I’m sharing some recent updates with affiliate linking today, in case you are doing affiliate links now or are considering trying it out. I know there are lots of different opinions on affiliate linking, and I like to be honest about the time and energy they take, so that you can decide if it is right for you.
If you are not doing affiliate linking yet and are just interested, stay with me here, past the few RewardStyle updates I go over here first. These exemplify what I’m going to share on down the post that is good to know, before you spend a bunch of time on affiliate linking. ;-)
Build.com Is No Longer Associated With RewardStyle
If you are in RewardStyle for affiliate linking, you have to know that Build.com has gotten out of that network.
I’m super sad about that, as I used them for lots of links to plumbing fixtures, lighting, tile, etc. It was a great resource, even for sending some sources to clients to purchase on their own. :-(
If you have RewardStyle and have done a few links to Build.com products on your site, go check those out. A big ole sign pops up that says “Oops! Your offer could not be found…”
Right, it’s a dead link. Ugh!!!!
I had many posts where I linked build.com products within, but I’m only taking the time to change out the posts that are currently getting traffic. It’s not worth the random post here and there that isn’t doing that well.
In my downloadable pdf on affiliate linking and the best way to get that to work for you, I explain that posts where you do a round up of like items, like this post of mine on black faucets, or this post of budget friendly lighting, or this one of tall nightstands, do better in google searches and on Pinterest for me, especially in the long term.
Those are the posts that I am focusing on changing the links in now. It’s not that many, so not that bad and worth it to me. I’m using Lumens.com or Bellacor and finding much of the lighting links on these two sites that are also in the RewardStyle network.
Perigold has been added to the Rewardstyle network!
In better news, especially in the furniture and lighting department, Perigold is now available on RewardStyle. They have soooo much designer product, and their website shows if something is out of stock now too, which helps. You are more assured of someone following through and buying a product if it is in stock.
I’ve found so many of the products that I had linked to on build.com on the Perigold website as a replacement, so that worked out well.
BTW, product stays available longer on Perigold than on One King’s Lane, so if you have to choose between the two for linking, pick Perigold or Wayfair. Those One King’s Lane links go dead a lot faster and need refreshing sooner. They just seem to change up their site more often.
Link Maintenance
There have been times when I’ve been really conscientious about updating my affiliate links, and then there are times when I just let it slide. It depends on my focus at the time and how busy I am. It’s not worth it to worry too much over it and I know many who make a lot of money off affiliate links and don’t even update much at all.
When these two online retailers made their moves, I wanted to get in there and do some updates. It was worth it to me for older posts that were getting traffic.
I take note of what is getting traffic on my own site and then check my RewardStyle earnings every week, to see what items people are clicking on to purchase. I will check out the links and then update a blogpost that seems to be getting activity, if I haven’t updated it in awhile.
new Networks For Affiliate Linking
One of the problems I have now with my own site and one I’ve been having for a long time, is linking to viable websites and apps.
If you have a site that has a long lifespan, or will (we all hope), you want to make sure you are not grabbing up every new website or app you can find to use and link to. Take the time to see if anything you link to has some staying power, that they won’t get bought out and turned into something else, that they will actually benefit you in the future. Research them a bit and make sure they will make it in the long run.
I say this because there is a new site out there, Sidedoor, that is making waves in our industry. I honestly haven’t checked it out thoroughly at all, but Business of Home is promoting it and there are conversations about it going on.
While this site might work perfectly well to use for your own clients, I probably wouldn’t go dropping their links into my blog or spreading it on social media, hoping to get purchases and then commission.
Buying habits with affiliate linking
Let me tell you one thing I know for sure, the general public mostly does not want to enter their credit card into a site that they know nothing about.
They will be much more apt to buy from a well-known retailer like Wayfair, Crate and Barrel, West Elm, Pottery Barn, One Kings Lane, Amazon, Nordstorm, Anthropologie, etc., than from some other site that they’ve never heard of before.
While we, as designers, are hearing about Sidedoor, I am pretty sure that clients or your blog readers are not.
And clients and blog readers do check out pricing online, as we all know, especially if you are giving them links. So, naming your own price on something and then thinking that a client or a blog reader won’t check out other places it might be available for less, is probably a little naive.
I understand if clients buy product directly from a designer, where they are getting a custom service, a design and management along with the product, that pricing could and should be higher. My prices are usually competitive with retail but not lower and I understand how a designer’s pricing would be higher.
But if you are giving them a link to buy elsewhere, believe me, they will shop you.
An App I Feel Like I’m Trapped Into Using
Here’s an example of some of my linking issues, besides the affiliate linking with build.com, I mentioned above.
Years ago, everyone was using Disqus for a commenting system on blogs. Once you signed in, you could hop from blog to blog and easily leave comments, it’s what we all did 8-10 years ago.
I still have Disqus on my site now, for comments.
If I was to move to another commenting system, even back to Squarespace, which is my website’s own system, I would lose all my comments on my blog. Every single last one of them, with a click of a button. :-/
Now, if you don’t know this, blog comments are really priceless. They provide social proof and they help with SEO, as comments show Google that people are getting what they want on your blog. I have some posts where people have asked me lots of questions and uploaded photos. Those are quite handy for me to check out for content creation ideas and it just further helps provide info to new visitors who find that post.
I’ve had people tell me that the comments provide a lot more insight and they found examples of their own situations there.
About 5 years ago or so, Disqus implemented a fee, I now pay $12 a month. To prevent spam, they also put a rather complicated log in process in place, which annoys a lot of people, especially those who are first time commenters.
So now, I have to keep paying $12 a month just to keep all the comments I have on my blog, while using their tedious log in that is many times unsuccessful anyway. I would do anything, now, to keep all those comments and just go to using the commenting system that comes on my site!
When I started using Disqus, it was all wonderful and convenient and seemed like the perfect fit. :-(
Another app that went pay to play
I had another app I used that I loved, that made moodboards and then did the linking to the product for you right there on the board. I made a bunch of these, used the app for about a year or so, and had them scattered in posts across my blog.
They also implemented a monthly payment system at one point, and it just wasn’t worth it to me to continue that service. Because these boards linked to their website where the main board rested, I was denied access once I discontinued the service, of course. So, all my boards on all the blogposts where I had used this app were now dead and useless. (Ugh! More blog maintenance! I still find those posts/boards on my blog now and then!)
Amazon linking became less profitable in 2020.
In the spring of 2020, around May I think, Amazon decided to drastically cut their affiliate percentages that they gave to influencers that used their custom links to products. Overnight, commissions were cut significantly and people were very upset.
This was big news at the time and quite devastating, especially with people like food bloggers, who often used Amazon for food items, small appliances, etc.
So, an influencer or blogger who might have spent lots of time and energy creating links, content, and spreading it liberally all over their site or social media, had to deal with the decision of this big website that they used for links. They then had to find other places to link for a higher commission, or just live with what they were getting from Amazon and try to diversify their income stream.
be careful who you link to
We all need tools, apps, and other websites to publish anything these days.
I’m suggesting here that you should always anticipate there might be changes and be careful about what sites you link to and apps you use. Give them some time to establish themselves, work out the kinks, and grow up a bit before you jump in with all fours and spread them all over the place where you’ll have to go back and update if things go bad.
I am currently getting a new home page designed for my site and my developer wanted to talk about moving my site to another template and possibly using a new platform that you could somehow overlap with Squarespace to make this new, updated look.
I put the kabosh on that right away.
No new platforms! I want tried and true! I want longevity and reliability! I want low website maintenance!
I don’t want 500 bells and whistles that will break in a few months because they haven’t been used long enough to discover the problems.
I don’t want a brand new platform, app or network to end up costing me a lot more to use than I anticipated.
I don’t want to be attached to a platform that will be bought by another company and then get changed up so much that I don’t want to use it anymore or it no longer becomes useful to me.
I know everything changes eventually. I just want to make sure I’m not always scrambling to go back and redo work I’ve already done.
Start carefully when adding links to your site. Research the company, read reviews or talk to people who have used the platform or site. Test things out as much as possible on your high traffic posts before going all in everywhere.
Don’t make more work for yourself on down the road!
Want to try affiliate linking some in your business?
Find out how you can make it work more effectively for you. This pdf has been updated in October 2021 and has my blog income breakdown for 2020, if you are interested.
