Hey there,
As the owner of multiple technology blogs over the past decade, I‘ve tried various monetization models – from display ads to sponsored reviews and more.
But in my experience, few match the revenue potential of affiliate marketing.
It matches the interests of tech publishers with relevant software/service companies. And allows you to leave the logistics of order processing, customer service etc. completely to your partners once you source valuable signups.
I‘ll provide a deep dive on the approach, highlight top programs across categories, and share tips to accelerate your affiliate income.
Let‘s get started!
Why Affiliate Marketing Beats Other Options
Here are four reasons affiliate marketing should be a key monetization pillar as a tech blogger:
1. Achieve diversified, passive revenue
Over-reliance on display ads, no matter how optimized, has risks:
- 85% of Google AdSense publishers earn less than $100 per month
- Your earnings tank if a major ad platform tweaks its rules
- Intrusive ads hamper user experience and engagement
Affiliate income mitigates such issues by adding a consistent secondary revenue stream. It keeps pouring in effortlessly from products you‘ve previously promoted.
Affiliate marketing leads to nearly $7 billion in annual revenue across over 200,000 companies according to Statista.
2. Promote brands your audience trusts
As online software and SaaS adoption grows exponentially, users seek quality recommendations.
Your blog attracts niche groups deeply interested in solutions you cover – web hosting tools, VPNs, marketing apps, online courses and more. Catering relevant affiliate offers is a no-brainer!
For context, the size of the SaaS industry alone is projected to cross $220 billion by 2026. You serve those hungry for guidance on matching tools.
3. No physical fulfillment overhead
Creating and shipping your own information products has overhead. With affiliate marketing, your partners handle:
- Devising offers
- Website hosting
- Securing payment
- Ensuring customer satisfaction
You simply focus on content and sourcing merchant signups. Leave the rest to them!
4. Unlimited scalability
There are no artificial income caps based on website traffic unlike display advertising.
Top affiliates easily earn over 7 figures annually across sectors like finance and gaming.
While achieving that with a tech blog needs immense reader trust built over time – the scope is enormous if you commit long-term.
Let‘s now explore top programs that enable such scalability.
Must-Join Affiliate Networks
I always advise partners with wide affiliate ecosystems vs. a fragmented standalone approach. Networks make managing numerous relationships easier under one umbrella.
They consolidate offers across software brands, tech education platforms, web hosting companies and more. You simply access aggregated reporting and dedicated support teams.
Here are my top recommendations:
One of the largest affilate networks. ShareASale caters to both mature affiliate marketers through customized management portals as well as newcomers.
They house over 4000 merchant programs spanning everything from WordPress themes to meal kits to online apps and tools.
Their technology category itself has 700+ offers – making almost any niche attraction possible.
Popular ones include names like:
- AppSumo
- Cloudways
- Semrush
- Hotjar
- AWeber
For context, $320 million worth of sales were driven through ShareASale partners over 2020 alone.
It‘s beginner-friendly too. You don‘t need an existing audience to join and partner approval takes under 3 days for most programs.
2. Impact
While many networks take a "generalist" approach, Impact positions itself as a specialized alternative focused explicitly on high-value verticals like:
Software & SaaS: Zoho, Unbounce, Intercom
Business Services: Slack, Dropbox
Security: McAfee, Avast, Ivacy VPN
They curate a targeted affiliate environment specifically appealing to technology publishers and bloggers.
You cut through the noise of irrelevant offers. Impact also provides dedicated account managers to help maximize your commissions.
Custom reports offer actionable data like:
- Breakdown of earnings by product type, location and partnerships
- Attribution details on sales driven through URLs, coupon codes and banners
Payout reliability is high as well with net-15 payment cycles, thorough transparency and multiple payment methods available like wire transfer, ACH and Payoneer.
3. Amazon Associates
Driving traffic to the world‘s largest online retailer pays worthwhile dividends through their expansive affiliate program.
It covers every possible product category – from streaming devices, smart home equipment, webcams to servers and other IT infrastructure.
Depending on verticals, you earn handsome commission driving conversions:
- 4% for consumer electronics items
- 10% for digital downloads like ebooks, games and software
While the brand needs no introduction, getting approved requires 3 verified sales in 180 days post sign-up. It ensures you have genuine traction before participating.
Other Major Affiliate Networks
Beyond the three above, other reputable ones to consider are:
CJ Affiliate – Part of the Conversant group covering over 3000 partners. Look out for niche tech offers from Grammarly, GoDaddy and more.
Awin – Global network operating since 2000 with big-name brands like IBM and Adobe.
Rakuten – Skews heavily into ecommerce but has plenty of software and online course offers. Provides their own link tracking and analytic solution.
You could also explore networks like VigLink, Pepperjam or Cuelinks as you advance through optimizing earnings.
Now let‘s explore popular affiliate categories that attract buyers in hordes.
High-Value Affiliate Categories to Target
While joining umbrella networks helps, carefully handpicking offers within them amplifies income.
I‘ve had fantastic outcomes driving signups for web hosting tools, VPN services, productivity software, online learning platforms and more over the years.
Below are some areas you must focus on as a tech blogger:
I. Web Hosting
Your audience naturally cares about optimizing WP or ecommerce sites. Web hosting tools enable that crucial foundation.
You not only earn great commissions but also empower reader sites by recommending hosts like:
SiteGround – $100 per referral
As one of the few officially recommended WordPress partners, SiteGround builds essential server-side performance. It easily handles spikes from high-traffic blogs with their robust architecture.
You get a 60-day cookie period to earn from referrals alongside promo banners, text links and more.
Kinsta – $500+ per enterprise sale
Another managed WP hosting focused on speed through Google Cloud infrastructure. Their tiered commissions reward premium referrals with rates like:
- $100 per StartUp plan purchase
- $300 per Business plan sale
- $500 per Enterprise plan subscription
With 180-day cookies, you also earn 10% monthly recurring commission from renewals of bloggers you onboard!
Bluehost – $65 flat commissions
The popular web hosting brand ropes in beginners through affordable shared hosting plans – perfect for new blog hobbyists.
Bluehost pays $65 flat for every customer you refer without any ceiling.
II. VPN Services
Recommending reliable virtual private networks to safeguard internet access is hugely useful. VPN affiliate commissions often top even good web hosts!
SurfShark – $200-$400 per signup
One of my long-time partners, I‘ve generated over $35,000 driving subscriptions to SurfShark‘s security-focused VPN service with generous offerings like:
- $200 for a 24-month plan referral
- $280 for signing up a 36-month subscriber
- $400 commission for their top-tier 24-month plan
With support across unlimited devices and antivirus, fraud prevention tools bundled in, SurfShark sells itself to cautious web users once suggested.
NordVPN – Up to 60% recurring commission
NordVPN guarantees some of the best rates out there:
- 60% of whatever plan value users purchase
- Chance of making over $450 per customer
- Recurring payout for renewal subscriptions
The combination of blazing speeds, watertight security protocols and geo-unblocking functionalities has earned them industry-wide trust.
III. Software & Online Tools
From marketing apps and SEO tools to editing software and security programs – this space drives major affiliate income.
Let‘s explore examples:
SEMrush
The online platform for search visibility management and competitive intelligence gathering has an expansive partner program covering their diverse toolset:
- Keyword research
- Backlink tracking
- Website audits
- Rank monitoring
- Traffic analytics
With SEMrush driving over $150 million in ARR, you serve tremendous business demand as an affiliate.
They offer assets like localized promo materials across 10 languages. Beyond competitive payouts like $200 per annual subscription driven, you get reliable tracking and reporting around sales volumes, geographies, conversion stages etc.
Grammarly
The AI-powered writing assistance tool earns you with just signups and upgrades:
- $25 per new user
- Up to 40% commission on Grammarly Premium subscriptions
- Healthy overall conversion rate
User counts have crossed 30 million. Grammarly‘s real-time writing feedback and tone adjustment perfectly serves bloggers looking to refine content. Signup bonus + potential to earn recurring income makes it a solid recommendation.
[Recommended Reading – 12 Highest Paying Affiliate Programs].
IV. Online Courses & Elearning
Recommending quality edtech platforms catering to professional skill development like programming, marketing tactics, design competencies etc. is massively valuable.
They align perfectly with tech blog reader interests. Some prime options are:
Udemy – Covering over 150,000+ video courses, you earn handsome rates like:
- 5 to 50% per course purchase with average ~30% commission
- Premium affiliate-specific tools and support
Skillshare – Skills-focused tutorials on web development, game design, 3D modeling etc. pay $20 per annual Premium Member you onboard.
Coursera – Highly curated masters, bachelors and certification content earns up to 45% per sign-up.
Their established global brand pulls in lifetime value through subscription renewals long after initial referrals.
Beyond Classic Affiliate Offers
Think beyond conventional categories to maximize opportunities:
AppSumo – Earn lifetime payouts up to 60% promoting digital tool deals and bundles on their platform. $750+ per referral possible.
Fiverr – Online freelancing marketplaces building thriving side income potential for techies. Earn per transaction.
Hostinger – Cloud hosting perfect for ecommerce stores taps the web infrastructure category.
Optimizing Your Affiliate Strategy
Let‘s switch gears to crucial optimization tips from my decade-plus of experience:
Improve Conversions with Affiliate Plugins
Rather than directly linking to merchant sites, use intermediary plugins on your blog to track clicks & attributions through tagged links, coupons codes etc. before redirects.
Pretty Links – One I personally rely on for cloaking and statistics like click data, geo details, sources etc.
Thirsty Affiliates – Manage links as custom URLs across posts, pages, menus and widgets for centralized link management.
Both help present professional affiliate links while capturing critical analytics for self-optimization.
Disclose Affiliate Relationships
Being transparent about monetization maintains reader trust. Site visitors understand you deserve income supporting the value delivered.
Tactfully convey affiliation like:
"This article contains affiliate links. I may receive compensation for purchases made through links on this page at no additional cost to you."
"[Company] is an affiliate partner. Products featured adhere to my standard quality recommendations."
Promote Selectively
Avoid spamming low-quality offers. Curate ones delivering true utility to your audience backed by brands you know and use.
I cannot overemphasize the importance of linking value and income rather than a hollow hard-sell approach.
Prioritize skimmable text links over display banners to seem non-intrusive. Content should always take centerstage.
Let‘s Get Your Tech Site‘s Income Soaring
Monetizing online audiences keen on software tools, apps, services and digital courses NOT through ads alone is game-changing.
Affiliate programs specially aligned to what your readers care about tap the potential to its fullest.
Between recommendations on networks worth joining and tech categories perfect for your site – this guide sets the groundwork.
My last bit of advice?
Start with 3-4 promising programs using the software mentioned earlier to professionally track attribution. Provide useful content guiding readers to solutions that improve their outcomes. Money will follow!
Here‘s to higher earnings and effectively serving your community.
Regards,
[Your name]
