Have you wondered exactly what an affiliates program is and what it has to do with the world of the internet? Stop searching. Here is the definition to every term you have wondered about.
Have you started to look online for ways to make money from home? Would you like to supplement your regular income,
or perhaps even break away from the shackles of a 9-5 job completely?
Then there's a good chance you've come across the concept of being an affiliate before.
Affiliates are essentially salespeople who get paid for sending somebody to a site/getting somebody to take an action on another website.
This traffic can be generated from your own site or by taking part on forums and other portals.
It's a new type of business which has helped some people do very well for themselves
Unfortunately, as with any new field it brings its own jargon with it. So lets take a look at this jargon and explain it in easy-to understand English.
Affiliate
As mentioned before, an affiliate is a person that puts links on the internet to direct traffic to particular websites. The affiliate then gets paid a comission when the customer buys something/completes an action. They can also be known as an Associate or Publisher)
Affiliate Program
Where a merchant (see below) allows affiliates, partners or associates to promote their products or services and pays the affiliate, partner or associate part of the money they make off sales. This is done by the affiliate using an affiliate link (more about this later) to keep track of who they send to a site and allows the merchant to work out who to pay commissions to. This can also be known as an partner or associate program.
Merchant
This is a company that sell products or services and uses affiliates to generate traffic and sales.
Affiliate Directory
A site or company that keeps a database of different types of affiliate programs that affiliates can join. Affiliate directories are not organized as thoroughly as affiliate networks and once signing up for one affiliate program you are not automatically signed up for others.
Affiliate Network
This is a site or organization that not only allows merchants to list their affiliate program/s there but also manages it so affiliates can take part in one or more programs easily. All the sales from multiple affiliate programs in an affiliate network are pooled into one affiliate network box. This is usually paid every month.
URL
The 'address' of a website. It is what people type into their browser when they want to go to a particular site.
Affiliate Link
This is a special type of URL with a code unique to a particular affiliate (say awebsite.com/&M=18925) This code will stay on all links that a site visitor goes to, and when a purchase is made, will tell the merchant to pay a commission to the afilliate (aka associate/publisher)
Banner Programs / advertisements
This is a program/link generation system where the affiliate links are behind a merchant banner on the affiliate's site. These banners tend to be graphical advertisement and are usually sized 468 pixels wide by 60 pixels tall.
Those using this type of affiliate link usually get a commission for every 1000 impressions, per sale, or per click-through.
PopUps
Advertisements or websites which open up in a new browser window. They normally popup when your visitor is on the site.
Popunder & Exits
A Popunder ad displays behind your site so no one notices that it is there until they leave. Exit ads appear once a visitor leaves your site.
Lead
Another name for a site visitor/potential visitor that can generate money for affiliates.
Referrals
The technical name for what the affiliate gets paid for. The referral, or Referral link, is the link from the affiliate that points the customer to the merchant site.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
A system where the affiliate (or web agent) gets paid every time the visitor clicks on referral/affiliate link and goes to the target site.
The most famous example of this is Google Adwords…. Which is itself used by affiliates as a lead-generation tool.
Pay Per Lead / Action
This is when an associate/affiliate gets paid commissions for each visitor that follows a referral link and then completes surveys, downloads or signs up for a membership.
Pay Per Impression (CPM)
Earning its acronym for cost per thousand (M is the in the abbreviation is the Roman numeral for one thousand) Pay per impressions means a system where the affiliate makes money every 1000 times the page the banner is on gets viewed. Affiliates normally get paid per 1000 impressions/page views.
Pay Per Sale
A program where the affiliate gets paid a commission when the visitor/lead you have referred buys a product or service from the merchant.
Raw Visit
A raw visit is counted every time a page is viewed.
Unique Visit
A Unique visit is counted every time a site is viewed every 24 hrs.
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 is one of the more commonly-used ways of marketing for affiliates who do not have their own site as it is the easiest to do.
2 Tier Commission
With a 2 tier commission an affiliate won't only get commissions from sales they generate but sales their own affiliate generates. How do they work? Well, if you refer a visitor to a merchants site, they become an affiliate and he / she then makes a sale with an affiliate link then you yourself will also get a commission.
Direct Referrals
People that you refer directly to an affiliate program.
Indirect Referrals
People that are referred to an affiliate program by your direct referrals (see 2 tier commission).
Net 60/30
Net means accumulated profits in the world of business so net + number just means a system where you are paid after a defined period. Net 60 programs pay after a period of 60 days net 30 programs are paid after 30 days.
There you have it, now you have all the tools at your disposal to start learning more about the world of affiliate programs.
