{"id":1848,"date":"2011-07-27T05:25:24","date_gmt":"2011-07-27T05:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/affiliate-link\/"},"modified":"2024-06-05T10:32:17","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T10:32:17","slug":"affiliate-link","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1397\/affiliate-link","title":{"rendered":"Affiliate Link"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span id=\"what_is_an_affiliate_link\">What is an Affiliate Link?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The definition of an affiliate link is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1352\/uniform-resource-locator-url\">URL<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/5175\/hyperlink\">hyperlink<\/a> that a merchant gives to a third-party company partner under an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1398\/affiliate-program\">affiliate program<\/a>. The link contains an affiliate&#8217;s ID or username, and is used to record traffic as it&#8217;s sent to an advertiser&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/5411\/website\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/2-Affiliate-Link-300x190.jpg\" alt=\"What is an Affiliate Link?\" width=\"1200\" height=\"760\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-255128\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/2-Affiliate-Link-300x190.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/2-Affiliate-Link-1024x649.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/2-Affiliate-Link-768x486.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/2-Affiliate-Link-1536x973.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/2-Affiliate-Link-2048x1297.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/2-Affiliate-Link-1200x760.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/2-Affiliate-Link-1980x1254.jpg 1980w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><div class=\"su-note\"  style=\"border-color:#dddddd;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\"><div class=\"su-note-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"background-color:#F7F7F7;border-color:#ffffff;color:#333333;border-radius:3px;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;\">\n<h2><span id=\"key_takeaways\">Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>An affiliate link is used to route traffic to an affiliate website.<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s used as part of an affiliate marketing program.<\/li>\n<li>Companies can get a commission in return for clicks.<\/li>\n<li>Merchants get new customers, and websites can recommend relevant products.<\/li>\n<li>Affiliate links should be used transparently.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"what_is_affiliate_marketing\">What is Affiliate Marketing?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/23105\/affiliate-marketing\">Affiliate marketing<\/a> is an approach to marketing in which a company markets products and services on behalf of a third-party company or merchant in exchange for a commission.<\/p>\n<p>Under this arrangement, the affiliate searches for a product relevant to its audience and promotes it on the site using an affiliate link. If the user clicks the link and then makes a purchase, the affiliate gets a percentage of that sale.<\/p>\n<p>These arrangements are a win-win in the world of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/27110\/digital-marketing\">digital marketing<\/a> because the affiliate can use the affiliate program to monetize its readership and recommend relevant products, while the merchant gets an opportunity to market its products toward a new audience.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"how_affiliate_link_works\">How Affiliate Link Works<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/3-How-Affiliate-Link-Works-137x300.jpg\" alt=\"How Affiliate Link Works\" width=\"600\" height=\"1311\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-255131\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/3-How-Affiliate-Link-Works-137x300.jpg 137w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/3-How-Affiliate-Link-Works-469x1024.jpg 469w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/3-How-Affiliate-Link-Works-768x1677.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/3-How-Affiliate-Link-Works-703x1536.jpg 703w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/3-How-Affiliate-Link-Works-938x2048.jpg 938w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/3-How-Affiliate-Link-Works-1200x2620.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/3-How-Affiliate-Link-Works-1980x4323.jpg 1980w, https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/3-How-Affiliate-Link-Works-scaled.jpg 1172w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Companies apply to join a merchant&#8217;s affiliate program. Upon acceptance, they will be provided with an affiliate link, which will be used to monitor how many sales the affiliate makes.<\/p>\n<p>Generally, each affiliate link contains the seller&#8217;s URL, a tracking parameter, and a unique affiliate ID. The<strong> seller URL<\/strong> directs the user to the site, the <strong>tracking parameter<\/strong> helps identify the publisher or brand, and the <strong>affiliate ID<\/strong> is an identifier assigned to the affiliate to help record how many sales they have generated.<\/p>\n<h3>How to Get an Affiliate Link<\/h3>\n<p>As mentioned above, to get an affiliate link, a company first needs to sign up for a third-party service&#8217;s affiliate program. Examples of affiliate programs include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/who-owns-amazon\">Amazon<\/a> Associates, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1472\/ebay\">eBay<\/a> Partner Network, PartnerStack, and CJ Affiliate.<\/p>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve been accepted to your affiliate program of choice, you will be assigned an affiliate link you can use to promote the product. Under some programs, you may also be given a tool to produce an affiliate link yourself.<\/p>\n<p>For example, under the Amazon Associates affiliate program, you can use the Amazon Mobile GetLink tool to generate an affiliate link, which you can then share on your website.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"the_structure_of_an_affiliate_link\">The Structure of an Affiliate Link<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The structure of an affiliate link is the same as any other URL or hyperlink, it just has additional parameters added to the end of it.<\/p>\n<div class=\"su-spoiler su-spoiler-style-fancy su-spoiler-icon-plus su-spoiler-closed\" data-scroll-offset=\"0\" data-anchor-in-url=\"no\"><div class=\"su-spoiler-title\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\"><span class=\"su-spoiler-icon\"><\/span>An example of a metalink (which doesn\u2019t exist for the purposes of this example):<\/div><div class=\"su-spoiler-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\"> https:\/\/MADEUPMERCHANT.com\/?affiliate=500<\/div><\/div>\n<p>The first part of the URL is the seller&#8217;s URL, then after the ?, you can view the tracking parameter, and 500 is the unique affiliate ID.<\/p>\n<p>That said, the exact formatting of the link may vary depending on the merchant or publisher running the program.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"affiliate_links_vs_affiliate_codes\">Affiliate Links vs. Affiliate Codes<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>While affiliate links and affiliate codes serve a similar purpose, they are different.<\/p>\n<p>The key difference is that an affiliate code is a code that a website can use to track clicks from an affiliate&#8217;s website. In short, an affiliate link includes an affiliate code that identifies the partner company.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"affiliate_link_examples\">Affiliate Link Examples<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Below, we&#8217;ve included some examples of different types of affiliate links:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><div class=\"su-accordion su-u-trim\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><div class=\"su-spoiler su-spoiler-style-fancy su-spoiler-icon-plus\" data-scroll-offset=\"0\" data-anchor-in-url=\"no\"><div class=\"su-spoiler-title\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\"><span class=\"su-spoiler-icon\"><\/span><strong>Text links<\/strong> <\/div><div class=\"su-spoiler-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\"> A text hyperlink that links to a merchant&#8217;s website.\u00a0 <\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><div class=\"su-spoiler su-spoiler-style-fancy su-spoiler-icon-plus su-spoiler-closed\" data-scroll-offset=\"0\" data-anchor-in-url=\"no\"><div class=\"su-spoiler-title\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\"><span class=\"su-spoiler-icon\"><\/span><strong>Buttons<\/strong><\/div><div class=\"su-spoiler-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\"> Buttons that contain affiliate links routing to a merchant&#8217;s website.\u00a0 <\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><div class=\"su-spoiler su-spoiler-style-fancy su-spoiler-icon-plus su-spoiler-closed\" data-scroll-offset=\"0\" data-anchor-in-url=\"no\"><div class=\"su-spoiler-title\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\"><span class=\"su-spoiler-icon\"><\/span><strong>Image links<\/strong><\/div><div class=\"su-spoiler-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\"> Images that link to a merchant&#8217;s website.\u00a0 <\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-spoiler su-spoiler-style-fancy su-spoiler-icon-plus su-spoiler-closed\" data-scroll-offset=\"0\" data-anchor-in-url=\"no\"><div class=\"su-spoiler-title\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\"><span class=\"su-spoiler-icon\"><\/span><strong>Native Ads<\/strong><\/div><div class=\"su-spoiler-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\"> Native advertisements on a website that lead to a third-party website.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-spoiler su-spoiler-style-fancy su-spoiler-icon-plus su-spoiler-closed\" data-scroll-offset=\"0\" data-anchor-in-url=\"no\"><div class=\"su-spoiler-title\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\"><span class=\"su-spoiler-icon\"><\/span><strong>Email sign up redirects<\/strong><\/div><div class=\"su-spoiler-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\"> Affiliate links that link to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/24803\/electronic-mail-e-mail\">email<\/a> sign up forms.\u00a0 <\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"su-spoiler su-spoiler-style-fancy su-spoiler-icon-plus su-spoiler-closed\" data-scroll-offset=\"0\" data-anchor-in-url=\"no\"><div class=\"su-spoiler-title\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\"><span class=\"su-spoiler-icon\"><\/span><strong>Free trial redirects<\/strong><\/div><div class=\"su-spoiler-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\"> Affiliate links that link to free trials for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/antivirus\/best-antivirus-software\">software<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"affiliate_link_pros_and_cons\">Affiliate Link Pros and Cons<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There are a number of pros and cons to using affiliate links. Some of these include:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><div class=\"su-row\"><div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-2\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Pros<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><div class=\"su-list\" style=\"margin-left:0px\">\n<ul>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-check-circle\" style=\"color:#3CB371\"><\/i> Merchants can increase sales by partnering with affiliates<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-check-circle\" style=\"color:#3CB371\"><\/i> Affiliates can build additional revenue streams<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-check-circle\" style=\"color:#3CB371\"><\/i> Websites can provide readers with links to relevant products and promotions<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-check-circle\" style=\"color:#3CB371\"><\/i> Partnering with affiliates increases a company&#8217;s reach<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><div class=\"su-column su-column-size-1-2 pros_icons_\"><div class=\"su-column-inner su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Cons<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><div class=\"su-list\" style=\"margin-left:0px\">\n<ul>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-remove\" style=\"color:#e31f28\"><\/i> The amount of commission generated by clicks varies<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-remove\" style=\"color:#e31f28\"><\/i> Affiliate sites can lower content quality if they become too reliant on promotions<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"sui sui-remove\" style=\"color:#e31f28\"><\/i> Important\u00a0 to disclose affiliate relationships to the audience when using affiliate links<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<h2><span id=\"the_bottom_line\">The Bottom Line<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Now you know the true meaning of affiliate links and their role in an affiliate marketing program. The most important take-home is that they provide an income stream to companies looking to monetize their audience while giving merchants a way to maximize their reach.<\/p>\n<p>If applied correctly, they&#8217;re a win-win, though websites need to be cautious about promoting relevant products and not becoming too overtly promotional and alienating users from their site.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"faqs\">FAQs<\/span><\/h2>\n<div class=\"man_faq_sec\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/FAQPage\"><\/time><section class=\"ms_faq ms_card \" ><div itemscope itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\"><div class=\"accordionButton\"><h3 itemprop=\"name\">What is an affiliate link in simple terms? <\/h3> <\/div>\n<div class=\"accordionContent\" itemscope itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\" style=\"display:none;\"><p itemprop=\"text\">An affiliate link is a URL assigned to a merchant under an affiliate marketing program. The link records how many clicks are directed from the affiliate&#8217;s site to the merchants and is used to help pay out a commission. <\/p>\r\n                <\/div><\/div><\/section>\n<section class=\"ms_faq ms_card \" ><div itemscope itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\"><div class=\"accordionButton\"><h3 itemprop=\"name\">How do I get my affiliate link? <\/h3> <\/div>\n<div class=\"accordionContent\" itemscope itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\" style=\"display:none;\"><p itemprop=\"text\">You can acquire an affiliate link by signing up for an affiliate program. <\/p>\r\n                <\/div><\/div><\/section>\n<section class=\"ms_faq ms_card \" ><div itemscope itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\"><div class=\"accordionButton\"><h3 itemprop=\"name\">What is an example of an affiliate link? <\/h3> <\/div>\n<div class=\"accordionContent\" itemscope itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\" style=\"display:none;\"><p itemprop=\"text\">An example of an affiliate link is https:\/\/MADEUPMERCHANT.com\/?affiliate=500, which contains the basic formatting you&#8217;d expect to see in a typical link. <\/p>\r\n                <\/div><\/div><\/section>\n<section class=\"ms_faq ms_card \" ><div itemscope itemprop=\"mainEntity\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Question\"><div class=\"accordionButton\"><h3 itemprop=\"name\">Do affiliate links pay? <\/h3> <\/div>\n<div class=\"accordionContent\" itemscope itemprop=\"acceptedAnswer\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/Answer\" style=\"display:none;\"><p itemprop=\"text\">Yes. Affiliate links often pay commission based on the number of users who click on them. The exact rate of the commission depends on the agreement with the third-party company. <\/p>\r\n                <\/div><\/div><\/section>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is an Affiliate Link? The definition of an affiliate link is a URL or hyperlink that a merchant gives to a third-party company partner under an affiliate program. The link contains an affiliate&#8217;s ID or username, and is used to record traffic as it&#8217;s sent to an advertiser&#8217;s website. What is Affiliate Marketing? Affiliate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":286576,"featured_media":255126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"definitioncat":[231,232,228],"class_list":["post-1848","definition","type-definition","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","definitioncat-it-business-alignment","definitioncat-e-commerce","definitioncat-risk-management"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.2 (Yoast SEO v24.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is an Affiliate Link? Definition, How It Works &amp; Examples Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An affiliate link is a URL that a merchant will give to a third-party company under an affiliate marketing program. 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