Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to earn passive income online.
Whether you’re running a website, podcast, or YouTube channel, you can promote affiliate products relevant to your audience to make money.
If you’re helping people build their online presence, promoting reliable web hosting services can be an excellent way to increase your affiliate product sales.
I’ve been promoting various web hosts over the last ten years. My blog, BloggersPassion, generates over $10,000/month, and most of that income comes from affiliate sales.
So, if you’re looking for PROVEN ways to maximize your sales through the power of web hosting affiliate programs, you’re in the right place.
In this guide, we’ll dive into proven strategies specifically designed to help you grow your web hosting affiliate income. Let’s get started!
Why Should You Promote Web Hosting Affiliate Programs?
There are so many reasons to promote web hosting services. Here are a few of the most significant benefits;
- The need to start a blog or website is constantly growing. Most websites need a proper web host to manage their files, media, and pages. So, there’s a lot of scope for affiliates to earn money by promoting web hosting services.
- Few web hosting companies offer recurring commissions, which means you can generate money as long as the customer stays with the provider.
- You’re helping your audience build their online presence by recommending reliable and secure web hosts.
- Almost all web hosting providers allow their affiliates to monitor clicks, conversions, and sales. So, it’s easier to finetune your strategy according to user behaviour.
Above all, there’s no limit to your earning potential as an affiliate. You can earn as long as you’re growing your audience. Most web hosts pay extra commissions for affiliates who refer 20+ customers monthly.
Top 5 Ways to Grow Your Web Hosting Affiliate Sales
1. Trust = Sales
In affiliate marketing, building trust is the key to success.
Do you know why?
Customers are bombarded with ads every single day. That’s why they often ignore ads. To capture their attention, you need to become a trusted source.
Remember, people don’t buy from strangers but from people they know and trust.
My #1 advice is only to recommend those web hosts you use or are satisfied with.
We’ve been using WPX hosting since 2016;
So far, we generated over $11,000 as a WPX affiliate.
We are showing our earning reports because affiliate product recommendations work.
But you need to build trust with your audience first.
In case you’re curious, here are some tips for gaining customer trust and confidence.
- Create awareness about the products you promote. Educate your audience on using the products, explaining their benefits, creating genuine reviews, etc.
- Be transparent with your readers when recommending a web host through an affiliate link. Use an affiliate disclosure with a simple text like “I recommend products I like through affiliate links. This means if you click on one of those links and buy something, I might make a small commission (at no extra cost to you!)”.
- Focus on helping people instead of selling a product. Identify and solve their website problems with your content.
- Show, don’t just tell. When writing reviews, use lots of screenshots and tutorials to make them easy to understand.
Above all, show proof. We often share screenshots of our website traffic, including affiliate earnings, to show that our recommendations work.
2. Create Dedicated Landing Pages
Most expert affiliate marketers use landing pages to boost their affiliate product sales.
Do you know why?
Landing pages eliminate distraction. Also, they help with better conversion rates.
The key is creating simple yet effective landing pages focusing on the hosting providers’ benefits.
Here are some tips to remember when creating landing pages for your web hosting service.
Focus on benefits: People do NOT care about the features. They care about the benefits offered by the web host.
Instead of highlighting the features of a web host, such as SSD storage, cPanel, and DDoS protection, highlight the benefits of the web hosting service, such as faster loading times, easier website building, and better security.
Avoid technical jargon while creating landing pages.
Add a solid call to action: CTA (Call to Action) matters a lot in product landing pages. You must make your CTA clear.
Tell visitors exactly what you want them to do, whether signing up for a web host free trial, getting a special discount, or applying a promo code.
Keep it simple: You don’t have to use fancy pop-ups or annoying ads while creating landing pages. Don’t use too much text, either.
Use simple language. Keep your copy short and concise. Use lots of bullet points and small paragraphs to explain the benefits of the web hosting service. Analyze how your competitors are promoting their products. Then, implement whatever makes sense.
Test and refine: Use a heatmap tool such as Crazy Egg to understand the behavior of your landing page visitors. Analyze where they click, scroll, and interact with the CTA (call to action). Test everything, from the headline to the CTA to clickable links.
3. Keyword Intent Matters
Keyword intent plays a BIG role in affiliate marketing success.
There are generally four types of keyword intent;
- Transactional
- Informational
- Navigational
- Commercial
Out of the four types of intent, informational and transactional keywords matter a lot to promote web hosting services.
So, let’s briefly discuss these two types of keyword intent.
Informational keywords
The purpose of targeting informative keywords is to attract highly relevant visitors from search engines.
People in the early research phase often use informational keywords like “What is web hosting?”, “How to start a WordPress blog” or “How to choose a web hosting provider.”
No matter what niche you’re in, target relevant informative keywords. You can use tools like Ubersuggest, Answer The Public, Semrush, etc, for keyword research.
Here are some of the examples of informational keywords:
- What is WordPress web hosting?
- Best web hosting for beginners
- Differences between shared hosting and VPS hosting
Transactional keywords
The purpose of transactional keywords is to attract people who are ready to take action, such as purchasing a web host or signing up for a free trial.
For example, someone searching Google for “WPX hosting discount code” indicates a strong desire to purchase WPX web hosting but also wants to find a discount before committing.
Transactional keywords often include words like “buy,” “coupon,” “discount,” etc.
Here are some of the examples of transactional keywords:
- Cheap Web Hosting Plans for WordPress
- Buy web hosting with a free domain
- WPX hosting coupon code
Once you have identified relevant keywords for a web host, analyze the SERP results.
Find out what things are included in the top 5 search results. Also, identify missing stuff so you can cover them while creating content on your website.
4. Be Brutally Honest With Your Reviews
Online reviews influence buying decisions.
Did you know 93% of customers read reviews before purchasing a product?
People read reviews before purchasing online, whether it’s books, games, or web hosting.
You should learn how to write helpful reviews to promote ANY web host.
The key here is to be HONEST while writing a review. You should NOT be biased towards a product just to increase sales. People will trust you when you talk about the good and bad of the web host you’re recommending.
Here are some of the best tips to write a product review that hooks readers’ attention.
Grab the product first: Most beginner affiliate marketers write reviews without using the products, which is why they struggle to increase their product sales.
Before writing any review, get your hands on the web host you want to recommend. Use it for a while to learn the web host’s features, pros, cons, uptime, etc.
Here are a few ways to get access to most web hosts;
- Sign up for the web host
- Contact the web host’s affiliate team to offer you a free test account
- Grab their free trial (few hosting providers offer free trials for a few days)
Once you learn about the product, make sure to join their affiliate program so you can promote it to your audience.
Show alternatives: It’s a good practice to write about one or two alternative options for the web host you’re promoting. You should give your audience multiple web hosting choices.
Let them decide. Your job is to recommend the best stuff. So, don’t be a sales guy – be helpful.
Include pros and cons: If you want to write unbiased reviews, outline all the pros and cons of the web host. Write about why the web hosting service differs from its competition and discuss its drawbacks. That way, people will decide whether the product is worth the money.
See things like a buyer: Consider what matters to the buyer while writing a review.
Ask yourself: “Is it easy to use? Does it offer better hosting features? Is it affordable?.”
Focus on the features that would be most important to someone considering buying the web host you’re recommending.
Write a solid conclusion: Would you recommend the web host? Make sure to include your thoughts about the product in the conclusion. If you loved it, say so! If there are better options, let people know. Let the discussion go in your comment section.
5. Offer Incentives or Special Discounts
If you’re already generating decent sales, you can ask your hosting provider for a special promo code for your audience.
As discussed earlier, we’ve been promoting WPX hosting for a long time and have created an exclusive branding page with a special coupon.
So, whenever people click on our WPX affiliate link, they’ll be redirected to our co-branded page with a special offer. Have a look;
As you can see above, users will get a special 65% discount on WPX hosting for the first month on all monthly plans when they use our exclusive coupon.
That’s how you can differentiate yourself from others. That’s how you can attract more people to use your affiliate links to purchase a web hosting service.
Contact the affiliate support team for special discounts or promo codes from a web hosting provider. Most web hosts offer special deals to affiliates who generate sales.
If you don’t get such deals, try offering freebies like checklists, eBooks, or product guides that help people use the web hosting service.
This would be a FREE bonus for people who purchase web hosting through your affiliate links. But before you do this, make sure it’s okay with the web hosting company to give away these freebies.
Conclusion
Increasing your web host affiliate sales is about understanding your audience’s needs, creating relevant content, and building trust.
When discussing a web hosting provider, highlight its benefits instead of features. Recommend only trusted web hosts. Also, offer incentives such as freebies or special promo codes to boost sales.
