Actualaffiliate.com - affiliate marketing news, tools & tips

Wrong... If the particular merchants would have a threshold of 25$ before paying then you would have to wait until you reach that threshold which, especially for smaller sites can be a problem. Now, with affiliate networks you'd get only one check where both commissions would in only one check. So you'd receive a check of 30$. There's no limit in the amount of merchants you are combining. So a lot of small commissions can still be interesting since they are all paid in one check.

Another quite attractive feature of affiliate networks is their broad range of reporting possibilities: more experienced affiliates will tell you that checking results and modifying techniques to increase your conversion rate are key issues if you want to become a successful affiliate.

Stand-alone affiliate programs have only limited reporting tools, while in networks, you'll find things as $ per year or CTR-rates on specific ads. These are quite handy in order to set forward a balanced affiliate strategy. It allows you to see what works, and what not.

The Downsides of Affiliate Networks

You may wonder: are there any downsides to affiliate networks? Well, as far as affiliates are concerned, the list with negative aspects is very limited. As a matter of fact, I only experienced one major issue and that's communication with the merchant.  If you are looking for a personal relationship with a merchant, an affiliate relationship using a network is harder to manage and nurture. These companies sometimes have thousands of affiliates that they have to manage so it can be hard to receive an answer on a question in a timely manner. Nevertheless, merchants should invest time to provide proper support to their affiliates so likely they would do the same even if they were not in a network.

Finally you may wonder which networks exist. To be honest, you will have a lot of work to identify and compare the networks. In order to facilitate your judgment we are constantly trying to add network reviews to our affiliate program review section.  Your selection will basically depend of your website traffic, targeted audience as well as the country you are in and your actual contents. Some affiliate networks are picky and only allow a limited amount of sites to participate, others are not that restrictive and have a broad admission policy.