Online affiliate programs which are internet based i.e. all buying and selling activities take place on internet alone can be classified into a number of groups based on a number of criteria some of them are given below.* Affiliate Commission Structure : An Affiliate program can pay a single tier or multi tier commission. This applies to commission on products sold by a sub-affiliate which is recruited by the main affiliate.
* Type of Affiliate Product/Service : Recurring or Non-recurring charges. Some products or services have a recurring payment plans like web hosting services, data based reports etc. Affiliates of these programs continue to earn commission on renewal of services credited to their account.
* Affiliate Payment Cycle : Each affiliate program has its own payment cycle which can be weekly, monthly, quarterly or something else. This payment cycle effects the productivity of an affiliate to some extent, as affiliate incur cost in marketing and advertising so a frequent payment cycle helps them to start new promotions with the money, which is otherwise blocked.
* Payment basis for Affiliate Action : Affiliate programs also have different criteria for crediting an affiliates account. This can be based on per visitor through affiliate link, per click on affiliate link, per lead via affiliate link, per sale via affiliate link or even duration of time a visitor stays on program owners website.
These are the basic criterias from the perspective of an affiliate. One must choose the program with known credibility for quality products and services, along with customer care and money back provision. This will help an affiliate to promote the products efficiently and with confidence. One should not be tempted to join every Online Affiliate Program because its free to join but should give enough consideration to all the facts before starting, this will insure minimization of problems that newbies in online marketing of affiliate programs face later.
