The process of affiliate link tracking is in fact how many businesses make money. Commissions are potentially what keep some businesses afloat. However, not all link tracking processes are on a level playing field. There are some definitely better than others.

How exactly can affiliate link tracking be accomplished? Let us walk you through a few different methods. We’ll start at the beginning, to the early days of Internet Marketing.

Old ways

There used to be a time when affiliate link tracking was a process achieved by using URLs and unique IDs which could be associated to particular affiliates. This method, when used alone is old and practically obsolete. Why? It was far too restricting as well as unfair. Any prospects would need to make a sale at precisely the exact moment they clicked on the link. Otherwise the referral may not go through, resulting in the business not receiving credit for their recommendation to the affiliate business and helping with sales.

The URL and unique ID would simply time out- even if the prospect bookmarked the website and went back to purchase. In a lot of ways, this method just made sure that affiliates could not be paid. It leads to marketers wanting a revised way to do affiliate link tracking. So they tried cookies.

The recent way

Cookies were quite popular recently. They allowed prospects to accomplish new things, such as leaving a website, and coming back to purchase later. They became handy in helping affiliates get paid for the referral they rightfully worked for, as they were hosted on Internet browsers which tracked activity for longer periods of time.

But cookies had their drawbacks, too. Cookies only work when a prospect allows for a browser to accept them, uses the same browser to return to the affiliate’s website and visits the website while the cookie is still valid. It doesn’t have to be said that a lack in any of these areas can cause a referrer to lose major bucks. In the end, cookies required too much upkeep.

Software

Because of the disadvantages of previous affiliate link tracking customs, programs have been created to try to help bring affiliate link tracking up to where it should be. How? These programs work with a database that is independent from affiliates’ and prospects’ activity. They work with a combination of cookies, referral IDs, IP addresses, unique URLs and more to ensure that referrals get counted when they need to be. In addition, there is substantial data documenting the relationship between the referrer and the prospect. It would be quite a feat to deny that a business sent a prospect to an affiliate if the prospect had correlating cookies in his browser, used a referral ID and a unique URL.

If you look at it this way, it’s the programs actually doing the work needed to get each affiliate paid. This could be the selling point of these programs for every business dealing with affiliate marketing. This investment could prevent someone not receiving credit deserved for referrals they worked hard on. A great affiliate relationship is mutually beneficial. Affiliate programs work towards keeping it that way.

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