7 Reasons Why You’re Not Getting Affiliate Sales

If you’re asking yourself why you are not getting affiliate sales even though people are clicking your links, the problem is almost never the link itself. A click only tells you that someone was curious enough to look. The sale depends on everything that happens before that click and after it, and most of that is fixable without more traffic.

This article covers seven mistakes in six sections, because mistake 3 has two opposite forms. They fall into three groups: trust problems (the reader doesn’t believe you), mismatch problems (the reader isn’t who the product is for, or the page isn’t what you promised), and friction problems (the reader is willing but something gets in the way). At the end there is a 15-minute check you can run on any existing post, and a short list of what to fix first.

If you also want to confirm your links are formatted and placed properly, that is covered in how to optimize affiliate links for better conversions. This piece looks at what happens around the link.

Clicks are not sales: where readers actually drop off

A reader who buys through your link has passed through several decisions. They trusted your page enough to keep reading. They decided the product fit their situation. They clicked. The next page loaded and looked like what they expected. They found the price acceptable and finished checking out.

Each of those is a point where a reader can leave, and a click only proves the first two or three went well. When you have clicks but no commissions, the loss is happening later: on the merchant’s page, at the price, or in the reader’s own hesitation.

This is useful because it tells you where to look. Clicks that come from the wrong readers point to a mismatch. Clicks followed by nothing at all often point to a landing page problem, a slow page, or a reader who wasn’t ready to buy. A post that gets few clicks in the first place usually has a trust or placement problem. Keep that sorting in mind as you read through the mistakes.

Mistake 1: Recommending products you haven’t used or can’t explain

This is a trust problem. Readers can usually tell when a recommendation is built from a sales page. The wording is general (“powerful features,” “great value”), nothing is said about who should skip the product, and the post could be swapped onto any competing product by changing the name.

You don’t have to pretend to have used something. If you haven’t used a product, say what you did look at: the merchant’s documentation, the pricing page, the terms, and public reviews from actual customers. Then write about what you can support. Explain what the product does in plain words, who it suits, who it does not suit, and what it costs to get started and to continue.

A simple test: could you answer a reader’s three most obvious questions in the post? Those are usually “Will this work for someone like me?”, “What does it actually cost?” and “What is the catch?” If the post can’t answer them, the reader will go and look for someone who does, and they will buy through that person’s link.

For a full method, see how to write an honest affiliate product review, which covers structure and the kind of detail that makes a review believable.

Mistake 2: Sending the wrong reader to the right product

This is a mismatch problem, and it is the most common reason for clicks without sales. The product may be perfectly good. The reader simply isn’t the person it was made for.

It happens when a post is written to attract any visitor it can, with a broad title and a broad promise, and then recommends one specific product. A retiree searching for a way to earn a little extra online may click a link to a tool built for agencies with big budgets. They are curious, they click, and they leave, because it was never meant for them.

To fix it, write down, in one sentence, who the post is for. Then check that the title, the opening paragraph, and the product all point at that same person. A few things help:

• Name the reader’s situation early, such as beginner, retired, part-time, or small budget.
• State the price range and skill level the product assumes.
• Say plainly who should not buy it. This costs you a few clicks and saves you from sending readers to a product that won’t help them.

A post that attracts fewer, better-matched readers will usually earn more than one that attracts many who were never going to buy.

Mistake 3: Burying the recommendation or shouting it in every paragraph

Placement is two mistakes pointing in opposite directions.

Burying the recommendation is a friction problem. The post has useful information, but the link sits in the last paragraph, or inside a sentence the reader skims past. A reader who has decided the product fits has to hunt for how to get it. Many won’t.

Shouting it is a trust problem. When every paragraph pushes the product, with a link in every second sentence and a “buy now” at every turn, the page reads as a sales pitch rather than advice. Readers who came for help start to suspect the advice is shaped by the commission.

A workable middle looks like this:

1. Mention the product naturally where it first becomes relevant, with one link.
2. Put a clear recommendation after you have explained what it does and who it is for, so the reader reaches it with enough information to act.
3. Repeat the link once more near the end for readers who scrolled straight down, and leave the paragraphs in between to do their job of informing.

Three links in a 1,500-word post is usually plenty. If you can’t tell where the reader is meant to click, neither can they.

Mistake 4: Hiding the affiliate disclosure, and why it costs you trust

This one is a trust problem, and in many places a legal one as well. Countries including the United States expect you to make clear when you earn a commission from a link, and the disclosure needs to be easy to notice. Check the rules that apply where you live and where your readers are, and check the terms of each affiliate program you join.

Beyond the rules, there is a practical reason to put it in plain sight. A reader who finds a disclosure buried in a footer, in tiny grey text, may feel something was hidden from them. A reader who sees a short, friendly statement near the top feels you were straight with them from the start, and that makes the rest of the post easier to believe.

A good disclosure is short and written in normal language, for example: “Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.” Put it before the first affiliate link, not after the last one. Also check that it appears on every post that carries affiliate links, not only on the first one you wrote.

Mistake 5: Landing pages, slow pages and mobile problems that stall the click

Here the problem is friction, with a mismatch element when the page doesn’t deliver what you promised. Check these three things in turn.

The page you send readers to. Open your link in a private browser window and look at what a new visitor sees. Does the page show the product you described? Is the price visible? Some programs send visitors to a general home page when you intended a specific product page, and some links stop working when a merchant changes their site. A reader who clicks “see the beginner plan” and lands on a page that doesn’t mention it will usually close the tab.

Speed. If your own post takes a long time to load, readers leave before reaching the link at all. Large uncompressed images are a common cause, as are too many plugins. Your site or hosting dashboard may have a speed test, and free page speed tools are available online.

Mobile. A large share of readers will see your post on a phone. Open it on yours and check whether the link is easy to tap, whether tables or buttons run off the screen, and whether a pop-up covers the text. Anything that is awkward on a small screen costs you clicks and, later, sales.

You can’t control the merchant’s checkout, but you can make sure the path up to it works.

Mistake 6: Asking for the sale with no next step for readers who aren’t ready

This is a friction problem of a different kind. Many readers are not ready to buy on their first visit. They are comparing options, waiting until payday, or still working out whether the whole idea suits them. A post that offers only “buy now” gives these readers one choice, and the usual answer is to leave and not return.

Give undecided readers somewhere else to go:

• A related post that answers the question they are likely to have next, such as Affiliate Marketing 101 Step By Step for someone still getting oriented.
• A short email signup, offering something useful in return, so you can follow up when they are further along. The advice in email marketing tips for affiliate marketers shows how to make that follow-up worthwhile.
• A comparison or “who should choose which” section that helps a reader pick between options instead of leaving to compare them elsewhere.

A reader who joins your list after one visit and buys a month later through a link in an email is a sale you would otherwise have lost.

A 15-minute audit to run on your weakest post, and what to fix first

Pick the post that gets the most clicks on its affiliate links but has produced no sales. Set a timer and work through these checks in order.

1. Reader check (3 minutes). Write one sentence describing who the post is for. Read the title and the first paragraph. Do they point at that person? If not, you have a mismatch problem.
2. Product check (3 minutes). Does the post say what the product costs, who it suits, and who should skip it? Is anything in it based on actual use or on sources you can name? If not, you have a trust problem.
3. Placement check (2 minutes). Scroll as a reader would. Find the first link and count the total. Is it easy to find and not overdone?
4. Disclosure check (1 minute). Is the disclosure above the first affiliate link, in plain words?
5. Click-through check (4 minutes). Open the post on your phone, tap the link, and see what loads. Does the landing page match what the post promised? Did anything load slowly or appear broken?
6. Next-step check (2 minutes). If a reader isn’t ready to buy, is there a related post or email signup they can use?

Write down every “no” you find. You will probably have several.

What to fix first

Work in this order, and change one post at a time so you can tell what made a difference.

1. Anything broken. A link that goes to the wrong page, a landing page that doesn’t load, or a page that is unusable on a phone blocks every reader, so repair these first. They are also usually the quickest fixes.
2. The mismatch. If the post attracts the wrong reader or promises something the product doesn’t deliver, rewrite the title, opening, and recommendation to fit one clear reader. Improving speed or placement on a post aimed at the wrong audience won’t produce sales.
3. Trust. Add the disclosure if it is missing, state who the product is not for, and cut any repeated sales language.
4. The next step. Add a related post link and an email signup for readers who aren’t ready yet.

After making the changes, leave the post alone until it has had enough visitors for you to see a difference. Changing five things every few days makes it impossible to know which one worked.

If you have found this post useful, please take moment to comment. It’s great to hear from my readers.