We can refer as a web traffic all these people (or unfortunately sometimes "bots") who are visiting your website or page. As an affiliate marketer you can look at it as the food needed for your affiliate moneymaking campaigns to survive. It is imperative to know and understand the different types of web traffic. I will not go in details now, but will pinpoint a few types of web traffic that will help you start as a successful affiliate marketer. I recommend you though to search and read a few more articles about the different types of traffic. There are plenty of information on the Web explaining in details how to master all of them.
All the visitors that you refer to your website from the search engines, forum signatures and posts, social media posts, groups and pages and all other ways that bring you more people to your website for free. This is one of the best traffic, especially the one who comes from the organic search. Unfortunately it is getting harder and harder to get traffic from the search engines nowadays by just creating one page and submit it (for example at Google), waiting for the magic to happen. To get this valuable traffic, one must learn how to create engaging user content and have at least basic skills in optimizing sites for the search engines (SEO). If you are a newbie in the affiliate marketing maybe you should try first this way of bringing visitors to your website, because it will cost you $0 to develop an audience most of the cases. Again, this topic is out of the scope of this article, so I will recommend you to search other articles about SEO and how to master it. There is ton of information, search, read and learn.
If you decide that SEO is not your stuff, then you go for the paid traffic which you can buy from the advertising networks (like Google Adwords). The advantage of the paid traffic is that you can get visitors to your website almost immediately. One of the disadvantages of this kind of traffic is that not always this type of traffic has a good quality (i.e. bringing conversions). I will list only a few types of paid traffic and the ad networks from where one can buy it. Important: in the beginning you do not need to put ads on hundreds of traffic sources. Try to master one, two or three sources of traffic. If you have a winning campaign then move on and try other networks.
One pays for every click on its advertising banner, text link or other form of an ad.
There are many advertising platforms that offer this type of traffic and the most popular of them is Google Adwords. They have vast amount of quality traffic, but one must be very careful what advertises, because it risks to lose its account quickly. I can say that they are really ban happy. Remember, no matter if its Adwords, Bing Ads or any other network - always play by their rules - read carefully their ad policy campaign to check what is allowed and what not before start a campaign.
Facebook - If you are a newbie, probably this is not the best place to start advertising, but I can tell you one thing - if you do your homework well, you can start making very good money there. Again, one must be very careful what advertises on FB, otherwise risks its account being banned. They are as ban happy as Adwords. Dating and some beauty/health offers (like bust enlargement methods) are banned for advertising on FB, but there are many other niches or offers one can try. Minimum amount to start is about $5 or less.
MGID - native ads network with a good quality traffic. Registration is free. Minimum amount to start advertising is $100. I have good results in advertising nutra/health/beauty and dating offers. That doesn't mean that other niches wont be good for monetizing there. Target mobile or desktop users.
Adnow - native ads network with a decent traffic. Registration is free. Minimum amount to start advertising is $30. Target mobile or desktop users. I have good results in advertising nutra/health/beauty and dating offers. Other niches may work fine as well.
If you want to advertise an adult offers (like penis enlargement pills, adult dating, adult cams, etc.) you should register for ExoClick. This ad network has tons of adult traffic and good system for optimizing campaigns. Target mobile or desktop users. Registration is free and the minimum amount to start is $200. Although its a great network, I wouldn't recommend to start with it if you are a newbie and have a small budget. It also offers traffic on CPM basis.
One pays for a thousand impressions of its ad. Facebook is one of the networks capable of this type of advertising. Marketers willing to advertise adult offers are strongly advised to start with TrafficJunky. This traffic source has very useful media planner, you can also target mobile or desktop users. Your ads will be displayed on a popular high quality websites like PornHub and YouPorn. I have success there with adult mobile dating and penis enlargement products. Registration is free. The minimum amount to start advertising is $25.
You pay each time when your ad is shown. One must know that this model charges per every view, not per click or per thousand impressions, so constant monitoring of your campaigns to avoid overspending of your budget is advised. I will recommend you a couple of ad networks where one can start advertise some high converting sweepstakes offers (type of offers where you invite your visitors to play and eventually win an electronic device, voucher or other prizes).
PopAds - One of my favorites. Great options to target your audience, media planner and many more useful features. The minimum amount to start is $10. Registration is free. I have success there with sweepstakes offers. Other niches like dating may work as well.
PopCash - Other great PPV network. The minimum amount to start is $5. Registration is free. As on the previous PPV network I have success again with sweepstakes offers. Other niches like dating may work as well.