Officially there’s no minimum number of blog posts you need to apply for affiliate programs but I’d recommend having 20-30 blog posts published on your site to increase your chances of getting approved.
I say that because the affiliate program you’re applying to join is asking these 2 questions:
a) Will you represent their company and their products well?
b) Do you have a way of driving traffic and generating sales?
Of course, every affiliate program will have its own set of rules, but essentially these are the only requirements for becoming an affiliate marketer.
And when they see at least 20-30 super helpful blog posts where you’re actually adding value and helping people they can see what your website is about and that you’re legit.
Read our beginner’s guide to affiliate programs to find out what you need to know before you apply.
Do Affiliate Programs Have Minimum Traffic Requirements?
Many affiliate programs will ask what your monthly traffic numbers are, but 9 times out of 10 they don’t require you to have a minimum amount of traffic or pageviews.
As long as you have either a website or a large social media following and their products are relevant to the audience you’re serving, you shouldn’t have any problems even if your website is brand new and you don’t have any traffic yet.
What I’d always say though is that it’s probably a good idea to check the terms and conditions of the affiliate program or affiliate network you’re applying to though to see what their specific criteria is.
Do You Need A Large Following To Get Approved?
No, not at all.
You can do affiliate marketing without followers.
Some of the highest-earning affiliates I know don’t have a large following. In fact, they prefer to stay out of the limelight.
This is why affiliate marketing is the best career for introverts – and I count myself as one of them!
So if you’re not an Instagram influencer yet, it’s all good.
Take the free Commission Academy course and you’ll discover how to build a commission-generating affiliate business that drives traffic from Google.
Social media is great and all, but search engines (in my view, anyway) are the best way to get traffic if you want to make consistent sales online and create a passive income for yourself because it’s laser-targeted and once the traffic starts flowing, it will do for years.
How Long Should You Wait To Add Affiliate Links?
You don’t need to wait at all. As soon as you have 20-30 blog posts published, apply to the affiliate programs you want to join and add your affiliate links right away.
Some people think Google has a big problem with affiliate links…
They imagine their rankings taking a nosedive because they added an affiliate link or two to a blog post but this simply isn’t the case.
Google themselves confirmed affiliate links have zero effect on your SEO so don’t worry and don’t wait:
Add affiliate links as soon as you can to start earning commissions.
