Affiliate or AdSense: Which is More Profitable?

When we think about affiliate marketing programs, one of the first questions that comes to mind is “ Affiliate Marketing or AdSense ?” 

However, this is like a trap question because if you are a professional blogger like me, you can’t joke about your recurring income and miss out on the opportunities that affiliate marketing offers, where the real money is.

In this post, I’ll share some of my experiences in this area and you can decide which is right for you: AdSense or affiliate marketing.

If you are new to affiliate marketing, you can read my post on what is affiliate marketing .

Let’s take a quick look at my model: I use affiliate marketing banners + AdSense + direct ads to monetize my blog.

First: Proof of Income

Below are proof of profitability I’ve achieved with both monetization techniques.

AdSense Income Proof:

Proof of AdSense income: $50,000+

Here is my affiliate marketing income report. And, this report is from just one affiliate program:

It is obvious that affiliate marketing is more profitable than AdSense.

Also, there is a common misconception that Google is against affiliate marketing, but this is not true. Google allows you to keep affiliate links but insists that you place them on high-quality blogs. If you publish low-quality content and put ten affiliate links in it, no search engine robot will accept such shoddy work.

What you need to know: AdSense vs Affiliate Marketing:

• Joining an affiliate network is easier than getting an approved AdSense account
• Affiliate Marketing Pays More Than AdSense
• Most affiliate companies offer PayPal or Payoneer as a payment method, but AdSense does not.
• You can find affiliate products for all niches, but some niches don't allow AdSense.
• AdSense is managed solely by Google, but there are many affiliate companies, big and small.
• Affiliate ads are more attractive than Google AdSense and can bring more revenue.

Clearly, just from the points mentioned above, affiliate marketing is more profitable and beneficial than AdSense.

Before you jump to conclusions, though, there are a few things you should know about affiliate marketing:

Affiliate marketing only works on certain pages, so not every page on your blog will generate income for you. AdSense works even on pages that aren't suitable for affiliate marketing products. AdSense is a mainstay of making money online for any blogger because it keeps your cash machine running, even though the daily income is much lower than a single affiliate sale.

You can make anywhere from $10 to $100 per affiliate sale, depending on the product you’re promoting, and in my case, I make more from one affiliate sale than I do from AdSense in a week.

One thing I can do is remove the prominent AdSense ad spots above my posts and replace them with any affiliate ad banners in my niche.

But this can be risky because it could work out well… or it could work out badly.

If I end up closing 5-7 sales a month, then it’s better than my AdSense units in that area. But if not, then I probably won’t end up making any money.

If you are like me and rely on both AdSense and affiliate sales, I recommend that you combine AdSense and affiliate sales in a proper way so that you don’t end up being an affiliate market blogger. As long as the content is useful, you will eventually make a good amount of money at the end of the month.

Make sure the most clickable areas (such as above the posts and in the sidebar 350 block) are covered with AdSense ads.

I think you can choose the following areas for affiliate marketing:

• 125*125 (sidebar)
• 728*90 (header, footer)
• 468*60 (below the post, below the comment, above the comment)

It is important to remember that using the maximum number of AdSense units does not guarantee the highest revenue. In fact, using 1-2 ad units, combined with link and search units, can produce better results.

Let me know what you think. Which do you prefer... AdSense ads, affiliate banner ads, or both?

Update: One and a half years after writing this post, I want to tell you that affiliate marketing works better for me. Even with just one or two banner ads, the conversion rate is high because the targeted visitors convert more into sales of affiliate products.

Use the comments section below to let us know if affiliate marketing or AdSense is a better choice for you.

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Here are our picks for what to read next:

List of the Best Affiliate Programs for WordPress

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