Small content creators with fewer than 10,000 subscribers are pulling in $100 or more per day from web hosting affiliate programs. Not influencers. Not people with massive email lists. Regular people making tutorials and comparison videos, dropping an affiliate link in the description, and collecting commissions every time someone clicks and buys. If you have looked at that and thought it was out of reach, this post is going to change your mind.
In this breakdown you will get the exact three-part framework Alston uses and teaches: real examples of small creators earning commissions right now, the content quality standard you have to hit if you want anyone to buy from you, and a keyword strategy built around the part of the funnel where people are actually ready to spend money.
What You’ll Walk Out With
- Proof that tiny channels and accounts are already earning with web hosting affiliate programs
- The three ways Alston has personally earned Bluehost affiliate commissions
- The content quality test you have to pass before you can expect anyone to buy
- Why 3 videos per week is the minimum if you want to build real traction
- The inverted funnel model and why bottom-of-funnel keywords convert better than broad ones
- Five specific keyword types you can use today across review, comparison, alternative, and how-to content
- A clear next step to figure out which platform and audience is the right fit for you at finder.platformproof.com
How Alston Started Earning Web Hosting Affiliate Commissions
Before showing you what works for other people, Alston walked through his own history with the Bluehost affiliate program. There are three ways he has personally earned commissions, and one of them was technically the wrong way.
The first was Quora. After watching a guru video about affiliate marketing, he grabbed his Bluehost affiliate link and spent about 30 minutes answering questions on the platform, including his link in the answers. He answered four or five questions in that session. That approach violates Quora’s terms of service, and he knows that now. But even with that violation, two commissions came in totaling $130 in a single day. He shares the story because the demand is real, not to recommend spamming forums.
The second is a faceless YouTube channel dedicated specifically to web hosting content. This is not the channel you are watching. It is a separate channel focused only on that niche, uploading tutorials and comparisons. The commissions from that channel come in without showing a face or building a personal brand.
The third is through courses. Students who buy Alston’s courses often want to start a blog or website. When they do, he points them to Bluehost with his affiliate link. The sale happens naturally because the recommendation is relevant and they already trust him.
Part 1: Small Creators Already Earning $100+ Per Day
The first thing the video covers is proof that this is already working for people who are not famous, not established, and not running huge channels. The examples come from both TikTok and YouTube.
On TikTok, creators are generating anywhere from a couple thousand views to a million views by teaching people how to start a blog or a website. They add their affiliate link to the bio or in the caption and collect commissions. The range of creator sizes is striking. Some accounts are very small but the videos still get traction because the content answers a specific question people are already searching for.
On YouTube the examples are even more specific. One channel with 8,000 subscribers got 7,600 views on a video offering a Bluehost discount. That discount is the affiliate link. Another creator covering Bluehost versus GoDaddy had 318 views and 11,000 subscribers. Neither number is impressive in a traditional sense, but here is what Alston points out that changes everything: those views are highly targeted.
A person searching “Bluehost vs GoDaddy” already knows they want to start a website. They have narrowed down to two options. They are looking for the final piece of information that lets them commit. That is completely different from 10,000 views on a broad video where the audience has no purchase intent. Alston would rather have 4,000 targeted views on a comparison video than 10,000 views on something general, and the commission data backs that up.
This happens across all creator sizes. Small subscriber counts, relatively modest view numbers, but because the content speaks directly to people who are ready to make a decision, the conversion rate stays high enough to generate real income.
Part 2: Why Most Affiliate Content Fails
Alston talks to affiliate marketers regularly, and when he looks at the content of the ones who are not earning, the problems are usually the same. Poor AI voices. Poorly made AI-generated video. Low-quality PowerPoint presentations. Content that looks like it was thrown together in an hour.
His test for this is blunt: would you buy from you if you stumbled across this video with no context? Would you even click on it? Most of the struggling creators he talks to answer no when they are being honest. If you would not buy from yourself, you should not be surprised that no one else is buying either.
The Minimum Content Standard You Need to Hit
There are two specific things Alston recommends to raise the quality of web hosting affiliate content.
The first is research. The viewer searching for “Bluehost review” or “Bluehost vs SiteGround” has already done their homework. They have read some articles, watched some videos, and formed opinions. If you show up with surface-level information, they will leave. You need to know the product at least as well as they do, and ideally better. That means actually setting up an account, understanding the pricing tiers, knowing what happens when you try to cancel, and being able to speak to edge cases a curious buyer would ask about.
The second is a framework Alston uses for building content ideas: who, what, when, where, why, and how. He takes a sheet of paper and writes down those six words, then generates questions under each one for whatever hosting platform he is covering. For a Bluehost review that might look like: who should use Bluehost, who should not use Bluehost, what factors should you think about before picking a host, when does it make sense to upgrade your plan. Every one of those questions is a video or a section of a longer post. Every one of them represents a person who is already searching for that answer.
The result of this process is content that helps the viewer make a better decision. And when someone makes a better decision because of your content, they buy through your link. That is the mechanism. Good content leads to more sales. Poor content does not, regardless of how many times you post it.
Upload Frequency and Why 3 Videos Per Week Matters
Alston’s position on upload frequency is not flexible: at least three videos per week if you want to build traction. The reasons are practical. You get better at making videos faster when you are doing it three times a week instead of once. You feed the algorithm more material to test. And you increase the odds that at least one of those videos breaks out and drives a significant number of commissions.
If you are not willing to post three videos per week, his advice is not to soften that expectation. He says directly: do not waste your time. The web hosting affiliate space rewards consistency and volume, especially in the early stages when you are still figuring out which content formats and keywords work for your audience.
Making good content three times a week used to require a full production setup. That is no longer true. Faceless channels work. Screen recordings with a clear voiceover work. The bar is quality of information and clarity of delivery, not production budget.
Part 3: The Keyword Strategy for Web Hosting Affiliate Income
This is the section where the video gets most concrete. Alston uses an inverted funnel to explain where different types of content sit relative to purchase intent, and then walks through five specific keyword categories.
The inverted funnel works like this: at the top are the broadest searches from people who are just beginning to think about a problem. At the bottom are the narrowest searches from people who are close to making a purchase decision. New creators almost always try to make top-of-funnel content because it reaches the most people, but the most people also means the most competition and the lowest conversion rate. The money is at the bottom, where the searches are specific and the intent to buy is high.
Keyword Type 1: Reviews
Review content is the clearest example of bottom-of-funnel. Someone searching “Bluehost review” has already decided they want a website and they have already narrowed their choice to Bluehost. They are not gathering information about whether to start a blog. They are trying to confirm they are making the right call. That is a person who is one or two clicks away from buying.
Bluehost setup content works similarly. A person searching for how to set up Bluehost has either already bought or is about to. Either way, they are at the bottom of the funnel and your affiliate link in the video description or the tutorial text is directly in front of someone ready to spend money.
Keyword Type 2: Coupon Codes
Bluehost coupon code searches convert extremely well because the intent is unmistakable. Someone searching for a discount code is not browsing. They are at checkout, or close to it, and they want to save a few dollars before they pull the trigger. Alston showed examples of creators with 10,000 to 11,000 subscribers earning views of 2,400 to 2,700 on coupon code videos. Those are small channels but the viewers are buyers.
The execution is simple: create a short video showing the coupon code in action, include your affiliate link in the description, and let the buyers come to you. No complex strategy required.
Keyword Type 3: Versus Comparisons
Comparison videos like “Bluehost vs HostGator” or “Bluehost vs Squarespace” or “Wix vs GoDaddy” target people who have narrowed their options to two or three choices. They know what they want to do. They just need help deciding between the finalists.
The examples from the video make the opportunity clear. One creator with 35 subscribers had 9,000 views on a comparison video. Another had 177,000 subscribers and 17,000 views on a similar topic. The subscriber-to-view ratio tells you something important: comparison searches are pulling in viewers regardless of channel size because the content matches what people are searching for exactly.
A bonus move Alston mentions: join the affiliate programs for both platforms in the comparison. If someone watches “Bluehost vs Squarespace” and picks Squarespace, you can still earn a commission if you have both affiliate links in the description. You are monetizing the decision either way.
Keyword Type 4: Alternatives
“Bluehost alternatives” and similar searches come from people who know the product they have been looking at but want to check if something better exists before committing. They may not know the names of other hosts yet, so they search “alternatives” rather than a specific competitor’s name. This is still a high-intent search. They want to make a purchase. They are just doing a final scan of the options.
For a content creator this means you can build an alternatives post or video covering four or five hosting options, include affiliate links for each of them, and earn a commission regardless of which one the viewer picks. The content writes itself: here are five alternatives to Bluehost, here is what each one does well, here is who each one is best for.
Keyword Type 5: Best Website Builder For X and How-To Content
“Best website builder for photographers” or “best website builder for restaurants” content sits slightly higher in the funnel. The viewer understands the problem but has not yet picked a solution. There is more competition at this level, but the volume is also higher. Alston showed a comparison video with 133,000 views and the channel only had 3,000 subscribers. That ratio is a signal that people are actively searching and finding content in this category.
“How to start a blog” and “how to start a business” content is the broadest of the five categories. These viewers are at the information-gathering stage. They are not ready to buy immediately, but they need a hosting platform as part of the process of doing what they searched for. The conversion window is longer, but the volume is enormous. Alston’s own “how to start a blog” videos earn affiliate commissions regularly even though the intent is not as direct as a review or coupon code search.
For “how to start a ___ business” content, the trick is to go through every type of business systematically. How to start a cleaning business, how to start a photography business, how to start an Etsy shop. Every single one needs a website. If your content covers the setup process and includes a hosting recommendation with your affiliate link, you have a conversion opportunity on every one of those videos.
Not sure which platform to build your affiliate content on?
Answer a few quick questions and get a specific recommendation matched to your situation at finder.platformproof.com.
Honest Drawbacks: What This Strategy Will Not Tell You
The web hosting affiliate space is real and the commissions are real, but there are a few things that do not come up in the highlight reel that are worth being direct about.
First, the space has been around for years, which means there is existing competition from established creators with deep libraries of content. If you are starting from zero, you are not going to out-compete a channel with 200 Bluehost tutorials in the first month. The path in is through niche comparisons, specific setups, and long-tail keyword combinations that bigger channels have not bothered to cover.
Second, web hosting commissions are typically one-time, not recurring. You earn when someone signs up, but most web hosting affiliates do not pay monthly residuals. That means you need a consistent content engine to keep new commissions coming in rather than a portfolio that pays you passively forever.
Third, the three-videos-per-week standard is real work. Anyone telling you that you can post once a week and build this to $100 per day quickly is being generous with the timeline. The creators with small subscriber counts making consistent income are posting frequently, not occasionally.
Fourth, not every platform is the right fit for every person. TikTok, YouTube, a blog, or a combination will each have different learning curves and different payout timelines. Picking the right starting point for your specific skills and schedule is a real decision, not a detail.
A Step-By-Step Action Plan to Start
- Pick one web hosting platform to focus on first. Bluehost, SiteGround, HostGator, and Cloudways all have affiliate programs. Starting with one lets you build real product knowledge fast.
- Sign up for that platform’s affiliate program and get your link. Most approve instantly or within a day or two.
- Use the who/what/when/where/why/how framework to generate 20 to 30 content ideas. Write down every question a buyer might have before committing to your chosen platform.
- Map each idea to a funnel level. Reviews and coupon codes are bottom of funnel, comparisons are mid-funnel, how-to and best-of content is top of funnel. Start with two or three bottom-of-funnel pieces first.
- Create three pieces of content in week one. These will be rough. That is expected. The goal is to get started and learn what needs to improve.
- Run the quality test on each piece before publishing: would you buy from you based on this content alone? If the answer is no, find the weakest part and fix it before you post.
- Include your affiliate link in every piece of content where it is relevant. Not just some of them. Every single one.
- After 30 days, look at your view data and see which content is getting clicks. Double down on those formats and keyword types.
Find Your X
The web hosting affiliate strategy works, but the platform you use to execute it and the audience you speak to matter. A person who is comfortable on camera has different options than someone who wants to stay faceless. A person with 30 minutes a day has different constraints than someone with 3 hours. The fastest path to your first $100 per day is the one that fits your actual situation, not a general blueprint.
Find out which approach fits you at finder.platformproof.com. Answer a few questions and get a matched recommendation you can start with this week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a large audience to earn web hosting affiliate commissions?
No. The examples in this video include a channel with 35 subscribers getting 9,000 views on a comparison video and a channel with 8,000 subscribers earning commissions from a Bluehost discount video. The key is targeted content that matches what a buyer is searching for, not raw subscriber count.
Which web hosting affiliate program pays the most?
Payouts vary by program and by how many referrals you send per month. Bluehost, WP Engine, and Cloudways are frequently cited for competitive payouts. Check the current terms directly on each program’s affiliate page since rates change. The best program for you is the one whose product you can authentically recommend after actually using it.
Can you do this without showing your face?
Yes. Alston has a faceless YouTube channel dedicated to web hosting that earns affiliate commissions without a personal brand attached to it. Screen recordings, voiceovers, and comparison graphics are enough to create the kind of helpful content that converts at the bottom of the funnel.
Is it worth starting on TikTok or YouTube for this type of affiliate content?
Both work, and the video shows examples of each. TikTok can move faster in terms of initial reach because discovery is more aggressive. YouTube tends to have longer shelf life on content, meaning a video you made a year ago can still generate commissions today. The right answer depends on where you are most comfortable creating and which format your content style fits better.
How long does it take to reach $100 per day?
There is no honest universal answer. Two commissions totaling $130 came in for Alston from a single Quora session, but that was a one-time event and a TOS violation. Building a repeatable $100 per day requires a content library, consistent upload frequency, and time for the algorithm to surface your content. Expect months, not days, unless you get lucky with a breakout video early.
What does bottom-of-funnel mean and why does it matter?
Bottom-of-funnel describes content that speaks to people who are already close to making a purchase. A person searching “Bluehost review” or “Bluehost coupon code” is not researching whether to start a website. They have already decided. They are just picking the right product. Bottom-of-funnel content converts better because the viewers have high purchase intent, even if the view counts are smaller than broad topics.
Can you be an affiliate for multiple hosting companies at once?
Yes, and Alston recommends it for comparison content. If you are making a “Bluehost vs Squarespace” video, sign up for both affiliate programs. Whoever the viewer ends up choosing, you earn the commission. There is no conflict of interest in disclosing that you have affiliate relationships with both and letting the viewer decide which fits their needs.
What should you do if your early videos are not getting any views?
Start by checking the keywords you targeted. If you went too broad, move further down the funnel toward reviews and comparisons where the search intent is clearer. Then run the quality test: would you personally stop scrolling and watch this video if you had no connection to the creator? If not, identify the weakest element, whether that is the title, the hook, the voiceover quality, or the information depth, and fix it before uploading more content of the same type.
Read Next
Web hosting affiliate programs are one entry point into affiliate marketing. If you want a broader framework for building an affiliate income across multiple niches, the free workbook covers the full process.
FREE Affiliate Marketing Workbook
Sources
- YouTube video: “Make $100+ Per Day With Web Hosting Affiliate Programs | Step By Step Guide” by Alston Godbolt (https://youtu.be/lM-oAN8R8L0)
- Bluehost Affiliate Program (bluehost.com/affiliates)
- TikTok creator examples referenced in video
- YouTube creator examples referenced in video
Helping 1 million working adults make their first $3,000 online with the skills they already have. Alston Godbolt, Platform Proof.