If you want to make money online, starting an affiliate marketing blog is a great option.
When I first started blogging, I paid someone $200 to install my WordPress blog. Seemed like a great deal, until I realized it was a 2 minute job I could have easily done myself. 🤦♀️
I want to save you from making the same costly mistake I made all those years ago. It's actually super easy to set up your own affiliate website and build a blog you can earn affiliate income with.
Since I share affiliate marketing strategies with awesome people like you, naturally my content may contain affiliate links for products I use and love. If you take action (i.e. subscribe, make a purchase) after clicking one of these links, I'll earn some coffee money ☕️ which I promise to drink while creating more helpful content like this.Affiliate Disclosure
In this epic 5,000+ word guide, you’ll learn how to start a WordPress blog with Bluehost and make money with affiliate marketing.
I’m sharing every single step you need to take to get your very own affiliate blog up and running, including:What is Affiliate Marketing?
Before we dive head first into starting an affiliate marketing blog, let’s take a step back and explore what affiliate marketing actually is!
I define affiliate marketing as a partnership between a publisher (in this case, you!) and a merchant, also known as the affiliate company you want to work with.
You sign up to the merchant’s affiliate program and will be given unique links to promote their products. You will place your affiliate links in blog posts on your (soon to be launched) affiliate marketing blog.
Anytime you help this merchant generate sales through your site, you earn a commission. Commission earnings vary from program to program – some programs offer a percentage of sales made, while others give a flat rate or recurring monthly payments.
Each affiliate program also has a different “cookie length” or “cookie window”. This means that your affiliate tracking links are valid for that particular length of time. For example, if a program has a “30 day cookie window”, you’ll earn commissions on any sales made within 30 days. If your reader purchases something on day 31, you won’t earn any commission unless they have clicked on your link again.
The cookie window refers to the time frame it takes for someone to click your link and make a purchase, not how long your links are valid in general – meaning you don’t need to update your link every 30 days.
Why You Need an Affiliate Marketing Blog
A question I get asked a lot is “why do I need an affiliate marketing blog?” As a blogger and business owner, for me it all comes down to ownership and longevity.
When you create a website using WordPress.org (as outlined in the step-by-step guide above), you own that website and have complete control over it. You aren’t going to wake up one morning to find it gone. Unlike a social media account, your affiliate marketing blog isn’t going to disappear because of a change in policy or social algorithm update, which means your affiliate income isn’t just going to disappear either.
Sure you can tweet about a product you love or share a post on Facebook that includes your affiliate link, but many people will be left wondering “why?”
- Why they should listen to your recommendation?
- Why do they need that product?
- Why they would ever need to purchase it?
- Why they should click on your link?
Writing long-form content to promote your affiliate links gives you the opportunity to really showcase what the product is, why your reader needs it and how it will help them. It allows you to build a relationship and trust with your audience. When your blog readers trust you, they are more likely to follow your recommendations by making a purchase through your affiliate link.
Make Your Affiliate Marketing Blog a Reality
Don't let someone beat you to that amazing blog idea! Take less than a minute to grab your hosting package and register your *free* domain with Bluehost.
Start Your Affiliate Blog With Bluehost
9 SIMPLE STEPS TO CREATING YOUR AFFILIATE MARKETING BLOG
1. Pick an Affiliate Niche for Your Blog
If you’re serious about making money from your affiliate marketing blog, you need to pick an affiliate niche. Nowadays there’s just no way to stand out if you have 10 different categories about all your favorite things.
As with any type of blog, you want to establish yourself as an expert in a particular topic or field. This will help you build trust with your audience. When someone thinks of a topic, you want to be the first person they think of and the first website they visit.
So, how do you pick an affiliate niche that you are going to love AND that is going to be profitable?
First off, you need to think about your skills, your experiences and what you are known for professionally and/or personally. If you want to be successful with blogging and later monetizing your content as an affiliate, you should be writing about something you are passionate about.
Once you know these things you can start working through the 4-layer method for choosing a niche.
- Layer 1: First choose a general niche
Example: Food blogger
- Layer 2: Next go one layer deeper into that food niche
Example: Baking blogger
- Layer 3: Get even more specific in the sub-niche
Example: Minimalist baking blogger who focuses on recipes with less than 6 ingredients.
- Layer 4: For this layer, think of your audience to really solidify who you are going to be and serve.
Example: Minimalist baking blogger who helps moms become amazing bakers.
Whatever niche you choose, make sure that you are as specific as possible and really think about your ideal audience.
2. Brainstorm & Choose a Blog Name
Once you have a niche, it’s time to brainstorm blog names so you can buy your domain.
There are two different routes you can go down when it comes to choosing a name – you can use your own name or something that reflects what you blog about.
The pros of using your own name (like I do with brilliantaffiliate.com) for your blog is that it’s unique to you and in case you decide to switch niches in the future, you don’t have to worry about changing the URL. However, your name doesn’t tell your audience what you write about and if you ever want to sell your blog as an asset, a personal name brand is difficult to sell.
Choosing a blog name that reflects what you write about, for example carefulcents.com or organiseandgrow.com, makes it obvious to people who come across your blog name what to expect from your website.
There are lots of online tools that can really help you when it comes to brainstorming a catchy and creative blog name.
RhymeZone
RhymeZone is exactly what you think it is- it helps you find words that rhyme. So, if we stick with the example of the baker, you might search for words that rhyme with baker using RhymeZone.
Thesaurus
If you’re not a fan of rhyming but you don’t want to use the same words that everyone else does, using an online thesaurus can be a great help. Maybe you were considering “the fantastic baker” but someone else had that name or you think “fantastic” is a bit boring. Use an online thesaurus to find some unique alternatives.
Nameboy
Nameboy is an online tool that allows you to add keywords to their search and they generate blog name/URL ideas based on those words. The results are quite basic but it’s definitely a good starting point if you’re coming up blank!
KnowEm
This is a really cool tool that you can put your domain idea in and see if it’s still available as a domain and across all social media sites. The results include social media channels as well as popular domain names too. This is my go-to site whenever I’m deciding on a new domain because there’s nothing more annoying than purchasing a website name, only to find out it’s taken on all of the social media platforms you want to be present on for that brand.
Whatever sort of blog name you decide on, remember that it needs to be easy for people to remember and not be too confusing as a URL – don’t make it long or have tons of dashes if possible.
3. Buy Your Domain and Hosting
It’s time to launch your affiliate marketing blog! Here’s a step by step guide that will get you from “let’s do this!” to “I’ve got a website” in less than 20 minutes!
Note: I recommend using Bluehost to create a self-hosted WordPress blog. I use several hosting companies and domain registrars for my sites, but Bluehost is my go-to at the moment.
They're perfect for new bloggers because they give you a free domain when you create your account and offer very affordable and reliable hosting packages. Therefore the tutorial below is based on purchasing your domain and hosting through Bluehost.
The reason I choose WordPress for all my blogs is because I have much more control over every element of my sites than if I’d used WordPress.com or Squarespace. Self-hosted WordPress allows you to install plugins that improve the functionality of your site, pick themes that you can customize and maintain full ownership.
A) Create an account with Bluehost
Head over to Bluehost and select “Get started now”. On the next page you will see the different hosting packages that Bluehost offers.
As you can see, all of the packages include a domain name.
Select the package that you want. I recommend the plus package because you’ll want unlimited website space, email storage and unmetered performance long-term. storage and.
After selecting the package, you will be taken to the stage where you can register your domain name.
As you can see, you have the opportunity to register a new domain name for free with Bluehost or, sign up using an existing domain name that you have purchased through a different site.
Add your chosen domain name into the box on the left-hand side and Bluehost will let you know if the domain is available. If it isn’t available, Bluehost will show you a list of alternatives to help you choose something else.
B) Choose the length of your hosting package and select add-ons
After selecting your domain name, you will be directed to a page where you create your account. Bluehost will automatically assume that you want to sign up for 3 years which will give you the cheapest per-month price but you can change this if you want.
I know that purchasing your hosting for three years upfront can seem like a big investment, but blogging and earning with affiliate marketing doesn’t yield overnight success, so it’s worth it if you’re in this for the long haul. It could actually be the push you need to make your blog a priority!
That said, there’s nothing wrong with trying it out for 1 year to test the waters out. Just be sure to set a reminder or put the site on auto-renew so you don’t lose the domain later. On this page you will also see optional extras to add to your hosting package. I would always recommend adding the Domain Privacy Protection as this keeps your personal information safe.
C) Complete your transaction to get your site!
One final step…once you select your hosting period and any add-ons, input your payment information and hit “Submit”. Congrats! You now own a domain with hosting thanks to Bluehost. Now the fun begins…
4. Choose Your Blog Theme
I’ll be honest with you here – you’ll probably never find the perfect theme!
You could spend days on end searching for WordPress themes and weigh the pros and cons of each. The important thing to remember when it comes to making money from your affiliate marketing blog is that your content is key. Your blog posts that will be converting readers into affiliate sales.
However, having a clean and professional looking website will help you get approved to more affiliate programs and will also encourage your readers to stay on your site longer (and read more of your incredible blog posts!)
Before you start looking at themes and getting distracted by all of the fancy, beautiful possibilities out there, make a list of things that you definitely want your blog to have. For example:
- Do you want a 3-column blog with two sidebars?
- Do you want to have an e-commerce store?
- Does your email opt-in box need to be above the fold on every page?
Once you have a list of features and functions that you want your blog to have, you can look for a theme that caters to those.
To give you some inspiration, here are a few of my favorite places to get WordPress themes.
Theme Note: Some of the themes I recommend are built with The Genesis Framework, which is search engine optimized and enables you to deliver a sleek, professional and responsive website without needing to know how to code. When you purchase a Genesis theme, there is an extra (simple) step for installation that I’ll cover later in this guide. Learn more with this Genesis Guide for Absolute Beginners.
My favorite WordPress theme company is BluChic. Founded by husband & wife team Andrew & Kathie, BluChic offers beautiful and professional WordPress themes, landing page templates, canva templates, and much more. I've been a customer for years, and it's incredible to watch them grow and evolve as a company.
And I can't say enough good things about their customer support! Whenever I'm installing a new theme, I usually run into a few tech issues here and there and the team responds back to every question super fast.
Here are my Bluchic theme picks, including the one I use for Brilliant Affiliate:
ChicServe theme – a classic and chic WordPress theme designed for service-based business owners.
ChicMoxie theme – bold and fun WordPress theme for content creators.
This is the theme I use for Brilliant Affiliate.
ChicSavvy – I was torn between the one I chose and this one because I love the design elements and shapes used. It's designed for female entrepreneurs who own or want to start a coaching or consulting business.
ChicWell – If you run a health, wellness, or movement brand, consider the ChicWell wordpress theme.
Foodie Pro – sleek and svelte with a minimalist approach and clean design.
Authority Pro – built to showcase your expertise and experience.
Niche – build a lifestyle blog to showcase beautiful content.
On a tight budget? Theme Grill offers a range of free WordPress themes (with the option to upgrade if you wish)
Cenote – a beautiful, clean, modern personal blog WordPress theme.
Flash – easy, flexible, feature-rich and advanced free multipurpose WordPress theme
Note: When you purchase your theme, you will receive the theme in a .zip file (either as an automatic download or by email) as well as a Genesis zip file if you went with that framework. Make sure to save your .zip file(s) somewhere easy to access.
5. Install WordPress & Your Theme
Installing WordPress is really easy with Bluehost (and as I mentioned earlier, WordPress is free!).
Log into your Bluehost account and select “hosting” from the menu, then “website” from the submenu.
Click the “Install now” link and then select your domain name to install WordPress on it and press “Next”.
Set your username and password and you’re good to go!
It is recommended that you install an SSL certificate on your site to increase security, especially if you are going to accept payments through your site at some point in the future. From your Bluehost account dashboard, select “advanced” and scroll down to the “security” section.
Select “SSL/TLS” and “Install and Manage SSL for your site (HTTPS)”. Here you can select your domain from the list (if you only have one domain, it will be the only one there) and hit “Install”.
Once you’ve completed all the steps, you can hit “Install Now” and everything will magically happen for you!
You will be emailed a link to your sign in page for WordPress (usually your URL.com/wp-admin). When you first log in to your WordPress dashboard, take a bit of time to look around and get familiar with everything.
Once you’ve done that, it’s time to install that beautiful theme you purchased!
You will see a menu on the left-hand side of your dashboard. Scroll down to the “Appearance” section and select “Themes”. At the top of the screen you will see a button called “Add New” – this is where you can upload your new theme.
Add your chosen file, hit install now. WordPress will work its magic and then all you need to do is hit “Activate” once the theme is installed.
Genesis Framework note: If you are using a Genesis theme, you will need to install the Genesis theme file before installing your theme. Go to “Appearance” and “Themes”, click “Add New” and then upload the Genesis Framework file from your desktop. Click “Install” but don’t press “activate”. Instead, return to the “Themes” page and install your theme .zip folder as outlined above.
Make Your Affiliate Marketing Blog a Reality
Don't let someone beat you to that amazing blog idea! Take less than a minute to grab your hosting package and register your *free* domain with Bluehost.
Start Your Affiliate Blog With Bluehost
6. Customize Your Theme and Bring Your Site to Life
THEME CUSTOMIZATIONS
Setting up and customizing a new theme is something I find super exciting! There’s something magical about going from a blank website to one that looks like a beautiful, professional website people are going to LOVE reading.
If there’s one thing that an affiliate marketing blog needs for success, it’s readers! So, when it comes to setting up and customizing your theme, you need to keep your ideal reader in mind and design a site that it appeals directly to them (don’t be tempted to just create a site that you love!)
Now that your theme is installed and activated, you can start making changes to things like your hero section, background, and colors and fonts used across your site.
To get started, select the “Appearance” link from your dashboard, then “Customize”. Depending on the theme you have chosen, your customization screen may look a little different to this and have different options based on what customizations are possible with your chosen theme.
These are the main sections that you may want to customize:
- Typography – This is where you can choose the font styles and colors that appear across your site. Most themes will allow you to create different settings for paragraph text, Headings and links.
- Site identity – This is where you can add your logo, hero section and favicon
Colors – Choose which colors you want to see in different parts of your website. Maybe you want any buttons on your site to be a certain color or hyperlinks to show up in another color so that they stand out from the rest of your text?
- Background – If you want your website to have a specific background color or image, this is where you can set that.
- Menus – In this section you can set up the menus that your website visitors see on your site. I would recommend keeping your navigation menu simple and easy to navigate by only including a few main pages e.g. about, blog and contact pages.
- Homepage settings – On your website you can choose to display your latest blog posts or have a static page. This decision is entirely up to you but is something that you can change if you change your mind further down the line.
I would recommend clicking into each section in turn and exploring the settings that you can change and customize. Don’t feel like you have to make changes to everything!
WORDPRESS PLUGINS
Besides customizing your theme, you can also make changes to your blog using plugins. I think to think of WordPress plugins as third-party apps that add new features to your site.
You can see which plugins come with your site by clicking the Plugins button (right under Appearance) on your WordPress menu along the left-hand side of your dashboard.
Here are my favorite WordPress plugins:
Top Pick
Get Lasso The all-in-one affiliate marketing plugin for Wordpress. Create beautiful displays. Manage your affiliate links. Boost your Amazon earnings.
I use an affiliate link for Lasso, which means I will earn a commission if you buy it, at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting my site in this way!
Pretty Links – A free link management plugin. I've since upgraded to Lasso since it offers way more features, such as the beautiful displays above.
Tasty Links – The fine folks at Food Blogger Pro created this premium plugin specifically for affiliate marketing. Use it to change any word on your site into an affiliate link, plus add an affiliate disclosure to your blog posts.
Yoast SEO – This SEO plugin boasts great free features – like meta titles and descriptions for your blog posts – but you can also level up big time with the paid version.
Fathom Analytics – A privacy focused website analytics platform that comes with a WordPress plugin to make getting started super easy.
Google Analytics Dashboard – Use this plugin to see your blog traffic from Google Analytics while viewing your WordPress dashboard.
ConvertKit – Get your blog visitors to sign up for your newsletter while on any post with the WordPress plugin ConvertKit offers customers.
Leadpages – If you use Leadpages for landing pages, their Leadpages Connector plugin makes it easy for you to integrate their pages on your site with your own URL.
Side note: if you’d rather not pay a recurring subscription for your landing pages, check out these pretty landing page templates by Bluchic.
Redirection – This plugin helps you redirect old links safely to avoid SEO problems in the future.
Duplicate Post – This plugin allows you to create a copy of another blog post – very handy if you have templates for your blog content.
BRING YOUR SITE TO LIFE
In the upcoming steps, you’ll learn how to brand your site and launch your first affiliate blog post. But first, I encourage you to bring your site to life by doing the following:
Publish your about page
- Go to Pages > Add New and title the page /about
- Write a little bit about yourself and why you created the blog
- Include a photo and links to social media profiles!
- When you’re done, hit publish
Create your site’s menu
- Go to Appearance > Menus
- Drag your pages and hit save so your pages are displayed on the site
Update your settings
- Go to Settings and explore each sub-menu to finish customizing your site
- General >> Always update your tagline – you don’t want to be yet another site on the internet with the tagline “just another WordPress blog”
- Writing >> You can use the classic editor if you’re more comfortable with it than the block editor
- Reading >> If you’d like the blog to be your homepage (instead of having a homepage about your business, you can choose that here.
- Permalinks >> I recommend choosing post name instead of the plan default.
Make Your Affiliate Marketing Blog a Reality
Don't let someone beat you to that amazing blog idea! Take less than a minute to grab your hosting package and register your *free* domain with Bluehost.
Start Your Affiliate Blog With Bluehost
7. Create a Logo & Post Graphic Templates
In the section above, I mentioned adding a logo, hero image and favicon to your website.
If you want your readers to trust you and to click through your affiliate links to make purchases, your website needs to look polished and professional. You want people to think that your site is established and reputable (which it will be!).
When it comes to branding for your affiliate marketing blog, there are two options – you can DIY it, or you can hire a professional to do. It really all comes down to your budget.
Starting a profitable blog does not have to be expensive, even if you decide to outsource it. You only need a few things to create a cohesive look, such as a logo, blog post templates, and a color palette.
DIY
A lot of successful bloggers DIY first and then invest in professional design services later. When it comes to DIY’ing your logo and other branded elements, nothing is easier to use than Canva. Canva is a free online tool (with a pro version available for $10 per month) that makes designing things super fun and easy. There are a whole range of templates available for you to use including blog headers, logos, Pinterest templates and so much more!
If you’re not digging the free templates, consider these Canva Social Media Templates – which come with 10 free stunning stock photos – offered by Bluchic.
At a very minimum you will need a logo, a header for your blog, a favicon (the little icon that shows up on the internet browser) and a Pin template. Pinterest plays a huge role in driving traffic to your website and, by having a template to use for each blog post you create, you can save yourself a TON of time in the long run.
A few key things to remember when it comes to your branding elements:
- Use the same colors and fonts throughout
- Make sure that they aren’t too complex as they won’t display well on mobile
- Keep your target audience in mind at all times – will this appeal to them?
If you’re more tech savvy, you might want to create these things in Photoshop or Illustrator.
HIRING A PRO
Working with a professional is a great option if you don’t have an eye for design and/or are strapped for time.
Here are a few marketplaces you can use to hire designers and find pre-made professional templates:
If you’d rather look for your own designer, research is key. Don’t be tempted to simply hire the first or cheapest person you find! Take your time to ask around in blogging Facebook Groups, or if you see a blog with branding that you love, drop them a message (or check their blog footer) to find out who created it.
Make sure you explore their portfolio of previous work, and double-check what their process is and what is included in each package they offer. Any great designer will spend time answering your questions and discussing exactly what you are looking for so don’t panic if you’re a bit uncertain about your vision!
AFFILIATE EXPERIMENTS PLANNER
Want to start experimenting with Instagram affiliate marketing? Enter your info below to grab my *free* Affiliate Experiments Planner. With it, you'll map out a year of amazing affiliate promos in a super fun way.
8. Brainstorm affiliate content ideas
Okay, so now you have a niche, a blog name, a domain name, a WordPress site with gorgeous theme installed and customized and your branding elements are in hand.
The next step is to get started with creating content! Here’s how to brainstorm affiliate content ideas:
A) Set aside all distractions, like phones, TV, emails etc.
B) Set a timer on your phone and don’t stop scribbling ideas down until the timer ends
C) You can generate topic ideas by asking questions such as:
- What tools do I use regularly? i.e. electric mixer, piping bags etc.
- How did I get started in this niche? i.e. story of when you first baked a cake
- What are common mistakes I see in my industry? i.e. people using the wrong type of flour
D) With each topic you come up with, think of 3-4 blog post ideas.
For example, if you wrote down “Electric Mixer” as a tool you use, you could write the following posts:
- Top 5 Electric Mixers for the Modern Kitchen
- Why I Choose to Use an Electric Mixer for Baking Scones
- 3 Surprising Uses for an Electric Mixer
- 6 Reasons Why Every Kitchen Should Have an Electric Mixer
For more details on how to brainstorm original blog post ideas, check out this insanely helpful post from Elle & Co.: How to Come Up With 60 Original Blog Post Ideas in 30 Minutes.
To ensure you monetize your new blog from day one, narrow down your list of content ideas based on which could feature affiliate products. Once you have a list of those products, you can start looking into relevant affiliate programs to join.
Affiliate tip: You should have a couple of blog posts live before applying to affiliate programs, so keep the first couple of posts more generic like a listicle (I.e. don’t write a review of a product you want to be an affiliate for since they could reject you and then it’ll be a waste) that you can add affiliate links to once you’ve been approved to the programs.
Make Your Affiliate Marketing Blog a Reality
Don't let someone beat you to that amazing blog idea! Take less than a minute to grab your hosting package and register your *free* domain with Bluehost.
Start Your Affiliate Blog With Bluehost
9. Outline, Write and Publish Your First Post
Let’s get started with the actual content creation!
The best way to get your first post out there is to create a simple but fun listicle. For example, if you’re a cake baking blog, you might create a list of the best electric mixers or your favorite baking books.
Start by writing an outline of your blog post in a Google doc.Your outline should include the headers you will use, the keywords you will use throughout and some title ideas vetted by Co-Schedule’s Headline Analyzer.
Once you are happy with the outline, start fleshing out all of the different sections and paragraphs. Remember to keep things concise, show your personality and ALWAYS keep your readers in mind.
I always like to step away from my finished blog posts for at least a couple of hours before coming back to proofread and edit them.
When you are happy with the finished post, it’s time to add it to your WordPress site. Log in to your WordPress dashboard and select “Posts” from the menu sidebar. Hit “Add New” and add your content!
You will see a box to enter your blog post title and then add your main content below that. With the new Guttenberg setting in WordPress, you can now add blocks. Click on the “+” icon and add a text box or, where needed, an image box or HTML box.
Once you have added your branded images, tags and categories, it’s time to hit publish!
Now sit back and enjoy the victory of having just published your first ever blog post on your new affiliate marketing blog!
Your affiliate marketing blog is live, now what?
Once you have a few blog posts live on your site, it’s time to apply to affiliate programs in your niche. If you’re not sure where to get started, check out my list of 503+ affiliate programs for bloggers.
Keep in mind, every affiliate application experience is different:
- Affiliate platform >> The application process may be faster if the program is on a pro network like ShareASale, versus if you're signing up to an independent platform.
- Affiliate manager >> The application process may be smoother if the affiliate manager is experienced and dedicated to the program's wellbeing full-time.
Once you're approved to a new program, grab your unique affiliate link and add it into any blog posts you have up on your site.
AFFILIATE EXPERIMENTS PLANNER
Want to start experimenting with Instagram affiliate marketing? Enter your info below to grab my *free* Affiliate Experiments Planner. With it, you'll map out a year of amazing affiliate promos in a super fun way.
From there, your road to affiliate success is two-fold:
Create more content.
While you can make money off a couple of blog posts, create consistent content and implement SEO strategies to get more readers to your site.
You want to enjoy blogging and the process of monetizing so don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Simply come up with a content creation schedule that’s doable for you – like one post a week or two posts a month.
Get the word out about your blog.
After all, there’s no point in having amazing content with your affiliate links if no one is visiting your site.
SEO traffic can take several months to kick in so while you wait, try sharing your content on social media or swapping links with bloggers in your industry.
When you create an affiliate marketing blog in a niche you enjoy, it’s easier to stick with it and eventually find ways to make money from it. Get your own affiliate marketing blog up and running today by heading over to Bluehost now!
Make Your Affiliate Marketing Blog a Reality
Don't let someone beat you to that amazing blog idea! Take less than a minute to grab your hosting package and register your *free* domain with Bluehost.
Start Your Affiliate Blog With Bluehost
Don't let someone beat you to that amazing blog idea! Take less than a minute to grab your hosting package and register your *free* domain with 
