How To Build a Website to Do Affiliate Marketing

You’re filling out an application for an affiliate program and you come to the section where they ask for your website.

What do you put?

Having a website to do affiliate marketing isn’t always necessary but in most cases advertisers want to see that you have one.

This gives them an idea about how you’ll promote them and it shows how your existing content aligns with their product or service.

Building a website for affiliate marketing might sound tricky, but it’s actually a very simple process in 2025.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the process, step by step. In no time, you’ll have your first affiliate marketing website up and running.

^{This post may contain affiliate links. ThriversHub earns commissions at no extra cost to you when purchases are made through links on this page. For more info, visit the disclosure page.}

Table of Contents

1. Choose Your Niche

The first step to building any type of successful business is always choosing your niche market.

Choosing a niche allows you to stand out in a broader industry and become an authority on a more focused topic.

So, you could open a bakery and just sell bread like every other bakery or you could be the guy who sells the best rye bread in your area.

On the internet, especially for affiliate marketing, it doesn’t work much different. You’ll have a better chance of success narrowing down on a much broader topic.

When choosing a niche for your website, it is important that you choose a topic that you have some interest in or something you love doing. This will make it so much easier for you to create content around. Your passion and genuine knowledge will also shine through making it easier for you to create content that converts to affiliate sales.

I usually like to ask people who are interested in affiliate marketing a few questions:

The answers to these questions would reveal what they’re most passionate about. That can form the basis for a thriving affiliate business. Think about things like:

Find an angle to focus on (A.I. method)

Once you’ve found your interest, it’s time to find an angle to focus on. For this step, you can use this Wealthy Affiliate AI tool to enter the niche that you’re interested in and it will give you 5 profitable angles you can use to build your affiliate website.

In the example above, I put “fitness” and the tool gives me some great fitness angles I could focus on to build my affiliate website.

2. Select and Register a Domain Name

Your domain name is the unique URL where your website can be found on the internet. A catchy domain name sets the tone for your affiliate website.

Let’s break down how to pick and register the perfect one.

Make it a brand

You can include your most relevant keywords related to your niche in your domain when possible. This tells visitors exactly what your website is about. For example, I wouldn’t have to tell you what “outdoorgearreviews.com” is about.

Alternatively, you could look at your affiliate marketing business as a brand and use your brand name as your domain name. If you didn’t know big websites like Amazon.com, eBay.com or Bing.com, would you be able to tell what they’re about?

Both keyword type domains and brand domains work. I have a preference for brand domains so that’s what I use.

Keep it simple and memorable

In the early days of the internet, you could probably get a one-word or a two-word domain name of popular words and phrases. Not now.

Still, short domain names work best and you can still come up with a short domain name by being creative.

Aim for 2-3 words that people can easily type and remember. Avoid hyphens, numbers, or unusual spellings that may confuse your visitors. If you’re going for a brand domain, then a one-word domain name with an unusual spelling may work.

Check to see if the domain is available

The next thing you want to do is to check with a domain name registrar to see if it is available.

To do this:

Although there are lots of domain name extensions you can choose from, always choose the .com if it’s available. It is the most trusted extension.

Avoid possible trademark issues

You should do a quick trademark search to avoid legal problems later. Google your chosen name and check if any businesses already use it. You don’t want trademark issues after building your site.

Also avoid including the name of any brands in your domain name. For example, “amazongiftguides.com”, “youtubetools.com” and “bestsamsungphones.com” will all possibly get you into trouble.

Choose a reliable domain name registrar

Pick a reliable domain name registrar to register your domain with. You want a registrar with transparent pricing, is easy to use, has reasonable transfer and expiration policies and also great support.

Check out my list of the 6 best domain name registrars that fit all the criteria above. I’ve listed Namecheap at #1 because they’re arguable the best domain name registrar right now when it comes to pricing, deals, support and more.

I usually do not register my domains where I host my websites because if I have trouble with the host, moving a domain may become a hassle.

Register your domain name

Once you’ve found the perfect name for your affiliate website, you should register it promptly.

1. Add it to your cart at your preferred registrar
2. Select a registration period (1-10 years)
3. Add domain privacy (the best hosts include this for free)
4. Complete your purchase

Consider registering your domain for multiple years. It shows search engines your site is going to be around for a while, plus you’ll save money on renewal fees.

Your domain name is your online address. Take time to pick one that fits your niche and appeals to your target audience. The right domain builds trust and helps visitors remember your site.

3. Set Up Web Hosting

In order for your website to show when someone puts in your domain name, you’ll need a reliable web hosting provider to host your website pages.

Good hosting will load your website fast and make it available 24/7 – exactly what you need for affiliate success.

What to look for in a web host

When looking for the best web host, you want to look for one with:

Choose the right hosting plan

For new affiliates, you do not need a lot of resources for right now because your website hardly has traffic while in the beginning stage. You can always upgrade or switch hosting easily as your site traffic increases.

Some good beginner shared hosting providers include:

As you continue to build out your website, your traffic will start to increase and eventually you will outgrow these web hosts. I would suggest not choosing a term longer than 1 year since the goal is to get as much traffic as possible in the shortest amount of time.

I host some of my websites at WPX.net.

This is a great option for when you’re moving hosts but you can also start with this web host.

The pricing is way higher than the beginner shared hosting. This is because WPX specializes in WordPress hosting, an environment that is better optimized for WordPress websites like the one you’re going to be building.

Setting up your hosting account

Set up your hosting account to get started with building your affiliate website.

Connect your domain

You’ll need to point your domain name to your hosts nameservers. You will usually find instructions on how to do this within the domain provider’s help files.

To point your domain name, you will need to log into your domain name provider’s website, find the nameserver settings and enter your web hosts nameservers. There’s usually a 24-48 hour wait for the changes to take effect although in some cases this wait can be way sooner.

Install WordPress

To build your affiliate marketing website, the WordPress CMS is the most popular option. Most web hosting providers offer this as a 1-click install so that it’s easy to set up.

Once you install WordPress, your site will be ready for you to customize and set up the way you want it.

Find the WordPress installer on your web host, choose an admin username and password, choose your site title and click install.

Make sure that you set up some security features for your website. This includes installing an SSL certificate (usually free with most good web hosts), setup daily backups and using a strong password.

If you’re on one of the beginner shared hosting, you may also want to install a security plugin. Most WordPress web hosts take care of this part for you so it all depends on the type of hosting you chose in the first place.

You’ll also want to configure basic website settings by going to your WordPress dashboard and visiting the settings panel.

Test your setup

Before you continue, you’ll want to test to make sure everything is working right.

Check to make sure that your website is loading properly. When you enter your domain name, your website (with the default template) should show up in your browser without any errors.

Then you want to make sure that your SSL is working properly. You should see a padlock icon in your browser right before your website address.

Make sure that backups are running.

Good web hosting service creates a solid foundation for your affiliate site. Take time to set things up properly now – it’ll save you headaches later. Plus, fast, reliable hosting helps with both SEO and user experience.

4. Design Your Website

A clean, professional website design helps you convert website visitors into buyers. There are lots of great WordPress themes both free and paid that will help you to achieve this so you wouldn’t need to hire a web designer to do this for you.

Here’s how to design your website.

Choose your WordPress theme

There are many, many WordPress themes you could use to get a clean, professional look. Some however a better than others in terms of how fast they load, additional features, how often they’re updated and more.

Here are some great user-friendly themes that are perfect for affiliate marketing websites. The free versions are great and the paid versions are even better.

Many of these themes have a parent theme and starter websites with designs for different niches. So achieving the design you want with one specific theme is possible so that you can stand out from all the other users using the same theme.

Customize your site’s appearance

Under the “Appearance” tab inside your WordPress dashboard, most themes have a customizer. You can use the customizer to design each of the elements in your theme (header, sidebar, posts etc) the way you like it.

The most important customization you can apply are:

Create essential pages

Besides the content you’ll create for your audience, your website will need a few key pages. These pages aren’t optional so you’ll need to set them up first so that you have them all before you start promoting your website.

A well-designed affiliate website puts visitors first. Focus on clean layouts, fast loading times, and easy navigation. Your design should help readers find what they need and make buying decisions easier.

Simple designs often work best. Don’t overcrowd your pages. Give your content room to breathe, and make your affiliate links stand out naturally.

5. Produce High-Quality Content

Once you have your website set up and ready to go, it’s time to create some high-quality content. Great content informs your readers and drives sales.

Here’s how to create articles and reviews that rank well and convince readers to buy through your affiliate links.

Plan your content strategy

The most work you’ll do on your affiliate website is writing content. It’s important to know what type of content to post in order to rank well in search engines and convert visitors into buyers.

Here are some content types that work well for affiliate marketing websites.

You should create a publishing schedule to consistently publish new content to your website. Aim for publishing no less than 3 articles per week. If you can publish more then this would be ideal.

Also schedule time to update existing content on your website on a regular basis. Look out for opportunities to update pricing changes, additional features, removed features, new alternatives and more to keep your content fresh. Outdated content can be confusing to readers if left unchecked.

Enhance your content

Other affiliate websites are publishing content on the same topics you’re publishing. To compete and stand out, you should try to enhance your content with formatting and multimedia elements.

This could take the form of creating:

Optimize content for search engines

Primarily, you want to write your content for human readers. However, in order for those human readers to discover your content, you must also optimize your content so that it ranks well in search engines like Google and Bing.

As a WordPress user, you can start by installing an SEO plugin. I use both RankMath on some websites and All-In-One SEO on others. Both are great but I’m partial to RankMath and that’s the one I’m installing on newer websites and recommending to others.

SEO plugins manage technical and on page tasks for you. For example, RankMath will give you guidelines about your SEO based on the keyword you want to rank for.

You will still need to know some basic SEO best practices to stick to while creating your content.

Here are a few basics that you should follow.

Quality content builds trust with your readers. Take time to research thoroughly and present information honestly. Focus on solving problems and helping readers make smart buying decisions.

Remember to always write for humans first and search engines second. Your success depends on providing real value to your readers through detailed, accurate, and helpful content.

6. Join Affiliate Programs

To make money from your newly built affiliate website, we need to join some affiliate programs. This process should be happening right alongside the content creation step.

For instance, if you’re writing a review for the best drones for real estate photography, it makes sense to already be an affiliate for the drone that you’re writing about.

In this section, I’m going to show you how to pick and join the best affiliate programs for your affiliate website.

Apply to popular affiliate networks

A good place to start is by joining popular affiliate networks. The application process for most networks are easy and you’d normally be able to get started once you submit the form.

In most cases, you’ll then have to apply to each individual program once you get access to the network.

Here is a list of some of the most popular affiliate networks you can apply to.

Each network connects you with multiple merchants and products. You can do a simple search or check relevant categories for merchants in your niche.

Finding affiliate programs in your niche

Besides affiliate networks, there are a few other ways to find affiliate programs in your niche.

If you know the brand, (you probably use the product and want to know how to earn money referring others), you can do a simple Google search to find their affiliate program. A query like “brand name + affiliate program” should uncover their affiliate page.

Or you can simply go to the brand’s website and scroll down to the footer section. Look for the words “affiliate program” and you can find their affiliate page. Some companies label their affiliate program in different ways – “partners”, “partner with us”, “affiliates”, “make money”, or something else related.

If you don’t know what brands have affiliate programs or you’re just looking to see what’s available, you can do a search like “niche + affiliate program” with ‘niche’ being the niche you’re promoting in.

Doing this search will uncover lists of affiliate programs in your niche that you can join.

You can find some on ThriversHub including:

Some affiliate programs have strange terms. Most are great but when evaluating, here’s what to look for.

Best practices for adding affiliate links

When sharing affiliate links in your content there are some best practices that you must follow. Here’s a quick guide on the best practices for adding affiliate links.

1. Add clear disclosures

Disclosing your affiliate links not only adds an element of trust to your promotions, it is also a legal requirement. The FTC requires that you add a clear affiliate disclosure to any page where affiliate links are present.

The one I have for this post says “This post may contain affiliate links. ThriversHub earns commissions at no extra cost to you when purchases are made through links on this page.”

There’s a link to a dedicated disclosure page explaining more and the disclosure is clearly posted at the top of the post where readers can’t miss it.

2. Shorten and track your affiliate links

Affiliate links can be ugly sometimes. The best practice is to shorten and rebrand the link so it looks like it’s a link from your website. For example, petfoodseller.com/?aff=ey2ogNxdi&data=5 can now become petaffiliate.com/trypetfood.

To do this, you need a reliable link shortener plugin installed on your WordPress site. The one I use and have been using for years is called Pretty Links. It’s free with optional premium upgrade for more features.

The free version of Pretty Links can track clicks and more. Another good reason to use a link shortener is if you decide to switch out an affiliate program you previously promoted, you’ll only need to change one link instead of dozens that may be on your website.

One thing to note is that it’s against Amazon’s terms to shorten affiliate links you get from their Associate Program. You’ll need to post those as they are to remain compliant.

3. Keep promotional content accurate

Suppose you were to mention on your website that the advertiser of a product you’re promoting has a 30-day free trial but when your readers click through, there’s only a 7-day free trial. There’s going to be a bit of confusion going on in your reader’s head.

You should always stay up-to-date on changes in your affiliate program in order to keep promotional content accurate. This can prevent conversion problems and reduce trust issues.

7. Drive Traffic to Your Website

Without traffic, no one is going to see your content or click on your affiliate links. This means you wouldn’t be able to make any money from your affiliate website. Therefore, your goal is to get as much traffic as you can to your website.

Start with solid on-page SEO

A good place to start since you’re creating content for your website is implementing solid on-page SEO best practices.

SEO stands for “search engine optimization”, a process where you increase your website’s chances of ranking better on search engines, especially Google, so that you can get more free traffic from searches.

I mentioned before that you’ll want to install an SEO plugin like RankMath and follow their setup instructions. Then you’ll want to start with the basics for on-page optimization.

Following these on-page basics can help to boost your website where you can start getting traffic to your website.

Build quality backlinks

To strengthen your SEO efforts, you’ll also want other websites linking back to your own. This tells search engines that your website does have content that others find helpful and interesting – worthy of rankings.

Getting natural backlinks is great but you can also go out and get those backlinks. A few great ways to get started.

There are lots of other ways to get backlinks to your website but starting with these can help you increase website traffic directly and by boosting your SEO.

Engage in social media marketing

If you already use Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and other social media sites, you can use them to send traffic back to your website.

You may want to create a separate account just for your business though. On this account, you can regularly share useful tips, product review, buying guides, how-to’s and more.

Some types of content work better depending on the platform. You can do some simple research to see what’s working for others.

Try paid advertising

Paid advertising is another option you can try. Create landing pages for your affiliate offs on your website and pay for traffic on sites like Facebook, Google, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest.

You’ll want to make sure that your expected commission is big enough for the margin between what you spend on traffic and what you’re actually paid.

Start testing with a small budget of $10-$20 dollars a day and monitor your campaign closely.

There are dedicated coursed on buying traffic from each of the traffic sources mentioned. It may be beneficial to take a structured course focusing on strategies your preferred traffic source before investing on ads.

There are a lot of ways to get traffic to your website. Focus on one traffic source at a time and master it before moving on to the next one.

8. Monitor and Optimize Performance

So you’ve got your website up, you’re writing content, and driving traffic. At this point your affiliate links are probably converting sales and you’re making money.

What’s next? Well it doesn’t end stop there.

A big part of running a successful affiliate website is knowing what’s working and what isn’t. This way you can do more of what’s working and improve your earnings continuously.

You’ll want to see how much traffic you’re getting, what keywords and content are bringing people to your website and which content are you getting sales from.

Track your traffic by using tools like Google Analytics and Search Console – two must have tools for any website owner.

You can track your affiliate links and conversions by looking at your affiliate stats in your affiliate network’s dashboard or the affiliate program’s stats. Test different creatives (banners, links) and even different layouts and content types to see which works best. Make small changes at a time so you know what changes work.

Conclusion

It’s not as tough as it might sound. Building a website comes down to about 8 simple steps.

You only have to do the first 4 steps once and the other 4 steps are a set of repeatable actions that you can easily learn to do and implement. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be on your way to creating a thriving affiliate business.

Just remember that success does no happen overnight when you’re doing affiliate marketing. It takes time, effort, and a willingness to learn and adapt.