Niche of the Week : Antivirus Affiliate Programs

Computer viruses have existed since the early '80s. From simple programs with no specific damage done to computers, viruses have evolved to be more destructive and more difficult to eradicate from computer systems. This brought about the need for antivirus programs: software that prevents, detects and eventually wipes out viruses.

It was difficult to find a more current value of the antivirus industry but Eugene Kaspersky of Kaspersky Labs, a popular antivirus company, wrote that the standard antivirus solutions market was worth USD $2.7 billion in 2003 and $3.3 billion in 2004.The industry is following an upward trend and is possibly worth tens of billions of dollars now, or more.

Computer viruses are a big threat to consumers as more and more households own not just one computer, but multiple PCs. There is widespread and heavy use of the Internet now, which further increases the chances of getting a computer virus.

Keywords to Target

The obvious keywords to target are "best antivirus," "computer virus," and "buy antivirus." These keywords have good monthly search values and are between medium and high competition, depending on the variation.

There are plenty of how-to keywords you can target in this niche, such as "how to know if my computer has a virus" and "how to keep my computer virus free." You can go to Ubersuggest.org for other variations and to see what other keywords you can target.

Antivirus Affiliate Programs

You'll find more antivirus affiliate programs online than on ClickBank. The site has several keyloggers and uninstallers but no antivirus. You'll find Avast Antivirus on the Marketplace, but it's got 0 gravity. This could either mean the software just started in ClickBank, or it is no longer part of ClickBank.

Below are some popular antivirus software, that surprisingly for me, offer affiliate programs:

Avast

Avast is one of the most popular antivirus programs today, owning 23.6 percent of the global market share in the antivirus application industry. As I mentioned before, you can find Avast in the ClickBank Marketplace, but it has 0 gravity. Going to the website, it appears Avast offers its affiliate program through OneNetworkDirect. Affiliates receive a starting commission of 25 percent for each sale. This commission can easily go up to 35 percent depending on your monthly sales.

Kaspersky

Kaspersky is another antivirus application with an affiliate program through OneNetworkDirect. Affiliates receive tiered commissions, too, which start with 20 percent per sale.

Symantec

Symantec is an computer security company known for the Norton suite of antivirus and security products. The affiliate program is through Commission Junction and provides affiliates with 18 percent commission for each sale.

AVG

AVG is a well-known antivirus software that has been around since the late '90s. It offers affiliates 10 percent to 30 percent commissions through Commission Junction.

ESET

ESET is a <Slovakian-based IT security company that offers the antivirus program ESET NOD32. Similar to AVG, it offers an affiliate program through Commission Junction, but commission is 18 percent per sale only.

How to Get Users to Your Anti-Virus Site

Blog and Forum Commenting

There are a lot of tech blogs and forums that you can go to and participate in. You can share your knowledge and experience, not just with computer viruses and how to arm your computer against them, but with general computer troubleshooting too.

This is where great interest and knowledge in this niche would come in handy, because you need to help out in the forums and add value to the discussion on blogs. Having a working knowledge of computers and common computer issues (and how to resolve theme) can help you a lot.

Press Releases

What’s new in the technology industry? Is there a new computer virus we need to be aware of? You can share current information about the companies of the products you're promoting, especially if there's a sale. Then you can refer users to a relevant article on your site.

Content Strategy

You need to constantly update your site with information about computers and computer viruses. You also need to write about ways to keep your computer running at peak performance. These are the articles that your site's potential visitors would be looking for. A good content strategy will help you plan out your articles better, giving you ample time to research and publish one article after another.

Antivirus Affiliate Programs: Are They for Every Marketer?

Unfortunately, the antivirus niche requires a solid working knowledge of computers and viruses. This is the kind of niche that you need to be interested in and have knowledge of. The earning potential is there; the commissions are good enough. But competition in this niche is difficult, and without the knowledge to help you through, link building would be tough. 

If you have a website on technology and computers, then you can monetize the site by promoting any of the above antivirus affiliate programs. If you are thinking of building one, then I suggest you start by mapping out how you'll do the inbound marketing and off-page SEO once the site is up.

With that I conclude this week's Niche of the Week. I hope you enjoyed this week's post and if you did, please share it using the Share buttons below. We love to hear from you, so be sure to leave your comments!

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