A-Z Companion Of Affiliate Marketing Glossary of Terms [2024]


By Chris Manson | Updated On 07 May 2024
A-Z- Companion  of  Affiliate Marketing Glossary of Terms

Cutting through the sea of Jargon and learning the Lingo, is the first step to mastering affiliate marketing!

Are you frustrated to come across terms like CPL, CR, and CTR without ever understanding what they mean?

Our team has compiled a comprehensive A-Z affiliate marketing glossary of terms and definitions to help you understand it all.


This article might contain referral links from our chosen partners, that may bring us a small commission at no additional cost to you. Please read our disclosure page for more details.


The A-Z Affiliate Marketing Glossary of Terms

A

Affiliate

An individual or company that promotes a product or service in exchange for a commission on any resulting sales.

Affiliate Agreement

 The contract between an advertiser and an affiliate outlines the terms and conditions of their partnership.

Affiliate Link

A unique URL that identifies an affiliate and tracks the traffic and sales they generate for a product or service.

Affiliate Manager

A person or team responsible for managing and supporting a company's affiliate program, including recruitment, communication, and performance tracking.

Affiliate Network

A third-party platform that connects advertisers with affiliates facilitates tracking and reporting of sales and provides payment processing services. ( 21 Best CPA networks)

Affiliate Program

A marketing strategy in which a company rewards affiliates for promoting their products or services and generating sales.

Attribution

The process of assigning credit for a sale to the appropriate affiliate or marketing channel.

Alt text

Alternative text, commonly known as alt text, describes an image used as a substitute in case the image cannot be displayed.

API

Application Programming Interface that allows users to access data for developing applications and conducting automated searches. It can be integrated directly or using tools like Zapier and Segment.

Anchor text

Refers to the visible words in an affiliate text link linked to the affiliate link.

Alexa rank

A ranking system provided by alexa.com that is based on browsing behavior. It utilizes a data panel that represents all internet users and is reasonably accurate, although it can be expensive.

Average Order Value (AOV)

The average amount of money customers spend in a single transaction is used to calculate commissions for affiliates.

A/B Split Test

A/B split testing, often referred as A/B testing, compares two variants of a webpage or a sales page to see which one achieves better results. 

B

Banner Ad

A graphical advertisement on a website or blog includes a link to an advertiser's product or service. Have a look at the best-performing ad sizes and layouts.

Blog

 A website or online platform with written content, often related to a particular niche or topic.

affiliate marketing glossary-Blog

Blogger

An individual who creates and maintains a blog, often producing written content in exchange for compensation from advertisers or through affiliate marketing.

Bonus

An incentive or reward offered to affiliates for achieving specific performance metrics, such as a minimum number of sales or clicks.

Bounce Rate

The percentage of website visitors who navigate away from a site after viewing only one page is often used as a metric for evaluating website performance and user engagement.

Brand Ambassador

An individual or influencer who promotes a brand or product through social media like Instagram and Facebook, blogs, or other marketing channels, often in exchange for compensation or commission.

Browser Extension

A software program that adds functionality or features to a web browser, often used by affiliates to track links and commissions.

Business-to-Business (B2B)

A marketing model in which businesses sell products or services to other companies rather than directly to consumers (B2C).

Base Commission

The base commission is the publicly stated compensation for a program

Basket abandonment

Occurs when a customer leaves a website without completing a purchase or desired action, and tools like Upsellit can help to convert them into completing the transaction.

Black Hat SEO

A set of practices used to improve a website or page's search engine ranking through means that violate the search engine's terms of service. SEOs often use these tactics in highly competitive niches that offer high returns. But, they can result in a Google penalty as search engines become more adept at recognizing them.

Blind network

A sub-network, typically used to quickly generate additional sales, often uses a Lead generation format, particularly in pharma, solar, and CBD verticals. Advertisers usually do not know where or how their offer is promoted, which can result in a significant brand risk.


C

Call-to-Action (CTA)

A prompt or message that encourages website visitors or readers to take a specific action, such as clicking a link or making a purchase.

Campaign

 A coordinated marketing effort designed to achieve specific business goals, often including online advertising, email marketing, and affiliate promotions.

affiliate marketing glossary-campaign

Chargeback

A transaction reversal in which a commission paid to an affiliate is returned to the advertiser due to fraud, invalid transactions, or customer disputes.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The percentage of website visitors who click on a specific link or advertisement is often used as a metric for evaluating the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

Commission

AThe payment made to an affiliate for promoting and generating sales for an advertiser's product or service.

Commission Rate

The percentage of a sale paid to an affiliate as a commission. This rate may also include network fees and other charges.

Cookie (not the ones we love to eat!)

A small file stored on a user's device that tracks their activity on a website and allows for attribution of sales and commissions to specific affiliates

essential affiliate marketing terms- cookies

Cookie Stuffing

The unethical practice of secretly placing affiliate cookies on a user's computer without their knowledge or consent to earn commissions fraudulently.

Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA)

An affiliate marketing payment model in which affiliates are paid based on the number of customers they refer who complete a specific action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a service.

Cost-Per-Click (CPC)

The cost for every click made on an ad. For example, an affiliate chooses to pay CPC. the ad exchange will serve the affiliate's ad (impressions) but he only pays each time the customer actually clicks on the ad. In contrast, with CPM where the affiliate pays for 1000 impressions regardless of the customer clicking on the ad.

Cost-Per-Install (CPI)

The primary pricing model for mobile app and game installations-how much you get when someone installs the app.

Cost Per Thousand (CPM)

Refers to the cost of every thousand impressions.

Cost Per View (CPV)

Like CPM, a cost is incurred each time an ad is displayed. calculated by the total cost of advertisement divided by the total number of views or impressions.

Content Farm

Refers to a website or group of websites that produce much low-quality content, primarily designed to generate traffic from search engines but with poor conversion rates.

Contextual Links

Links that are embedded within the content of an article or webpage. This term is commonly used to describe linking technologies such as Skimlinks and Digidip.

Conversion

A successful action performed by a customer, such as a subscription, lead, or sale, is called a conversion.

Conversion Rate (CR)

The percentage of visitors who perform the desired action after clicking through to a website. For example, if three out of every hundred visitors make a purchase, the conversion rate is 3%.

Commission Rate

The percentage of a sale paid to an affiliate as a commission. This rate may also include network fees and other charges.

Content

Refers to any editorial-style article, such as a blog post, review, video, or social media post. Advertisers may provide general content for affiliates or create bespoke content for their top affiliates.

Content Affiliates

Publishers who create specific web content targeted at their audience with a high conversion rate due to their loyal readership.

affiliate marketing glossary- content affiliates

Client-based Tracking

A type of tracking that uses cookies is being phased out due to changes in GDPR and browser settings.

Cloaking

The practice of hiding a webpage's content or an affiliate tracking code can result in penalties from Google.

Click

Refers to a user clicking on a text link or banner on a website.

Click Active

It's the number of affiliates who have registered at least one click during a reporting period, as opposed to the total number of registered affiliates.

Click Fraud

It's the practice of generating fake clicks to earn money in a CPC-based program, which can result in affiliates being banned from affiliate networks.

Click Stream

Refers to the clicks a consumer makes before making a purchase. Attribution modeling is used to reward affiliates at all stages of the customer journey.

Cashback Affiliates

Websites that offer consumers cashback in exchange for a desired action, such as a sale.

CJ Affiliate

Commission Junction, is one of the oldest affiliate networks and is now part of Publicis.

CJ-Commission Junction is one of the oldest affiliate networks-sales page

Clawback

The reversal of a commission, usually in the case of rev-share payment models (people cancel).

Can-Spam

Refers to the US email compliance rules that require commercial messages to include opt-out options and other measures to prevent unsolicited emails.


D

Deep Link

An affiliate link that directs users to a specific page or product on an advertiser's website rather than to the homepage.

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

 echnologies are used to protect digital content from unauthorized access or distribution.

Direct Linking

A promotional strategy in which affiliates place links directly to an advertiser's website without using a landing page or pre-sell page.

Disclosure

The requirement for affiliates to disclose their partnership with advertisers and the receipt of compensation for promotional activities in compliance with relevant laws and regulations.

Domain Authority (DA)

A metric used to evaluate the strength and authority of a website, often used by affiliates to assess the value of potential promotional partnerships.

Domain Authority (DA)

Double Opt-In (DOI)

A marketing process in which subscribers must confirm their subscription via email is often used to ensure that subscribers are engaged and interested in receiving promotional materials. (basically you put in your email and then they send you a mail and you confirm it is you).

Dropshipping

A retail fulfillment method in which the retailer does not keep products in stock but instead forwards customer orders and shipment details to the manufacturer, supplier, or another retailer, who then ships the product directly to the customer.

Duplicate Content

Content appearing on multiple websites or pages is often penalized by search engines and discouraged in affiliate marketing.

Demand Side Platforms (DSPs)

Platforms where digital advertising inventory can be bought. These platforms buy and sell ad slots from a large inventory of different ad platforms in real-time.

PROS: This is practical as you can buy ads from all different exchanges in one place and in real time. Good to test the traffic before going direct to the desired ad platform.

Cons: Quality can be bad since the DSP platform is a middleman, sometimes buying remnants (unwanted leftover traffic) to cut costs. Best to go direct to the individual platforms to get better and cheaper traffic.

Disclosure

It is a notice or page used by affiliates to ensure that visitors are fully informed that purchasing suggestions or product endorsements may be monetized. It is essential for complying with FTC laws.

Display

Usually refers to websites that display affiliate banner ads and/or videos on a cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) basis.

Datafeed

Data file or API (application programming interface) that provides a complete list of an advertiser's inventory, including SKUs (“stock keeping unit”), descriptions, images, and product prices.

Deal Affiliates

Focus primarily on discount coupons, vouchers, or other incentives. They are sometimes referred to as a hybrid of a coupon and content partner.


E

Earnings Per Click (EPC)

A metric used to evaluate the profitability of affiliate promotion is calculated as the earnings generated divided by the number of clicks.

Engagement Rate

 The percentage of users who interact with content, such as liking, commenting, or sharing, is often used as a metric for evaluating the effectiveness of social media marketing.

Exclusive Offer

A promotional offer available only to a specific group of affiliates or customers is often used to incentivize performance or build loyalty.

Exclusive Offer- special sale graphic

Exit Intent

A technology used to detect when a website visitor is about to leave a page or site and present them with a targeted message or offer.

Expired Domain

A domain name that has not been renewed by its owner and is no longer active or available for registration.

expired domain- graphics of hand holding stopwatch, laptop with red exclamation mark.

External Link

A hyperlink that directs users to a different website or domain, often used by affiliates to promote third-party products or services.

landing page- external link- graphics of links and pages


F

Feed

A list of updated content or data that third-party applications or websites can use to display real-time information, often used in affiliate marketing to display product or price updates.

Fraud

 The intentional or deceptive act of falsifying information, creating fake accounts, or generating invalid leads or sales in affiliate marketing for personal gain.

FTC

The Federal Trade Commission is a US government agency that regulates and enforces consumer protection laws, including guidelines for affiliate marketing disclosures.

Funnel

A marketing strategy or process that guides website visitors or users through a series of steps toward a specific goal is often used to increase conversions or sales.

landing page funnel,conversion funnel graphics on blue background

Frequency Cap

A limit on the number of times a specific advertisement or promotional message is shown to a single user within a particular period of time.

FTC Disclosure

A statement used by affiliates to disclose their relationship with advertisers and the receipt of compensation for promotional activities in compliance with FTC guidelines and regulations.

Fixed Commission

A commission structure in which affiliates receive a set amount or percentage of sales or leads generated, regardless of the volume or value of sales.

Feeds

These are files containing information about all the products an advertiser sells. They usually include details such as SKU (“stock keeping unit”) , images, descriptions, and prices.

First-click attribution

In some affiliate programs, the first affiliate link that a visitor clicks on and that results in a sale is the one that is awarded the commission. This is often popular with bloggers and influencers.


G

Geo-Targeting

A marketing strategy that delivers targeted advertising or content based on the user's geographic location is often used to increase relevance and engagement.( makes sense ,we don't want to pay for ads for people who live in Alaska, for a powerful air conditioning system)

Google AdSense

 A program by Google that allows website owners to monetize their traffic by displaying targeted ads on their pages.

Google AdSense

Google Analytics

A free web analytics service by Google that provides detailed statistics and insights about website traffic and user behavior.

google analytics-graphics of a computer screen graphs analytics

Google Search Console

A free tool by Google that helps website owners monitor and optimize their website's performance in search engine results.

Gravity

A metric used by ClickBank, a popular affiliate network, to indicate the popularity and sales potential of a product or service.The gravity number indicates the quantity of sales made in the past month.

Guest Blogging

A marketing strategy in which an affiliate or marketer writes and publishes a blog post on another website or blog to reach a wider audience and increase exposure.

guest blogging graphics

GDPR

A set of regulations by the European Union that cover email marketing. Additional information can be found on the EU website.

affiliate marketing glossary-GDPR

Grey Hat

Refers to SEO techniques that may not fully comply with Google's guidelines but are not as extreme as Black Hat techniques. These techniques aim to increase website traffic, but recent updates by Google are more effective at detecting them and may result in penalties.


H

Hashtag

A word or phrase preceded by the # symbol used to categorize and index social media posts, often used in affiliate marketing to increase visibility and engagement.

Hashtag- sand with hashtag sign carved in

HTML Code

 A markup language (hypertext mark up language) used to create and format content on web pages, often used by affiliates to develop and embed tracking links or promotional banners.

High Ticket Item

A product or service that is relatively expensive or has a high-profit margin, is often used in affiliate marketing to generate more significant commissions. can be in the order of $300-$50,000 as a rough idea.

Home Page

Affiliates often use the main page or starting point of a website to drive traffic and promote products or services. Homepage vs landing page

Hosted Solution

A software or service provided by a third-party provider that handles the technical aspects of affiliate tracking and management, often used by advertisers or merchants to simplify their affiliate programs.

Hybrid Commission

A commission structure that combines both a fixed commission and a variable commission is often used to incentivize high-performance affiliates while ensuring a minimum level of compensation.

Hyperlink

A clickable link that directs users to another web page or online resource is often used in affiliate marketing to drive traffic and promote products or services.


I

Impression

An instance of an ad being displayed on a web page or social media platform counts as an impression.Used as a metric to measure the reach and effectiveness of a campaign. Note : an impression doesn't mean that anyone has taken any noticed or clicked on your ad!

Incentive Marketing

 A marketing strategy that uses rewards or incentives to motivate customers or affiliates to take a desired action, is often used in affiliate marketing to boost sales or referrals. For example collect an email for a free ebook, fill in your details to participate in a chance to win a prize.

In-House Affiliate Program

An affiliate program managed and operated by the advertiser or merchant in-house is often used to maintain greater control over the program and reduce costs. For example an affiliate network may have created their own product and would offer this to their affiliates as an "in-house offer"

Influencer Marketing

A marketing strategy that uses influencers or individuals with a large following on social media (FB. Instagram, TikToc, Pinterest, Linkedin etc.) to promote products or services is often used in affiliate marketing to drive sales or referrals.

graphics for Influencer Marketing- girl speaking with a microphone blue background

Information Product

A digital product such as an e-book, course, or webinar that provides information or education on a specific topic, is often used in affiliate marketing as a product to promote.

IP Address

A unique identifier (IP-Internet Protocol) is assigned to each device connected to the internet.

IP address- graphic of globe and computer screen connected on blue background


J

Joint Venture (JV)

A partnership between two or more individuals or companies for a specific business purpose is often used in affiliate marketing to collaborate on product launches or promotions.

Jargon

Technical terminology or specialized language used in a particular industry or field used in affiliate marketing to describe specific concepts or metrics.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

A file format commonly used for digital images, often used by affiliates to display product images or promotional banners. Often used because of its small files for quick-loading landing pages and websites.

Jpeg- graphic of blue jpeg file

Jump Page

A web page designed to redirect users to another page or website is used in affiliate marketing to track clicks or conversions.


K

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

A measurable value is used to evaluate the success of a campaign, often used in affiliate marketing to track metrics such as clicks, conversions, and revenue. Link Trackers

Keyword

 A word or phrase used to search for information on search engines or social media platforms, often used in affiliate marketing to optimize the content or target specific audiences.

Keyword Density

The percentage of times a keyword appears in a piece of content used in affiliate marketing to optimize content for search engines.

Keyword Research

The process of identifying and analyzing popular keywords and phrases related to a specific topic or industry. Tool Keysearch

Kicker

A short statement or phrase used to capture the reader's attention is often used in affiliate marketing to introduce a product or promotion.


L

Landing Page

A web page designed to receive and convert traffic from a specific marketing campaign or promotion.

Lead

 A potential customer who has expressed interest in a product or service.

Lead Generation

Attracting and converting potential customers into leads through emails , surveys , quizzes, win Prizes, incentives ( eg. exchange email for free ebook)  is often used in affiliate marketing to drive traffic and sales.

Link

A clickable element that directs users to another web page or resource.

Link Cloaking

Disguising an affiliate link to make it appear more user-friendly and trustworthy is often used in affiliate marketing to increase click-through rates.

Link Juice

The value or authority passed from one web page to another through links often used in affiliate marketing to improve search engine rankings.

Lifetime Value (LTV)

The total revenue a customer is expected to generate over their entire relationship with a business is often used in affiliate marketing to determine the value of a customer and inform marketing strategies.


M

Merchant

The individual or company owns the product or service an affiliate promotes.

Minimum Payout

 The minimum amount of earnings required for an affiliate to receive payment.

Multi-Tier Affiliate Marketing

An affiliate marketing model that allows affiliates to earn commissions on the sales of other affiliates they refer to the program.

Micro-Influencer

An influencer with a smaller following (typically between 1,000 and 100,000) with a highly engaged audience can provide targeted marketing opportunities for brands and affiliate marketers.

Metrics

Data is used to measure and analyze the performance of a marketing campaign or strategy, often used in affiliate marketing to track clicks, conversions, and other key performance indicators.

Marketing Funnel

The process of guiding a potential customer through the stages of awareness, interest, decision, and action, is often used in affiliate marketing to improve conversion rates and maximize earnings.


N

Niche

A specialized market segment that caters to a specific audience or need.

Network

 A company or platform that connects affiliates with merchants and manages the affiliate marketing process.

Native Advertising

Advertising that blends in with the content of a website or platform, often used in affiliate marketing to increase engagement and conversions.

Native ads Outbrain CNN news site

Newsletter

A regularly distributed email containing news, updates, and promotional content.

Nofollow Link

A link with a "no-follow" attribute, which tells search engines not to pass link equity to the destination page, is often used in affiliate marketing to prevent link spam and maintain search engine rankings.


O

Offer

The product, service, or promotion being advertised or sold is used in affiliate marketing to refer to a specific product or service being promoted.

Off-Page SEO

Refers to the process of analyzing elements that influence the placement of a website or web page in organic search results (Google , Bing, YouTube etc.) and adjusting those factors as necessary. 

These aspects are considered off-site since neither you nor the code that is present on your website has any influence on them. Page rank and link popularity are a couple of examples.

Off-Page SEO graphic sentences

Opt-In

The process of obtaining permission from a website visitor or subscriber to receive promotional emails or other marketing messages.

Organic Traffic

The website traffic comes from search engines or other non-paid sources.

OTO

OTO stands for "One-Time Offer." It refers to a unique deal or upgrade made available to a consumer during a single transaction, usually after their first purchase. OTOs are intended to provide additional value or benefits and are frequently available at a reduced cost for a short period. OTO 1 is the first one-time offer made available to clients.There are frequently several other offers, OTO 2, 3, 4 etc.

Outbound Link

A link from one website to another website.


P

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

An advertising model in which advertisers pay a fee each time a user clicks on one of their ads.

Pay-Per-Lead (PPL)

 An affiliate marketing model in which affiliates are paid a commission for each lead (such as an email sign-up, or other information such as age or a survey etc) they generate this requested info for the advertiser and the affiliate is not required to make a direct sale with PPL.

Pay-Per-Sale (PPS)

An affiliate marketing model in which affiliates are paid a commission for each sale they generate for the advertiser or merchant.

Pinnacle Awards

Honors are often given out in connection with Affiliate Summit; however, it seems that they have been put on hold lately.

PageRank

This is a ranking system used by Google to measure the importance of web pages. It considers the number and quality of links pointing to a particular page and is used to determine the order in which search results are displayed.

Paid Search

This refers to paying for ads to appear on search engine results pages (SERPs). Advertisers bid on keywords and phrases relevant to their products or services, and their ads are displayed when users search for those terms.

Pay Bump

This refers to an increase in commission or payout that an affiliate receives for achieving a certain level of performance or sales. This is a common incentive used by advertisers to motivate their affiliates.

Payment Threshold

This is the minimum amount of earnings an affiliate must accumulate before receiving a payout from the advertiser. This threshold varies depending on the advertiser and the payment method used.

Performance Marketing

An umbrella term encompasses various marketing models(usually the marketer or affiliate pays for traffic ads) in which affiliates are paid for specific actions, such as clicks, leads, or sales, rather than simply displaying ads. Performance marketing vs digital marketing

performance marketing-graphics of cogs

Pixel

A piece of code placed on a website to track user behavior is often used in affiliate marketing to track clicks, conversions, and other key performance indicators.

Publisher

The individual (affiliate) or company that promotes a merchant's products or services through affiliate marketing. more info


Q

Quality Score

A metric used by Google to determine how well a particular keyword aligns with the advertising text, query, and landing page.

Q 1,2,3,4

Affiliates generally use this term for every 3 months of the year.Q1 would include Jan,Feb and March. Certain periods of the year are good for certain products. For example, Weight loss products sell better in Q1 and Q2. Advertising gets more expensive in Q3 and Q4 since big brand names push hard at Christmas, therefore the advertising bids are higher.

Quarterly Business Review (QBR)

A comprehensive evaluation report of an affiliate program, including performance data and any changes that have occurred during the previous quarter. A network usually prepares the report and typically contains recommendations for the upcoming period.


R

Raw Clicks

Each individual user's click count is independent of route or destination.

Reciprocal Links

 A link exchange between two websites, where each website agrees to link to the other's website. This is done to increase website traffic and improve search engine rankings.

Redirection

A process where a user is automatically redirected from one web page to another. In affiliate marketing, redirection can be used to track clicks and sales or to direct traffic to a specific landing page.

Referring Domain

The domain name of the website that referred a visitor to another website. This information can be used to analyze website traffic and identify sources of referral traffic.

Referring URL

The specific web page URL that referred a visitor to another website. This information can be used to track clicks and optimize marketing campaigns.

Return on Investment (ROI)

A financial metric used to measure the profitability of an investment. ROI is calculated by dividing the total revenue generated by the total cost of the marketing campaign.

Revenue

The total amount of money an affiliate earns from commissions or sales generated through their marketing efforts.

Revenue Share

A commission structure in which affiliates are paid a percentage of the revenue generated by a merchant's sales rather than a fixed amount per sale.

Robots.txt

A file that tells search engine robots which pages or directories of a website they are allowed to crawl and index.

RON – Run of Network

A type of advertising campaign where ads are placed on a network of websites without specific targeting. This is usually used when the goal is to reach a large audience without targeting particular demographics.

This can get you lots of traffic fast, but it is in your interest, to establish what sites are working quickly, otherwise you will be left with a big hole in your pocket!

Retargeting affiliates

A marketing strategy where affiliates target users who have previously visited their website or shown interest in their products or services.

Return On Ad Spends (ROAS)

A metric used to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. It is calculated by dividing the revenue generated by the advertising campaign by the total cost of the campaign. eg your campaign brought in $30,000 and cost you $10,000 in ad spend, then the ROAS is 300% or ratio 3:1

Recurring Commission

A commission structure in which affiliates are paid a percentage of a customer's recurring payments over time, such as for a subscription or membership based program. It is often that the affiliate can choose between a "one off" commission (higher commission) or a recurring commission, which is much, smaller but it can compound over time.

Referral

The act of recommending a product or service to others is often used in affiliate marketing to generate leads and sales.

Running Total

The cumulative earnings or statistics for a campaign.


S

Search Term

Also known as a keyword or query, is a word or phrase that a user enters into a search engine to find relevant information or websites.

SERP

 SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page. It refers to the page displayed by a search engine, such as Google or Bing, after a user enters a query into the search box.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Optimizing a website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

 graphics of words for Search Engine Optimization- SEO

ShareASale

ShareASale is an affiliate network that provides a platform for merchants and affiliates to connect and collaborate to find affiliate offers to promote .

Sub-Affiliate

An individual or company that promotes a merchant's products or services through an affiliate of the primary affiliate.

Super Affiliate

An affiliate marketer who generates a high volume of traffic and sales for a merchant or company. He is usually at the top of his game and typically generates at least $1,000000 per year in affiliate commissions.

Supply-Side Platforms (SSP)

Supply-Side Platforms are software platforms that enable publishers to manage and sell their advertising inventory to potential buyers. SSPs help publishers to optimize their ad space, increase their revenue and sell their inventory to multiple demand-side platforms (DSPs), networks, and advertisers.

Spiders

Also known as crawlers or bots, are automated programs used by search engines to scan and index web pages on the internet. These spiders help search engines find new content and update their search index with new information.

Split Testing

Split testing, also known as A/B testing, compares two or more variations of a website or marketing campaign to determine which one performs better. By splitting traffic between different versions, marketers can identify which version generates more conversions, leads or sales.

Subdomain

A separate section of a website that operates independently of the main domain. Subdomains are commonly used to create different areas for blogs, e-commerce stores, or other types of content. Example main domain=foodblog.com sub-domain=vegetables.foodblog.com

Swipe File

A useful collection of pre-written copy, images, and other marketing materials that affiliates can use to promote products or services.


T

Target Audience

The specific group of people most likely to be interested in a merchant's products or services.

Technology Affiliates

 A technology affiliate is a person who is specialized in getting results for brands and businesses for example they can be employed to reduce cart abandonment, increase sales and conversions, reach new customer segments, and improve social media, tracking, etc. They are typically paid by the CPA model eg. every time they get a new customer etc.

Tenancy Fee

 A fixed payment is made by brands to secure a guaranteed position on a publisher's website. It's also known as a Placement Fee.

TLAs

 Text-Link-Ads basically, it is a hyper text link, embedded in a word or phrase, whereby the affiliate link will lead you to an offer or landing page.

Toolbar Affiliates

 Type of affiliate that promotes toolbar downloads. They earned a negative reputation in the 2000s for their use of adware installations.

Token

 A dynamically generated variable or placeholder used in URLs to track specific information in an ad campaign. Multiple tokens can be added to tracking software to help optimize campaigns, such as type of browser, operating systems, geo, state, etc.

Tracking platform Software

 Type of software located on a server other than your own. It records and tracks visits to your own website.

Tracking Link

 A unique link is provided to affiliates to track their referrals and sales, to accurately attribute commissions to the correct affiliate. Link Trackers

Traffic

The number of visitors to a website or other online platform used to measure the effectiveness of various marketing channels and strategies.

Two-Tier Program

An affiliate marketing program that offers commissions to primary affiliates and sub-affiliates who refer new affiliates to the program.

Terms of Service (TOS)

The agreement between a merchant and an affiliate outlines the terms and conditions of their affiliate relationship, including commission rates, payment schedules, and other relevant policies and guidelines.

Terms of service- graphic of clip board with green check marks

TLD domain

Stands for Top Level Domain. Basically it is the .com or .net part of the domain. Read more


U

URL

A URL stands for (Uniform Resource Locators). It basically is the address assigned to a web page, website, just like a classic directory (Yellow Pages)

Unique User

Refers to a visitor tagged with information about their IP address, browser ID, or other identification to distinguish them from other visitors. This helps with attribution, and they are considered unique users for a specific period, such as the duration of a cookie.

Universal Basket

A feature commonly used by meta-publishers in the travel industry that allows consumers to purchase multiple product categories in a single transaction, such as flights, transfers, hotels, and more. While primarily used in travel, it can also be implemented in other areas of e-commerce.

Unique Click

To explain this we can imagine that a visitor will click a page ,product, website, ad etc. The visitor is identified by his IP address.When this visitor clicks on a page it will be registered as the one and only unique click. Even if he decides to click again on the page 100 times it will only be registered as a unique click.


V

Vendor

A merchant or advertiser selling products or services with an affiliate program.

View Through

 An affiliate marketing conversion model is where the affiliate is credited for a sale even if the customer doesn't click on their affiliate link but instead views an ad and then later makes a purchase on the merchant's site.

Viral Marketing

A marketing strategy that relies on word-of-mouth and social sharing to promote a product or service.

Voucher Code

A unique code is given to affiliates to offer discounts to their audience.

Voucher Affiliates

The affiliates partner provides promotions and discounts to customers through digital coupons or vouchers, allowing them to receive a percentage off their order, free delivery, or gifts with specific purchases

Vertical

A specific industry or market segment used to describe the types of products or services being promoted. Examples of verticals are: health, finance, food and drink, fitness, adult, self improvement etc.


W

White Label

 A product or service produced by one company and then rebranded and sold by another company under its own name. 

Web crawler

Also known as a spider, it is a program that scans web pages to locate all the hyperlinks within them.

Widget

A small application or tool that can be added to a website or blog to promote a merchant's products or services and drive traffic to their site.

Withdrawal

Transferring earned commissions from an affiliate program to the affiliate's account via a chosen payment method eg, bank transfer, PayPal, cheque, crypto etc.


X

XML

Extensible Markup Language- markup language is a format used for documents and apps compatible with XML. 

For example often data from analytics and tracking programs and apps, are downloaded using the XML format.

Y

Yield

The total revenue generated by a marketing campaign or program.

Yield Management

A pricing strategy that maximizes revenue by adjusting prices based on market demand and other factors.

YouTube Influencer

An individual who has a significant following on YouTube can influence their audience's opinions and purchase decisions.


Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts-infographics-man thinking in background is blue sky,birds,trees.

In conclusion, this comprehensive glossary of affiliate marketing terms is an invaluable resource for seasoned marketers and industry newcomers.

Hence, this glossary is a treasure trove of marketing terminology, covering everything and providing crystal-clear definitions for each term. 

By understanding the terminology used in affiliate marketing, you will gain the knowledge and confidence to easily navigate the landscape and maximize your earning potential.

FAQs

FAQ frequently asked-questions, infographic yellow words FAQ, on blue pink background with -transparent question mark.

What is the hardest part of affiliate marketing?

The most challenging aspect of affiliate marketing is likely the time spent getting set up. This includes administrative work and communicating with vendors and different online platforms. Also getting affordable high quality traffic to the products or offers.

What is the essential thing in affiliate marketing?

The most important thing in affiliate marketing is building trust and credibility with your audience by providing valuable content and promoting products that align with their needs and interests.

What must everyone know about affiliate marketing?

Everyone must know that affiliate marketing requires hard work, patience, and persistence to succeed; it's not a get-rich-quick scheme.

What challenges do affiliate marketers face?

Affiliate marketers face challenges such as competition, changing market trends, platform algorithm changes, increasing costs and maintaining relevance and authenticity with their audience.

What problem does affiliate marketing solve?

Affiliate marketing solves the problem of businesses needing a cost-effective way to reach a wider audience and increase sales while also providing an opportunity for individuals to earn passive income by promoting products they believe in.

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About the author

Chris is an accomplished entrepreneur, With extensive

experience in digital marketing, and business development.
Chris loves to share with his readers his latest hustle, software reviews, or make-money online tips.

 

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