How Important Is The Affiliate Program Design To You?

[Lee]

When it comes to signing up for and promoting new sponsor programs, how much weight do you actually put on the affiliate program design or layout itself?

Does a badly designed/layed out affiliate site turn you off from joining a sponsor program?

Regards,

Lee

[DrChango]

From a sponsor's standpoint, user-friendly tools and interfaces for our webmasters is an oft discussed topic, and the affiliate program's site gets as much attention as the actual websites themselves.

Just my $.02

[GayTubeSimon]

I look more to functions, like the ability to do things like run campaigns, have good access to a lot of banners etc... NATS, especially if they have it set so you can see up to date conversion ratios for the site portfolio, is my favourite so far.

It has always amazed me how little effort some programs put into their affiliate areas, I know that they are meant for people in the know, etc... but some that I have seen would be downright embarrassing if i owned them. Others, have ridiculously slow navigation, and/or are devoid of what would be considered standard tools (CCBill stats, anyone?). I think that if you are using a program to represent yourself to the people who you are doing business with, it should kick ass.

[boynation]

I am curious to know what affiliate sites stand out in your minds? I'd like to see some examples of really well designed/good navigation affiliate sites.

Anyone?

Laurence

[Bill]

Does a badly designed/layed out affiliate site turn you off from joining a sponsor program?

Not really - as long as I have any reason to believe the functions I want are there.

First thing I study are the tours of the sites I'll be trying to sell. Thats the most important consideration. That is what makes me join or not.

I've often joined a sponsor to get a look at their creatives and promo mateial and been dissapointed tho - and that can turn me off from putting in the time effort and risk of adding them to my rotations and testing them against my proven performers.

I'd say the critical moment for a sponsor is that period after I join, when I'm about to spend a hour or three assembling all I need to promote. If that doesn't go well, I'm likely to just give up on the sponsor at that moment, until some new impetus or information, or a slow work day when I want to try something different, arises.