Among the most common and hurtful affiliate marketing mistakes lie with the following:

- Not building relationships

- Sloppy copy

- Laziness once the affiliate link is in place.

So what is affiliate marketing? In a nutshell, as an affiliate marketer I build web sites and post links to a merchants site with whom I have an affiliate agreement with. People then come to my site and click on a link which takes them to the merchants site. If they buy something, I receive a commission.

It sounds so easy to sign up to become an affiliate, place the link, and sit back and earn money. So here again... affiliate marketing mistakes. A lot of people do it, but it takes a lot of work beforehand to get to the point where you can simply put your feet up and watch the cash flow. Even then, there is still some maintenance to do.

In this light, here are some of the most glaring and common affiliate marketing mistakes made by site owners:

- An amateur website

The Web is a visual means, so it pays to remember that your website should be visually striking. Many affiliate marketing mistakes lie within the layout of their website. They project a website that is not visually stimulating and which fails to capture the attention of the visitor. A site that looks professional will garner more appreciation and strike people as inspiring and trustworthy.

The following tips will help you to avoid many other common affiliate marketing mistakes:

- Use a simple, accurate banner or logo - a first glance at the banner should convey immediately who and what you are, and what your site is about.

- Make better use of text and limit graphics - A big affiliate marketing mistake that newbies make are using too many graphics. Graphics take time to load and a lot of people won't take the time for all the images to load. Text works better as it also conveys information, which is what people are mostly searching for on the Net.

- Use only one or two colors for your font, so as to create a streamlined, easy to grasp environment. In the same light, a black on white background is easier to focus on. Using an easy to read font such as Georgia and Verdana also helps to create a visually pleasing template.

- Aim for the headline to be concise and to convey your topic immediately in a nutshell.

- Aim to direct your visitor across your pages and website - use few links and do not provide too many choices so as not to confuse your visitor. This is another all to common affiliate marketing mistake.

- Strive for consistency in your layout and pages.

- Maximize upon opportunities to capture your visitors' name and address- you can then continue to market to them if you have their contact details. Not capturing your visitors information is another affiliate marketing mistake.

- Provide intriguing add-ons- Use an opt-in form or offer a freebie, which can also help you catch your visitors' information.

Affiliate marketing is not rocket science but its also not as easy many people seem to think. By avoiding the most common affiliate marketing mistakes you can increase your chance at success significantly.