Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Affiliate Glossary

Affiliate Glossary


Affiliate (also known as an Associate or Publisher)
This is a site owner that places links on their web site to promote merchant's products or services. For their efforts, the affiliate gets commission for all the valid transactions/sales referred to the merchant by using their affiliate link.

Merchants
A merchant is a company that sell products or services. As an affiliate, you'll have the option to partner with these merchants and help them sell their products online. These merchants normally pay affiliates/partners by: pay per lead or pay per sale.

Affiliate Program (also known as an Partner or Associate Program)
This is where merchants / companies allow web site owners (affiliates, Partners or Associates) to promote their products or services. This is done by the web site owner placing merchants links on their site, when someone clicks on that link and a valid transaction has taken place, then the affiliate will get a commission (percentage of the sale).

Affiliate Directory
This is a Site / Company that lists a large number of different types of affiliate programs in, which the affiliates can join. These programs include cpc, cpa, cpm, etc.

Affiliate Network
A Site/Company where merchants can list their affiliate program/s. Affiliates can then join theses affiliate programs and promote the merchants' products and services by using text links, banners, etc. Affiliates can join and track a large number of affiliate programs from one site. All sales from each affiliate program are totalled together to give one sum. Affiliates will then receive commissions in one payment, often done monthly.

Banner Programs / advertisements
Affiliates get paid by placing merchants banners on their site. These banners are a graphical advertisement, typically 468 pixels wide by 60 pixels tall. Affiliates normally get paid per 1000 impressions, per sale, or per click-through.

PopUps/Unders & Exits
These are advertisements or websites that displays in a new browser window. These advertisements or websites normally popup the same time as your site, but can be timed. A Pop-Under Ad will display behind your site so no one notices that it is there until they leave your site. Exit ads popup once a visitor leaves your site.

Referrals
Affiliates send visitors to a merchant's site and if the visitor signs up to the merchant's affiliate program, advertisers program, etc. then the affiliate will either be paid a one of commission or a percentage of the referrals commission, advertisers deposits for life, and so on ...

Pay Per Click (also known as PPC)
Merchants pay affiliates for each visitor that clicks on a text link or banner that takes the visitor to the merchant's site. Affiliates are normally paid per unique visitor to a merchant's site.

Pay Per Lead / Action
Affiliates receive a commission for each visitor they refer to a merchants site that completes surveys, downloads, signups, etc.

Pay Per Impression (cpm)
Earn commissions without your visitors having to make a purchase from the merchant's site, generate a click-thru, etc. All Affiliates have to do is place either a banner or text link on their site that takes them to the merchants site. Every time the banner or text link gets viewed the affiliate will get paid. Affiliates normally get paid per 1000 impressions/page views.

Pay Per Sale
An affiliate program that pays you a commission when you refer a visitor to a merchant's site and they then buy a product or service from the merchant. Affiliates usually get paid a percentage or a fixed rate of each product or service they sell.

Raw Visitors
A Raw visitor is counted every time a page is viewed.

Unique Visitors
A Unique visitor is counted every time a site is viewed every 24 hrs. E.g. If a site receives a visitor at 2.30pm and receives the same visitor at 6.30pm on the same day then it will be counted as just one visitor. If he had visited the site 2.31pm on the next day then it would have counted as two visitors.

Search Box
A search box is another way for affiliates to link to a merchant's site. It is coded specially to access a web address that is built into the merchant's database. So if a visitor wants to search for a product or service on a merchant's site that you have affiliated with, then they can search for that product straight from your site by using their search box. A Search Box is especially used in Search Engine Affiliate Programs.

Text Links
Text links are links that either describes a merchant's product, service or their site. When the link is clicked on it will take you to the merchants site. This way of linking is becoming ever more popular as you can make the link and text look the same as the other content within your site. So your visitors won't know if it is a link to another site or just a link to another page on your site.

2 Tier
These are affiliate programs that pays a commission for at least two-levels deep. For example, if you refer a visitor to a merchants site and they become an affiliate and he / she then refers someone and they also become an affiliate then you'll be paid what you earn plus what your direct referral earns plus what your indirect referral earns up to two levels deep.

Direct Referrals
These are people that you directly refer to an affiliate program.

Indirect Referrals
This is where visitors are referred to an affiliate program by your direct referrals.

Net 60, Net 30, etc
This is where a merchant pays it's affiliates 60 days after the month for the Net 60 and 30 days after the month for the Net 30.

Pay Per Click Search Engine (PPCSE, PPC Search Engine, Pay Per Bid)
These are search engines that allow you to earn on a pay per click basis. Their advertisers also pay on a pay per click basis. If a visitor clicks on a bided link that was referred by you, you'll then earn a percentage of the bided amount.

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