How to Pay Affiliates in WordPress (Easy Way)

A crucial aspect of a successful affiliate program is a reliable and timely payment system.

For your affiliates, getting paid promptly builds trust and keeps them motivated. For you, an efficient payout process saves valuable time and reduces administrative headaches.

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about paying your affiliates directly from your WordPress dashboard. We’ll cover the best tools for the job, the simple setup process, and flexible payout options to ensure your partners are compensated accurately and on time.

Why a Streamlined Affiliate Payment System is Non-Negotiable

Before diving into the “how,” let’s establish the “why.” An efficient affiliate payment process is the cornerstone of a thriving program.

✅ Saves You Time: Automating and simplifying payouts frees you to focus on other critical aspects of your business, like affiliate recruitment and marketing strategy.

✅ Builds Trust: Consistent, accurate payments demonstrate your commitment to your affiliates, fostering a strong and lasting partnership.

✅ Motivates Affiliates: When affiliates are confident they will be paid on time, they are more likely to actively and enthusiastically promote your brand.

✅ Gives a Competitive Advantage: Offering flexible and convenient payout options, like direct bank transfers, can make your program more attractive to top-performing affiliates.

How to Pay Affiliates in WordPress

To pay affiliates from your WordPress dashboard, you first need a system to track referral links accurately. While several methods exist, using a dedicated affiliate management plugin is the most efficient and scalable approach.

We will use AffiliateWP, the best WordPress affiliate management plugin, to demonstrate the process. It saves countless hours and integrates seamlessly with your existing setup.

Step 1: Install AffiliateWP

The best way to track referrals and pay affiliates in WordPress is with AffiliateWP.

It’s known as the best WordPress affiliate management plugin, and as well as offering awesome growth tools, it’s going to save you a lot of time when paying your affiliates.

It also enables you to make affiliate payouts through your preferred payment method.

Check out the pricing page to find the plan that best fits your needs.

Once you’ve completed your purchase, you can easily upload the software by going to the Plugins tab in your WordPress dashboard.

If you have any problems with this step, then follow our step-by-step guide.

Step 2: Complete the Setup Wizard

One of the best features of AffiliateWP is that it’s incredibly simple to integrate with your store.

Simply open the setup wizard by selecting Settings in the AffiliateWP tab of your WordPress dashboard.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Launch Setup Wizard button.

The first step asks you to enter your license key which can be found in your confirmation email or your AffiliateWP account. Simply copy the code and paste it into the box before clicking Continue.

Next comes the magic.

Select the WordPress plugin you use to run your e-commerce store, membership program, or form builder to integrate it with AffiliateWP in just a click. We have seamless integrations with:

• WooCommerce
• Easy Digital Downloads
• PayPal
• Stripe
• WPForms
• MemberPress
• and many more…

Just mark the checkbox next to your chosen plugin and click Continue.

Next, you’ll be able to choose your commission structure (the whole reason we’re here). Choose your currency, referral type (percentage or flat fee), and commission rate.

This will set a global commission on all sales, but you can easily adjust this later by returning to your AffiliateWP settings. You can also set affiliate and product-specific rates, which we will talk about a little bit later.

Once you’ve decided on your commission structure, click Continue.

The next step is to set your referral link structure and choose how long you want your cookies to last.

Click on Save and continue and then Finish the Setup and exit the Wizard.

Your affiliate program is now up and running and ready to track referrals!

Step 3: Enable Affiliate Registration

The setup wizard automatically creates an “Affiliate Area” page on your site. This is where potential affiliates can sign up for your program and where existing affiliates can log in to their dashboard to track their earnings and get their referral links.

You can customize this page by going to AffiliateWP > Settings and selecting your chosen page from the Affiliate Area dropdown menu. The plugin allows you to edit it like any other WordPress page, adding your own branding and an affiliate registration block.

When a new affiliate registers, you’ll receive a notification and can approve or reject their application from the AffiliateWP > Affiliates screen.

Bloggers, influencers, and other potential affiliates will be able to go to your Affiliate Area page and register for your program.

You’ll receive a notification whenever an affiliate applies to be part of your program, and you can quickly approve or reject their application by going to AffiliateWP > Affiliates.

As soon as you accept the affiliate, they can start generating affiliate links, creating referrals, and tracking performance in their affiliate dashboard.

Step 4: Monitor Your Affiliate Data

Data is key to optimizing your program. The AffiliateWP > Reports tab provides in-depth, real-time analytics. Here you can track:

• Affiliate-driven traffic
• Referral sales and conversion rates
• Top-performing affiliates
• Earnings over time

This data helps you understand what’s working and ensures you have accurate records for payouts.

Here, you can see how many affiliate clicks you’re getting to your site, the number of sales being made, your conversion rate, and much more. This is going to help you keep track of what’s going on and make it that much easier to pay your affiliate partners.

Step 5: Register for the Payouts Service

This is the core of simplified payments. The AffiliateWP Payouts Service allows you to pay affiliates directly to their bank accounts or debit cards via secure bank transfer.

I recommend using the AffiliateWP Payouts Service method because it integrates directly with the plugin and makes paying your affiliates fast and hassle-free.

You can use it to pay affiliates in over 37 countries and in 130+ currencies.

Onboarding Your Site and Your Affiliates

Part 1 : Onboarding Your Site

Before you can pay affiliates, you’ll need to register your own business with the service. This involves a one-time setup to ensure compliance and security.

1. Navigate to AffiliateWP > Payouts.
2. Click the payouts.sandhillsplugins.com link. You will be redirected to the Payouts Service platform.
3. Scroll down until you see Setup 1: Connect your site.

4. Provide Your Details

You will be redirected to the Payouts Service platform to complete a registration form.

You will be asked for:

• Basic business information.
• Personal identity verification details (a standard process known as KYC or “Know Your Customer”).
• A payment method (like a bank account or debit card) that will be used to fund the affiliate payouts later.

Once your registration is submitted and approved, you’ll be returned to your WordPress dashboard. Make sure the Enable Payouts Service box is checked.

Part 2: Onboarding Your Affiliates

After you are registered, your affiliates must also provide their information to be able to receive payments.

You can reach out, most likely via email, and ask them to set up a payment method.

• Affiliates can log into their Affiliate Area.
• They will see a new notice prompting them to register for the Payouts Service.
• In their Settings tab, they can fill out a simple form to connect their bank account where they wish to receive payments.

You can track which of your affiliates have completed their onboarding from the AffiliateWP > Affiliates screen.

Your affiliates can then enter their payment details securely from the Settings tab in their own Affiliate Area.

I also recommend adding a custom message to the Registration Form Description and Payouts Service Notice boxes. These can be used to show affiliates how to sign up for direct wire transfers.

Note: We also offer functionality to mass pay affiliates directly to their Stripe or PayPal accounts, and other payment gateway providers.

How to Pay Affiliates in WordPress

Paying your affiliates is a two-stage process: first you generate the payout details, and then you fund it in a single transaction.

Stage 1: Create the Payout

1. Navigate to the AffiliateWP > Referrals tab and click the Pay Affiliates button.
2. On the next screen, you can specify the parameters for this payment run:
   • Affiliates: Pay a specific affiliate or leave blank for a mass payment to all eligible affiliates.
   • Date Range: Define the specific period for which you are paying referrals.
   • Minimum Earnings: Set a threshold an affiliate must reach to be included in the payout.
   • Payout Method: Select Payouts Service.
3. Click Preview Payouts. This will show you a summary of which affiliates will be paid and the total amount.
4. If everything looks correct, click Submit Payout.

This action does not pay your affiliates immediately. Instead, it creates a payout record in the system and generates a single invoice for you to pay. The status of this payout will be Pending.

Stage 2: Fund the Payout

1. After submitting the payout, you will be redirected to an invoice page.
2. This page shows the total amount owed to your affiliates plus any service fees.
3. Use the payment method you connected during the site registration (Step 5) to pay this single invoice.
4. Once you have successfully paid the invoice, the payout status will change to Processing. The Payouts Service will then begin dispersing the individual payments to your affiliates’ bank accounts.

You can track the history and status of all your payouts by navigating to AffiliateWP > Payouts.

Get Creative with Your Affiliate Commissions

Affiliate commissions are hugely important to attract top affiliates and keep them engaged with your program.

On the flip side, they also cut into your profits!

One of the nice things about AffiliateWP is we don’t charge an affiliate fee on referrals like a lot of affiliate networks, which gives you a little more room to offer a good commission.

The other great thing you have with AffiliateWP is flexibility. There are a ton of different tools to help you tailor your commission to fit your needs.

Here are just some of the cool things you can do:

• Offer personalized commissions to specific affiliates.
• Set commission rates on a product-by-product basis.
• Create commission tiers so the more an affiliate sells, the more they earn.
• Offer lifetime commissions so an affiliate gets a commission for every future purchase a customer makes.
• Set recurring referrals so an affiliate receives a commission every time a customer renews their subscription.

One of the main questions people have is “how much should you pay affiliates?”

The answer is it varies a lot based on what you’re selling and what you can afford. On average it works out somewhere between 5% and 30%, which as you can see is pretty vague.

Tools like tiered commission rates allow you to do is create a commission structure that works for your specific business and its affiliates. This might mean you can motivate affiliates even more without having to increase your commissions.

FAQs About Paying Affiliates in WordPress

From Manual Payouts to Automated Growth

AffiliateWP allows you to pay affiliates in WordPress without the hassle.

You now have the complete blueprint to transform your affiliate payment process from a time-consuming chore into a powerful asset for your business.

By implementing a streamlined system with AffiliateWP, you can build the trust and reliability that motivates top affiliates. The days of messy spreadsheets and manual payment runs are over. Instead, you can focus your valuable time on what truly matters: recruiting great partners and growing your sales.

Ready to build a professional, scalable affiliate program on WordPress? The next step is to put this plan into action.

Get started with AffiliateWP today!

Check these out:

• The Essential Affiliate Marketing Business Plan for Program Managers
• How to Get More Affiliates: 13+ Ways to Grow Your Program
• How to Automate Your Affiliate Program in WordPress