Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing model where affiliates earn commissions by promoting a company’s products or services. But if you’re new to the field, affiliate marketing can feel like a minefield of jargon with terms like CPA, EPC, cookies, pixels, and more.
That’s where an affiliate marketing glossary comes in. It’s a simple reference guide that explains the key terms, abbreviations, and lingo used in the industry to properly navigate affiliate platforms, optimize campaigns, and communicate with partners.
With a structured A–Z affiliate Marketing Glossary list, this guide explains each term with clear definitions, real-world examples, and answers to common questions beginners ask. For easy navigation, use the A–Z index below to quickly jump to any section.
Now, let’s get into the details.
A
Advertiser
An advertiser, also known as a merchant, is the party that sells a product or service and pays affiliates for generating sales. While advertisers are often the actual sellers, they can also be individuals or entities promoting a product on behalf of someone else such as brand ambassadors, influencers, or marketing agencies.
Example: Amazon is both the advertiser and the merchant that pays people to promote its products. In contrast, a celebrity promoting a skincare brand acts as an advertiser but doesn’t own the product directly.
Affiliate
An affiliate is a person, influencer, blogger, or business who promotes another company’s product or service using a unique affiliate link. When someone clicks that link and makes a purchase or completes a specific action (like signing up), the affiliate earns a commission. Affiliates simply act as middlemen, but they don’t get paid just for promoting, instead, for every conversion through their affiliate link.
Example: A YouTuber reviewing a skincare serum and including an affiliate link in the video description. If a viewer buys the serum through that link, the YouTuber earns a commission.
Affiliate ID
An affiliate ID is a unique number or code given to each affiliate to help the merchant track who sent the referral, click or sale using the program. It’s usually added to the end of the affiliate link to authorize you as an official affiliate partner promoting the business’s products.
Example: In the link example.com/?aff=123, the number “123” is the Affiliate ID that identifies the referring person.
Affiliate Link
It’s the specific URL containing the affiliate’s ID or username, provided by the merchant. It works as the conversion checker tool to see how many sales are generated through the link. And, based on the data, the affiliate’s commission is calculated.
Example: In https://store.com/product?ref=jennyblog, the link tracks sales referred by Jenny’s blog.
Approval Rate
Approval Rate is the percentage of conversions (sales) that are accepted and paid for by the merchant. Not every sale gets approved, some may be rejected due to fake purchases, cancellations, refunds, or policy violations.
Example: If you generate 100 affiliate sales and 80 are approved by the merchant, your approval rate is 80%.
Affiliate Program
An affiliate program is a system where businesses reward partners (affiliates) with a commission for promoting their products or services. The company (merchant) directly recruits affiliates, tracks their sales and handles payments using its own platform. However, sometimes, instead of running it in-house, many companies choose to host their program on an affiliate network.
Example: Canva runs its own affiliate program directly, while companies like NordVPN also host their affiliate programs on networks like Impact or CJ Affiliate.
Affiliate Network
It’s a third-party platform that connects multiple affiliate programs between the advertisers (who want their products promoted) and the affiliates (who promote them). It handles tracking, reporting, payouts, and often provides tools and support to both sides. Affiliate Networks are designed to ensure trust and security that advertisers get valid sales and affiliates receive fair commissions.
Example: CJ Affiliate is a network where bloggers can find companies to promote products while managing commissions and tracking for them.
Affiliate Agreement
An Affiliate Agreement is a written set of rules that outlines the responsibilities and expectations both affiliates and merchants must follow when promoting and selling products through the program. It usually covers details about the commission structure and payment terms, agreement duration, etc.
Example: Nike requires affiliates to clearly disclose that they may earn commissions from sales generated through their links, following FTC guidelines.
Attribution
In affiliate marketing, attribution is the process of identifying and assigning credit to the different marketing touchpoints a customer interacts with before making a purchase. Some most common attributions are first-touch, last-touch, multi-touch, etc. So, using attribution, you can create more personalized campaigns based on real customer behavior.
Example: A user clicks a Facebook ad (touchpoint 1), reads a blog post (touchpoint 2), and later makes a purchase after searching on Google (touchpoint 3).the last one (Google) gets the credit for sale.
Anchor Text
The visible, clickable words in a hyperlink that tells people (and Google) what the link is about. In affiliate marketing, anchor text is mostly used in blog posts, product reviews, and email newsletters.
Example: In “Check out the best email tools,” the words “email tools” are the anchor text.
Average Order Value (AOV)
The average amount a customer spends per purchase through your affiliate link. It helps you track how much value each referral brings and optimize your promotions toward higher-ticket items.
Example: If five customers spend a total of $250, your AOV is $50 ($250 / 5).
API
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of rules and tools that lets different software systems connect and share data with each other in real time. In affiliate marketing, APIs help with tasks like tracking clicks, pulling real-time conversion data, syncing product feeds, or automating reporting.
Example: An affiliate uses an API to automatically update their website with the latest prices and product availability from a merchant’s store.
B
Back-End Sale
A back-end sale is when someone who bought a product through your affiliate link later buys another product from the same company through follow-up emails, upsells, etc. It’s more profitable than front-end sales, as you can earn extra commission from these follow-up purchases, even if you didn’t directly promote the new product.
Example: A customer buys a software plan from your affiliate link. Two weeks later, they upgraded to the premium version. That upgrade is a back-end sale.
Banner Ad
A banner ad is a clickable image or graphic—designed to grab attention and promote a product rather than using plain text. Unlike plain affiliate links or anchor texts, banner ads are eye-catching and often placed in high-traffic areas of a website like the top, sidebar, or footer.
Example: A colorful image on the top of a blog saying “50% OFF Hosting — Click Here!” is a banner ad.
Bid
A bid is the amount of money you’re willing to pay for a click or view when running paid ads. The affiliate bid actually is set based on your target audience, competition level to compete with other advertisers for ad placement. Higher bids generally help your ads appear more often and in better positions.
Example: An affiliate sets a bid of $0.80 per click on Google Ads to promote a product. This means each time someone clicks the ad, the affiliate pays Google $0.80 for that traffic.
C
Click
When someone taps or clicks on your affiliate link, ad, or banner, one click is counted. It may not give you a commission right away, but it boosts your chances because if they end up purchasing a product after clicking your link, you’ll earn the commission.
Example: If a reader clicks your link for a hosting deal, it counts as one click no matter if they purchase or not.
Conversion Rate (CR)
Conversion Rate (CR) is the percentage of how many sales you get compared to how many people clicked on your affiliate link. So, it’s a sales vs click measurement to understand how effective your affiliates are at turning clicks into sales. When your CR is low, it means your marketing is good enough to get clicks, but the affiliate products aren’t appealing enough or you might be targeting the wrong audience.
Example: If 100 people click your link and 3 make a purchase, your conversion rate is 3%.
Compliance (FTC Disclosure)
Compliance means being honest with your audience by clearly telling them you’re using affiliate links. It’s usually required by law (like from the FTC in the U.S.), so people know you might earn a commission if they buy through your links.
Example: Adding a line like “This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you purchase” keeps you compliant.
Conversion
A conversion happens when someone clicks your affiliate link and then completes a purchase. This action earns you a commission. Even if the buyer purchases a different product than the one you originally promoted, it will still count as your conversion, as long as it happens within the cookie period.
Example: If a visitor clicks your affiliate link and buys a product from the merchant’s site, that’s a conversion.
Conversion Funnel
A conversion funnel is the step-by-step journey a person goes through from discovering your content to completing a purchase through your affiliate links. It typically includes stages like viewing your content, clicking the affiliate link, landing on the product page, and finally making a purchase.
Example: A user reads your blog > clicks your affiliate link > explores the product > makes a purchase. It’s the complete conversion funnel.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR is a parameter to measure how many people clicked your affiliate link compared to how many people saw it. Unlike Conversion Rate (CR), which shows sales compared to clicks, Click-Through Rate (CTR) measures clicks compared to views meaning how many people actually engage with your link or ad.
A higher CTR means your affiliate promotion is doing well and based on this data, you can manage your ad budget and marketing channel.
Example: If 1,00 people see your banner and 5 click it, your CTR is 5%.
Cookie
A cookie is a small file placed in a visitor’s browser when they click your affiliate link. It helps track them so you get credit if they buy later.
Example: If someone clicks your link today but buys in 3 days, the cookie ensures you still earn the commission.
Cookie Duration
Cookie duration is the length of time a tracking cookie stays active in a user’s browser after they click your affiliate link. The longer it lasts, the more time you have to earn a commission from their purchase.
Example: If the cookie duration is 30 days and the buyer purchases within that time, you get the commission. But if they buy after 30 days, the cookie expires and you won’t earn anything from that sale.
Cost Per Action (CPA)
In affiliate marketing, Cost Per Action (CPA) is a commission model where advertisers pay affiliates when users complete a specific action after clicking the affiliate link. This action can be a product purchase, account signup, free trial, or form submission. Some affiliate networks like MaxBounty list different payout CPA offers, so you can target keywords or campaigns that offer higher commissions.
Example: You might earn $10 every time someone signs up for a newsletter through your link.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
CPC is a pricing model where advertisers pay the affiliates for every click on their ad. Unlike CPA, where you get paid only after a specific action (like a signup or purchase), CPC rewards you simply for generating clicks. The CPC rate depends on factors like keyword competitiveness, industry demand, audience location, etc.
Example: If the CPC is ) $0.25 and your ad gets 200 clicks, you earn $50.
Cost Per Mille (CPM)
CPM stands for “Cost Per Mille,” where mille means 1,000 impressions. It refers to how much advertisers pay for every 1,000 views of an ad. While not common in traditional affiliate marketing, it’s widely used in display and banner advertising.
Example: If a platform charges $5 CPM, you’ll pay $5 for every 1,000 people who see your ad.
Creative (Ad)
A creative is any promotional material that the advertiser or merchant provides to the affiliates for their product promotion with consistent branding style. This can include banners, images, videos, ad copy, email swipes, or landing pages. While creatives are usually provided in most affiliate programs, some like Amazon Associates don’t offer full creatives. Instead, affiliates get product images and affiliate links and create their own promotional content.
Example: If the brand gives you a ready-made image ad to use in your blog, that’s creative.
D
Dashboard
A dashboard is a real-time interface where affiliates track their clicks, sales, commissions, all in one place to monitor their campaign performance. From these dashboard insights, the affiliates then further adjust their marketing funnel.
Example: In your affiliate dashboard, you can see how many people clicked your link and how much money you’ve earned this month.
Deep Link
A deep link is a one type of affiliate link that sends users directly to a specific product or page, not just the homepage. In affiliate marketing, deep linkings are mostly used for product promotion with anchor text like “Check Price” or “See Details” to drive more targeted clicks and sales.
Example: https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-James-Clear/dp/0735211299?tag=youraffid
It’s a deep link. This link goes directly to the product page for Atomic Habits by James Clear instead of Amazon home page to boost user experience and conversion rates.
Demand-Side Platform (DSP)
A Demand-Side Platform (DSP) is a digital advertising tool that helps advertisers automatically buy ad space across websites, apps, and other platforms. It uses real-time bidding (RTB) and audience data to target specific users based on their behavior, interests, or location. It’s popular because it simplifies ad buying with real-time bidding, precise targeting, and access to multiple ad networks from one place.
Example: A company uses a DSP to display ads for fitness gear only to users who’ve recently searched for workout videos.
Disclosure
Disclosure is a short note that informs readers that the affiliate may earn a commission from affiliate links to ensure transparency and compliance with legal guidelines.
Example: “This post contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you purchase through them, at no extra cost to you.” This is an affiliate disclosure.
E
Earnings Per Click (EPC)
Earnings Per Click (EPC) shows the average amount the affiliates earn each time someone clicks on their affiliate link. This key metric helps affiliates identify which campaigns are profitable ones to prioritize. A good EPC varies by niche, but generally, anything above $1 is considered strong. In competitive niches like finance or software, EPCs can go much higher.
Example: If 100 people click on an affiliate link and the affiliate earns $50 in total, the EPC is $0.50.
Effective Cost Per Acquisition (eCPA)
eCPA is the actual amount an advertiser (or merchant) spends to acquire a single customer or conversion, including all marketing costs such as affiliate commissions, ad spend, and other promotional expenses. While CPA is the amount an advertiser plans to pay per conversion, eCPA reveals the actual cost after all expenses are included to see the real picture of campaign performance.
Example: If an advertiser spends $120 on ads and gets 6 sales, the eCPA is $20, meaning the advertiser actually paid $20 to acquire each customer.
Effective Cost Per Mille (eCPM)
eCPM shows how much an advertiser spends or an affiliate/publisher earns for every 1,000 ad impressions. While CPM is the fixed rate set by the advertiser, eCPM shows the actual ad performance to compare real results against the expected CPM rate.
Example: An advertiser spends $300 on a display ad campaign that gets 100,000 impressions. The eCPM is $3.
F
First-Click Attribution
First-click attribution means that the first affiliate link a user clicks gets full credit for the sale, even if the user interacts with other affiliates later. High-ticket products, brand awareness campaigns, and some subscription services that involve longer decision times often use first-click attribution to reward the affiliate who first introduced the customer.
Example: A visitor clicks an affiliate link on a blog, then clicks another affiliate’s link before buying the product, the 1st affiliate still earns the commission because of getting the first click.
Fraud Detection
In affiliate marketing, fraud detection is the process of identifying fake or suspicious clicks, leads, or sales that are meant to trick affiliate systems and steal commissions. It works by using software to track clicks and user activity, looking for unusual patterns like too many clicks from one IP or fake signups, and then blocks anything that seems suspicious.
Example: If someone uses bots to click your affiliate link repeatedly, the affiliate network’s fraud detection tools will block it and protect your earnings.
I
Impression
An impression occurs each time an ad or affiliate link is displayed to a user on a website, app, or platform, whether they click it or not. When impressions are low, it means you need to improve the ad’s SEO, placement, or overall promotion to increase visibility. When impressions are high but clicks are low, it suggests you should work on the ad’s headline, visuals, or call-to-action to make it more engaging and clickable.
Example: If a banner ad is shown 1,000 times on a blog, that counts as 1,000 impressions, even if no one clicks on it.
Influencer
An influencer is a person who has a loyal and sizable following on one or more online platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or blogs. They use their influence to promote affiliate products to their audience and earn commissions when followers click on their links or make purchases.
Influencers are valuable in affiliate marketing because their recommendations often feel more personal and trustworthy, rather than coming across as random promotional ads.
Example: A YouTuber reviewing tech gadgets and adding affiliate links in their video description is acting as an influencer.
J
Joint Venture (JV) Partner
A Joint Venture (JV) Partner is an individual or business that collaborates with another to promote a product, service, or offer, usually by sharing responsibilities, profits, or commissions. JV partnerships are especially common during affiliate product launches, webinars, or limited-time promotions.
Example: Two online marketers agree to promote each other’s digital courses and split the revenue generated during launch week and they’re JV partners.
L
Last-Click Attribution
Last-click attribution means the last affiliate link clicked before a purchase gets full credit for the sale, even if the customer viewed the product earlier through another link. Most e-commerce sites, major affiliate networks like Amazon Associates, and fast-purchase products use last-click attribution because the final click ultimately leads to the purchase.
Example: A user clicks your affiliate link, then later clicks someone else’s link and makes a purchase, the second affiliate gets the commission under last-click attribution.
Lifetime Commission
Lifetime commission refers to a model where affiliates continue to earn commissions on all future purchases from customers who completed their first purchase through the affiliate’s link. Lifetime commissions are usually offered in subscription-based services, SaaS products, membership sites, and digital tools where customers make recurring payments.
Example: You refer a user to a subscription tool. As long as they stay a paying customer, you earn a commission for renewing the subscription each time.
Lifetime Value (LTV)
Lifetime Value (LTV) is the total amount of revenue a customer is expected to generate for a business throughout their entire relationship. It helps affiliates estimate how much they can potentially earn from a single referral over time.
Example: If a customer you refer spends $30 per month and remains active for 10 months, their LTV is $300.
M
Media Buyer
A media buyer is an affiliate who purchases advertising space such as banner ads, search ads, native ads, or social media placements through platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, to drive traffic to affiliate offers and earn commissions from resulting sales.
Example: An affiliate runs Facebook Ads promoting a fitness product and earns from sales , so they’re acting as a media buyer.
Merchant (Advertiser)
A merchant (also called an advertiser) is the business or individual that owns the product or service being promoted through affiliate marketing. They pay affiliates commissions for driving traffic or sales.
Example: Amazon is a merchant and it provides products, and affiliates promote them through the Amazon Associates program.
Multi-Touch Attribution
Multi-touch attribution is a model where credit for a sale is shared among multiple affiliate touchpoints, rather than giving full credit to just the first or last click. It’s common in industries high-ticket products where the buyer’s journey involves many touchpoints.
Example: A customer researching laptops first clicks an affiliate link on a tech blog (Affiliate A), then a YouTube review link (Affiliate B), and finally buys through a retargeting ad from another affiliate (Affiliate C).
With multi-touch attribution, all three affiliates (A,B & C) share commissions differently in the purchase journey, rather than just the first or last click.
N
Network Fee
An affiliate network charges a network fee to manage the platform, track performance, and handle payments between merchants and affiliates. Affiliate networks act as the middleman that builds trust, manages complexity, and secures the entire affiliate marketing process.
Example: ClickBank, ShareASale, and CJ are affiliate networks where you can find and promote many different products.
O
Offer
An offer is a specific product, service, or deal that affiliates promote with key details like commission rates, tracking links, promotional assets, and terms to earn commissions.
Example: A skincare brand gives you a 20% commission for each sale you generate using their affiliate link and that’s an affiliate offer.
P
Payout
A payout is the commission an affiliate receives from generated sales or clicks, usually paid out monthly or once a set threshold is met.
Example: An affiliate earned $150 this month from a fitness product affiliate program, that’s the payout.
Pixel
A pixel is a small tracking code placed on a webpage to monitor user actions like clicks, sign-ups, or purchases. It helps affiliates to track conversions and optimize campaigns, while merchants use them to measure customer behavior and campaign effectiveness.
Example: Affiliate places a tracking pixel on a thank-you page to know when someone completes a purchase through the link.
Postback URL
A postback URL is a server-to-server tracking method that sends conversion data directly to the affiliate’s tracking platform without relying on browser cookies. Since it doesn’t rely on browser cookies, it works even if users clear cookies, use incognito mode, or block tracking scripts.
Example: When a user makes a purchase, the affiliate network uses a postback URL to notify your tracking platform about the sale.
Publisher (Affiliate)
A publisher (also called an affiliate) is someone who promotes a merchant’s product in exchange for commissions. An affiliate can do this through third-party affiliate networks or their own marketing channels like blogs, email lists, or social media.
Example: A blogger who writes about tech and promotes software using affiliate links is a publisher.
R
Recurring Commission
Recurring commission means affiliates keep earning money regularly (monthly or yearly) as long as the referred customer continues to pay for the product. It will only apply to the same product or subscription the customer signed up for, rather than for all future purchases beyond the original product that customer makes, like lifetime commission.
Example: An affiliate promotes a Netflix subscription tool that pays you $20 every month as long as the referral customer stays subscribed only for Netflix.
Redirect
In affiliate marketing, a redirect is a way to send users from one URL to another, usually to track clicks or cloak URLs. In affiliate marketing, a redirect is used to track clicks, hide long affiliate URLs, and manage or update links without changing them everywhere.
Example: Your affiliate link goes through a redirect like yourdomain.com/go/tool before landing on the product’s sales page.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
ROAS is a performance matrix that shows how much revenue is generated for every dollar spent on advertising. It’s a key metric for evaluating the performance of paid campaigns. High ROAS means the ads are profitable, while low ROAS means the campaign is non-profitable and needs improvement.
Example: You spent $100 on ads and made $500 in sales, so your ROAS is 5x.
Return on Investment (ROI)
ROI measures how much profit a business makes compared to the total investment like all ad spend, tools, salaries, and all other costs. While ROAS measures only revenue from ads, ROI calculates overall profit after all business expenses.
Example: You spent $200 creating content and ads, and made $600, your ROI is 200%.
Revenue Share (RevShare)
RevShare means affiliates earn a percentage of every sale made by the referred customer, often for the customer’s lifetime purchase. While normal affiliate or recurring commission pays a fixed amount for a specific subscription, RevShare gives a variable percentage based on the customer’s total spend.
Example: You promote a course platform with multiple courses that gives you 30% of each and any sale your referral makes and it’s a revenue share model.
S
Supply-Side Platform (SSP)
A Supply-Side Platform (SSP) is a platform that helps publishers to easily manage and sell their ad space by connecting it to many advertisers who bid in real time for that inventory, so publishers can get the best deal. It’s also sometimes known as server-side-platform. Simply put, publishers manage and sell their ad inventory through an SSP, while advertisers bid for and buy those ad slots using a DSP.
Example: A news website uses an SSP to automatically auction its ad spaces to advertisers to get the highest paying ads appear on its pages.
Sub-Affiliate
A sub-affiliate is an affiliate who joins an affiliate program through another affiliate, called the main affiliate, to reach more customers easily, especially in big campaigns or when covering many marketing channels. Sub-affiliates usually earn less commission than the main affiliate because the main ones take a portion as a referral fee.
Example: If Affiliate A refers Affiliate B to a program, Affiliate B becomes a sub-affiliate and shares a portion of their commissions with Affiliate A.
Sub-ID
A Sub-ID is a tracking code or parameter affiliates add to their affiliate links to identify and analyze specific traffic sources, campaigns, or placements for better performance tracking. While an Affiliate ID identifies the affiliate who made the referral, the Sub-ID helps track where the traffic came from deeper insights for optimizing performance.
Example: An affiliate adds “subid=facebook_ad1” to track clicks coming specifically from their Facebook ad campaign.
T
Tracking ID
Tracking ID is a custom unique code added to an affiliate link alongside the affiliate ID to track specific details like source, place about clicks & sales. While the Affiliate ID identifies who referred the traffic, the Tracking ID tracks where or how the traffic came from.
Example: https://example.com/product?aff_id=123&tracking_id=summer_campaign. Here, aff_id=123 identifies the affiliate, and tracking_id=summer_campaign shows the specific campaign that brought the traffic.
Trademark Bidding
Trademark bidding is when affiliates bid on a brand’s name (trademark) in paid search ads to appear higher in search results. However, many affiliate programs restrict or ban trademark bidding because it can cause brand confusion, and unfair competition with their own ads.
Two-Tier Affiliate Program
A Two-Tier Affiliate Program offers affiliates to earn money in two ways: first, from the sales they directly generate, and second, from the sales made by thor referred affiliates (sub-affiliates).
Example: If an affiliate earns 30% commission per sale by promoting a software, and then refers another affiliate to the same program, that new affiliate becomes their sub-affiliate. When the sub-affiliate makes a sale, they earn 30%, and the original affiliate earns an additional 10% from that 30% of the sub-affiliate’s sale as a second-tier commission.
U
Upsell
In affiliate marketing, upsell is a sales technique where a seller encourages a customer to buy a more expensive or upgraded version of a product or add extra items.
Example: After a customer buys a basic software plan, they’re offered a premium plan with extra features for a higher price.
Unique Click
A Unique Click counts only the first time a visitor clicks an affiliate link and ignores further additional clicks from the same person to prevent counting duplicates. Affiliates are paid based only on these unique clicks, not on repeated clicks from the same visitor.
Example: If one person clicks an affiliate link three times, it counts as one unique click.
W
White-Label Program
A White-Label Program lets companies rebrand and sell another company’s product or service as their own. When businesses use white-label programs, they get the direct trust of the loyal customers of other companies which is often stronger than what regular affiliate or influencer marketing achieves.
Example: A software company offers a white-label version of its app so a reseller can customize the branding and sell it to their customers as their own product.
Affiliate Marketing Glossary (Organized by User Case)
While the A–Z glossary navigation helps you find exact terms, it can feel overwhelming with so many entries. So here’s a short and clear glossary list, organized by use case for beginners, small businesses, content creators, or anyone focused on tracking, commissions, or scaling strategies.
| Category | Glossary Terms |
| Beginner-Friendly | Affiliate, Affiliate Link, Merchant, Conversion, Commission, Affiliate ID |
| Tracking & Analytics | Sub-ID, Tracking ID, Unique Click, Validation |
| Commission & Earning | CPA, CPL, Recurring Commission, Two-Tier Affiliate Program, Sub-Affiliate |
| Promotions & Marketing | Influencer Marketing, Ambassador Program, Upsell, Cross-Sell |
| For Businesses | White-Label Program, In-House Affiliate Program, Private Affiliate Program |
| Compliance & Rules | Disclosure, Trademark Bidding |
Warp Up
Affiliate marketing always depends on the strategy you build, whether it’s around your marketing channels, the affiliate products you choose, or even your niche. When you clearly understand each essential affiliate marketing term, you can better connect the dots between platforms, commissions, tracking, and conversions.
And, when you relate and consider all the glossary terms together, you can plan smarter, target better, and run affiliate campaigns that are actually profitable. With the right knowledge, every term becomes a tool in your strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are the most important affiliate marketing metrics?
The most important metrics in affiliate marketing include conversion rate (CR), earnings per click (EPC), click-through rate (CTR), commission rate, cookie duration, and unique clicks. These metrics help affiliates measure their performance, optimize campaigns, and for advertisers, they provide insights into which affiliates and marketing channels drive the best results.
- How does cookie duration affect affiliate commission?
Cookie duration directly affects whether or not an affiliate earns a commission. It determines how long a user’s activity is tracked after clicking an affiliate link. If a customer makes a purchase within the cookie window—say, 30 days—the affiliate gets credited. But if the purchase happens after the cookie expires, the affiliate won’t earn anything, even if their referral influenced the sale.
- Which affiliate model is best for SaaS products?
For SaaS products, the recurring commission model is often the best fit. Since SaaS tools typically operate on a subscription basis, affiliates benefit most when they earn a percentage of each monthly or yearly payment a customer makes. Some SaaS companies also combine this with free trial referrals or lifetime commissions to boost affiliate motivation.
- Can you make $100 a day with affiliate marketing?
Yes,you can make $100 a day with affiliate marketing. Affiliates who reach this level typically focus on a niche, build a content-rich platform (like a blog, YouTube channel, or email list), and drive targeted traffic through SEO, social media, or paid ads. This type of affiliate success also depends on choosing the right affiliate programs, ideally high-converting offers with decent commissions (like SaaS, digital products, or recurring income models).
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