How to Find New Affiliate Programs to Join

Most publishers treat affiliate program discovery as a one-time task. Join Amazon, paste a few links, move on. For operators building at scale, that approach caps revenue before traffic ever becomes the bottleneck. The programs you add next determine whether your income survives rate cuts, policy changes, and seasonal swings in a single network.

I’ve been running affiliate sites for over nine years. Diversifying across relevant programs is still one of the fastest ways to expand earning potential without publishing net-new content. The methods below cover what we use ourselves, from mining existing pages to scanning networks, brand sites, and social channels.

Updated 2026.

1Find Unmonetized Links on Your Site

The lowest-friction source of new programs is content you already published. If your blog has been around for a while, you almost certainly have unmonetized links: mentions of brands that run affiliate programs you have not joined yet.

Scan your existing posts for products and services you recommend without an affiliate link. Reach out to those companies and ask about their program. That works. It is also tedious at scale.

We built the Opportunities tab in Lasso to solve exactly that problem. Lasso scans your site for unmonetized links using our database of over 10,000 affiliate programs. If you link to a brand with a program, Lasso surfaces it. Sign up, swap the link, and move on.

Opportunity reports also let you search keywords you want to monetize and flag under-monetized content. Any way you slice it, your existing library is the first place to look before you chase new traffic.

Before you publish anything new, run an Opportunities Scan on pages that already rank. Most operators find product mentions sitting unmonetized in URLs that already get traffic.

2Check Major Affiliate Networks

Affiliate networks connect publishers with merchants. One login gives you access to thousands of programs, which makes discovery faster than applying to brands one at a time.

The largest networks worth bookmarking:

• ShareASale
• CJ Affiliate
• Rakuten Marketing
• Amazon Associates

These platforms host merchants across nearly every niche. Filter by category, compare commission terms, and join programs that match your audience. For a deeper comparison of where to start, see our roundup of the best affiliate networks.

3Check Brand Websites Directly

Established brands usually run their own affiliate programs. Look for a “Partner,” “Affiliate,” or “Refer a Friend” link in the footer.

Make a list of brands you already promote or want to promote. Visit each site and confirm whether they offer a program you can join. Scroll to the bottom of any Lasso page and you will see “Become an Affiliate” in our footer. That links to our program, which runs on the same model most SaaS and product brands use.

Direct applications often yield better support and higher commissions than generic network listings. Worth the extra click when you already trust the product.

4Search for Affiliate Terms

Google remains a reliable discovery channel when you know what to type. Run searches like:

• [your niche] affiliate programs
• [product name] affiliate program
• [product category] affiliate programs

These queries surface programs you would not find browsing a single network. Pair search results with product research so you promote offers your readers already want to buy. Our guide on how to find affiliate products covers that workflow in detail.

5Use Affiliate Program Directories

Directories list programs by category, which speeds up niche-specific research. Browse our affiliate program directory for a curated starting point backed by the same database Lasso uses in Opportunities.

Other directories worth checking:

• AffiliatePrograms.com
• Affilorama
• High Paying Affiliate Programs

Treat directory listings as leads, not commitments. Vet commission rates, cookie duration, and payout terms before you invest content in a new partnership.

6Use Facebook Groups and Social Media

Facebook groups in your niche surface products people already discuss and buy. When a tool or service keeps coming up in threads, there is usually an affiliate program behind it.

Twitter and Instagram work the same way. Follow brands in your space and watch for affiliate announcements or partner program links in their bios. Community chatter often beats cold outreach because you already know the product has demand with your audience.

7Where to Start

Finding new affiliate programs is not a one-time project. It is ongoing infrastructure work. Unmonetized links on existing pages, network catalogs, brand footers, search queries, directories, and social channels each surface different opportunities.

Start with what you already published. Run an Opportunities Scan on content that ranks today. Fixing placements on live URLs beats chasing programs you have nowhere to promote yet.

At Lasso, we built the link infrastructure layer so you can focus on content instead of manual audits and missed monetization. See how Lasso fits your stack. Get started with Lasso and run an Opportunities Scan on the pages you already have live.

Matt Giovanisci

Lasso Team

Matt Giovanisci has been a self-employed online business owner for over a decade building four profitable websites along the way. His #1 rule is to have fun, make money, and ignore "best practices." Ok, so three rules.