Affiliate marketing is a powerful way to generate passive income, but if you’re new to the industry, the terminology can be overwhelming. Whether you’re a beginner or brushing up your knowledge, understanding the language of affiliate marketing is essential for success. In this glossary, we’ll break down the most important affiliate marketing terms you should know — clear, concise, and optimized for SEO.
1. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing model where an individual (affiliate) earns a commission by promoting a company’s products or services. Affiliates use unique tracking links to drive traffic or sales, and they get paid when users take a specific action (click, sign-up, purchase).
2. Affiliate
An affiliate is a person or company that promotes products or services of another business in exchange for a commission.
3. Merchant (Advertiser)
Also known as the advertiser, this is the business that owns the product or service and pays affiliates for promoting it.
4. Affiliate Network
An affiliate network acts as an intermediary between affiliates and merchants. It provides the platform, tracking tools, offers, and sometimes handles payments. Examples include CJ Affiliate, ShareASale, and Impact.
5. Commission
The commission is the amount of money an affiliate earns per action (sale, click, lead, etc.). It can be a fixed rate or a percentage of the sale.
6. Cookie Duration
Cookie duration refers to the length of time a tracking cookie remains active after a user clicks on an affiliate link. If the user makes a purchase within that window, the affiliate earns a commission.
Example: 30-day cookie means the affiliate gets credit if the customer purchases within 30 days of clicking the link.
7. CPA (Cost Per Action)
CPA is a pricing model where affiliates earn money when a specific action is completed — such as filling out a form, signing up for a newsletter, or making a purchase.
8. CPC (Cost Per Click)
With the CPC model, affiliates earn money every time a user clicks on their affiliate link, regardless of whether a purchase is made.
9. CPM (Cost Per Mille)
CPM stands for Cost Per 1,000 Impressions. Affiliates are paid based on the number of times an ad or link is viewed 1,000 times.
10. EPC (Earnings Per Click)
EPC measures how much an affiliate earns, on average, for each click. It helps evaluate the profitability of affiliate campaigns.
11. Landing Page
A landing page is a specific webpage designed to convert visitors into leads or customers. Affiliates often direct users to optimized landing pages to boost conversions.
12. Conversion Rate
Conversion rate refers to the percentage of visitors who complete the desired action after clicking an affiliate link. A higher conversion rate generally means better performance.
13. Deep Linking
Deep linking allows affiliates to link directly to specific product or service pages on a merchant’s website rather than the homepage. This improves user experience and often increases conversion rates.
14. Sub-Affiliate
A sub-affiliate is someone recruited by an affiliate to promote offers. The original affiliate earns a commission from the sub-affiliate’s performance.
15. Two-Tier Affiliate Program
A two-tier program rewards affiliates not only for their own conversions but also for recruiting other affiliates. Affiliates earn commissions from their referrals’ sales too.
16. Tracking ID / Affiliate ID
A tracking ID is a unique code embedded in affiliate links to track which affiliate is responsible for a click or sale.
17. ROI (Return on Investment)
ROI measures the profitability of affiliate marketing efforts. It’s calculated by dividing net profit by total marketing costs.
18. Payout Threshold
The payout threshold is the minimum amount an affiliate must earn before receiving payment.
19. SaaS Affiliate Programs
These are affiliate programs specifically for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products. Often, SaaS affiliate programs offer recurring commissions based on subscription renewals.
20. Attribution Model
The attribution model defines how credit for a conversion is assigned — whether to the first-click, last-click, or through multi-touch attribution.
Conclusion
Understanding affiliate marketing terminology is the first step to becoming a successful affiliate marketer. This glossary provides a solid foundation, whether you’re optimizing your strategy or just getting started.
By mastering these affiliate marketing terms, you’ll be better equipped to communicate, analyze, and scale your performance in the affiliate ecosystem.