Posted in Affiliate Marketing by Nick Smith on 31st of October, 2008

The conversion rate of an affiliate marketing program is the number of referrals that perform the desired action when on the affiliate site compared to the number of referrals actually received. This important piece of information can help identify the most potentially profitable programs on offer although certain factors concerning your own site as well as the traffic that you deliver will also help to determine your actual conversion rate.

The conversion rate of affiliate marketing programs can vary greatly in a number of respects. Some specific programs may perform extremely well in an equally specialised industry or on very targeted websites but not perform as well on more general sites. Choosing an affiliate marketing program that is closely associated to the topic of your site will help to ensure that your actual referral rate remains high. A poor conversion rate not only means lower profits than a good conversion rate but it can prove incredible frustrating and difficult to replace.

Experienced affiliate marketers look beyond the potential one time payment made to their affiliates for each conversion. Your goal isn't to get a single conversion but to continuously convert your own visitors into paying conversions. As such, the conversion rate is one of the more important and relevant pieces of information available for any given marketing program. The reality is that the best affiliate marketing program for your website will depend on a large number of factors, and this will even include some degree of personal preference.

Please see our Tips To Improve Affiliate Conversions blog for more information.