Synopsis Explaination of affiliate links. What are they?, and how do they work?

Chapter Contents Affiliate Links Commissions

Affiliate Links

A link placed on an affiliate's website that points to the merchant's website for the purpose of earning a commission is called an "affiliate link."

Regardless of program type or commission structure, all affiliate programs work in the same way. The affiliate puts a link on their website that points to a page on the merchant's website. When a visitor to the affiliate's site clicks that link and completes a transaction on the merchant's site, the affiliate receives a commission.

There are some behind-the-scenes steps that must take place for an affiliate to receive the commissions they earn. Basically, a merchant must be able to identify which affiliate generated a particular click, lead, or sale. This is achieved by including information in the link that identifies the affiliate.

For affiliates, it is not important to understand the technological details of this process, because it is the merchant's responsibility to provide its affiliates with links to their website. It is important to understand that "link tracking" is taking place. This means that each time an affiliate link is clicked on your website, the merchant will be able to identify that you are the person responsible for the transaction, and therefore deserving of the commission.