Reference

Affiliate Marketing Glossary

225 terms covering CPA, traffic, tracking, SEO, compliance, and everything in between.

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301 redirect— A permanent URL redirection technique utilized to maintain traffic flow when mod 302 redirect— A temporary URL redirection strategy employed when content is momentarily unavai

A

A/B Testing— A method of comparing two versions of a webpage or other content to determine wh API— Application Programming Interface: a set of protocols and tools enabling communi APK Offers— Promotional campaigns centered around Android Package Kit files# the standard fo Above The Fold— The prime real estate of a webpage visible without scrolling, analogous to the u Ad Creation— The process of designing and producing advertisements for various marketing chan Ad Exchange— A sophisticated, real-time marketplace facilitating programmatic ad buying and s Ad Network— An intermediary platform bridging advertisers and publishers, automating the ad Advertiser— The entity investing in traffic generation to their landing pages, either as the Adware— Software bundled with downloadable programs, often operating covertly to monitor Affiliate Compliance— Adherence to the rules, regulations, and best practices set by merchants, networ Affiliate Dashboard— A centralized platform where affiliates can track their performance, commissions Affiliate Disclosure— A statement that informs readers about the affiliate relationships and potential Affiliate Fraud— Dishonest practices in affiliate marketing, such as using bots to generate fake Affiliate Link— A unique URL assigned to an affiliate that tracks referrals and attributes sales Affiliate Link— A unique URL assigned to individual affiliates, enabling accurate tracking of re Affiliate Link Management— The process of organizing, tracking, and optimizing the various affiliate links Affiliate Link Plugin— A software tool that simplifies the process of adding and managing affiliate lin Affiliate Manager— A person responsible for overseeing an affiliate program, recruiting affiliates,Affiliate Marketing— A unique URL assigned to an affiliate that tracks referrals and attributes sales Affiliate Marketing— Affiliate marketing is a performance-based online marketing strategy where busin Affiliate Marketing Analytics— The collection and analysis of data related to affiliate marketing efforts to im Affiliate Marketing Automation— The use of software and tools to automate repetitive tasks in affiliate marketin Affiliate Marketing Forum— An online community platform where affiliates, networks, and industry profession Affiliate Marketing Funnel— The process of guiding potential customers from initial awareness through to pur Affiliate Marketing Software— Comprehensive platforms that help manage various aspects of affiliate marketing,Affiliate Marketing Strategy— A planned set of actions designed to achieve specific affiliate marketing goals,Affiliate Marketing Tools— Software and applications designed to assist affiliate marketers in various aspe Affiliate Marketing Webinar— An online seminar specifically focused on teaching affiliate marketing strategie Affiliate Network— A platform that connects merchants with affiliates, managing tracking, reporting Affiliate Program— A partnership between advertisers and affiliates, where affiliates are compensat Affiliate Program— A marketing arrangement where a business rewards affiliates for driving traffic Alexa Rank— A web analytics tool that assesses website popularity# assigning rankings based Alt Text— A descriptive attribute for images that enhances accessibility and SEO. It provi Anchor Text— The visible# clickable text in a hyperlink that often describes the linked conte Audience Targeting— The practice of tailoring marketing efforts to reach a specific group of consume Auto-Download Offers— Promotional campaigns that trigger automatic file or program downloads upon page

B

Backlink— An inbound link from an external website# crucial for SEO and domain authority. Banner Ad— A visual display advertisement designed to attract clicks and drive traffic to a Bidding Strategy— A plan for determining how much to bid for ad placements in pay-per-click advert Black Hat SEO— Unethical search engine optimization tactics aimed at rapidly improving rankings Blacklist— A curated list of websites or traffic sources excluded from ad displays or traff

C

COD— Short for Cash on Delivery, this is a payment method wherein the user will only CPA (Cost per Acquisition)— A pricing model where advertisers pay for each specified conversion action. CPA CPC (Cost Per Click)— An advertising model where advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their ad, CPC (Cost per Click)— A pricing structure where advertisers pay for each click on their advertisements CPL (Cost per Lead)— A pricing model focused on lead generation# where advertisers pay for each quali CPM (Cost Per Mille)— An advertising pricing model where advertisers pay for every 1,000 impressions (CPM (Cost per Mille)— A pricing model based on ad impressions# where advertisers pay for every thousan CPS (Cost per Sale)— A performance-based pricing model where affiliates earn a commission for each co CPV (Cost per View)— A pricing model typically used in video advertising or pop-up campaigns# where a CSV File— A versatile data format that stores tabular information in plain text# easily re CTR— The percentage of people who click on a specific link or call to action out of t Case Study— An in-depth analysis of a particular affiliate marketing campaign or strategy, o Charge Back— The reversal of affiliate payments for fraudulent or invalid conversions. This p Click Fraud— The deliberate generation of invalid clicks to artificially inflate traffic and Click ID— A unique identifier assigned to each ad click# capturing vital user and interact Click-Through— The user action of clicking on an advertisement or hyperlink and successfully lo Click-Through Rate (CTR)— A performance metric measuring the ratio of clicks to ad impressions# expressed Click-through Rate (CTR)— The percentage of people who click on a specific link or call to action out of t Cloaking— The practice of presenting different content to search engines or ad networks th Cloaking— The practice of showing different content to search engines than what is shown t Commission— The monetary reward affiliates receive for successfully promoting offers and dri Content Farm— A website or network of sites producing large volumes of low-quality content pri Content Marketing— A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, re Contextual Links— Hyperlinks embedded within relevant article text# often containing keywords rela Conversion— The completion of a desired action by a user# such as a purchase# sign-up# or do Conversion Optimization— The practice of increasing the percentage of visitors to a website that convert Conversion Rate— A crucial performance indicator measuring the percentage of visitors who complet Conversion Tracking— The process of measuring and analyzing how many visitors to a website complete a Cookie Duration— The length of time a tracking cookie remains active on a user’s device, de Cookies— Small data files stored on users’ devices to track browsing behavior and p Crawler— An automated program that systematically browses the web to index content for se Creative— The visual or textual elements of an advertisement designed to capture attention Cross-sell— A sales technique used to sell additional products or services to an existing cu Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)— The total worth to a business of a customer over the whole period of their relat

D

Daily Budget— The maximum amount an advertiser is willing to spend per day on a specific campa Datafeed— A comprehensive file containing detailed information about an advertiser’s Dayparting— The practice of scheduling ads to run during specific times of day or days of th Deep Link Generator— A tool that creates affiliate links pointing to specific pages or products withi Deep Linking— An advertising technique that directs users to specific# relevant pages within a Deep Linking— The practice of using affiliate links that send users to specific pages on a mer Demand Side Platform (DSP)— A sophisticated system that allows advertisers to buy ad inventory across multip Direct Billing Flow— A conversion process where users complete transactions by charging purchases dir Direct Buy— This is an ad-buying system wherein the media buyer is in direct contact with a Disclosure— This is a required text that needs to be placed on advertisers’ webpages t Domain Authority— This is an SEO ranking score as predicted by Moz. It is an estimation of how wel Domain Redirect— This is a form of PPV ad wherein the viewer accesses a parked domain; it could b Double Opt-In (DOI)— Otherwise known as Confirmed Opt-in, this is a two-step subscription procedure. Duplicate Content— These are exact blocks of content that appear in two or more webpages that Googl Dynamic Tracking— This is a tracking style that changes dynamically based on the information that

E

EPC (Earnings Per Click)— A metric that measures the average amount of money earned for each click on an a Earnings per Click (EPC)— This is the average rate that helps affiliates estimate their earnings (or poten Email Marketing— The use of email to promote products or services while developing relationships Evergreen Product— A product or service that maintains long-term demand and relevance in the market

F

FTC Guidelines— Rules set by the Federal Trade Commission that govern advertising practices, inc Fired Pixel— This is an industry-wide term which means a click or an impression has occurred,First Click— This is a program policy wherein the first affiliate who managed to place a cook Flat Deal— Also known as Direct Buy or Flat Rate Advertising Deal, this allows a media buye Frequency Capping— This is the number of times a unique user views (or clicks) an ad within a given

G

GEO Targeting— This is a targeting option that allows the affiliate to purchase only traffic co

H

HTML— Short for Hyper Text Markup Language, HTML is a markup language that uses a comb Hit— This is the number of file requests each webpage makes on a server. If a webpage Holistic SEO— The practice of improving all aspects of a website to rank higher in search engi Hyperlink— This is an item on a webpage that contains a link that directs the user to a dif

I

Impression— This refers to the numerous times an ad is displayed. In pop-ads, one “pop In-House— There are multiple meanings associated with this term, but in general, it means Inbound Link— Also known as a Backlink, an Inbound Link is one that is used to drive traffic t Incentive Traffic— This is a type of traffic wherein the user receives a reward for completing a ce Incentivized Offers— These are offers that can be run on incentivized traffic.Index— Index or search engine index is essentially a database of webpages that search e Index or Indexing— This is when a webpage is discovered by search engine crawlers and become part o Indie Program— This is short for Independent Affiliate Program, which means a business or merch Influencer Marketing— A form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement fr Internal Linking— This is an SEO technique wherein a webpage has links directing to other pages wi Interstitial Ads— This is a type of ad that covers the entire screen of the webpage or the app. It

J

JV— Short for Joint Venture, JV is an agreement between two parties to act upon a si

K

Keyword— This is the term or phrase that users utilize to search for anything on the inte Keyword Density— This is the percentage of times a term or keyword phrase was mentioned in a text Keyword Research— This is the technique that search engine experts use when finding terms to base

L

Last Click— This means the most recent affiliate link that led to a conversion will be credi Lead— This is a type of conversion wherein the user only needs to submit specific info Lead Generation— The process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects into someone wh

M

Media Buying— The process of purchasing advertising space and time on various media platforms,Mentorship Program— A structured system where experienced affiliate marketers guide and support newe Merchant/Advertiser— The company or individual that offers a product or service and pays affiliates f Metrics— Key performance indicators used to measure the success of affiliate marketing ef Multi-Channel Marketing— The practice of using multiple channels (such as email, social media, and conten

N

Native Advertising— Paid advertising that matches the look, feel and function of the media format in Niche— A specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service,Niche Selection— The process of identifying and choosing a specific market segment to target in a

O

Opt-in— The process by which a user gives permission to receive communications, typicall Organic Traffic— Visitors who come to a website as a result of unpaid search results or other non

P

PPC— Pay Per Click, a marketing model where advertisers pay only when someone clicks PPC (Pay Per Click)— An internet advertising model where advertisers pay each time a user clicks on o PPC Affiliate Marketing— A type of affiliate marketing where affiliates are paid for each click on their PPCall— Pay Per Call, an advertising model where merchants pay affiliates for calls made PPL— Pay Per Lead, a marketing model where advertisers pay publishers for each confir PPS— Pay Per Sale, a model where affiliates are paid for each sale made through their PPV— Pay Per View, a payment model where advertisers pay for each impression or view Paid Traffic— Visitors who come to a website as a result of paid advertising efforts, such as Passive Income— Income that requires minimal labor to earn and maintain, often a goal in affilia Performance Marketing— A comprehensive term for online marketing and advertising programs where adverti Prelander— A pre-landing page that warms up customers to increase conversion possibility.Premium Targeting— Refers to either prime banner ad spots or high-quality traffic targeting based o Product Link— An affiliate link specific to products, typically used in businesses selling mul Product Review— A critical evaluation of a product, often used in affiliate marketing to provide Profit— Total affiliate earnings, calculated by subtracting total cost from total revenu Publisher— The individual or entity that promotes in exchange for payment, such as an affil Publisher/Affiliate— An individual or company that promotes a merchant’s products or services i

R

ROI— Return on Investment, a key performance indicator calculated as a percentage by ROI (Return on Investment)— A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an inv ROI Calculation— The process of determining the return on investment for affiliate marketing effo RTB— Real-Time Bidding, an advertising technology where bids are placed in live aucti Raw Clicks— The total number of clicks a link receives, regardless of source or user.Reciprocal Links— An agreement between websites to add outgoing links to each other’s sites.Recurring Commission— A commission structure where affiliates earn repeatedly for a single referral, o Redirect— When a URL loads a different URL and forwards traffic to that page, including 30 Referring Domain— The domain containing a link directed towards your website, providing backlinks.Referring URL— The full link that directs to your website, as opposed to just the domain name.Remnant Traffic— Excess supply of low-demand traffic offered at discounted prices due to potentia Retargeting/Remarketing— A form of online advertising that targets users based on their previous Internet Revenue— Total earnings from promoting an offer, regardless of profitability.Robots.txt— A plain text file in a website’s root directory providing instructions to Root Domain— The index page or base name of a website, forming the main structure for subdoma Run of Network— A traffic targeting type accepting virtually all traffic from an ad provider, us

S

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)— The practice of optimizing a website or web page to increase its visibility and SEO affiliates— Affiliates focusing on using SEO to drive traffic to their websites or landing p SERP— Search Engine Results Page, displaying the results of a search engine query.SMS Billing— A mobile conversion flow where conversion is counted when a user inputs their mo SOI— SOI is short for Single Opt-In, which is one of the simplest conversion models. Sales Funnel— A marketing model that illustrates the theoretical customer journey from the awa Scaling (in business context)— The process of growing a business or affiliate marketing operation to handle an Search Engine— A browser application designed to find the best results on the internet for a gi Search Engine Optimization— Techniques used to improve search engine rankings and increase organic traffic.Search Term— The word or combination of words used to find a particular topic online via sear Search affiliates— Affiliates using PPC paid search to drive traffic to their landing pages.Segment— A division of the market based on specific demographics or characteristics.Single Offer— One offer for a particular link, as opposed to multiple rotating offers.Single Opt-in— A simple lead conversion process requiring only user sign-up without confirmatio Site Map— An organized list of website contents to help users navigate and find specific e Smartlink— A link that accepts multiple traffic types and directs viewers to offers with th Social Marketers— Marketers focusing on connecting and engaging with potential customers through s Social Media Marketing— The use of social media platforms to connect with an audience, build a brand, in Spiders— These are crawlers used to infiltrate your website and data, leading to spamming Split Testing— This is the strategy marketers use to test which ad creative, landing page and o Spot— These are advertising spaces. On TV and radio, it’s ten to 60 seconds of a Sub-Affiliate— An affiliate recruited by another affiliate in a two-tier affiliate program.Subdomain— This is a domain that is just a section of a primary domain. This can be used to Super Affiliates— These are the top affiliates in the industry. They are said to be the ones gathe Supply-Side Platforms (SSP)— This is a platform that makes it easier for publishers to manage their ad spaces Sweepstakes— This is a lead generation strategy wherein prizes are being raffled away in orde

T

Targeted Marketing— This is a strategy wherein a marketing campaign is developed for a specific mark Text Link— This is a piece of text that is hyperlinked and directs to an advertiser’s Tokens— Also known as macros, variables, UTM parameters, and more. Tracking tokens are v Top-level domain— Also called TLD, this is the highest level of the internet’s domain naming Tracking Method— This is the kind of tracking system that affiliate networks/programs use to moni Tracking Platform— These are used by affiliates to monitor their campaigns’ performance. A ty Tracking Software— This is the program utilized to monitor your advertising campaigns.Tracking URL— This is a URL that includes variables that capture a visitor’s information Traffic— This is the inflow of visitors to a page.Traffic Generation— The process of attracting visitors to a website through various marketing method Two-Tier Affiliate Program— An affiliate program structure where affiliates can earn commissions on their ow

U

URL— This is short for Uniform Resource Locator, which is commonly known as a web add Unique Clicks— This is the number of unique users that visited the page by clicking on an ad. T Unique User— This is a user that landed on a webpage for the first time based on a given time Unique Views— This is the number of unique users that viewed your ad without any clicking acti Upsell— A sales technique where a seller induces the customer to purchase more expensive

V

Verified Opt-in— Another term for Double Opt-in.Vertical— This refers to the products or offers which aim to provide solutions or services Video Marketing— This is a marketing technique that uses video as content. It is one of the faste View Through— This is when an ad completely loads on a page but has been ignored by the viewer Viral Marketing— This is a marketing technique employed in social media platforms, such as Facebo Visitor— This is a user who landed on your page.Vlog— This is a shortened form of video log or video blog, which are blogs whose main

W

WAP Billing— Short for Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Billing, this type of mobile billi Web Host— A service that provides cloud storage space, allowing users to create and serve Web-based— Sometimes called browser-based, this refers to a tool, program, or application t Webinar— An online seminar or presentation, often used in affiliate marketing for product Webmaster— This is the person responsible for managing and organizing the content of a webs Webpage— A single page that is a part of a much larger site. It can be a landing page, a White Hat— These are marketing practices that are considered to be safe and acceptable.White Label— This is a product that is sold without any branding or labeling. This allows oth Whitelist— This is the list of keywords, sources, targets, domain names, etc. that you want