Starting an online business can feel overwhelming at first, but affiliate marketing simplifies the process. You don’t need to create your own products. Instead, you promote existing products and earn commissions.
Following this guide will help you understand every step clearly. You’ll learn how to choose a niche, write content, and optimize posts. Rank Math will make SEO easier and faster for your site.
Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways for beginners to start earning online. It allows you to build passive income while gaining valuable skills. Consistency and patience are key to achieving results.
By following this step-by-step journey, you can earn your first $1000 online. You’ll also learn to optimize content and rank higher on Google. This strategy works for beginners and experienced marketers alike.
A niche is a specific topic or market your website focuses on. It shows who your audience is. Choosing the right niche helps you attract the right visitors.
In affiliate marketing, a clear niche lets you promote the right products. Pick something you like and that people are searching for.
How to choose a Profitable niche
To make money online, you need a profitable niche. Some niches have more potential because many people search for them. Popular niches include finance, health, tech, web hosting, and online tools.
When choosing a niche, also consider affiliate commission rates. For example, finance and web hosting niches often pay high commissions, sometimes $50–$200 per sale. Other niches, like health or online tools, usually pay 5%–50% per sale.
Low-competition niches are easier to rank for on Google. Look for topics that have demand but fewer websites covering them. Combining high demand, low competition, and good commissions gives you the best chance to earn your first $1000.
Focus on something you enjoy and can write about consistently. Your interest will help you create better content and stay motivated.
Step 2: Buy Web Hosting and Set Up WordPress
Let me show you how you can purchase an affordable web hosting package from hostinger and install WordPress on it.
How to Purchase Web Hosting From Hostinger
To purchase web hosting from Hostinger, first, you need to go to the Hostinger website. If you go to the Hostinger website click on here couponforhost-com-205907.hostingersite.com/hostinger.
After visiting the Hostinger website, choose your web hosting plan. For this quick guide, I’m going with the default one.
Now choose your web hosting plan.
After coming to the Hostinger checkout page, you need to select your web hosting time period. If you go with a 48-month web hosting plan, then you’ll get a 3-month web hosting plan for free.
If you don’t have one, you must create your Hostinger account.
Then, you need to scroll down. After you reach this section, you need to complete your payment to purchase web hosting from Hostinger.
Hold on a Second! If you’re looking to make a smart investment in your web hosting, we’ve got you covered. Use the Hostinger coupon code at checkout and watch as your savings add up to a whopping 78% on your favourite Hostinger web hosting plan.
Contrasts! Now, you have a Hostinger web hosting plan and are ready to create a website with the AI builder.
How to Install WordPress on Hostinger
In this step, we’ll discuss how to install WordPress on Hostinger. First, you need to log in to your WordPress website.
After coming to your WordPress website, firstly, you need to click on the Website button from the header, then you need to click on the “+ Add Website” button and select WordPress.
Then, you must choose the website type you want to create. But you can also skip this step to avoid a personalized experience.
In this step, you must provide your website login Email and Password and click on the Continue button.
In this step, Hostinger offers to install a few pre-install plugins, but if you don’t want those plugins, you can skip installing this plugin by clicking on the “Skip, I will manage plugin” later button.
Then, you need to choose a theme for your website. But if you want to install WordPress on Hostinger without pre-installed themes, you can click the “Skip, I don’t need template” button.
In this step, you need to choose the domain name for your website. By default, Hostinger provides a free subdomain name with your WordPress hosting package. You can the domain or buy a domain, or use an existing domain name.
And lastly, click on the continue button.
Now, your process of installing WordPress on Hostinger is complete.
You can click the “Admin Panel” button and access your WordPress dashboard to manage and customize your website.
Congratulations! You have successfully installed WordPress on Hostinger! You can now start creating your website and exploring all the features and tools Hostinger offers.
Step 3: Install and Set Up Rank Math
You can download and install the RankMath plugin in two different ways: first, you can download it from the RankMath official website, and second, you can install it from your WordPress dashboard.
But I’m going with the RankMath official website method. First, you need to click here to land directly on the RankMath website.
After coming to the RankMath website, you need to click on the “Download For Free” button.
After clicking on the “Download For Free” button, you will be redirected to the RankMath pricing page. Currently, Rankmath offers 3 pricing plans for all of their users.
The most affordable Pro plan comes at $6.99/month and offers you the ability to add an unlimited personal website, track up to 500 keywords, a powerful schema generator, Free content AI (Up to 5K credits), and more.
Business plan comes at $20.99/month and allows you to add 100 clients’ websites, track 10,000 keywords, and more. The most expensive Agency plan comes with $49.99/month and allows you to add 500 clients’ websites, track 50,000 keywords, and more.
But RankMath also offers a Free plan for beginner users, which is good enough to start with. To get the free version of RankMath, click on the “My Account” text.
Now, you need to create your free RankMath account. You can create your free RankMath account in four different ways:
- Using Direct Facebook login
- Using Direct Google login
- Using a direct WordPress.com login
- Using your email address
After creating the free account, click on the “Download” button to download the free version of RankMath.
After downloading, you can install it on your WordPress website by following these simple steps:
When the download process is complete, then you need to login to your WordPress dashboard and hover on plugins and click on Add New Plugin.
Then, this page will open. Now you need to click on the Upload plugin text.
Now, you need to drag and drop the RanMath plugin or choose the plugin for installation. After choosing the Rankmath SEO plugin, you need to click on the Install Now button.
When the installation process is complete, you need to click on the Activate button.
After activating the plugin, you need to complete some important settings to make RankMath work perfectly on your WordPress website.
RankMath Setup Wizard
After activation, you will be automatically redirected to the RankMath setup wizard. Let’s break down each step of the setup wizard:
To start the setup wizard, you need to connect with your free RankMath account, but you can easily skip this process by clicking on the Skip Now button.
RankMath allow you to choose your setup process in 3 different ways: you can go with Easy, Advanced, and Custom Mode (Only available in the Pro version). If you’re not a Pro user, you can go with the Advanced setup wizard.
Now, you need to describe your site as a personal blog, news, portfolio, and more. Also, you need to set your website name, website alternative name, Person/Organization, logo for Google, and Default social share image. But you can skip this step.
Now you need to connect your Google account with RankMath so you can easily see your analytics data on the RankMath dashboard. Also, you can skip this step if you don’t want to connect with a Google account.
Now you need to set up your sitemap, and Rank Math allows you to use an HTML sitemap for your website. But if you are not comfortable with the advanced settings, then I suggest skipping this step.
After completing all of those previous settings, you’ll come to the Optimization table. On this tab, you need to enable some of the useful settings like Noindex Empty category, Nofollow External links, and open External Link in a new tab.
But you can keep all of this as it is.
Now that you’re ready to go with the RankMath plugin, click on the Return to Dashboard to Land your WordPress Dashboard. RankMath’s Advanced SEO features can help you to get the Best SEO score on your website so you can rank higher in search engines.
Step 4: Keyword Research
After setting up the RankMath plugin on your WordPress website, you need to optimise your page or post for Google search engines.
To optimise a post or page, first, you need to do some keyword research. You can use the best keyword research tool SEMrush to find the potential keywords for your website.
SEMrush is an expensive SEO tool for a beginner, but you can get up to 14 days free trial, by clicking here.
After opening SEMrush, you need to search for your keyword, and then SEMrush will provide you with all of the analytics for the keywords.
Now go back to your WordPress website and write the best article possible for the keyword which you just finds from SEMrush keyword research tools.
Step 5: Optimize Your Post with Rank Math
Want to optimise your page or post in a better way to get the best SEO score and a higher rank on search engines? Here are some of the tips that can help you to use the RankMath plugin in a better way:
First, you need to open the post/page which you want to optimise. You can use the RankMath SEO box to optimize your content for search engines.
After opening your post/page, you need to click on the Edit Snippet button, and this kind of popup will appear on your screen.
Now, carefully write the SEO Title, permalinks, and description. You must need to add your focus keywords on your SEO title, permalinks, and description to get better search engine results.
Now, here are some of the additional SEO features you need to follow to get the best SEO results.
- Use your focus keywords on your SEO title
- Use focus keywords on your SEO description
- Use keywords on your URL
- Focus keywords must need to appear on the first 10% of your content
- Focus keywords must be found on your content
- Your content needs to be good enough
- Focus keywords need to appear on your sub headings
- Use focus keywords as an image alt tag
- You need to maintain your focus keywords’ density
- URLs don’t cross the maximum length
- Linking with external link
- Must add an internal link
- Using content AI to optimise your post/page
Step 6: Join Affiliate Programs
After choosing your niche, the next step is to join affiliate programs. These programs let you promote products and earn a commission for every sale made through your link.
You can find affiliate programs on websites like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, Impact, and ClickBank. If your niche is web hosting or tools, you can join programs like Hostinger, Bluehost, or Rank Math.
Before joining, check the commission rate and cookie duration. Web hosting programs often pay $50–$150 per sale, while other digital tools pay 20%–60%. Always pick trusted brands that your audience will love.
After approval, you’ll get a unique affiliate link. You can use this link in your blog posts, reviews, or tutorials to start earning commissions.
Step 7: Add Affiliate Links in Your Content
After joining affiliate programs, you need to add your affiliate links to your content. These links help you earn money when someone buys a product through your website.
You can place affiliate links inside blog posts, product reviews, or tutorials. Make sure the links fit naturally in your content and don’t look forced.
Use tools like Pretty Links or ThirstyAffiliates to manage and shorten your links. These tools make your links look clean and help track clicks easily.
Always add a short disclaimer at the top or bottom of your post. Let your readers know that your post contains affiliate links — it builds trust and follows legal rules.
Step 8: Submit Your Website to Google Search Console
Let us teach you how you can submit your website to Google search console so you can monitor your site’s search performance and fix issues as they arise.
First, you need to search for Google Search Console on your browser and open the first link & then you’ll come to this page.
Now click on the Start Now button to continue with the Google Search Console.
Then this kind of pop-up will appear on your screen. Now you need to click on the URL prefix, paste your website URL and click on the continue button.
Now, this popup will open; click on the first arrow to expand the HTML tag. After expanding it, click on the Copy button to copy the HTML tag.
Now, you need to log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to the RankMath’s General Settings, then go to the Webmaster tools. And paste the HTML tag on the Google Search Console field & click on the Save Changes button.
After saving your changes, come back to the search console page and click on the Verify button.
Now you’ll see this kind of popup that your site is successfully verified. Click on the Go To Property button to see more details about your website.
That’s it! Now you have successfully submitted your website to Google Search Console and can start monitoring your site’s performance. You can also use the advanced features of RankMath to track your rankings and get tips for improving your SEO score.
Step 9: Promote Your Content
After publishing your content, you need to promote it to reach more people. Sharing your post across different platforms helps drive traffic and improve your rankings.
Start by sharing your content on social media platforms like Facebook, X (Twitter), and LinkedIn. Write a short caption that grabs attention and encourages people to visit your website.
Join groups or forums related to your niche and share your posts there. Make sure to add value first, then share your link naturally without spamming.
You can also create short videos about your article and post them on YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels. This helps you reach a new audience and build trust faster.
Email marketing is another great way to promote your content. Send your latest post to your subscribers with a short message about how it can help them.
Finally, try building backlinks by collaborating with other bloggers or writing guest posts. The more quality links you get, the higher your website can rank on Google.
Step 10: Monitor and Improve
After publishing and promoting your content, your work doesn’t stop there. You need to track how your website is performing and make improvements regularly.
Use tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics to check traffic, clicks, and ranking positions. These tools show which posts are performing best and which need more attention.
If a post isn’t ranking well, try updating it with better keywords, new information, or improved images. Small updates can make a big difference in search results.
Keep an eye on your affiliate links too. Replace low-performing products with better ones that convert more sales. Consistent monitoring helps you grow faster and reach your income goals.
Step 12: Earn Your First $1000
After months of learning and testing, I finally earned my first $1000 online in 2023 through Impact.com. It took time, effort, and consistency, but the results proved that affiliate marketing truly works.
You can do the same by following every step in this guide. Choose a profitable niche, create helpful content, optimize with Rank Math, and promote your posts the right way. Over time, your traffic will grow, and so will your earnings.
Remember, success doesn’t happen overnight. Focus on building trust, writing valuable content, and improving your SEO. With patience and persistence, your first $1000 online will be just the beginning.
