Cory Haasnoot

Are you looking for the best affiliate marketing networks? You are in luck! I have compiled a list of 5 of the best affiliate marketing networks on the internet. These five affiliate marketing networks have over a hundred thousand companies that offer affiliate programs in just about any niche that you can think of. The networks are listed from the best network being first in the list and so on.

Affiliate Networks Explained

Before we jump into the list of the best affiliate marketing networks, I thought it would be a good idea to explain what exactly affiliate networks are. Affiliate networks are a website platform for companies that sell products online. These companies can join and offer their products to affiliates that then share in the revenue of said products. The members promote the companies products online through their websites. The affiliate receives a commission for the products or services that they sell.

Payout Models

There are two main kinds of models that an affiliate can get paid from depending on the company.

1. Cost Per Action or (CPA) – The first payout model goes by a couple of different names such as Cost Per Conversion (CPC), Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), and Pay Per Acquisition (PPA). In this payout-model affiliates get paid when someone that you refer from your affiliate link does some form of action on the company's website. That action could be clicking on a product, signing up for a newsletter or service, and submitting a form. The payouts form this payout-model vary from company to company.
2. Cost Per Sale or (CPS) – In this second payout-model which is also called Pay Per Sale (PPS) the affiliate is paid a commission for the product or service that someone buys through the affiliates affiliate link. CPC is the most common used payout-model in the affiliate marketing industry. The commission varies depending on the company you are affiliated with.

You will need to sign up with the networks before you can apply for the affiliate programs that they offer. It is well worth your time joining at least one of these networks. Some companies will host their affiliate program themselves. A quick google search on your niche can find these companies that don’t belong to the affiliate marketing networks. But I recommend joining one of these five affiliate marketing networks so you can explore your options. You will find a program to promote for whatever niche you are involved in. So here we go!

The 5 Best Affiliate Marketing Network

Rakuten

Rakuten is one of the biggest e-commerce websites on the planet! Based in Japan, Rakuten has been around since the late ’90s and has gone through many changes and acquisitions since then. They have over 38,000 companies with affiliate programs in just about any niche imaginable. You will have a hard time not finding an affiliate program for the niche that you are in with Rakuten. I belong to a few of their affiliate programs, and I’m pleased with them.

Some niches that you can find to promote on Rakuten’s network are:

• Banking
• Fashion
• Professional Sports
• Credit Card & Payments
• Video on Demand
• Online Shopping
• Travel Reservations
• E-reading
• Mobile Messaging
• Marketing & Data Analysis
• Media
• Book Distribution
• Outdoor recreation

And much more. Rakuten is known worldwide. Some favorite companies that you can affiliate with on Rakuten are.

• Champion
• Macy's
• NutriSystem
• Stacy Adams
• 1-800-PetMeds
• Magazines.com
• Omaha Steaks
• Alibris

And many more. Too many to name here. I highly recommend checking this affiliate network out.

CJ Affiliate by Conversant

CJ affiliate network has been nominated for 17 performance marketing awards in 2019. Cj has an excellent feature called the deep link generator that you can create affiliate links on the fly from any product page when you are browsing the internet. You have to install the bookmarklet that they offer and you are ready to go.

Cj Affiliate had its start in Santa Barbara, California in 1998 and since then has become one of the biggest affiliate marketing networks in the industry. They have many popular companies that belong to the network. Here is a list of just a few of the big brands that CJ represents:

• IHG
• GoPro
• Barnes & Nobles
• Lowes
• Priceline
• OfficeDepot
• J.CREW
• Overstock

I have used CJ Affiliate Network formerly called Commission Junction for years and have been impressed by the number of quality companies that they have in their network.

ShareASale

ShareASale has been around for nineteen years and has become a significant performance marketing force. Some technology that this affiliate network is comprised of is

• Real-Time Tracking lets you know precisely when you make a sale or a click-through from a banner ad from your website. All of this is done in real-time.

• Custom Link Creation lets you create custom affiliate links directly to products.

• Affiliate API you can find reports fast, search for new merchants and find product links seamlessly

• Clickstream Attribution lets you find out the time a consumer made a click and purchase. This report offers a timestamp attribution.

Some big-name merchants that ShareASale has in their network are:

• Pear
• Custom Ink
• Checks Unlimited
• Bags & Bows
• Grasshopper
• FreshBooks
• Creative Live
• Animoto

It’s well worth your time to visit ShareASale and take a look around their website. I also belong to a few of their affiliate programs, and I’m very impressed by their technology and also they are honest with their affiliates.

AffiBank

AffiBank is another one of the best affiliate marketing networks in the industry. They offer high commissions of 75%. You also get a $10 bonus just for signing up with them.

Through their program called “AffiBank School,” you can learn all about affiliate marketing for free. They offer video and PDF ebooks that teach you all about affiliate marketing using Facebook, YouTube, and Google Adwords. Not too many affiliate networks offer tutorials and courses, so that is a big plus in my book.

Some affiliate programs offered at AffiBank are from a variety of niches such as:

• Business to Business
• Fun & Entertainment
• Home & Family
• Health, Beauty, and Fitness
• Computing and Internet
• Money & Employment
• Sports & Betting
• Society & Culture
• Marketing & Social Networking

AffiBank cares about their affiliates, and they provide top-notch support. They only offer products that convert. If a product is not a high converting product, you will not find it on AffiBanks Network. I recommend AffiBank as one of the five best affiliate marketing networks on the internet today!

AvantLink

AvantLink is an affiliate marketing network the only accepts the best of the best companies into its fold. Only 30% of merchants that apply for a place in their network are accepted. So you are sure to get the best affiliate programs to offer to your customers. That is a great peace of mind that you can’t always get with affiliate programs. You know you will be paid and paid on time from their merchants!

AvantLink has some of the most innovated technology in the industry of affiliate marketing. They have an advanced API, tools that help with conversion and real-time data tracking. These tools make life a lot easier and more streamlined so that you can succeed as an affiliate marketer. Some of their top-rated merchants are:

• Cabellas
• REI Coop
• Patagonia
• Shop.com
• 10 TopTen Reviews
• ID.me
• The Good Ride
• ActiveJunky

And many many more. All their companies are well-vetted no need to worry about getting paid.

Conclusion

These are the five best affiliate marketing networks that you will find in the affiliate marketing industry. All of these networks have top quality affiliate programs that you can choose from. Their technology is advanced so you can track your data in real-time.

With any affiliate program, do your homework so that you pick programs that best suit the niche that you are in. You will not be accepted into every affiliate program that you apply for, but once your website has been around for a while and you provide quality content, you will get allowed into more and more of these companies.

Once again here are the top 5 affiliate marketing networks that I recommend.

1. Rakuten
2. CJ Affiliate by Conversant
3. ShareASale
4. AffiBank
5. AvantLink

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