How to Promote Affiliate Links for Free (The Full Truth)

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Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn money online. But, this kind of earning method involves a lot of time and effort. Plus, it can also cost money to promote your affiliate links.

However, there are actually ways to promote your affiliate links without spending a dime. If you want to save some cash, I would recommend you read this guide on how to promote affiliate links for free.

I will list the free options you can go for, and I will include a brief description of each option so you can easily identify which one to go for.

Just be aware that when promoting affiliate links for free, you need to set your expectations properly. And that’s what I will discuss in the next section.

Why is promoting affiliate links for free important?

Before I discuss the actual options you can choose from, let’s first talk about why this topic is important.

You see, in the world of affiliate marketing, there are a lot of people and websites making crazy claims about how you can earn a huge amount of money through affiliate marketing.

While it is true that you potentially can earn a lot of money, the claims that a lot of people make are not very transparent. If you go to YouTube and search for ways to promote affiliate links for free, you will find a lot of videos claiming you’ll be able to earn thousands of dollars by promoting affiliate links for free more or less instantly.

What they don’t tell you is that these videos are often not transparent with what they have to offer. They often show methods that could potentially work. But more often than not, these videos leave out important details, and in some cases, they even show you methods that actually don’t work or are outdated.

You see, the way these people make money is by creating videos that make exaggerated claims. Now, I’m not saying that none of these videos are true. What I’m saying is that you need to be aware that a lot of these videos are just designed by people who are also looking to earn money without caring about potentially wasting other people’s time. So, to make their videos eye-catching, they make attractive claims that are not necessarily true or borderline dishonest.

This is the reason why I’ve decided to make this guide because I have several years of experience with affiliate marketing. I want to go over some of these free traffic methods that a lot of people are talking about and discuss how they might or might not work.

That way, you’ll be able to discern which options to go for according to your needs, so you can potentially save time and money when doing affiliate marketing.

3 Ways to promote affiliate links for free

Now that you know what to expect from this guide and you understand why it is important, it’s time we discuss the actual options you choose from. Keep in mind that this list is not a prioritized list, so you can just choose which options will suit your needs.

I will keep updating this list if I find new methods to promote affiliate links for free in the future, so make sure to bookmark this page and come back to it from time to time for new options.

Option 1 – Creating a YouTube channel or website

One way you can promote your affiliate links is by creating a YouTube channel or website (you can even do both).

creating a youtube channel

By doing so, you will effectively create a platform you can use to promote your affiliate links. And since creating a YouTube channel is virtually free, you won’t have to spend a single dime. The same goes for creating a website.

Yes, there are a lot of platforms nowadays that will allow you to host your website for free. A good example is Blogger.com. The way this method works is that you just create a new video (for YouTube) or a new blog post (for your website) and include your affiliate link in the description or the post.

In fact, if you decide to go this route, I would suggest you do both (create a website and a YouTube channel). That way, you can do cross-promotions. You can create a post on your website for your new YouTube video and vice versa.

It’s a good strategy to generate content for your channel or website. Now, this method is theoretically true. You’ll be able to earn hundreds of dollars per day from this method. However, you need to be aware that even though you already have a website or YouTube channel (or both), it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get the traffic you want for your affiliate links.

Getting quality traffic (those that can potentially be converted to sales) involves a lot of factors, and I will discuss that later.

Option 2 – Social media

Another free way to promote affiliate links is through social media. A lot of people recommend joining Facebook groups for affiliate marketing. These groups will allow you to share your affiliate links for the members to click and view.

facebook groups for affiliate marketing

Think of it as a give-and-take relationship. The way it works is that in some groups, they will allow you to post your link. However, this method will usually get you banned because Facebook doesn’t always allow this, or the group admin might block you because they do not allow it. So, you need to be wary of groups like that.

Another way groups allow you to share your link is by adding members of the group as a friend to expand your reach. Then, you can start making posts on your own wall about your affiliate links for them to see in their newsfeed.

Theoretically speaking, this method can work, but they are, in reality, just a method of spamming, in my opinion. Sure, you can potentially get traffic for your affiliate links, but this will not be quality traffic. In other words, they won’t become actual conversions. And more often than not, you will not really get any traffic like this anyway.

The best way, in my opinion, to go about promoting your affiliate links on social media platforms is to work your way up. First, you have to build up your following by posting quality content. By doing so, your followers will begin to trust you. Then, you can start creating posts with your affiliate link.

Once your followers trust you, they will know your links are reputable, and they will potentially buy products/services from your links which will, in turn, earn you a commission. It’s a time-intensive method and requires a lot of work, but it is the most effective way, in my opinion.

Option 3 – Quora

Quora is a method many mention when it comes to promoting affiliate links for free. In case you are not familiar with this site, Quora is a forum-format website where people can ask questions, and contributors/members can reply to those questions.

It’s a fairly straightforward way to promote links, but you have to be aware that it will involve quite some effort on your end (as the person answering the question).

You see, when answering a question, you can’t just provide a short answer and then add your affiliate link. That will get you banned because it’s a lazy way of promoting links, and forums already frown upon that kind of method.

You will have to work for it by providing a detailed answer. Plus, the link you should provide has to be related to the answer. You can’t just add an unrelated link to your post. People can spot if you are providing real answers or just trying to promote a link.

That’s why finding the right opportunity to include your affiliate links can take a lot of time which makes this strategy less than ideal, in my opinion.

So, how can you really get quality traffic for your affiliate links without spending too much time? Let me discuss that in the final section.

The right approach to make money with affiliate marketing

As you can see, there are really free ways to promote your affiliate link. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right approach to get conversions. Sure, you won’t spend a single dime from these methods, but the potential for earning will be quite low without investing a lot of time.

So, what’s the right approach? Well, based on my experience, the right way to do affiliate marketing is to combine free methods with some paid methods. For example, instead of relying on a free hosting platform like Blogger, you can get your own domain instead.

It will only cost around $15 per year to host your own website. Sure, it takes a bit of time to set up (and some money), but just think of it as a small investment.

But having your own website or a YouTube channel still doesn’t mean you get quality traffic. To actually earn from your affiliate links, you have to take the time to learn how to provide value and how to find the right topics you can help people with.

Plus, you also have to learn how to optimize your content so you can get the most out of it. Once you’ve done that, your chances of getting conversions will significantly increase.

And the good thing is that there are lots of resources available online that can help you with all those things. You just have to take the time to do the work because affiliate marketing, in reality, is not something you can earn hundreds of dollars from immediately.

That being said, if you are willing to put in the time and effort, as well as some money, with the right approach you can potentially earn hundreds of dollars per day with affiliate marketing.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, promoting affiliate links completely for free is not considered the best way to earn through affiliate marketing. It can be a decent method to complement various strategies, but the most important thing you need to keep in mind is that you have to put in the time and effort required to build a solid strategy.

Affiliate marketing is a time-intensive process, but it can be very profitable if done the right way. If you are interested in more tips to help you build your online business, I recommend you check out the simplest and safest way for a beginner to build a profitable online business.

This guide will show you how to set up your blog, YouTube channel, and more to help you implement successful affiliate marketing strategies.

If you have any comments, questions, or have any experience with how to promote affiliate links for free, I would love to hear from you in a comment below.

20 thoughts on “How to Promote Affiliate Links for Free (The Full Truth)”

  1. Thanks for such an insightful article! It was really helpful to me. I have just one question, you mentioned that it takes around $15 a year to host a website. Do you have any recommended hosting sites with this payment program?

    Reply
  2. Thank you for this informative message
    But there is just one problem
    For instance where I come from
    15$ dollars for hosting a website
    Is a lot of money in my country.
    And as an absolute beginner like me.
    I really thought they were free websites that could help me like Craigslist
    I am really frustrated because I am seeing no results
    Awaiting your response thanks

    Reply
    • If you are serious about wanting to start a real business and getting a real income online, it can definitely be worth it. But it will take at least a bit of investment in proper training and the right tools to start any real business. But online it can be done a lot cheaper than what it used to cost to start a business. Just think about it – what other business could you start with an investment of less than $50 per month?

      It takes time and effort, but it is definitely worth it, in my opinion. This is the exact method I have used to create my online business, which is now a multiple 6-figure income, and it has given both me and my wife the freedom to work completely on our own terms and work when and where we want to and also have plenty of time with our daughter.

      Making money online is not a get-rich-quick thing and cannot be done without effort. If you are serious about wanting an online income you should honestly not expect to see results if you do not at some point invest in proper training and tools. And just wanted to make that completely clear so you do this with the right expectations.

      Reply
  3. How can one get accepted into affiliate programs as a beginner? I mean, with programs like CJ Affiliates, Etsy, etc., can anyone be successful by having a partnership with only one affiliate program to promote affiliate links? I am referring to the home decor niche.

    Reply
    • Yes, you can be successful with just one partner, but it is good to have several. But as a beginner you should not focus so much on getting the partnerships as you honestly will not make any money until you have traffic. So focus on learning to build traffic. Once you have traffic, you will start earning, and it will also be easy to get accepted into affiliate programs.

      Reply
  4. Hello My name is Scott
    I have tried several things to get started in making money online have not been very successful
    What got me into it was, that we got scammed and lost our bank account So I had to join an online bank and we got paid for joining I loved the idea and I thought if I could promote it I could make money as a side hustle. But it has been a tough road. Do you know of an online Bank that offers any Bonus just for joining, that doesn’t require an autopay requirement?

    Reply

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