What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based partnership. A publisher introduces a merchant's product or service on their own channel. A tracked purchase or other agreed action may earn commission if it meets the programme conditions.
An affiliate link alone does not generate income. The visitor must reach the offer and meet the programme's qualifying conditions.
Two goals, two roles
As a publisher you can earn commission by recommending other businesses' offers. As an advertiser you find publishers for your products or services and pay for qualifying results.
Who does what in the system?
The advertiser is the business selling the product or service. The publisher runs the recommendation channel. Visitors can use the recommendation to inform their purchase.
A network such as Dognet, Awin or TradeTracker supports cooperation between advertisers and publishers. The merchant and the network are different participants.
A simple example
A gardening site publishes a guide to watering small balconies. A reader clicks a suitable product offer and buys from the merchant. If the programme attributes and approves the purchase, the site owner may earn commission.
In this example, the merchant handles ordering, payment and delivery. The recommendation site's role is to provide useful information and connect readers to a suitable offer.
Clicks, tracking and approval
The affiliate link identifies the referral source. Attribution depends on tracking rules, the tracking window and technical conditions. Not every click becomes a qualifying purchase.
Pending commission is not final income. Returns, cancellations or breaches of the terms can cause a transaction to be declined. Check further payment conditions in the network's and campaign's current documentation.
What do you need in practice?
A clearly defined audience, useful content, relevant offers and regular work. Building the technical website is only part of starting: information, links and offers also need ongoing care.
Income is not guaranteed. Include content creation, technical maintenance and audience acquisition costs.
Where should you read next?
Explore the role of the networks, or discover which affiliate website formats you could build.