, and growth. The most popular technique that affiliates use is promo and reviews content. This means that your affiliate would make reviews about your product and write it on their blog, or other places they could and more people would get to learn about your products and check out your store. SEO is one of the byproduct of content marketing because it uses the special redirection links the the domain of the affiliate program. This can also benefit you through organic link structures and bring in organic traffic to your store. Affiliate programs make your business grow because it reaches more people and it turns into a cycle. Let’ say one customer turned into your affiliate and shared your product to 10 friends, from that 10 friends 4 of them became customers, and 3 of them became new affiliates. Now from those 3 new affiliates they shared it to another 10 friends, so you reach more people who you haven’t reached before and because it’s their friend who’s inviting them to try your products, trust is already there. Billboards, TV commercials, Newspaper ads are very expensive, affiliate marketing is an effective but budget friendly option. Since you only pay commissions when you reached your agreement, then it means you only pay when you already get something from it. Also, a lot of affiliate software come with smart SEO which would help you make sure that your products rank high on the search engines, and this increases the chances of people who search for your product click your link. Since your affiliates would be receiving incentives from reaching your agreement, the people they would be inviting are people who are really interested. Targeted customers are always better to reach because there’s a higher chance for them to purchase. Affiliate softwares maintain transparency and makes tracking the sales more easy. The business owner could count how many products were sold through the affiliate link and so can the affiliate. This prevents complications and helps build a stronger relationship. The software can also help the affiliates by showing the geographic location of the majority of people clicking the ad, this helps both know what to focus on and which ad to work on. Let’s remember that exposure is also important. When you have an affiliate program, you can reach more people and show more people what your business has to offer when you are present on the right websites, you will also be increasing your exposure by staying in tune with the correct demographics that are targeted. Exposure doesn’t just get you known to more people, it also helps you build your brand name and image. When you have a brand name and image, you last longer because it leaves a long lasting impression on people who are interested (prospect buyers). Because of that, you are more likely to spread through the internet, or even through word of mouth which is the most important marketing strategy because it’ built from trust.