Affiliate Tracking Service

Affiliate tracking services are used by Internet companies to track the progress of partnerships where links on a primary company website connects users to other websites of similar topics, attitude or interests. Each time users clicks on the partner links or banners, and makes a purchase, the primary company earns a commission. "Two are better then one, because they have a good reward for their labour" (Ecclesiastes 4:9). Internet companies often hire an affiliate tracking service to track user clicks, purchases and commissions.

Some companies do their own measuring of use, but there are benefits to working with a firm who hires out for affiliate tracking services. This monitoring group works as a neutral party between the primary company and the partner affiliate. While seriously considering affiliate programs, find out if the company being considered has a program to monitor the links and subsequent commissions and if using an affiliate tracking service. Either way, become familiar with the whole process so the right choice of contracting with the considered company can be made.

If considering becoming an affiliate, review a few factors. First, make sure that the web space is available to support advertising for the partner being worked with. The business may require placing a banner ad on the web page or at least a simple text link. Restrictions may be made where the ad or link can be placed on the page. Find out all of these factors before joining an affiliate program. In addition, know exactly what the commission is and how frequently the fee will be paid. Most associations will provide this information up front. Also, know how the business tracks their activity. Some will track in-house while others will hire an independent researcher. Try to select an firm that is monitored by an official tracking service.

Many researching monitors also allow affiliates the opportunity to log on to the business site and track commission and progress each month. This benefits the primary company as these are neutral middle men that can professionally handle any problems as far as commission and tracking. Affiliate tracking services are extremely helpful when initially establishing affiliate programs. For a reasonable fee, the affiliate tracking service will report the names of the partners and how many customers were brought to the website. Tracing services offer other services as well such as training, networks of programs, tiered commissions, payment frequency, deep linking and tracking return customers.

When individuals join a partnership, there is an opportunity to become part of a network of programs. This means that the broker may be an associate of not just one company, but several. The researching service may offer them opportunities to be affiliates for other companies that are clients under their research umbrella. If a company has more than one affiliate program then brokers can join one or some of the programs through the affiliate tracking service. Some researching businesses train affiliates, not in the specifics of the job, but in the methods that apply to all jobs. While providing information and tips on the market, the real training comes from the business contracted with. Just as some services will train affiliates, some will also provide tiered commissions. Tiered commissions are for recruiting other independent brokers to a program. The tiered commissions usually amount to a percentage of the new recruits earnings.

Clients are supplied with payment information that can be tracked by both the client and the partner. Standard procedure is that affiliates be paid once per month after reaching a minimum amount of earnings. Another great benefit to using affiliate tracking services is tracking return customers to the clients' websites. Some researching firms even pay per-click earnings rather than just commission on purchases. The client will find the return customer tracking helpful because of being able to see which affiliates are bringing in the most return customers. One possible findings is that deep linking is especially effective for that market. Tracking services will track deep linking. Deep linking involves linking to a specific page on a website rather than just the home page of the website.

When selecting an research firm to work with, be sure the service is legit. Talk to other people in the business area and get recommendations for the best affiliate tracking services. Find out the fees and requirements up front. Make sure that all of the services wanted are offered. In addition, check with the Better Business Bureau and on online reviews about the company before even contacting them. It is best to use caution with any type of Internet company. With a little caution, a successful research service can be found to work with that won't result in unsuccessful business contacts.

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