Affiliate Marketing for Beginners: Complete Startup Guide 2026

This can be a blog, website, social media platforms, or a combination of these channels. Your online presence should be visually appealing, user-friendly, and optimized for search engines (SEO). The commission rate isn’t all that worth writing home about, either, since it stands at just 2% out of every sale you refer to the shop. You’ll find a lot of small businesses on affiliate networks in virtually any niche. You’re more likely to find larger businesses in networks as they’re happy to pay to have someone manage the details, and to have a database of affiliate marketers ready to promote them.
HubSpot offers an affiliate program where you can earn a 30% recurring commission for a year if you refer new customers to their services. HubSpot offers a wide range of digital marketing tools, and their CRM is used by big names like DoorDash and Reddit. Best Affiliate Marketing Programs Canada Signing up is free and done through Impact, but you’ll need a decent website or a strong social media presence in a related field to get approved. They tier commissions based on how many sign-ups you get each month, so there’s potential to make some good money if you’ve got the traffic. An affiliate network connects brands with publishers (affiliate marketers who create content for blogs, social media, podcasts, and other channels). The network acts as the coordinator so that publishers and brands offering affiliate marketing programs can find each other easily.

Under Canadian law, for sites that do not have live, interactive elements or make clear that the affiliate is not driving traffic to the website, such sites are classified as the affiliated sites. However, other sites with basic interactive elements, such as shopping carts, will be classified as advertising sites and not affiliated sites. Diversifying your traffic sources helps you reach a wider audience and reduces your risk if one channel suddenly stops performing. Chances are you’re probably already an expert on something—whether it’s winged eyeliner, CrossFit, Flemish painters, or lap steel guitar. A fun way to stand out in this niche is by focusing on a specific type of pet. Instead of covering all things pet-related, you could become the go-to resource for bearded dragon care, pet-friendly travel tips, or DIY homemade dog treats.
For each sale, you'll get a $20 flat fee with the Sun Basket affiliate program. Albertsons.com affiliate program allows you to promote groceries, produce, meat, seafood. The affiliate program is private invite-only but with an option to apply on the Commission Junction website. They carry products from beef, pork, chicken, lamb to supplies such as finishing sale, smoking wood chips, gifts, and experiences on the menu.

Affiliate marketing is a growing industry that accounted for 16% of all ecommerce sales in 2024. Some analysts expect affiliate marketing spending to reach $16 billion by 2028. Our team of experts at 10seos strive their best to find and evaluate the best affiliate marketing agencies. Our researchers follow a calculative method to analyze the proficiency of an affiliate advertising company.
If you’re great at getting lots of people to use your affiliate link, then low-ticket products that have a recurring commission could make more sense. Naturally, there is some overlap between influencers and affiliate marketers because both produce content, promote companies, and use tracking links. Thousands of affiliate programs are available, so choosing the ones that align with your audience and niche is essential to generating commissions. FreshBooks is a popular accounting and invoice platform designed for small businesses. Content creators earn commissions not just for purchases of a paid plan, but even for trial signups.
NordicTrack provides elliptical trainers, treadmills, exercise bikes, rowing machines, and much more. The site has it all for those wanting to stay fit and healthy through movement. They arrived a few days after ordering, and she was super happy with their quality despite the relatively low price. Affiliates for Cloudways also get dedicated account managers and access to promotional tools. Make sure to use my link soon to get the limited time price of $1.99/month.

These top affiliate marketing firms are ranked based on client ratings and reviews and profound industry research. Affiliate marketing in digital marketing is a technique to promote another person’s products and services in exchange for a small fee or commission. For instance, while visiting multiple websites you might have noticed content marked as ‘sponsored post’ or ‘affiliate link’. WP Engine offers an incredible affiliate marketing program with a great commission rate that you’re going to want to get involved with if you’re an affiliate marketer in the SaaS niche.
Many options are available, but the top choices include Blogger, Medium, or WordPress.org. Organic Basics focuses on designing durable fabrics for clothes to last a lifetime. With that in mind, the brand imbues a simple, timeless style with versatile functionality in its creations. The brand sells a variety of underwear, activewear, swimwear, and casual clothes for men and women.

Travelpayouts is slightly different from all the other travel affiliate programs on this list. But, where other sites like Booking.com and Expedia offer more luxury travel affiliate programs, Hostelworld is firmly focused on affordable hostel experiences. There is also a separate influencer program, called the Klook Kreator Program, where social media influencers can earn passive income through commissions and unique promo codes. Whether you’re a travel blog owner, provide travel services, or just enjoy exploring the world – this program is for you.
The good thing about affiliate marketing is that you can do it everywhere in the world. One day, you could be writing your content from Bali and the next, you might be solving some technical issues in Berlin. You can also propose alternatives, such as having them sponsor a blog post or review on your website.

Depending on your audience, niche, and personality, there are different affiliate networks that you may prefer over others. Digistore24 has more than 8,500 products across more than 40 different categories, including tech gadgets and health supplements. In 2023 they made $5.5 million in sales with commission rates of up to 70%. The platform is user-friendly which makes setting up and tracking easy. Payouts are reliable too, so all in all Digistore24 is a good platform for any level of affiliate marketers, from novice to experienced.
I was with a Canadian company who had an inhouse affiliate program that struggled & died. We’re convinced it will help our business when we get our site online and the effort will pay off. Our only problem is affording an affiliate manager at first but we can probably do without it for a bit.
They are an authorized dealer for over 60 luxury brands (such as Omega, Hublot, Grand Seiko, Longines, etc), giving you the maximum variety within a single affiliate program. Buying cannabis online is likely to be a growing industry for months and years to come. Please be aware that many online dispensaries are currently operating in the grey market.