There are many affiliate marketing programs which you can implement on your web pages to turn your visitors' traffic into cash. Here's some of the best earning affiliate programs:

• Google AdSense**
• ClickBank
  
• Amazon
• eBay
• Kontera

Google AdSense is a pay-per-click or PPC advertising program for online publishers and you get paid when your visitors click at the links. This is probably the easier way to make your first affiliate dollar.

You may also want to try out affiliate marketing programs that pay higher commission than PPC ads. However, for these affiliate programs, your visitors have to buy the product from the merchant you recommended in order for you to get paid.

If that is what you are looking for, you can try out Commission Junction - www.cj.com It is a affiliate marketing platform where you can look for merchants of all kinds to represent. And when you made a sale, Commision Junction will send you the cheque.

The first step to making money with an affiliate program is not about choosing the "right" product to sell on your web pages.

(You don't have to worry about the products when you use any one of the affiliate programs listed above.)

Rather, you want to understand what makes people want to click at your affiliate links and buy through your link.

First, you need to know the various ways of generating the right traffic to your web pages.

In order to do that you must agree that “Content is king”.

To publish content that is interesting to your readers, get them click at your affiliate links and buy the product you recommended, you have to know a little bit more about that topic than your readers.

Second, you need to know more about the online merchants you are representing.

Don’t just pick that merchant because she pays the highest commission. More importantly, you have to study the merchant’s sale page and try out the check-out process. Better still, buy and use the product yourself so that you can write convincingly when you recommend the product.

Your task is to match the right merchant to your site’s visitors.

Now, here’s an important affiliate marketing tip: keyword research.

Knowing the right search terms used by your visitors and giving them what they want is key to being a successful affiliate marketer. You may want to go pick up some basic SEO skills.