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E-marketplaces from Seller's Perspective
What is an E-marketplace anyway? E-marketplace is a business to business web based venue, where buyers and sellers meet online, generate business leads and conduct business transactions. The e-marketplace features are tailored in a manner so that a...
Exchange Links but Carefully
************Publication Rules************ Webmasters Please Note :You are allowed to Edit the content and the links that are used as examples in this article as long as you include the resource box at the end. To find out how you can profit from...
Generate More Sales in ANY Affiliate Program – Part Six
ACTIVE AFFILIATES are those who sign up under you for free, then upgrade to being a paid affiliate. Those who sign up but don’t upgrade within the first 72 hours are called inactive affiliates and who are unlikely to ever upgrade. These are people...
Get Started Now- Why the Time is Right for Internet Business
If you have long dreamed of getting your piece of the Internet business pie but have held off due to fear, lack of skills, shortage of money, or any other reason under the sun, now is the time to get going. There are four reasons why the time is...
This IS Scary: Is your domain safe from predatory lawsuits?
You have big hopes of being an online superstar and bigger
dreams of making your fortune doing what you love and helping
people.
You buy your $5.99 domain and devote several weeks to crafting
your marketing message and putting all the pieces...
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What Do Affiliate Tracking Services Do?
Some affiliate programs design their own internal software to track affiliate referrals, calculate commissions, and process payments. It is far more common, though, for programs to outsource these functions to an affiliate tracking company. Knowing which affiliate tracking company a program uses allows you to quickly assess how many of the aspects of their affiliate program will operate. What follows are some of the aspects of an affiliate program that are largely influenced by the affiliate tracking company used.
Targeted linking
Also known as “deep linking”, targeted linking is the practice of allowing affiliates to direct traffic to whichever page on the affiliate programs site best fits their pre-selling strategy. The alternative to targeted linking is to direct all referred traffic to the home page of the site. Programs that offer targeted linking often, though not always, have much higher conversion rates.
Tiered commissions
Some programs will reward affiliates for bringing new affiliates into the program. While this reward can take many forms, it is usually a small percentage of what the new affiliates earn. In such programs, there are often a handful of affiliates who are very successful recruiting and earn a steady income even though they make few direct sales. Some affiliate tracking companies do not have the capacity to offer tiered commissions, although most do and leave the choice up to the individual program manager.
Tracking return customers
Most purchases on the internet do not occur the first time a visitor comes to a page. Often they will bookmark the page and return to the site hours, weeks, or sometimes months later to purchase. Using a combination of cookies, IP tracking, and domain referral tracking; affiliates can still receive commissions on customers that do not make immediate purchases. While the exact window of customer action may vary from program to program, most affiliate tracking
Associated Websites
companies use the same tracking methods (cookies or IP tracking) across all of their programs.
Traffic and Sales Reporting
A practice so common as to be considered standard, affiliate tracking companies allow affiliates to log on and review the traffic and sales that they have generated over certain date periods. Some companies allow affiliates to create campaigns by which they can track the effectiveness of different marketing methods. The type of reporting available tends to be consistent across all affiliate programs a company tracks.
Payment Frequency
The industry standard is to send commission payments on a monthly basis when an affiliate’s earnings reach a certain minimum balance. Some programs send checks more or less frequently. On rare occasions a company will not send checks automatically, instead requiring that affiliates log on and request a payment. This is often a sign of an untrustworthy company trying to avoid paying all commissions due. Anything other than automatic payment is uncommon.
Network of Programs
Some tracking companies cater to affiliates who wish to participate in multiple programs. An affiliate who is part of their network can examine and join other programs they track, pending the approval of each program manager.
Training
Any program that leaves training of affiliates solely in the hands of their tracking company is doing their affiliates a great disservice, but the tracking company can help. Kowabunga, for example, provides affiliates with a database of affiliate marketing articles, FAQs, and a quick start guide. A tracking company can’t provide training for a specific product or service, but they can educate affiliates on the general aspects of the industry.
About the Author
Clay Mabbitt writes articles about online income opportunities. He is the founder of a community of Internet entrepreneurs sharing knowledge and experience at http://www.affiliatescreen.com
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