Encourage

Sure a banner looks pretty and it’s just cut & paste to start. However, a lone banner or link aren't so informative - there’s plenty of them on the net. What will a web surfer do to another fancy banner on page border? Most likely, ignore it. It means no sale and no commission. So, to be efficient a link or a banner must be put into A right place along some right words. To place an order a prospect must conveniently find the needed information he/she needs, get encouraged and interested in it. A simple link or a banner hardly can do this.

Recommend

People generally do not like advertising, they don't want it. So, the path to have a better conversion is not to advertise, but recommend. To trust a recommendation people must have what they want and what they do not have – information on subject. The subject is ecommerce. So, an ecommerce-oriented resource would be a fine tool for attraction and conversion. What kind of information would interest the prospects? Well, the information from someone like them, yet who has researched the matter better then they've done. For example you have experience with several shopping carts – write an honest review on them and don't forget about affiliate links. Also you might have experience with payment gateways, hosting companies, etc. - add your thoughts on these too. A single page dedicated to this would be fine, and if you start a full scale info resource with forum, news, etc. - you'll have the best conversion with pretty income from number of affiliate campaigns.

Segment

Information you place along affiliate inks for prospects might target different markets and groups. For example, what Americans usually call 'shopping cart' is commonly known as 'shopping trolley' in Britain. One universal page with basic description does not work best for everyone and quite the contrary, descriptions specialized for particular groups show better conversion. So, to be successful, segment your audience and strike on target with the descriptions adapted for specific audience segments.

Experiment

It is obvious that some descriptions give better conversion than others. To find the one best for each given case – experiment: alter the description in the way you deem appropriate, then check if the conversion has changed within a week or two. Repeat this until you are satisfied with the result.

Good luck!