CJ Affiliate
This means that if you click on that link and purchase an item I will get a commission, at no extra cost to you!
CJ Affiliate, which was formerly known as Commission Junction is one of the older and biggest providers of affiliate programs. It was founded in 1998 and is now counting 14 offices worldwide.
Their About page is filled with prizes and awards won over the years.
Why Join CJ Affiliate?
One of the most obvious reasons would be their large selection of different affiliate programs to join. It doesn’t matter what niche you are in, they will probably have a fitting program.
How Does it Work?
Once you have registered, you can log in to the members portal.
You will be presented with a dashboard that gives you a quick overview of how your programs are performing, your network stats, new and joined programs, tasks, and a menu of course.
There is a big button that says ‘Getting Started’. If you are new to CJ Affiliate, then I suggest you click it and read some of the articles on how things work on CJ Affiliate.
Finding an advertiser
You can use the ‘Advertiser’ widget on your dashboard, or click on ‘Advertisers’ in the menu.
The list with advertiser programs is huge, but don’t get discouraged, there are a lot of filters that you can use to shorten the list.
If you just want to see the new advertisers then select this in the sidebar. You can also apply filters on the Category, Serviceable Area, Language, Advertisers Country, Geographic Source, Currency, and Status of a program.
The latter is quite useful if you want to get to your own programs or if you would like to view the programs with a pending status.
Next to the names of the advertisers, you will find a column ‘Network Earnings’, a column with EPC (‘Earnings per Click’), and a column with buttons to get links or to apply to the program.
Simply put, Network Earnings is a metric that shows how this program performs compared to others and EPC is a metric that shows the earnings that can be expected per 100 clicks based on an average.
Apply to Program
Although there are some programs that accept all, most advertisers will review your application. You will have to apply before you can get the links and ads to place on your website.
Getting Links
Once you are accepted, you can start exploring the links, ads, or products an advertiser provides.
Filter the list to only show the programs you have joined (‘My Advertisers’) and click on the ‘Get Links’ button to the right of the advertiser.
This example shows Hostinger, the program of the provider I host my blog on. It also shows the Network Earnings and EPC columns again.
After clicking ‘Get Links’, you can select a banner or URL and copy the code to place on your blog.
Is it free to join?
Absolutely. It does not cost you any money to join or use CJ Affiliate.
Is CJ Affiliate Legit?
Upfront: I have no reason to believe that they are not. Given the fact that they are ‘in business’ for so long and that top brands use CJ Affiliate as an advertising partner, I really believe that they are.
However, there are quite a lot of complaints, bad reviews and their TrustPilot score isn’t that great.
My advice: If they have a program from an advertiser that you really want to use, go for it. But don’t bet all your money on one horse. Use other affiliate program providers in addition to reduce your risks.
How do you get paid?
With CJ Affiliate you can choose:
- Physical Check
- Direct Deposit
- Payoneer
The latter might be the easiest and fastest, especially if you live outside the US. It is quite easy to sign up for a Payoneer account.
Conclusion
CJ Affiliate has a lot of programs to choose from. If you are a starting blogger, chances are that they have a program for your niche.
They have a feature-rich dashboard that can provide you with all the information you need.
Since there are some mixed signals, I recommend using CJ Affiliate in addition to other providers.
