![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.johnthornhill.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/annie-spratt-LsP6HM-ghcg-unsplash.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nWe\u2019ve all heard this phrase: affiliate marketing is dead. In fact, we\u2019ve been hearing it every year since 2016.<\/p>\n
And that may give a false impression that affiliate marketing isn\u2019t worth it anymore.<\/p>\n
But the stats say otherwise:<\/p>\n
According to a survey conducted by Viglink<\/a>, 77% of affiliates have seen their affiliate incomes increase year on year since 2016.<\/p>\n Kenshoo, in their paper on Amazon affiliate<\/a>, reports that 85% of buyers still Google their products before making a purchase.<\/p>\n While statistics<\/a> indicate a consistent 10% increase in affiliate marketing spends every year.<\/p>\n All in all:<\/p>\n Affiliate marketing has never been more profitable for those who are doing it right.<\/p>\n Then why do people think it\u2019s a dying industry?<\/p>\n Probably because the environment in today\u2019s affiliate marketing industry is much more competitive and fierce than it was ten years ago.<\/p>\n Reasons Why Affiliate Marketing is Dying Most affiliate marketers create blog sites to drive traffic towards their affiliate offers.<\/p>\n There used to be a time when affiliate blogging was like a well-kept secret; just enough people knew that it made things interesting.<\/p>\n As more and more people joined, the quality of affiliate blogs went down. This is, in part, due to the low barrier of entry to affiliate blogging.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking into affiliate marketing as an income source in 2021, make sure that your blog has high editorial standards.<\/p>\n Poor copy isn\u2019t just bad for SEO (your ability to rank in search engines like Google) but it also takes a toll on your conversions, leading to lesser affiliate income.<\/p>\n You\u2019d also want to make sure that you have a premium domain and hosting along with a simple, navigable theme.<\/p>\n Competition However, with low barriers to entry and high-income potential, competition in affiliate marketing was always a time bomb waiting to explode.<\/p>\n Now, competition isn\u2019t a bad thing. In fact, it is what helps industries thrive and develop.<\/p>\n The problem with affiliate marketing in 2021 is that everybody seems to be doing the same thing.<\/p>\n They are using the same products, in the same verticals, with the same comparison tables and reviews.<\/p>\n What the industry needs today is innovation coupled with the best practices that have been working well for years.<\/p>\n Remember:<\/p>\n To succeed in anything, you need to be better than your competition, not like them.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why it\u2019s more important today to be experimental with your approach and presentation of affiliate offers than ever before.<\/p>\n Dependence on Big Players And that was devastating news for affiliate marketers, many of whom dropped from a 10% commission category down to 3% or less.<\/p>\n This incident reminds me of a classic saying in the business world:<\/p>\n Never put all your eggs in one basket.<\/p>\n This is why, according to a paper<\/a> published by Forrester Consulting, 71% of US-based affiliate publishers have joined 3 or more affiliate networks.<\/p>\n This diversification is important for affiliate marketing and its avoidance is one of the reasons why people suffer huge losses in the industry.<\/p>\n The Rise of Affiliate Marketing Gurus Now, don\u2019t get me wrong:<\/p>\n There are some great affiliate marketing gurus out there.<\/p>\n But there are also some\u2026 not-so-great ones.<\/p>\n And some are just downright phonies trying to rob beginner affiliate marketers of their hard-earned money.<\/p>\n With more and more of these gurus popping up, we\u2019ve seen a huge influx of new affiliate bloggers.<\/p>\n This doesn\u2019t just lead to more competition but also results in more failed blogs due to poor guidance.<\/p>\n Complexity in SEO And it won\u2019t be wrong to say that SEO has become a lot more difficult in the past decade.<\/p>\n In fact, there used to be a time when SEO was just about finding keywords that people were searching for in Google and stuffing them in your copy.<\/p>\n Now, the algorithms used by search engines are much more complex, with Google claiming to use over 100 ranking factors in theirs.<\/p>\n The whole idea of SEO is to rank number 1 for your target search terms.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s becoming increasingly difficult to do that with more competition, complexity in SEO and a lot of the top search results being given away to ads.<\/p>\n For example, if I search \u201cbest hosting for WordPress\u201d in Google, I find that the top 4 search results are all ads.<\/p>\n Niche Authority is Important However, niche authority has now become one of the most important factors for success in affiliate marketing.<\/p>\n The Internet is a much-more cultured space now with the average user understanding what affiliate offers are and why someone might be incentivized to recommend a product.<\/p>\n This is why it\u2019s important to establish yourself as an authority in one niche so people can trust you.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nNow, when I say that affiliate marketing is dying, it means that it\u2019s become more difficult. Let\u2019s take a look at why that is so.
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\nPoor Quality Blogs<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nThe Amazon Affiliate Program has 900,000 registered affiliates! This should give you an idea of how competitive this industry is.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nIf you still haven\u2019t heard, Amazon slashed its affiliate commissions earlier this year.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.johnthornhill.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image1-30.png?resize=451%2C1024&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nWe\u2019ve all seen those Youtube ads with a middle-aged white man standing in front of a red Ferrari, throwing ludicrous amounts of cash in the air and passionately promising to make us rich if we buy his course.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nAccording to Statista<\/a>, 70% of affiliate marketers use SEO to drive traffic to their affiliate offers.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.johnthornhill.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image2-32-1.png?resize=600%2C439&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nA few years ago, affiliate marketing was more about finding the highest-paying affiliate offers and then hunting down the best ways to present them.<\/p>\n