So I'm a bit of a geek and constantly going down the rabbit hole of discovering affiliate content sites because I create content websites myself meaning I'm always on the look out for the newest trend, next big thing, the profitable niche, or the high converting affiliate offer to make money from (and I'm just forever curious about the topics out there people make money from especially BIG money).

I pay for multiple different tools that collate content sites into databases and provide data, follow different websites that reveal the latest online trends, and subscribe to a dozen different newsletters that provide niche ideas because I love getting inspired by the random, weird, and sometimes even mundane topics people are making money from.

So instead of working on my actual business today yet again I went down a bit of a rabbit hole instead messing around with tools like NicheSiteMetrics, NicheFinder, SiteStatsDB and websites like StarterStory.com and NicheNirvana.com to try and find out what are some of the biggest affiliate content websites on the net are.

Hopefully some of you get excited about this stuff as I do otherwise it was a waste of time me posting this (though I'd lost all day doing the research for myself anyway so there's nothing much lost).

I found several sites that despite being huge I don't THINK are household names (though many appear to be owned by bigger media brands and are not some one man owned site or anything) and it's mind blowing to me to think how much traffic they receive...

...especially seeing as some of them are a little surprising (#5 in this list was, for me at least)!

So yeah, I was able to find 8 examples of affiliate sites that likely receive over 1 MILLION visitors p/m JUST from organic search (e.g. Google)

Note: These are all estimates via 3rd party tool UberSuggest, an SEO Tool, and I can't possibly independently verify the numbers as I don't own or have access to these sites.,

And here are the 8 sites with over 1 million visitors per month for anyone interested in seeing what a super affiliate content site looks like...

1) sleepfoundation.org - estimates they receive over 39 MILLION (!) visitors per month JUST from organic search.

A large part of their site revolves around reviewing the best mattresses which is a highly lucrative affiliate niche with many affiliate networks and brands offering hundreds of dollars per sale for each mattresss.

Affiliate networks like ShareASale have many high paying affiliate offers available so you can do the sums on how much you think this site might be making!

2) nintendolife.com - estimates they receive over 6 MILLION organic search visitors per month

And this is not the official Nintendo site, just a fan site (albeit owned by a bigger media brand).

They have a ton of "Best Nintendo X" type posts (e.g. "Best Nintendo Switch Strategy Games" or "Best Zelda Games of All Time") and they all have affiliate links pointing to Amazon and other retailers.

At 6 million visits per month even if only 1% of people visiting the site click through to Amazon or other affiliate link that's 60,000 people per month heading down your affiliate link and should result in a decent amount of sales.

3) cruisecritic.co.uk - SiteStatDB tool estimates this gets over 1 million visitors p/m but UberSuggest estimates it at less, approx 635,000 so it's potentially somewhere in the middle.

It reviews different Cruise Lines and Trips then monetizes via affiliate links to those companies and also allows you to search for your perfect cruise trip using different filters then offers price comparisons between different companies most of which they seem to be affiliate with and will be paid a commission on if it converts into a sale.

4) outdoorgearlab.com - estimates their monthly search only traffic at over 13 MILLION (!).

They literally review almost any outdoor gear from clothing, footwear, tents, bikes, fitness gear and more.

Lots of "Best Electric Bike" and "Best Outdoor Gear for Hiking" type posts that are typical affiliate posts and high converting.

They have an impressive criteria for reviewing and rating products looking at all the different unique aspects that are important.

I saw affiliate links to mostly Amazon but also Best Buy and others on the site and at 13 million visitors per month even with just a tiny 1% of people clicking on links (it's likely higher) that's 130,000 people per month clicking on their affiliate links meaning they probably make a tidy profit,.

5) myjewishlearning.com - estimates their monthly search traffic at over 2.3 MILLION.

They have a lot of information and question based content around the Jewish faith and lifestyle like "Is it OK to Blow Out Hanukkah Candles?" and "Is it Permissible to Work on Hanukkah?" which they monetize with Display Ads.

And also affiliate content like "The 8 Best Jewish Cookbooks of 2023" which they monetize with Amazon Affiliate links.

At 2.3 million visits a month even with an underestimated 1% of visitors clicking an Ad or Affiliate link that's 23,000 people they can be earning money from,

6) runnersworld.com - estimates their search traffic to be 27.4 MILLION visitors p/m

But they also have a strong prescence on all the social platforms with a combined following of close to 10 million followers which will be driving lots more traffic!

They have a mix of informational / question based content, news like topics, and lots of affiliate content such as "The Best Running Shoes for Wide Feet" and "The Best-Tested Wireless Earbuds for Running" with affiliate links pointing to Amazon, Nordstrom, Zappos, and other smaller retailers.

If you even just take their estimated search traffic (not including any from social media as we don't know how many more that drives but probably a few hundred thousand per month) and under-estimate they convert just 1% (very low) into clicking an affiliate link that's 274,000 people p/m clicking on those links and potentially making them commissions!

7) soundguys.com - reckons they get over 7.3 MILLION visits just from search per month.

They review headphones, earbuds, speakers, microphones and other sound related gear (a lot of it which is expensive!) with posts like "Best Wired Earbuds" and "Best Sound Bars for Gaming".

To monetize they have both Display Ads on the site plus Amazon affiliate links and to other smaller affiliate retailers that I'm not familiar with called Razer.

Honestly, at times their site is pretty annoying because it's too overloaded with Display Ads to the point it ends up with Ads at the top, bottom, side and in content covering up the actual text and reviews, seems counter productive to have so many when it's stopping people clicking the affiliate links which definitely usually pay more than an Ad click.

At 7.3 million visits month even with a very conservative 1% click through rate to the affiliate links that's 73,000 people per month getting tagged with their affiliate cookie and potentially buying something.

So that's my day wasted anyway!

I've had two days like this in the past week where instead of doing actual work on my actual business I've messed around with tools and websites looking at other peoples businesses and getting impressed at how much money they are probably making.

I should probably get back to making money for myself tomorrow but thought I may as well share this info seeing as I had compiled it for myself anyway, enjoy!

For someone starting out, what's the best affiliate program out there?