Finding great merchants to partner with is a foundational component of any affiliate marketing business because it’s how revenue is generated. I like joining affiliate networks because I can work with a lot of different merchants under the umbrella of one single network. It’s this convenience-factor that makes me a fan of affiliate networks like ShareASale, CJ Publishers, ClickBank, and Flexoffers. Following are 5 reasons I like the ShareASale affiliate program.
You’ll first need to apply to ShareASale to become an affiliate. They’ll look at the layout of your site to make sure you have an affiliate disclosure and privacy policy. You can see mine on the bottom of this page. They’ll also note the amount of content, or blog posts, you have. Aim for at least 10-20 posts.
Table of Contents
5 Reasons I Like ShareASale Affiliate Program
1. The Interface Is Easy To Navigate
A website that is easy to navigate is a big deal when it comes to affiliate programs and networks, because like most of us, I’m typically strapped for time, and prefer not to waste any of it trying to figure out how to find my links and banners for any particular merchant. I find ShareASale’s site more user-friendly than other networks I’m a member of.
The menu isn’t overly complicated, and I can access my links, search for new merchants, edit my account if I need to, or view my payments and reports. The navigation is straightforward, which I very much appreciate. Under the “Tools” tab is the “Make-A-Page” and “Product Showcases” features. There is also a “Pay Per Call Center” where you can integrate with various merchants’ initiatives. To be honest, I haven’t used this feature, but plan to in the future.
Here’s what a Product Showcase banner looks like:
Once you are on the Product Showcase page, it’s self-explanatory how to set up a banner. Follow the directions, then save and copy the code to embed into your content or website.
Using the Make-A-Page feature is a great way to showcase several products at once, either via a page:
Or a Gallery Preview. It’s as simple as selecting the products you’d like to highlight, then pasting the code into your editor.
The first thing I do when I log into ShareASale is to click the “Links” tab in the menu. I am then taken directly to all the merchants I am working with, along with their corresponding creatives. Since I’m an affiliate for several merchants, I appreciate the search bar where I can type in the specific one I’m looking for. This saves me from scrolling manually, which takes more time.
I also visit the “Updated Links” box that alerts me to new text links, banners, and deals/coupons.
2. Ease Of Choosing Merchants
Finding relevant merchants is the key to success as an affiliate. Of course, I look for ones that have high payouts and are pertinent to my niche. In the top menu, click on “Merchants,” then “Search For Merchants.” You’ll see numerous merchants that are trending, along with their corresponding payout percentages.
Click the blue “Join Program” button to join the program. You’ll see this box where you can tell the merchant why you’d like to join their program, along with your website URL. It takes most merchants two or three days to let you know if you’ve been approved or declined. Occasionally, which is awesome, some merchants will approve you immediately.
Be sure and check the “I have read and agree to the Program Agreement for Affiliates” box before joining.
Conversely, you can also use the categories or search button features to dial down your search. Click on a category that pertains to your niche.
I clicked on “photography” and was taken to the screen below where I can view the payout percentages and program keywords. I’d like to join “photowhoa” because they pay 25.00% per sale.
I look for merchants that pay at least 15%. Some programs will state a dollar amount for each sale, rather than a percentage. Once I click the “Join Program” tab, I’ll be taken to the box where I can share my marketing plans and promotional methods with the merchant’s program I’m hoping to join.
3. Finding Links and Banners
Being able to locate links and banners can be kind of tricky on some of the other networks I’ve joined. With ShareASale they’re right there front and center once I’m in the Links area. There’s a section specifically for text links and one just for banners.
I can tell you right now that I have been immensely frustrated at times trying to find banners in other affiliate networks. I get annoyed if I have to spend more than a couple of minutes trying to find banner codes to embed in my content. Most of the time, I can find my text links, but then I have to hunt around for banners.
Voila the banners that I love placing in my content:
Once I’ve chosen a banner that is appropriate for my content, I click on it to get the code. To embed a banner in my content, I copy and paste the HTML code into my text editor in WordPress. Alternatively, I can also select the URL if I want a text link. I can click the arrow buttons on either side to access banners that precede or follow the banner I’ve chosen:
Here’s what a text link looks like:
Now all I have to do is copy and paste my chosen link into my anchor text within my content.
4. Custom Link Generator and Browser BookMarklet
Another reason I like ShareASale is the Custom Link Generator that lets you search for pages and products you’d like to link to directly. This could be a particular product or promotion on a merchant’s websites or a landing page. The intent is to direct your readers to the most relevant information in order to increase conversions and sales.
Simply paste in your URL and press “Create Custom Link” to obtain your link. The link that is provided is a shortened link that you can also use on social media. The bookmarklet enables you to quickly access your links while browsing the internet. Once you’ve downloaded the bookmarklet, you’ll see in displayed in the bookmark bar of your browser.
Learn more by watching the video below:
5. Reports and Analytics
ShareASale has an informative “Reports” section where you can find a breakdown of your profits in terms of how much you made from each individual merchant. You can also view your monthly summary, invalid links, and traffic report, etc. This is a good tool to determine which of your links are performing the best.
For instance, in the “Traffic Reports” section you can garner information related to specific merchants, dates, and creative types (links or banners) to determine how they’re performing. 
In the “Merchant Summary” section, you can view your total and monthly transactions, clicks, commissions, conversion rates, and EPC, which shows the average affiliate earnings per 100 clicks for all affiliates in a particular merchant program.
How To Build An Online Business
I’m a big fan of ShareASale and it very day in my affiliate marketing business. If you’ve always wanted to build an internet-based business, but haven’t quite known how to get started, read my review or click on the banner to learn more. Wealthy Affiliate is an online platform that caters to marketers of all skills levels.
You’ll learn how to build a WordPress website, do keyword research and search engine optimization, create content, how to market on social media, and how to choose affiliate programs. You can get started for free today. Don’t wait another day to start investing in your financial future.
[Read More: Is Wealthy Affiliate The Real Deal?]
Key Points
ShareASale is an outstanding affiliate network. The interface is easy to navigate, as is finding merchants, and best of all you can locate links and banners without a fuss. I like using networks because all of my merchants are in one convenient location. Check out ShareASale today.
Do you use affiliate networks? Which ones do you like? Let me know in the comments:)
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, with no cost to you, if you make a purchase through one of my links.
Although, I’m not too grounded in affiliate marketing, and I’m still more like a beginner, because I only partner with Amazon as an affiliate for now. However, seeing this much information made available concerning ShareASale, I will definitely give it a go in the future. I like that it’s very easy to maneuver for newbies and totally beginner- friendly. I also like the analytics and stuff. It should be worthy of joining. Thanks!
Hello,
Thanks for taking the time to read my review of ShareASale. Amazon is great because you can find any product that you’d like to recommend. ShareASale is great for beginners because the learning curve is low and their website so easy to navigate. It’s much easier for me than other affiliate networks. I like that it’s so straightforward. Give it a try. You’ll be pleasantly surprised!
Thank you for your ShareASale review. I have heard of Share-A-Sale, alongside programs like ClickBank, another affiliate network, but I’ve never learned the specifics of ShareASale
I like how you can paste text and banner links directly into your website editor. They seem a little less strict than Amazon, which is nice, because Amazon can be really strict. Great review, and very informative website! Thanks!
You’re very welcome. Yes, it’s easy to paste both text and banner links directly within your content. And it is nice that ShareASale isn’t nearly as strict as Amazon. Whew, I was stressed about that in the beginning!
Thanks for reading!
ShareASale seems very straightforward to use. I am an Amazon marketing affiliate, and it can be difficult to use for beginners. I will have to give this a try in the future on my websites that are already in place. What do you think is the best thing about ShareASale? Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi Jessica,
In my opinion, the best thing about ShareASale is that I can find merchant banners easily, and also the variety of banners. Many merchants on other networks have links, but no banners, which I find kind of strange. Thanks for taking the time to comment:)
ShareASale sounds great. I like how you can get such high commissions even 15% and 25%. My Walmart affiliate program has much lower commissions. Picking products with higher commissions is so smart, because it just gets you so much more return on your efforts.
Once you get into a program like Wealthy Affiliate, you will learn how to promote anything. Then, you can choose higher commission products and get thousands of dollars a month.
Hi Edward,
Higher commissions are certainly more profitable. I try to choose programs with at least a 15% commission rate, if not higher. Wealthy Affiliate will teach you the ins and outs of being an affiliate, and how to pick the most profitable programs. I like how the lessons are mapped out with both text and video tutorials.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting:)
Wealthy Affiliate is the way to go if you’re looking to build a website for affiliate marketing. You need a website before signing up for ShareASale, so try making one on Wealthy Affiliate. Then you will get all the tools you need to get a unique domain name, get traffic and get indexed by the big search engines.
I’m glad you included Wealthy Affiliate in this article because, people looking into ShareASale or any affiliate network for the first time, often wonder how to build a website and create content in order to place their links.
Remember, it can take up to 8 months to get to full traffic on your website! That’s because Google goes through phases of user testing with each URL. So, just keep building that site, and trust in the process. The traffic will come!
Hello, and thanks for your comments. Absolutely, Wealthy Affiliate is the best platform out there for building an affiliate marketing business. The certification program will teach you how to build a website, keyword research, SEO strategies, content creation, along with how to choose a niche and domain.
Once you have a website and some content in place, it’s time to start joining affiliate programs. Yes, I would say 8 months would likely be the minimum time frame to start generating traffic due to Google’s algorithms. It’s takes patience but so does everything!
Really good post. As a beginner in affiliate marketing your post is filled with literally everything I need to hit the ground running. I have already bookmarked it and as I go further into my online marketing journey I will definitely be re-visiting the post for inspiration.
ShareASale seems like a promising prospect. Something I will certainly be looking more into.
Great blog, well done!
Hi Andy,
Thanks a lot for reading and bookmarking my review. Do look further into ShareASale as a partner in your online journey. Much success to you!
Hi, I like the video you made on promoting WA in the top right corner. I think you mentioned the right details which also convinced me to sign up for WA and get started online.
I agree with you that ShareASale is a great way to start your affiliate business and I prefer it over CJ or Flexoffers. They are not easy to use IMO. I’m using Amazon a lot at the moment but the profit margin is quite low so that’s really a downside.
Your review is very informative and easy to navigate through. Thank you for sharing this!
Thanks for reading my review Mitchell. I’m thrilled you liked my video and that you signed up to be a member of Wealthy Affiliate. It will be one of the best decisions of your life. There’s not a better platform to teach you the skills you need to build a thriving online business.
I’m an Amazon affiliate as well, and a member of three or four affiliate networks. Amazon is easy to use, which I love. I do wish the commissions were higher. You can search for high-paying merchants on ShareASale and sign up for only those programs.
I really appreciate your comment:)
This is a really nice post, really informative and useful. I’m also an affiliate marketer, I run a couple of promotions for a vast number of merchants. I enjoy the affiliate marketing world.
This is the first time I’ve heard of ShareASale and affiliate networks so I don’t really know much about it, but I believe your review has done a bit of justification and I find it really useful to use as a guide. I like the fact that its very easy to operate and this will help newbies feel comfortable starting their affiliate marketing business.
Thanks for sharing this helpful post, and I’m looking forward to joining ShareASale. I love this article.
Hi Jones,
Thank you. Sounds like your merchants are keeping you busy. I really enjoy being part of the affiliate marketing world as well.
Yes, ShareASale is great for beginners, in fact, I joined the network as a beginner myself. I appreciate that their interface is not clunky and hard to get the hang of like other networks I’ve worked with. Check it out for sure.
Thanks for taking the time to comment:)
Cool! You explained how ShareASale works so well. I’m a beginner when it comes to affiliate marketing and still trying to get the hang of it. Your review made me want to get involved with this program. I know it would help my business.
Thank you for taking your time to make this review available.
Hi Mariam,
ShareASale is a good affiliate network to get involved with as a beginner because the interface is easy to navigate, and it’s not hard to find affiliate links and creatives. Go sign up today. You’ll love working with them.
Thanks so much for reading my review!
Your review has made me curious about ShareASale. Unfortunately, my website is still really new. I have less than 15 articles on it, but I am looking forward to joining affiliate programs in the future. I’m glad I read your review and now know about ShareASale. Great job on this tutorial.
Thanks Stella!
You can start placing links and banners within your content. ShareASale is great for beginners. Much success to you!