Achieving a full-time income with affiliate marketing is certainly possible by anyone reading this. While it’s always advised to build your own website to make the most out of it, some people still wonder:
Can you do affiliate marketing without a website?
In theory, yes you can. Should you? No! Trying to make money with affiliate marketing without a website is a huge risk and an even bigger mistake.
In the guide, I will give you my reasons (6 of them) on why you should not be doing affiliate marketing without a website.
Still, I will also provide you with some additional reading material to show you how you can actually pull it off.
Let’s get started…
#1: You Can’t Do Affiliate Marketing On Social Media
Even though *some* social media platforms do allow affiliate links, most don’t and I’m willing to bet the ones that do will sooner or later remove all affiliate links leaving many scrambling as to what just happened.
We already know Facebook “discourages” the use of affiliate links on their Facebook Ads platform, and Pinterest is also keen on banning people for posting affiliate links.
You should never base your entire affiliate marketing strategy on one (or more) social programs as you’d be building on shaky ground.
Having your own website is a much better option.
#2: You Need To Publish Content
The second reason you are going to need to have a website is that you want to be publishing content (in the form of blog posts) on your website which you can then use social media to drive traffic to your website.
Of course, the main purpose of your content is to get you ranked in Google, and you do want to be on Google since the traffic you’ll get from search engines has been proven over and over again that it is the best traffic source you can get for affiliate marketing purposes.
You can learn more about how to create an SEO strategy for your affiliate website here.
#3: You Need Traffic
To be able to make money, you are going to need people.
Even though you are not “seeing” the people and selling them face to face, you have to keep in mind that your website will be visited by real people, that have real money to spend.
While yes, you can find many people on social media, very few people actually buy from social media.
You need traffic that wants to buy, and as I’ve said above – the only best way to do that is through publishing content, ranking in Google and getting people to your website.
#4: You Need A Website To Join Affiliate Programs
To make money with affiliate marketing, you are going to have to join an affiliate program.
You can see a list of great affiliate programs for beginners here, but whichever one you pick – they will ask you to list your website in your application form.
You may find a few that won’t require a website, but again – most do, so you’d be better off having one.
(I will show you how to create a website down below).
#5: You Need To Collect Email Addresses
This is not a MUST, but if you’re doing affiliate marketing, you should also learn more about email marketing and how it works for affiliates.
To collect emails, you are first going to need to have readers, and to have readers, you need a website.
Once you start collecting emails, you can then create “funnels” to help improve trust, conversions, and of course, affiliate commissions.
#6: You Need To Track Your Results
You are also going to need to track results, and the best way to do so is by using Google Analytics, which you can only use if you have your own website.
Again, this is not a “must”, but one thing I’ve learned this past year is how effective tracking affiliate link clicks is when it comes to conversion rate optimization.
You can see a guide on tracking affiliate links with Google Analytics here, but again – you need a website.
Let’s now see how to create an affiliate website.
How To Create A Simple Affiliate Marketing Website
I make most of my income building simple affiliate websites that make money every month. I’ve documented how I do that right here.
Step 01: Pick A Niche
To every new student that joins my training program (see below), I always suggest they start with a niche (topic).
You are going to need a niche to be able to do affiliate marketing successfully, so it’s best to choose one now.
Ideally, you want to pick a topic that you already know about, or that you are currently learning about.
If something came to mind, great – you can move on to step two, but if not – here’s my guide on how to find profitable niches for affiliate marketing.
Step 02: Choose A Domain
Once you have a niche in mind, it’s time to pick a domain name for your website.
Ideally, you want it to be related to your niche, but it doesn’t have to be that.
Unfortunately, great domains are being bought up every second, so it’ll be tough to find something you like. Don’t let this stop you.
My domain name is 3HUNDRD.com.
It’s misspelled, it’s a number within a number, and it makes no sense, yet I still do well.
You can check this domain name generator to get some ideas on what your domain name should be but don’t stress it too much. Just pick one, make your peace with it, and move on.
Step 03: Get A (Basic) Hosting Plan
The next step is to get hosting a plan.
The hosting plan makes your site accessible 24/7 on the world wide web, so yes, this is a must.
Now you may be thinking that getting a domain name and a hosting plan is going to be expensive, but you’d be surprised.
BlueHost offers these two features for just $2.95 per month. You can learn more about this great deal here.
Step 04: Set Up Your Website With WordPress
Your last step here is to actually set up your website and you should do so using WordPress.
It’s fast, it’s free, it’s easy to manage and best of all, you get access to thousands of different themes and templates to make your website truly “yours”.
Again, if this sounds intimidating, don’t worry. If you get your domain + hosting plan on BlueHost, WordPress is offered as a “One-Click-Install” feature.
All it takes to set up your WordPress website is literally one click and you’re set!
How To Do Affiliate Marketing (Without A Website)
As promised, I also want to share some additional opinions, tips, and tricks on how you can make money with affiliate marketing without a website.
This will help give you some ideas on how to get started and what you need to do but again, I urge you to invest in your business and get yourself a website.
- Affiliorama shares 10 ways you can do affiliate marketing without a website.
- AMNavigator.com has a few additional ways you can get started.
- AuthorityHacker.com also offers some advice on this subject.
Final Words + Final Warning
So, to recap – can you do affiliate marketing without a website?
In theory, you can but it will be foolish to do so as you are putting your business in the hands of others who would have the power to shut you down and with a click of a button destroy everything you’ve built.
I would highly recommend you start a website (and I’ve shown you how above) and use that platform to build an audience, and then make money with affiliate marketing.
If you have any questions, be sure to let me know down below as I’d love to help you get started, and if you’d like to know what I’m up to behind the scenes, feel free to subscribe to my email newsletter.
