Affiliate marketing from blogs is supposedly still a thing in 2026. I am very skeptical, especially considering the amount of damage AI Overviews have done to search traffic acquisition. All three of my blogs lost 70% of monthly traffic, but I’ve seen some organizations speak to more than a 90% drop!
That’s a bit insane, really. Google’s AI search feature has decimated numbers across the board. That’s why I am somewhat skeptical that people can still make more than $100,000 per month from their blogs.
I think they are full of shit, quite frankly. But we’re going to attempt to enter this realm with a positive mindset. Can my blogs, which have been around for a while, generate more from affiliate marketing than they do from AdSense?
That’s not entirely a high bar to leap over.
How Affiliate Links Work
Affiliate links allow you to showcase products and/or services from third parties you have signed up with to earn money. When someone clicks a link or banner that leads to the third-party site and makes a purchase, you earn a commission from that sale.
For example, let’s say that I sign up as an Amazon affiliate, and I put a link in my blog post leading to a typewriter Christmas tree ornament I was writing about. Someone clicks that link, which has a special tracking code, and buys the ornament. I’ll make about 4% of the sale.
Keep in mind that Amazon is a piss poor affiliate when it comes to commissions.
There are a number of affiliate networks where you can get these links, and some companies will have affiliate programs of their own. Just make sure you’re marketing products and/or services that your target audience wants.
For example, don’t become an affiliate to sell boating equipment if your website is about dog care.
Best Affiliate Content from the “Experts”
There are so many people calling themselves experts on the Internet about how to maximize affiliate income. The problem is that it’s all based on a self-reporting system. That means people can say they’re bringing in tens of thousands of dollars but may only be bringing in a few bucks per month.
I’ve come across a lot of anecdotal information while sharing screenshots, which can easily be manipulated with Photoshop or even AI nowadays. Hell, I put the sunken Titanic on the moon back in the 2000s, which came out brilliantly, I might add.
Most of these “experts” are banking on your interest while selling some kind of course or information. It’s a tactic that I’ve seen used since the dawn of the Internet.
Wow, I do sound quite skeptical, don’t I? That means it’ll be more difficult to look at this from an objective point of view. However, I’m willing to put in the effort if it means I could make an extra $10,000 per month.
So, let’s see if these “experts” are right in how to make money from affiliate marketing on a blog.
Writing the Content
First, let’s take a look at the type of content experts want you to create. After browsing quite a few blogs on the subject, there are four types of content you should write for the greatest impact. However, and this is from the perspective of a professional writer who has been making content for clients since 2012, one of them doesn’t really hold a lot of water.
The best content to write for affiliate marketing includes:
- Reviews
- Best-of Lists (Listicles)
- Comparisons (product vs product)
- Tutorials*
- Case Studies*
Reviews
Reviews are probably one of the most effective forms of content for any blog and niche. The vast majority of people read online reviews before making a purchase, which is one of the reasons why they perform so well on a website.
In fact, on average, 7 out of the top 10 articles for my blogs in 2025 are reviews.
This type of content is exceptionally effective at driving traffic if they are in-depth, while answering as many questions as possible someone might have about the product or service. Of course, you also have to pick a product that people are interested in reading about.
The other side of the coin, though, is the competition when covering a product that is ultra-popular. If you want to get noticed, your review has to be better than the others, which is true for all forms of content available through a Google search.
The idea is to use a review to pique the interest of the visitor to make a purchase using your affiliate link. This is how I’ve made a few bucks thus far, as I’ve sent a few people to Reedsy for their educational materials and writing app.
Best-of Lists (Listicles)
Lists have been around for an exceptionally long time, and many are as effective today as they were 20 years ago. A lot of the time, it goes along with a review-type search as people are looking for a specific tool or service for their needs.
The number one article on my writing site for the past two years is my ever-growing list of writing apps for beginning authors. And I can’t count the number of “best-of” articles that I’ve written for clients.
Essentially, listicles are micro reviews of many products from a single post. You want to be descriptive in why someone would care about the product or service without going too deep into the weeds. That’s what a more detailed review is for.
The keys to writing listicles are to make sure they are interesting, relevant, and honest. If you’re writing about the “best” writing apps, make sure you’re highlighting those products that you feel are the best. Don’t just toss something in there because you want a longer list.
Listicles work well for some affiliate marketers, as you’re able to add as many affiliate links throughout the entire article. For instance, let’s say you write a list of 10 of the best plugins for WordPress and have become an affiliate of all ten brands you’re highlighting in that post. That gives you 10 chances of making a sale should a reader become interested in one of the plugins.
Comparisons (product vs product)
Another one of the best pieces of content to make is comparisons. This is when you stack one product against another to showcase their differences. They work similarly to reviews, as readers often look at how one product compares to another before making a purchase.
I made a video comparing the Reedsy writing app to Scrivener, and it was in the top 10 for views for several months. Comparison content works very well.
The trick is to make the content a true, honest comparison. A lot of brands will lean heavily on the features it has over competitors while ignoring where they are weak. I don’t do that, which is one of the reasons why subscribers point out my authenticity.
Unfortunately, it’s also why a lot of brands don’t want to work with me. If there is something wrong with your product, I’m letting my audience know.
In any case, comparisons are effective, but hyper-focused on a select readership. Take my video of Reedsy vs Scrivener, for example. That content is only going to matter to those who are debating which platform to use, Reedsy or Scrivener. It’s the same thing with blog posts, as comparisons only affect those who are looking for information regarding X vs Y.
Another aspect of comparisons is the sheer amount of time it takes to make them properly. You want to be quite detailed and unbiased in your analysis. This means it could take an extremely long time to write or record. For me, comparisons often take twice as long when compared to review content.
Still, comparison posts give you a great opportunity for affiliate links from either or both brands. Write or record it well enough, and you could prompt your audience to make a purchase.
Tutorials*
One form of content I see on a lot of affiliate marketing lists is the “How-To” post. Although tutorials work exceptionally well to draw an audience, they aren’t the most effective when it comes to affiliate marketing. And I’m pointing this out from the perspective of a freelancer who has created many of these for clients.
Most of my clients reeled back on tutorials because of one very important aspect: visitors already have the product.
In all cases of the clients with whom I’ve worked, the return on the time and money for the tutorial wasn’t worth the sales of the goods or services. Because people already had it, there was no reason to buy it again. They just wanted to learn how to use the product in general.
Now, don’t get me wrong; tutorials are still a viable part of content creation for any brand. It’s a form of support that demonstrates to customers that you know your stuff while reducing the time your support staff spends on the phone helping those people.
As for being a solid form of content for affiliate marketing, I just don’t see it. As I’ve said, I’ve worked with thousands of clients over the years, most of them business owners. I would say about 80% of them dialed back on tutorial content because of a poor return on investment.
But those who were using it as a means for customer support doubled down.
Tutorials will draw an audience. However, you need to structure affiliate marketing differently to make it worthwhile. Perhaps create a tutorial that isn’t directly related to the product. Then, mention how much easier the task would be if they used the affiliate tools or services.
For example, let’s say that I am writing a tutorial about how to write realistic dialogue in a book. I would write between a 2,000 and 3,000 word post about writing that dialogue and how I would go about doing so. At the same time, I’ll mention that I learned a lot from taking the affiliate’s masterclass on how to write a novel.
It’s not salesy, it’s more incidental, and it’s not directly centered on the tutorial itself. I’m still teaching how to write dialogue, but the link to the affiliate would help the visitors learn so much more about writing a book.
How-to Guides
One way to create tutorials is through an ultimate How-to guide of sorts. This is similar to what I pointed out just a moment ago, but I wanted to expand on it a bit.
For instance, let’s say that you write a guide about how to build a successful podcast. You could then add affiliate links for the hardware you’re highlighting in the article that people can use to create their own show. Microphones, headsets, and even cameras (for video-recorded podcasts) could all have affiliate links to those products.
What about a guide on how to build a gaming blog? You could get affiliate links for web hosting providers, premium themes, premium plugins, books on how to write content, gaming controllers, and so much more.
My point is that tutorials can work for affiliate marketing, but it really depends on what you’re trying to teach. They are more of a general tutorial rather than focusing on the affiliated product itself.
Case Studies*
Another common type of content I see from experts regarding affiliate marketing is case studies. Indirectly, they work similarly to reviews, except they are built in a way that shows the audience just how well a product or service works. Instead of just “telling” the audience, case studies “show” the audience.
I love attempting case studies, but I tend to bite off more than I chew in regards to time. Meaning that most of my case studies are set around a specific time frame of action that doesn’t always get met because I often have a lack of, you guessed it, time.
That’s not saying that case studies don’t work. On the contrary, some case studies have the potential to be extraordinary. Not just from the perspective of information, but also of affiliate sales through marketing links.
That is probably one of the most important elements to remember about case studies. A lot of them will be very time-consuming. And if you want good data, you have to be exceptionally vigilant.
Of course, this also depends on the type of case study you’re creating and the products or services you’re including.
The bottom line is that case studies have the potential to offer a massive amount of information regarding a product or service, which could solidify a sale. However, they take a lot of time to set up and write, especially if you want to highlight some incredible aspects of the goods.
Conclusion…
From all of the different expert blogs I’ve come across, those five types of content perform the best, according to the average consensus. Now, I can see how a few of these can be influential for making money from affiliate marketing, but I still have a few doubts about the others.
Nonetheless, I’m going to put in maximum effort to see just how far I can take affiliate marketing. After all, that’s how I’ve built a career as a writer: by testing things out to see what works best for me.
While I might be skeptical, I always try to keep an open mind until I see some data for myself. I think the hardest part about this entire process is generating traffic in 2026. Google has decimated search results for everyone, and fewer people are reading blog, as they prioritize summaries from AI.
What a shitty time to be a blogger!