Affiliate Links | What they are and how to use them

I got a few questions on some of my previous posts about affiliate links. Though difficult to get your head round at first, it’s like riding a bike once you get the hang of it and you’re pretty much earning from something you already do  . . soooo why would you not use them? In this post I’ll be giving you a lil’ run down on what affiliate links are, effective ways to use them and what companies you can use affiliate links through. What are Affiliate Links? First thing’s first, if you don’t know what an affiliate link is, or you’re a blogger that isn’t using them then you are missing out my friend. Basically, an affiliate link adds tracking to allow the retailer to see that the sale has come from you and your site giving you a small percentage of commission on each sale. As fashion bloggers, we’re constantly suggesting products and telling people where things are from, so why shouldn’t we make 10p for a sale every now and then? If you bought something from a store, often the sales assistant would get commission so surely it’s only right that we get something for all of our hard work?! P.s if retailers know you get them loads of sales through your trackable links, there’s a high possibility they’ll want to play on this and work with you How Can You Use Affiliate Links? There’s lots of different ways to use affiliates and I probably still don’t know about half of them as each company uses different techniques. Here’s the key ones I’ve come across: Banners – I don’t use these, I didn’t find they were that effective (though I am considering adding just one back in) and found them messy. Not only do I like my home page to be super clean and easy to navigate, but I also dislike anything that takes people away from my site before they’ve even read the content Links – Pretty much self explanatory, just adding links into your post as you usually would but with the tracking Instagram Apps – Some companies also allow you to link the products via your instagram images so people can shop your looks from their phones Widgets – There’s lots of little widgets you can use like the one I’ve created belowfor this outfit. It allows you to shop the products from the store images, a more visual way of shopping the look than just written links. Online Shops – You can also create ‘shop my look‘ pages or ‘shop my wardrobe’ which personally I love on other peoples blogs as it gives you inspo when you want to shop but don’t know where to start! I’m actually thinking of creating one for my site so let me know what you think and if it’s something you’d like to see! How To Get Affiliate Links I’ve listed below the companies you can use to create your affiliate links, I personally use Reward Style. It’s not the easiest affiliate scheme to get on to as they don’t accept everyone but from…