Finding the right affiliate network is essential for affiliate marketing success. There are numerous affiliate networks out there and it gets overwhelming to screen and select the one that’s perfect for you. ClickBank is one of the most popular affiliate networks that features more than 24K products in 276 categories. This article covers everything you need to know to get started with ClickBank.
It is one of the largest affiliate networks that exclusively deals with digital products so if you are interested in selling digital products (e.g. guides, courses, books, video content, etc.), ClickBank is the right choice for you.
If you are new to ClickBank and not sure where to begin, this step-by-step guide is for you. Follow the steps below to get started with ClickBank.
But first, let’s take a quick overview of why you need to join ClickBank.
Why ClickBank?
ClickBank (or CB) is a retailer and a leading affiliate network that helps entrepreneurs sell their digital products through its platform. Not only sellers (merchants) can sell products but they can find affiliates via ClickBank’s huge marketplace to promote their products.
As an affiliate marketer, ClickBank offers you with thousands of products across multiple verticals that you can promote on your blog and make money. CB has been in business for over 20 years and it has paid $4.2 billion in commissions to date making it one of the largest affiliate networks out there.
What I personally love about CB is its transparency and high commission percentage. All the links, clicks, sales, payments, and upsells are tracked and managed by ClickBank. Sellers can’t run away with your commission as all the payments are processed by ClickBank. If you made a sale, you will be paid for it. Period.
The commission is paid on time without any delays. There are several withdrawal options that you can choose from. It works globally so it doesn’t matter where you live on this planet, you can become an affiliate, generate sales, and get paid right on time.
It is a reputable affiliate network that works exceptionally well for new affiliates.
How to Get Started with ClickBank as an Affiliate
If you think ClickBank is the affiliate network that will go with your niche and it has the products that you can sell, follow these steps to get started right away.
Step #1: Create a ClickBank Account
Visit ClickBank.com and click Sign Up to create your account. Registration is absolutely free. Fill the form, read and accept Terms and Conditions, and click Join ClickBank:
Verify your email account and login into your ClickBank account. This is how the dashboard looks like:
You can use a single account to sell products as a vendor and promote products as an affiliate. You’ll need to fill in your banking/payment details for withdrawals that are processed once every 2 weeks.
Step #2: Explore Marketplace
ClickBank has a huge marketplace that you can access by clicking Marketplace in the top menu:
There are two ways to find products:
- Use the search bar. Enter the product name or a keyword to find relevant products
- Click your category and then select a relevant subcategory and explore all the products.
You’ll find several subcategories and niches within each category. Click any category to inspect subcategories:
Here is a list of affiliate products in the Dietary Supplements subcategory under Health & Fitness:
You can explore products in different categories and add relevant products to Favorites so you can refer back to them quickly.
Step #3: Choose Affiliate Products
Finding the right affiliate product is exceptionally easy with ClickBank as it has developed certain metrics that help you analyze and compare products. Gravity is one of the core CB metrics that help you identify product competition.
ClickBank gravity score is a unique metric that is used to measure affiliate products on ClickBank. It is defined as the number of distinct affiliate marketers who earned a commission in the last 12 weeks promoting the offer. A number between 0.1 and 1 is added per affiliate in the gravity score depending on the transaction date. A transaction that took place yesterday will have a high score as compared to a transaction in the last week.
You’ll find a gravity score with each affiliate product on the marketplace:
You can sort products based on gravity:
When finding products, the gravity score is the most important metric that you must consider. It helps you identify low-competition offers in the marketplace.
Ideally, you should promote products with low gravity as a new affiliate. A product with a high gravity means high competition as it shows a lot of affiliates are promoting it. Here is how to use gravity to find the best products in your niche:
- Gravity under 20: Don’t promote it as it indicates affiliates aren’t making enough sales especially if the product is old
- Gravity between 20 – 50: Ideal for beginners as these offers indicate low-competition and a decent number of affiliates are making sales
- Between 51 – 100: Medium competition offers that sell well but it will get tough to generate sales organically
- Gravity 101+: Don’t go for these offers as they have fierce competition.
Other key metrics to look for are:
- Average commission per conversion and commission percentage
- Recurring billing
- Product activation date in the marketplace
- The sales page of the product
- Competition in SERPs.
Step #4: Get Your Affiliate Link
An affiliate link is known as HopLink at ClickBank. Once you have identified an affiliate product, click Promote to grab your HopLink:
ClickBank lets your own tracking IDs to analyze and track traffic, links, and conversions. It is optional, and if you don’t want to add a tracking ID, click Generate HopLinks:
Copy your HopLink and save it:
You are ready to promote the affiliate product.
Conclusion
ClickBank is an amazing affiliate network that has products with the highest commissions (up to 90% per sale). It has all types of products and covers all the major markets and niches. It is a very popular affiliate network, competition is usually very high.
You need to find products with low-competition (you know how to do it) in your niche, so that you can easily generate clicks and sales.
Get started today and create your free ClickBank account here.
Featured Image: Unsplash
