Ask questions first before you join an affiliate program. Do a little research about the choices of program that you intend to join into. Get some answers because they will be the deciding point of what you will be achieving later on.

Some questions you might want to ask are:

1. Will it cost you anything to join?

Most affiliate programs being offered today are free to join, or have trial free periods you can test out the market with. So why settle for those that charge you money before joining?

2. When do they issue the commission checks?

Every program is different. Some issue their checks once a month, some every quarter, some even weekly.  Select the one that is suited to your payment time choice. Many affiliate programs have a set minimum earned commission amount that an affiliate must meet or exceed in order for their checks to be issued.

3. What is the hit per sale ratio?

This is the average number of hits to a banner or text link it takes to generate a sale based on all affiliate statistics. This factor is extremely important because this will tell you how much traffic you must generate before you can earn a commission from the sale.

4. How are referrals from an affiliate’s site tracked and for how long do they remain in the system?

You need to be confident that the program will be able to track those people you refer from your site. This is the only way that you can get credit for a sale. The period of time that those people stay in the system is also important. This is because some visitors do not buy initially but may want to return later to make the purchase. You’ll want to know if you will still get credit for the sale if it is done some months later.

5. What are the kinds of affiliate stats available?

Your choice of affiliate program should be capable of offering detailed stats. They should be available online anytime you decide to check them out. Constantly checking your individual stats is important to know how many impressions, hits and sales are already generated from your site. Impressions are the number of times the banner or text link was viewed by a visitor of your site. A hit is a click through on those banners that takes your reader to the product websites.

6. Does the affiliate program also pay for the hits and impressions besides the commissions on sales?

It is important that impressions and hits are also paid, as these will add to the earnings you get from the sales commission. This is especially important if the program you are in offers low hit to sales ratio.

7. Who is the online retailer?

You will need to find out whom you are doing business with to know if it is really a solid company. Know the products they are selling and the average amount they are achieving. The more you know about the retailer offering you the affiliate program, the easier it will be for you to know if that program is really a good match for you and your site.

8. Is the affiliate a one tier or two tier program?

A single tier program pays you only for the business you yourself have generated. A two tier program pays you for the business, plus it also pays you a commission on the sales generated by any affiliate you sponsor in your program. Some two-tier programs are even paying small fees for each new affiliate you sponsor - somewhat like a recruitment fee.

9. Lastly, what is the amount of commission paid?

5% - 20% is a common commission paid by most programs. 0.01% - 0.05% is roughly what you will get if you are being paid for each hit. If you find a program that also pays for impressions, the amount paid is virtually zero. As you can see from the figures, you will now understand why the average sales amount and hit to sale ratio is important.

These are just some of the questions you should be asking yourself before you enter into an affiliate program. You should be familiar with the many important aspects that your chosen program should have before incorporating them into your website. Try to ask these questions before making the choice to join an affiliate program as your answers can help you select the best program for you site from among the many available.