Affiliation Guide
Affiliation is when two websites put each others link on each others sites, to show they support each other and are associated together. Now you may ask yourself, how do I affiliate? How do I decide what requirements are right for affiliates on my own site? Well, it differs between sites, and I will cover the major things in this little guide of mine.
What to Consider
First of all, you need to consider the fact that you will be rejected sometimes, and occasionally you will need to reject requests yourself. Take this all in stride and just work harder until you can reach the goal of being the affiliate of a certain website.
Next, it is wise to consider what type of sites you want affiliating with you. Always state if you will accept forum affiliates or not, it will truly save plenty of time. Of course, you need to decide what genre of sites you will accept, going with sites similar to yours is your best bet. Although, you may want to do a "Link Exchange" program, where you aren't affiliates, but you still display each others links, just because your content is totally different.
Content
The most basic roots of a website are the content, aka the pages on the site. Most sites say you need certain amounts of content, besides the general pages such as "News" and "Links", to affiliate with them, so you may wish to set that on your own site. You will wonder though, what number should I set? Set a number close to the content you have, or a number that is reasonable. When you get requested for affiliation, check over their site and see if they have the content amount you set, and always try to specify that the generic "News", etc pages do not count.
Layout
The layout is always important. Most sites ask for nice looking layouts, with images not being broken, colors flowing well, etc. It is suggested that you do this too, you always want your affiliates, and yourself, to look very presentable and professional.
Hits
Unique hits, or the number of unique people that visit a site everyday, should usually be something you look for in your affiliates. Pick a number close to the number of hits you received. If you set a limit of hits per day, week, etc, make them realistic. Don't ask for sites with 1,000 hits a day, you probably won't find one.
Illegal Content
Don't affiliate with sites full of porn, hentai, and ROMS, most of that is illegal and inappropriate, unless your site is about that, which hopefully it isn't. Always try to never have any of those things on your site.
Rating
It is wise, depending on the style of content you have, that you set a "ratings" limit on your site, aka G, PG, etc. If your site appeals to kids, don't affiliate with people whose content is full of cursing and profanity.
Originality and Plagiarism
Always make sure you pick sites with original content, nothing that seems like a robot wrote it. Also, be sure to never affiliate with sites who steal from others, that is just wrong.
Impressions
First impressions and the overall impression of their website matters. If the owner of the site applies for affiliation speaking "li3k d!5", it is not wise to affiliate with them. Also, look around their site, if it is full of spelling errors, horrible grammar, and things you can't read, it is not wise to affiliate with them.
Activity
The final major requirement is activity. Make sure you stay active and your affiliates do as well. Do not affiliate with sites who update once a year, you won't get much from that deal.
Turning Down/Being Turned down
Being turned down can be a horrible feeling, so just keep trying to better your site, think of it as motivation to get better, and go do just that. If you have to turn someone down, say it nicely, do not be a jerk about it. Also do not insult them or their site, instead offer them tips on improving, and make sure you tell them they can always try again.