11 Best Traffic Sources for Affiliate Marketing

Read this guide to understand the best traffic sources for your affiliate marketing business.

According to the latest data, 16% of online orders come from affiliate marketing. This gives us a glimpse of the earning potential of those aspiring to start an affiliate marketing business.

However, with the myriad of options available on the internet, finding the best traffic sources for an affiliate business can be tricky.

That's why, in this guide, I'll share 11 of the best traffic sources for affiliate marketing in 2023.

From paid advertising to social media and beyond, these sources can help you reach your target audience, generate quality traffic, and boost your affiliate sales.

What are traffic sources?

Traffic sources are places (or methods) affiliate marketers use to generate site visitors. The more eyeballs you bring to your content, the more potential commissions you can earn from affiliate offers.

Affiliate marketing traffic sources can be either organic or paid.

Let’s differentiate them.

Organic traffic vs paid traffic

Organic traffic is free traffic from online platforms and services. For example, sharing content on social media is free—yet it can provide instant exposure and clicks to your affiliate site.

If you want to know how to start affiliate marketing with no money, pouring your efforts into organic traffic generation is the way to go. The catch is that you need to wait a while before you see a steady stream of organic traffic.

Paid traffic, on the other hand, will help you reach your target audience quickly. But unlike organic traffic, it comes with recurring costs.

While paid traffic is not ideal for sustainability or growth, it effectively widens your reach and builds a positive brand image.

Best traffic sources for affiliate marketing

Here are the best ways to drive traffic to your affiliate website and boost revenue:

Search engines

Invest in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to get free, recurring traffic from platforms like Google and Bing.

Search engines can potentially generate hundreds of thousands of organic traffic to your affiliate website.

The goal should be to appear on the first page of search engine results for the right keywords.

For example, if your affiliate product is a coffee maker, you want the top spots for keywords like “best coffee maker with grinder.”

Achieving high rankings increases your discoverability to millions of search users. To do this, you need to execute an SEO strategy.

How to generate traffic from search engines

Create a comprehensive on-page and off-page SEO strategy to boost the rankings of your affiliate marketing content.

• Conduct keyword research: Use tools like Semrush to find profitable keywords and track your search positions. Here's a guide I wrote about keyword research.
• Craft keyword-optimised content: Create compelling content and optimise it for your target keywords with tools like Surfer. Here's a guide I wrote about creating content.
• Build backlinks: Obtain backlinks from relevant, authoritative websites or create them yourself by publishing guest articles. Here's my backlink guide.
• Develop a healthy internal link profile: Plan a cluster strategy and create a network of internal links between related posts.
• Improve your website’s performance: Use tools like PageSpeed Insights to identify and fix performance-related issues on your website.

Organic social media

Use social media platforms as content distribution channels to generate traffic to your affiliate website.

Social media publishing also helps build a reputable brand, especially if you focus on sharing valuable content and generating positive user engagement (likes, positive comments, shares, etc.).

Grammarly, for example, frequently creates and shares educational posts that draw the attention of its target audience. To attract targeted traffic to your website, do the same with your affiliate marketing business social profiles.

How to generate traffic from social media sites

Learn how to become famous on social media sites to rake in high-quality traffic.

• Join social media groups: Connect with individuals who are genuinely interested in your niche and encourage them to visit your site for valuable information.
• Use hashtags: Boost the searchability of your social media content with trending hashtags.
• Curate content: Build brand awareness and generate followers by sharing content from brands they already love.
• Engage other users: To build your social media presence, follow your target audience, like their posts, and write informative comments.
• Leverage visual content whenever possible: Use tools like Canva to create eye-catching visuals and draw the attention of your audience.

Online communities

Join online communities and message boards to connect with your target audience and encourage them to visit your affiliate website.

Online communities offer the perfect opportunity to reach people who are likely to buy your affiliate products.

For example, Reddit has millions of channels or “subreddits” dedicated to specific topics. Look for subreddits related to your affiliate products and contribute to the community. Add value, build relationships, and show the community that you're trusted.

How to generate traffic from online communities

• Find relevant communities: Search for subreddits and online message boards that specifically discuss relevant topics.
• Participate in the community: Naturally build your presence by participating in conversations constructively.
• Obtain ideas for your content strategy: Tap into forums for content research and share articles valuable to the community.
• Build up your profile: Mention your expertise and insert links to your affiliate website into your profile.

Email lists

Send bulk emails to your subscribers to promote affiliate marketing content.

Email lists provide a direct line of communication between you and your existing leads.

These are people who are already familiar with your brand and understand what you offer. More importantly, they already gave their vote of confidence by signing up for your email list.

How to generate traffic from email lists

• Use email marketing automation. Schedule automated emails to send on specific conditions and times, like sales Holidays or first-time page visits.
• Experiment between HTML and plain text emails. Plain text and HTML emails with custom graphics appeal to different user bases—experiment with both to find out what your audience prefers.
• Balance promotional and informative content. Share a mix of educational content, and affiliate offers to avoid being perceived as “spammy.”

Paid search traffic

Invest in paid search ads to propel your affiliate website to the top of search engine results.

Search ads can quickly boost your affiliate site's traffic—but only as long as you fund your campaigns.

The most common advertising model for paid search is Pay-Per-Click (PPC), which charges you for every ad click. While it’s effective in bringing targeted traffic, PPC campaigns are risky as you might spend thousands of dollars on clicks that don’t convert into affiliate sales.

How to generate traffic from paid search:

• Research keywords carefully. Ideally, target high-traffic keywords with reasonable PPC competitiveness ratings (use tools like Keyword Magic Tool from Semrush).
• Target keywords with commercial intent. Look for keywords that people use when they’re close to a purchase decision (keywords that contain words like “buy,” “order,” “review,” and “price”).
• Split test ads. Run multiple versions of your ads with different Calls-To-Action (CTAs), copies, headlines, and more.
• Consider native ads. Invest in native ads (ads that look similar to a website’s native content) to draw clicks without disrupting the user experience.

Social media advertising

Give your social media presence a quick boost with social media advertising.

Each social media platform offers different systems and tools for running ad campaigns.

For example, Instagram lets you promote native ads through Stories and Reels. Facebook, on the other hand, offers mid-roll ad placements that appear to users who watch videos on the platform.

TikTok provides several engaging ad formats including In-Feed Ads that appear natively in a user's For You feed and look like regular TikTok videos. There are also other ad types, like TopView Ads that play when a user first opens the app, taking over the full screen.

Branded Effects let brands create custom filters, stickers and special effects to engage users. Another useful way of harnessing more interest in your content is using Spark Ads that let you boost existing organic content from your own account or even partner creators.

How to generate traffic from social media ads

• Pick a platform your target audience uses: Improve your chances of generating affiliate sales by advertising to the right audience.
• Test different ad types: Try mid-roll ads, Instagram Stories ads, carousel ads, and other ad formats to find the one that suits your affiliate marketing business.
• Hyper-target your ads: Use ad targeting options like location, interests, age, and gender to reach the perfect audience for your ads.

Guest blogging websites

Submit posts to other websites with similar audiences to promote your brand to a wider audience and generate referral traffic.

Find websites that accept guest posts using “guest blogging footprints,” which are keywords combined with phrases like “submitted by,” “write for us,” and “submit guest posts.”

Run a Google search using these footprints to find potential sites you can write for.

How to generate traffic from guest blogging websites

• Read contributor guidelines carefully: Check if the website allows backlinks to promotional content (or if they allow backlinks at all).
• Target popular websites: Reap the full benefits of blogging by writing for websites that garner tons of monthly traffic.
• Write great content: Make your guest posts stand out to hook readers and encourage them to visit your website.

Content syndication platforms

Extend the reach of your affiliate marketing content by re-posting them on content syndication platforms.

Content syndication is the practice of republishing content—such as articles, videos, and infographics—to maximise its traffic potential.

You don’t need to make modifications to the original content in order to syndicate it. As long as it’s yours, you can syndicate content as is and squeeze the most value out of it.

How to generate traffic from content syndication

• Look for the right platforms: Choose a content syndication platform that matches your affiliate marketing content and target audience.
• Set a canonical tag: To avoid being flagged for duplicate content, set a canonical link to your original post (platforms like Medium.com has a tool for this).
• Build a professional contributor profile: Mention your background, social media, and website in your author profile.

Video sharing websites

Use the power of video to captivate your target audience, generate traffic, and earn more commissions.

Videos are among the best content strategy for mobile marketing—thanks to the popularity of apps like YouTube and TikTok.

You don’t need an elaborate production setup to create videos for your affiliate marketing business. “Talking head” videos, simple product reviews, and “unboxing” videos are effective in capturing the attention of potential buyers.

Most video sharing sites like YouTube also allow creators to insert affiliate links directly in the post description.

How to generate traffic from video sharing websites

• Use the right video formats: Publish comprehensive videos (reviews, unboxing, tutorials, etc.) on YouTube, but focus on short-form videos (quick tips, product reveal, etc.) on TikTok and Instagram Reels.
• Focus on unique and useful information: When talking about affiliate products, share information based on your firsthand experience.
• Embed your videos into blog posts: Enhance the value of your affiliate marketing content by embedding original videos.

Q&A websites

Answer relevant questions in Q&A websites like Quora, Fluther, and Ask.fm while mentioning a relevant resource on your affiliate website.

Q&A websites provide a direct line to people who can solve their problems with your affiliate products.

How to generate traffic from Q&A websites

• Build content around popular questions: Use top questions as topics for content writing to give users a reason to visit your website.
• Never force links: Q&A websites may delete your answers if it’s considered overly promotional.
• Write informative answers: As a rule of thumb, write answers that can stand on their own (without forcing users to visit your page).

Messaging groups and apps

Create or join messaging groups on Discord and Telegram to establish a direct line of communication with your target audience.

Messaging apps are rising as some of the most lucrative and personalised channels for SME marketing. Participate in conversations, build up your reputation, and casually mention your site or affiliate products when the opportunity presents itself.

How to generate traffic from messaging apps

• Respond to other users’ messages: Reacting or replying directly to another user’s message can help you stand out in a messaging group.
• Build your own group: Use your social media profiles, email list, and website to bring users to your private messaging channels.
• Regularly share content, unique tips, and special offers: Build a sense of exclusivity around your messaging groups with offers and “hacks” they won’t find anywhere else.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best free traffic sources for affiliate marketing?

Top free traffic sources for affiliate marketers:

• Search engines
• Online communities
• Content syndication platforms
• Guest blogging websites
• Social media

Can I use Google Ads for affiliate marketing?

Yes, anyone can use Google Ads to promote their own brand and website, including affiliate marketers. Use it to drive up website traffic and improve your chances of generating affiliate sales.

Is affiliate marketing hard for beginners?

While affiliate marketing has low barriers to entry, building a profitable affiliate marketing business can overwhelm beginners. To be successful in affiliate marketing, you need to learn several branches of digital marketing, like email marketing, social media, blogging, SEO, and advertising.

Get a done-for-you traffic generation strategy for affiliate marketing

Our team is fully prepared to help create a traffic generation strategy tailored to your affiliate website’s specific needs. Take the first step by booking a free consultation today!