Are Web Hosting Affiliate Programs Still Lucrative

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Hi all,

I was wondering if there's still room for me to start promoting affiliate offers from various top notch web hosting companies?

I am really interested to know if this niche is still lucrative enough to bring in stable monthly income. I know there's a huge competition but I'll take it as a good thing (more competition means more room for everyone.)

Secondly, what techniques do you guys and gals normally use to receive traffic to get the best conversion rate?

Thirdly, for all those who are affiliates of any web hosting service, what do you think of this niche today in terms of traffic and monthly revenue?

Finally, would running PPC campaigns for my hosting review/affiliate site be a good idea to receive instant traffic? If yes, what is the best conversion rate (when someone buys hosting from my affiliate link) I can expect from each PPC campaign? Would appreciate if someone can mention key performing metrics.

Good day,
#main internet marketing discussion forum #affiliate #hosting #lucrative #programs #web
  • There is a lot of money to be made. Try targeting newbie marketers and introductory website topics.

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  • Hosting is huge business. There is lots of money to be made in it especially as an affiliate. I always promote hosting on thank you pages and when launching new products that require it.

    Frankly it is not that hard either to just start your own shared hosting company with WHMCS and a small VPS to start.
  • I consider hosting affiliate programs as the best and even though, there is a lot of competition, you can still refer people and earn a lot of money. The trick is to not run behind the highest paying affiliate programs. You need to also check the service quality. If the customers are happy, it would be easier for you to promote that particular hosting provider.

    Below is a screenshot of my affiliate commissions for the month of march



    1. Find a hosting affiliate program that pays. (never cheats by declining a lot referrals. Hostgator does that a lot)

    2. Promote only those products which you use and believe in. I promote my hosting provider as I love their service and support

    3. If you use the same hosting provider for your blog, people will believe when you say "x y z" hosting is superb.

    4. Build Trust, build your list.

    PPC is a good option, but you can't use your hosting provider's name as keywords.

    Post in Facebook groups with more than 20000 members (affiliate, money making, business and web hosting niches)

    Twitter is awesome if you can target users.

    Use you affiliate link in your email signature, skype status, gmail status etc

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  • There is still money to be made, but it is a little more challenging than it has been in the past.
    It's obvioously a very saturated niche with tons of long term affiliates
    The other challenge is these days the demand for quality leads from the web hosting companies is very high so they can be very picky on the leads
  • I agree with this. You want your referrals to stay put. High payouts are worthless if they get refunded.
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    • Thanks for sharing your experiences mates.

      How about if I go for paid advertising through PPC? Would that be a good route to attract target audience? And which one is better according to your experience in terms of conversion; Adwords or FB Ads?
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  • I agree with Chris, it's not as easy as it used to e, but it's a very lucrative niche nonetheless!
    I wouldn't say it's a saturated niche though, people will always need good quality hosting, this is one of those niches that will always be popular and in demand.
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    • So what channels can be considered effective for receiving traffic and conversion from?
  • The web host niche is still lucrative, there are thousands of new businesses and Im newbies that want to set up a website and does not know the first step. The best way to make it big in this niche is to provide the service of setting up websites for these individuals and companies and include the web hosting in the package.
  • I'm going to promote hosting offers, I think it might be profitable, if you're promoting the right hosting company in the right place.
  • The service itself must be of high value to your customers.

    If the company that you are promoting has crappy customer service, many of your customers will leave or even ask for a refund. That would be a total waste of your time.
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    • Thanks for all the shares mates.

      That brings me to another one. In your experience, which hosting companies are rated top these days? As there is Blue Host and HostGator and hundreds of them already known to many, but which hosting providers are considered good in proving best service as well as good customer support?

      For me, I am also in favor of promoting offers only I have used/experienced. My experience so far is with Hostmonster and it is fantastic.
  • You can create your free hosting company on youhosting after get some clients you can start sell paid hosting you get all you need fo free only need your own domai name you can get one fron godaddy or name cheap at very low prices
  • You can create a product/free mini-course showing people how to build websites on that hosting service, then use your affiliate link to get them to sign up for webhosting in order for them to complete the course.

    Create tutorial videos on youtube to drive traffic and to show people how to build a website and then leave the link to the hosting or your website with more training videos on it then link to your affiliate link
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    • That is also my plan, but I was wondering, how effective is this method today (as mentioned above) and what type of conversion can I expect based on this strategy?
  • Also I think the hosting affiliate is still very profitable ..basta know how and where to move. . anyway .. I found myself very well with wpengine
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    • It's still a good option to earn affiliate commissions. Too bad most of the web hosting affiliate programs will let you earn just an initial commissions no matter how long the customer stays with them!

      So it would be best to choose a few with recurring commissions, like for example the new JVZoo Hosting....

      Marian
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  • I have been getting paid every month for a few years now. I don't make quite as much as I used to but it still buys me dinner several times per month and I'm not complaining.
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    • Good to hear that. How long did it took you to get your first sale? What strategy would you suggest me to go with?

      Thanks,
  • If you're a good marketer almost anything is lucrative.

    Ever seen the movie "The Wolf Of Wall Street"? If not, you should see it. Especially at the very end of it. People need webhosting to start their site/blog/content. Plus with some programs you get recurring income each month. Make it happen.
  • There is a lot of money to made in that niche but it is very competitive. If you have a sizable email list and they are persons seeking to learn internet marketing or make money online then you can make a lot of money.
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    • Great idea mate. I do not have any email list but professionally I am an Internet Marketer myself. And I have already setup my IM blog and am posting on a weekly basis.

      So once it starts getting minimal traffic/rankings, I will then go with the Affiliate offers.
  • I usually see this brought up in these topics, but what about becoming a reseller. You have to provide support, but the recurring income could be worth it.

    Anyone do this?
    • [1] reply
    • Thanks for your comment.

      Yes, I am aware of reseller model but I think it requires upfront investment which I am not willing to go for right now. So I would prefer to opt affiliate platform instead.

      Good day,
  • Like most things in internet marketing, its about connecting your targeted niche traffic to your niche offer.

    I'm currently trying my hand at hosting affiliate offers.

    That being said, has anyone tried capturing leads via PPV and leading them to your hosting affiliate offers (thank u page or further down the line).

    and if yes,

    what kind of lead magnet did u use?
  • I guess I have a bias. But yes. There is a ton of money to be made just promoting web hosting affiliate programs.

    Unlike CPA or other affiliate offers, these hardly go down, change in conversion rate, or cap on budget. Therefore once you get stuff working you just scale and scale until you have enough money you can retire.
  • Hosting Affiliate programs are still lucrative (usually $100/referral), but there are some issues:

    Many service providers cheat with their referrals and don't pay to their affiliates. A common issue with hostgator and other hosts. They have very annoying rules. For example your referral must use his/her primary domain to build his website. If he decides not to use that domain, then you will not be paid although your referral is still using the hosting service.

    You can promote hosting programs with related content/products. Like if you are writing a post about making money from website, or how to create a good theme, or anything related to websites, then do promote your hosting company within your content.
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    • The thing with hosting is that so many people are buying it every day and it is becoming 'normal' for most businesses to have a website, so there are various companies to entice these people. Companies like 1AND1, Wix etc and hosting companies like Hostgator and Godaddy themselves offer website builders.

      My advice would be to 'Know' your audience first and then look at website package details and hosting companies that are known to pay well and convert well. Then promote hosting companies using a free gift page.

      This is great as you get recurring commissions so if you have a few affiliates signed up through your links you could be making a nice monthly income. Start by giving away something as I said so that even if they don't buy from you you still have that TARGETED audience on YOUR LIST.

      There will be many other things newbies need and want to learn so if you think about it, you can promote to them and worst case scenario is they are on your list for a future investment. Next look at high end products $500-$1000+ as your list grows you will be able to sell further products and services to them.

      So in other words don't just throw money and get excited at promoting hosting without putting in a little strategy. I have found Sarah Staar, Mark Ling and Alex Jefferies to be some of the best trainers if you need help in this area. Finally, look at what others are doing. Google the word 'hosting' and see what the paid ad's people are doing to get you in. If these ad's are there for 2-3 weeks advertising on Google then something is working right.

      Use FREE MEDIA LIKE Video and Facebook also to drive traffic to your hosting offer/free page.
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