Text Link vs. Graphic Banner

What is the best way to go to rack up affiliate sales?

[Hubie]

I'm an affiliate...my program offers both grahical banners (their logo, their products, etc) or the option to use a Text link.

Which converts/clicks better in general?

If text links are better, what words in these links are known to get the best click rate?

Hubes

[CannonFodder]

Generally just linking to an affiliate program produces poor results. It's better to integrate some info into your site and link from that info to the affiliate program. Write an article about "widgets" and within that article, have an appropriate link to your affiliate program that sells widget.

Or alternatively, write or publish articles that relate to widgets. As an example, write about recipes and send your traffic to a food related affiliate program.

Just posting banners or text links on their own will generally not produce great results.

Cheers,

Dan

[Zerrlander]

I generally I find it's best to have a small banner with descriptive text below it as well. are you an affiliate in an ad network?

[edited by: skibum at 9:26 pm (utc) on June 6, 2006]

[gamiziuk]

A product showcase (think of an online store) works better for me that putting up banners.