Cloud Hosting Blog

THC is not only the best web hosting service you can find (we like to say that about ourselves a lot), but it’s also the most rewarding. As a THC customer you have the advantage of having your site hosted on a platform that is constantly improved and upgraded with the newest software and hardware at no cost for you. In time you get more than what you paid for and this is something no other competitor managed to achieve and we don’t stop here.

You don’t need to be a THC customer to make money with our affiliate program – which gives the highest commissions in the industry.

Each affiliate can earn 50% for every sale – imagine how much you can make if you refer clients to buy a dedicate server package from THC!

The problem with affiliate programs is that many people join, few know how to maximize their profits. Therefore, we’ll try to help you boost up your revenue by giving you a few guidelines you can safely apply for other affiliate programs as well.

Make Your Ads Visible

If you “hide” your ads no one will click on them. Generally the best placement for ads of all types is above the fold. Usually web readers follow an “F” pattern to “scan” a web page. Best ad positioning would be in this specific order: header, left menu bar, middle of the page (still above the fold) and right menu bar.

For best results you should use a “heat map” to see how people read your pages and on what types of ads/links they click most. You can use Crazyegg for a free test (it has some limitations in its free variant, but it is good enough to start with).

While many designers and usability advocates agree that everything above the fold gets more exposure than what is under the fold, there are situations when this rule doesn’t apply. For example, if you have ads right near the “submit comment” box, they sometimes convert better than ads placed in the content, especially when we deal with banner ads.

These are the basic ad placement rules that will bring the best results:

• place your ads above the fold
• place ads above the submit comment box or under
• place Top Hosting Center banners at the beginning or at the end of each article with a call to action
• integrate text links in your content
• place an affiliate link in your blogroll or your special links page (you can safely use “nofollow” we really don’t mind)

Make Your Ads “Stick”

Some companies are not very flexible in their affiliate programs. They provide a few banners and they want you to stick to what they give. Sometimes their banners don’t have the best designs.

Top Hosting Center encourages creativity. Design is also important for the aesthetics of your site. We perfectly understand that colors and styles we use in our banners don’t always match your layout. It is in your interest to make people click on your affiliate banners so if you have a better banner design idea to catch your visitors’ attention, feel free to create your own banners.

Just keep in mind that we have a family safe policy and we do not tolerate offensive content, so whatever image you link to us, try to keep it decent.

So here is how to make your ads “stick”

• choose ads that are interesting for your audience
• change the design (colors, fonts, graphics) to match your layout – we really don’t mind

Promote Your Affiliate Link in Other Channels

This is easier said than done. Two or three years ago writing articles and publishing them on various article directories had a high success rate. Today some of these directories don’t allow affiliate links. There are, however a few that still do, and one is GoArticles.com.

As long as your article is useful for the readers (for example if you write about “How to Chose Your Web Host?” and instead of blatantly promoting THC you just insert your affiliate link once in the article) no one will delete it. To get subscriptions from such an article you’ll have to promote it with social media bookmaking sites like Stumbleupon, Mixx and so on.

When you use such strategies remember that the social media users like good quality content, unique ideas and interesting pictures. Try to satisfy their taste.

Another good method to promote your affiliate link is to insert it in your email signature.

Some of our affiliates even sent personal messages to their friends recommending our service. If you do this, please refrain from spamming. Only write to people you know or people who agreed to receive email notifications from you. By all means don’t do it in THC’s name. How you promote your affiliate link is your responsibility.

Use your affiliate link in forums as your signature link – there are forums that allow this if you are an active user and if you don’t blatantly advertise your affiliation.

To summarize:

• write and promote articles about web hosting and include your affiliate link in the context;
• insert your affiliate link in your email signature;
• write emails to people you know;
• use your THC affiliate link in your forum signature;

Sales Don’t Just Happen

Many people join affiliate programs and expect to sell just by inserting affiliate banners on their sites. With low traffic and no promotion these banners almost never convert. What we want you to understand is that sales don’t just happen. Unless you have thousands of visitors each day you cannot expect your ads to convert. If you want to make money as an affiliate you need to dedicate a little time and effort to this endeavor. As you see above, the fixes are easy – the trick is to know how to employ them.

THC will support you further if you need more recommendations and help as our affiliate. Don’t be too shy to ask, after all, we also have a lot to gain with you on our side!