There are a some important things that you need to look at when trying to decide what the best online affiliate program is. You want to make sure that you look real closely at the affiliate program before you join. You can ask questions or do research into the affiliate program to find out if it would be a good fit for your business.

1. You want to find out if the online affiliate program is free or do they want you to buy a product or service before you join. Some programs do want a very small fee for you to join. That does not make them a bad affiliate program. Find out why they want you to pay a small fee if you are concerned about it.

2. Find other people who are using the same affiliate program. Ask them questions to find out if they are having good results with the program. You also want to ask if they have had any problems. With an affiliate program that is online, you can always find other people promoting the same program you are looking at.

3. If this is one of the affiliate programs that is best online they will provide you with marketing materials that you can use to promote it. Such as banners, classified ads, links, emails, etc... You also want to make sure that you will be provided help online or offline if you run into problems. The best online affiliate programs will provide around the clock help. Make sure that they will keep in contact with you on a regular basis through emails.

4. Another important issue to check into is how much do they pay, and how often do they pay. It is always a good idea to find out if they have an online sales stats page, and a way to track your sales. Also find out if they will notify you through email when you make a sale. Most of the best affiliate programs online will provide this information.

5. The best online affiliate programs will have more than one product that you can use to make backend sales to the same person. You also want to find out if you can make residual income from any of their products, or if they are all one time sales. Another important piece of information to find out is if you will be credited with a sale if people come back in a month or more and buy the product. One more thing to check into is if you will get a percentage of the commission for anyone who signs up under you.

6. Do you have to use the sales material that is provided with the affiliate program? You want to find out if you can come up with your own materials to advertise the program. Most of the best online affiliate programs will give you leeway to come up with your own marketing materials.

7. One last thing that you want to find out is if they have a lot of different ways for the customers to pay. If they don't, that could mean lost commissions for you. Online affiliate programs that are the best will provide customers more than one way to pay.

So as you can see, there is a lot of things that you want to find out before joining an affiliate program. The best online affiliate programs will be more than happy to answer any questions that you have. It is always best to find out this information first, that way you are not disappointed after you join.