34 Best Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners

Hey, I’m Michael Culp, a business Master’s student and a blog owner. Today, I’m going to show you the 34 best affiliate marketing programs for beginners.

Affiliate marketing can be a great way to make money online. However, it can be difficult to know where to start.

In this post, I’ll list the top 34 affiliate marketing programs for beginners in 2022. I’ll provide an overview of each program and what they offer. This is a great resource for anyone who is looking to get started in affiliate marketing!

Statistics show that the affiliate marketing industry is expected to reach an estimated worth of $12 billion in 2022. It’s also important to mention that 8 in 10 brands run affiliate programs. The question that remains is, what affiliate programs can you join to have a piece of the cake too?

Let’s get started by taking a look at the important factors you need to watch out for.

What do we need to look for?

Before we dive into the list of the best programs, let me show you the four factors you need to take a look at before joining an affiliate program.

1 – Commission Rate

The commission rate is the percentage of the money you’re making per sale. The individual brand will dictate the commission rate.

The commission rates can be recurring commissions or one-time commissions. Recurring commissions mean that you make money every single month, as long as the customer stays a customer. The one-time commission you earn money just at the moment of the sale.

2 – Cookie Duration

When somebody clicks on an affiliate link, a cookie is stored in their computer and they don’t need to make a purchase right away for you to get credit. They can make a purchase 30 days, 60 days, and 90 days from now, and you still get credit for it.

It will depend on the rules of the affiliate program you’re joining. Some affiliate programs give you credit if you’re the first affiliate who makes the customer clicks on the link, while others will give you credit if you’re the last.

3 – Value of the product

The value of the product will also make an impact on how much money you’re making. For example, if you get a 10% commission rate on a $50 dollar product, you make $5 dollars. If you get a 5% commission rate on a $200 product you make $10 dollars.

4 – Conversion Rate

The last important factor is the conversion rate. Conversion rate is something that is completely out of your control and you need to take a careful look at it.

As an affiliate marketer, your job is to drive traffic to the brand. But what happens when the brand gets in front of the customer? Do they buy or leave the page?

If you’re promoting crappy products with a low conversion rate, you’ll have a hard time making money. But if you’re promoting a trustworthy brand, with a high conversion rate, things will be much easier.

Affiliate networks vs Affiliate Programs

An affiliate network is where you have merchants and different companies in the same place. The affiliate network hosts many different affiliate companies and many different affiliate programs.

The advantage of affiliate networks is that they will connect you with the majority of the suppliers you want to work with.

The disadvantage is that their commission rates can be low and isn’t always that your favorite supplier will be present in the network.

Both affiliate networks and in-house affiliate programs can be good. Make sure to do your research and your due diligence to choose the best option for you. In this article, I’ll show you both the best affiliate networks and the best in-house affiliate programs.

Let’s dive into it.

34 Best Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners

Without further ado, let’s dive into the best affiliate marketing programs that will give you the highest chances at success as a beginner.

1 – Amazon Associates

Amazon affiliate program is very easy to join and any product that you can imagine is probably on Amazon. It’s great for beginners.

With Amazon, you can earn up to 10% over one million products. A good benefit you get with them is that you get credit for any product the user purchases after clicking on your link. You also get a commission if they add a product to their cart and buy it later, which is valid for 90 days.

The downside of Amazon is that the commission is far lower than some of the other programs on this list. To tell the truth it’s the worst commission rate in the industry.

Amazon Associates is great to start adding tons of products to your site. You can start with Amazon Associates and look for replacements later.

2 – CJ Affiliate

CJ Affiliate, known as Commission Junction Affiliate, specializes in big brand names and small product and service suppliers.

They represent giant brands such as Tripadvisor, Disney Shops, Samsung, GoPro, and Overstock. CJ offers you reliable payments and the opportunity to work with the world’s largest brands.

The downside is that the network has a lot of different merchants, with very different and specific requirements. Some brands may offer instant access to promote their products while others will take weeks and even months to respond.

3 – ClickBank

ClickBank is an affiliate network that focuses on selling digital products. The network is also known for offering some of the highest commissions in the industry, with up to 75% on certain products.

The upside is that for most of the products you don’t need to get approved to promote them. The payouts are reliable and on time.

The downside is that Clickbank has some extremely bad products with high refund rates. So, you need to choose carefully which product you’re going to promote.

4 – ShareASale

ShareASale is great for fashion brands and eCommerce companies. They are focused on smaller brands and represent over 5,000 companies. Some of their top categories include fashion, home and garden, food and drink, and B2B. But there are a lot more.

The upside is that the application process is very straightforward. They also have great features such as affiliate marketing classes, training webinars, and marketing tools to help you make more money.

The downside is that the portal is a bit outdated, making it difficult to navigate, which can be bad for beginners.

5 – Rakuten Advertising

Although Rakuten LinkShare is one of the oldest affiliate partner networks, it has become significantly smaller than some of its more recent competitors. They solidified their place in the affiliate marketing industry when they acquired LinkShare in 2005. Since then, they have grown the Rakuten Linkshare platform and gained many awards along the way.

Rakuten Affiliate Network is a great affiliate network with a wide range of merchants, from big brands to small businesses. They offer an application process and once you’re in they provide you with all the tools and training needed to be successful.

The upside of Rakuten is that they have high-quality products, with many big brands such as Adidas, Macy’s, and Sephora. The downside is that their approval process can be very slow, taking up to two weeks.

6 – Elementor

Elementor is a great WordPress plugin that allows you to create beautiful websites without having to code. It is perfect for beginners as it is very user-friendly and has a drag-and-drop interface. You can create any type of website with Elementor, from simple blogs to complex eCommerce stores.

With Elementor you get 50% commission per sale.

7 – Active Campaign

Active campaign is an email marketing software provider. ActiveCampaign has a good recurring revenue model combined with a high conversion rate.

ActiveCampaign is a very good platform and has a lot of cool features. You get paid 10%, 20%, or 30% recurring revenue, based on the number of sales you bring. The more sales you get, the higher your commission rate.

8 – Convertkit

Convertkit is an email marketing software that allows you to create beautiful email newsletters, manage your subscribers, and automate your email marketing. Convertkit makes it easy to grow your mailing list and build a relationship with your subscribers.

With Convertkit you get a 30% commission for up to 24 months if the customer stays a customer.

9 – Unbounce

Unbounce is a landing page builder that allows users to create beautiful, high-converting landing pages. With Unbounce, you can increase your conversion rate and grow your business.

The upside of Unbounce is that it is very easy to use and has a lot of features. The downside is that it is a bit more expensive than some of its competitors. Unbounce is a great platform for beginners and experts alike.

With Unbounce you get 20% recurring revenue for every new customer you refer to Unbounce.

10 – Clickfunnels

Clickfunnels is software to build sales funnels.

Whenever somebody wants to sell anything online, they need to have a sales process, and for that, they need a sales funnel.

Whether it’s physical products, digital products, eCommerce, coaching, or a done-for-you service. They need a sales process that brings people from the time they don’t know who the vendor is to the time they actually buy.

You can help someone build a sales funnel online, by giving them great content so they understand and see the importance of having a sales process. You can show people how to build a sales process and at the end of the content, you recommend the software they need, which is Clickfunnels.

Clickfunnels pays 40% recurring revenue.

11 – Builderall

Builderall is an all-in-one platform that gives users everything they need to create and grow their online business. With Builderall, you can create beautiful websites, landing pages, sales funnels, email marketing campaigns, and more.

Builderall offers you a 30% recurring commission. They also have a second-tier recurring commission, which means that if your customers start to promote Builderall as affiliates, you make commissions from their referrals too.

12 – Thinkific

Thinkific is an online course platform that helps course creators create and sell their online courses. They have a great affiliate program with a 30% recurring commission. You get paid every month.

13 – Kajabi

Kajabi is an online course platform that helps you create, market, and sell your courses. They have a great affiliate program where you can earn a 30% recurring commission. You get paid every month as long as the person you refer to remains a paying customer.

14 – Leadpages

Leadpages is a landing page builder that allows users to create beautiful, high-converting landing pages. With Leadpages, you can increase your conversion rate and grow your business.

Leadpages has a great affiliate program where you can earn a 50% recurring commission. You get paid every month as long as the person you refer to remains a paying customer.

15 – Instapage

Instapage is a landing page builder that helps businesses increase their conversion rate by building beautiful, high-converting landing pages. With Instapage, you can grow your business by increasing the number of leads and sales you get from your website.

Instapage has a great affiliate program where you can earn a 50% recurring commission in the first year. After one year, you earn 30%.

16 – Kartra

Kartra is an all-in-one online business platform that gives users everything they need to run their business from one place. With Kartra, you can create beautiful websites, landing pages, sales funnels, email marketing campaigns, and more. You can also manage your customers and prospects, take payments, and track your results all in one place.

Kartra has a great affiliate program where you can earn a 40% recurring commission. You get paid every month as long as the person you refer to remains a paying customer.

17 – Groovefunnels

Groovefunnels is an all-in-one platform that gives users everything they need to create and grow their online business. With Groovefunnels, you can create beautiful websites, landing pages, sales funnels, email marketing campaigns, and more.

With Groovefunnels you can earn up to 40% recurring commissions. You also have the option to sign up for the second-tier affiliate program as well, in which you get commissions from your referral referrals.

18 – Samcart

Samcart is an online platform that helps businesses sell their products and services. With Samcart, you can create beautiful checkout pages, manage your customers, take payments, and track your results.

With Samcart, you can earn up to $995 for every successful referral.

19 – Webinarjam

Webinarjam is an online platform that helps businesses host webinars. With Webinarjam, you can create beautiful webinar pages, manage your attendees, take payments, and track your results. 

Webinarjam has a great affiliate program where you can earn a 40% recurring commission. You get paid every month as long as the person

20 – Thrivecart

Thrivecart is a shopping cart platform that helps businesses sell their products and services. With Thrivecart, you can create beautiful checkout pages, manage your customers, take payments, and track your results. Thrivecart has a great affiliate program where you can earn a one-time 50% commission.

21 – Jungle Scout

Jungle Scout is software that allows users to find and research Amazon products. With Jungle Scout, you can find profitable products to sell on Amazon, track your sales and rank, and grow your business. With Jungle Scout you can earn $150 on annual plans or up to 100% commissions on monthly plans.

22 – Gohighlevel

Gohighlevel is an all-in-one platform that helps businesses grow their online presence. With Gohighlevel, you can create beautiful websites, landing pages, sales funnels, email marketing campaigns, and more. You can also manage your customers and prospects, take payments, and track your results all in one place. 

Gohighlevel gives you a 40% monthly recurring commission.

23 – Livestorm

Livestorm is a webinar software that helps marketers and business owners to create effective webinars. The commissions start at 20% on a recurring basis model.

The recurring commissions model is great because you’re not making money at just one time. Even if you get no traffic next month, you’re still making money.

24 – Everwebinar

Everwebinar is an online platform that helps businesses host evergreen webinars. With Everwebinar, you can create beautiful webinar pages, manage your attendees, take payments, and track your results. Everwebinar has a great affiliate program where you can earn a 40% recurring commission.

25 – Bluehost

Bluehost is very popular among bloggers teaching people how to start a blog with web hosting.

They are the most popular web hosting affiliate program because they have a competitive commission rate. The company also has a lot of brand awareness, everyone knows who Bluehost is and they convert very well.

When you first join the program you’ll get $65 dollars for each hosting purchase. The commission rate can go up to $130 dollars depending on your sales numbers. The more sales you bring the higher your commission rate gets.

If you’re recommending blogging, web hosting, and starting a website, this is a great affiliate program for you.

26 – SEMrush – Berush

SEMrush is a tool for SEO. SEO is the process of helping people rank higher on search engines.

To rank higher on search engines you need different tools to research keywords, find link prospects, and know how to optimize your posts.

Their affiliate program is called Berush and they pay $200 for every subscription you bring.

27 – Improvely

Improvely is for people who want to improve their pages, do tests, and increase their conversion rates.

With Improvely you earn 50% in the first payment and then 10% recurring commissions. This is a good combination of bigger payment upfront and recurring commissions.

28 – TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy helps people with the optimization of Youtube videos, whether it’s a certain title, tagging, or research. TubeBuddy offers 50% recurring commissions.

29 – Longtailpro

Longtailpro is in the realm of SEO and it helps people with their keyword research. Longtailpro offers a 30% recurring revenue.

30 – Instato

Instato is a social media automation tool. This helps people with the scheduling of their posts. Whenever people want to schedule their Instagram posts, they need software to do so. The commission they pay is 25%

31 – Bankrate

This is for those who are interested in the credit card space. It’s really tough for a new blogger to get into something as competitive as credit cards and banking offers. With Bankrate, you can join all these credit card offers.

The big brands will never work with small individuals, they only work in exclusive partnerships. By using a network, like Bankrate, you can get offers to promote.

32 – Travelpayouts

Travelpayouts is an affiliate network for the travel industry. If you want to write about travel-related things such as destinations, hotels, and flights you can join Travelpayouts. They have over 100+ affiliate programs.

33 – Binance

If you’re interested in crypto, bitcoin, and all these crypto things, the Binance affiliate program is great for you. You get a 50% lifetime commission on every qualified trade. It’s 50% recurring revenue, pretty good if you ask me haha

34 – ShipBob

ShipBob is an eCommerce fulfillment service, that helps eCommerce brands ship and delivers their goods. ShipBob is the way that eCommerce stores can have an Amazon-level service.

They have a very good affiliate program that is paid on a cost-per-lead basis. For every lead that wants a fulfillment quote, you get $25 dollars. The more leads you bring in, the amount of money you receive increases.

Conclusion

These are the top Affiliate Marketing Programs for Beginners in 2022. If you’re starting a blog or website, these affiliate programs will help you monetize your site and make some money.

I hope this list was helpful, if you have any questions feel free to leave a comment down below.

Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money online and there are plenty of programs to choose from. Pick a few that fit your niche and start promoting! You could be earning commission on sales in no time.

When choosing a program, don’t forget to carefully analyze the 4 important points: the commission rate, the cookie duration, the value of the product, and the conversion rate.

If you want to learn affiliate marketing step-by-step, check out my ultimate guide on how to get started with affiliate marketing. You can also check out my list of the best affiliate marketing courses.

Thanks for reading and good luck!