Affiliate Marketing Glossary

 

Affiliate Link (Hop Link on Clickbank)

A unique link containing some form of tracking information that allows the affiliate to earn a commission when someone makes a purchase following the link.

Back Link

Links from other websites leading back to your website. Considered good for SEO. 

Black Hat SEO

Gaming the system in order to improve SEO ranking. Will usually backfire when google changes its search algorithm.

Chargeback

When a product is returned or a sale falls through for some other reason a vendor will deduct the commission from that sale. You often see periods of 30-60 days before payouts become available with some vendors for that reason.

CPA

Click per action – you receive a commission for an action taken by your customer/lead rather than them having to make a purchase.

Click Through Rate (CTR)

The percentage of clicks on your links/ads compared with page impressions. This is a good metric for determining your success or otherwise.

Disclosure

In order to remain compliant with FTC (Federal Trade Commission in the USA) you need to make it abundantly clear that any purchases people make by following links on your site are going to result in you receiving a commission. If you read up on the subject then you will also find just having a page somewhere on your site is not sufficient. The disclaimer needs to be in the vicinity of the link.

Earnings Per Click (EPC)

Another useful metric. This is the amount of revenue generated for every click on an add/link. So just divide your total revenue by the number of clicks.

Keyword Density

The ratio between the number of times a keyword/phrase appears on a web page and the total words on the page.

Keyword Research

Analysing terms entered into search engines to try to make your website more likely to appear in search results by including common words/phrases.

Pay Per Click (PPC)

Refers to the charging structure for advertising where you will pay a certain amount every time an advertisement is clicked.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

The process of trying to improve the ranking of your page/site by the careful selection and use of keywords/phrases that are being searched for.

Split Testing

Comparing the performance of adverts, copy, content or even prices to see which convert the best.

White Hat SEO

Approved methods of improving the ranking of your site in search engine results.