What Is An Affiliate Link?

What is an affiliate link is a very basic question to most. But what we shall find here is that an affiliate link is your "money link" Is is the thing thats gets people to click and (if they buy) you make the sale.

Shawn Collins (Affiliate Summit) states that “Affiliate marketing is about building relationships and trust. When you include an affiliate link in your content, you’re vouching for that product. If your audience trusts you, they’re more likely to click on that link and make a purchase, which benefits both you and the merchant.”

So what is an affiliate link?

A large majority of affiliate links are through text. Sometimes the whole sentence is a hyperlink. Sometimes just keywords would be hyperlinked. But they all follow the same pattern. So it would be something like this (underline change represents a hyperlink):

You can get 30% off your next iPhone through our sites special link
We really love this Canon Camera for our Youtube shoots, you probably will as well
We really recommend Dave Taylors private files on affiliate selling. You can check it out here
If you use our code Dave123 you can get 20% off your next Broccoli ice cream here

Each one of the links have been used in some way shape or form. The idea is they entice you into clicking on the link.

There are some small prints to go with this though.

Do you really click on a link that is unrelated to the topic being discussed? No.

Do you click on a link to a product that you are not interested in? No.

Do you click on the link in the first place? Maybe

Will you click on a link that is hugely iffy or unbelievable? No

Are you going to buy something straight away? Probably not

So an affiliate link is actually a little bit more indepth. You can not just place them anywhere, you can not just assume people are going to buy You might not see that person again if it is just an article floating around in Internetland.

As John Chow states (JohnChow.com) “Affiliate links are like referrals. When you refer someone to a product or service through your unique affiliate link, and they make a purchase, you get a commission. The more valuable the product is to your audience, the more likely they are to buy, and the more you can earn.”

What is an affiliate link part 2.

Not all affiliate links are text links. You can change up your links to see what works and what doesn't. So you will probably need to track your efforts. But a change in position of you link can increase- or decrease clicks. Also some people might not like the wording, so you can change those up as well. So trying to figure out what works and what doesn't (for your audience) is the key for affiliate sellers.

Some people like "in text" links because they are smooth and don't necessarily shout out a link to a sale. But, some people find that subconscious selling (like advertising on your site) promotes the products that you are selling. If your site is dedicated to a small amount of products and you are mainly selling those then people will not wonder why a link is on your site recommending that product.

Because as Pat Flynn (Smart Passive Income) states: “When you use an affiliate link, you’re essentially recommending a product or service that you believe in, and if someone clicks on that link and makes a purchase, you earn a commission. It’s a win-win situation because you’re providing value to your audience by recommending something useful, and you’re also getting rewarded for that recommendation.”

If the product that you recommend is poor- and you are only promoting it because of the amount of cash it brings. You will get the sale but you will also get a refund and a negative trust amount. Your trust is reduced and further sales from that person is going to be greatly diminished.

But there are multiple different ways that you can sell affiliate products.

Banner Ads. These were all the rage way many years ago. Percentages of 30%+ were not unheard of (that is 30 people in 100 clicked on the banner). But as they were over used then people started to notice a drop in clicks, down to 1-5% max. Now this comes from people who maybe overused them, but banner ads when used on your site can offer an advertisement space. Multiple views of a banner can sink subconsciously into a visitor. They can also be used to see what text people like, what pictures people respond to- even colours. They are easy to set up- create a graphic in a banner- vertical or horizontal and then hyperlink the banner to your affiliate link or sales page. Below is an example of a horizontal banner ad borrowed with hugs from 99designs).

Note that even though there is a button that states "read the report" the whole banner is hyperlinked.

It is also worthy to note that some people have created their own "affiliate ads" on their own websites. They look similar to Google Ads but obviously not the same- but used the same idea. And then when someone clicked on a link it sends them to their affiliate sales page.

Image links. These are very similar to banner ads. But instead of a banner or "ad" sometimes the picture can be the link. Sometimes this works well with video pictures within email. It then transports people to the video sales page. You can also find images of ebooks in sales pages and you click on those to buy. Coupon images offer a greater click through because they offer immediate success. People are only going to click on them if they want a percentage off the product- so they are already in a buying mood.
Actual products. Sometimes the actual product can be a link- similar to ebooks. When you show the product and the link sometimes people will click on the link or the actual picture. Sometimes showing the picture increases clicks- people know what they are going to get, they are actually clicking for the product.
Deep links. These are a type of link that you should be doing. When you click on a link to a product, the last thing you want to do is to send the person to the homepage. You have to send them to the actual product or the "thing" that they are clicking on. If there is no specificity then you won't get the sale. It is something that is good to assess a vendors website to see where you are sending traffic.
Social. Remember that you can also place links into social media posts or email. The amount of promotion compared to real info depends upon the audience and the person. But pre-selling- promoting a product before you place down a link, is usually a good method to "tell" people something is coming. However you should have already built up some content/ knowledge previously or else people won't click because they won't trust you. We have seen people constantly sell on their social media accounts. They get little back in consumer love. But when people give info away, talk to their social media members then you get better response- which is kinda obvious right?

The flipside to deep links is deep links part 2. These are links where your own link can be deep within the text. If you are talking about the benefits and the article is really long then you can splatter banners/ images through the text with your affiliate links, but you might find the text link further down the page works better. The sales process has kicked in later on in the page and that is where people have now found that they want your product.

Pay per Click (PPC). This is where you create an ad, list it and then pay for the people who click on it. This is how Adwords work. You can see them on Googles search page:

Or you see them on websites:

When you hear of people making money instantly online it is mainly because they are driving traffic to the website. Now with Google you can not directly send someone to an affiliate link. You need to pre-sell first and use that as the PPC landing page. But it is also a money in money out situation. You really need to know your numbers, how much you can afford and how much is converting.

Remember that in all of these scenarios once a person clicks on a link/ image etc, doesn't necessarily mean they are going to buy. It means they are interested and the next page should sell them on the product.

So if $10 worth of people click on your PPC ad and only 2 people buy a $5 product then you have made $0- 10-10. So the idea is to:

get more (qualified) people into the link who are more likely to buy
find a product that sells more
reduce your PPC rate

So you can see that if you do each point, either one of them can increase your profit, but all three can be the best way forward into PPC. But...only start this if you have money that you can not be worried if you dont make it back. Why? Because over time:

competitors will price you out of the PPC pricing because they see what you are doing and want to copy it
products come and go, they get copied or the pricing reduces
you can get refunds which knock back your profitability
keywords, which you bid on can go up
seasons, markets and social climates change which can affect profitability.

Affiliate links can also be made

We have seen what is an affiliate link and how they can be integrated into your content but how do you get them in the first place?

Well there is only really one way.

The company that you signed up for need to know who you are, how to pay you and actually track any traffic/ sales that you generate for them. So once signed up you get an affiliate id. This id is inserted into links that they give you. Depending upon the company you can't adjust the links.

So for Amazon you use the SiteStripe bar that shows up on product pages when you're logged in to your Amazon Affiliate Panel. You click the Text button in the Get Link selector. Then choose to generate a short link or a full-length link in the popup. This can now be used in promotions (picture borrowed with love from Hubspot)

Another is Clickbank. Mainly dealing with digital products they are starting to move into physical products. Has been around for ages and we have used them as a seller and as an affiliate. Their links look like this:

Their affiliate links are called Hoplinks.

There are all different companies that offer different types of links. Some will give you the code to place your links into banners and pictures. Others give ebooks out and you place your affiliate id within the ebook.

The main idea is to give people different ways to view your promoted products. Different "touches". If you don't catch them with a banner ad, you can get them with a deep link within your text. If they want to view your information off line then you can offer an ebook to download.

Have you noticed something though?

it is not easy to spot. But the links shown don't look too much like a link that you might see. That is because some links are encrypted and others are cloaked. Encryption is to stop people deleting your affiliate id and replacing with their own- not too common but you never know. Cloaking is the idea to make your link either smaller (using a small hyperlink generator) or by not showing people that it is an affiliate link. Some people even send you to a blank page that immediately forwards you onto a sales page. The blank page is named nicely- like best-camera-2024.html, but the forwarding link is the affiliate id link.

However, this idea is becoming more redundant as more companies are asking sellers to state that their link is actually an affiliate link. As a matter of fact, it is law (US and FTC) to state that you are going to get rewarded for a sale through the link. So a message should be by the side of the link. Also there should be a message on the page of the link of affiliate disclosure.

You can read about affiliate link disclosures on Clickbanks website.

Depending upon blog video etc (there are different version of the disclosure), but generally:

"The rule is, you must provide “clear and conspicuous disclosures” for any online advertising messages “that consumers are likely to believe reflects your opinion, belief, finding, or experience.” This applies to an opinion, review, or endorsement of ANY product or brand where you stand to make money – including not just with affiliate links, but sponsorships or official endorsements as well.

These same rules apply wherever you happen to be promoting a product online: Instagram, a podcast, a blog, a YouTube video… What matters is disclosing that you’re offering your opinion as an affiliate".

But that will reduce my sales?

It doesn't affect sales.

In fact it builds trust. And what the vast majority of websites have done is to include a webpage demonstrating what an affiliate is and how it doesn't affect cost but also helps the website produce more and better non biased information.

However, you do see many websites still not disclosure that they are getting paid for an affiliate sale (so do many Youtube channels). But it is much easier to start early and build trust.

What is an affiliate link- caution part 2.

Apart from the FTC rules you have to be careful of how the website that you are promoting wants you to promote.

Many have a list of no-nos and they will terminate accounts even if it is an honest mistake. So you need to read each vendors terms before you start. So, for example, here are some of Amazons:

You must disclose on your site or in your communication that you may be eligible to earn from your recommendations.
You must not make false or deceptive claims in your recommendations.
Your website must not contain unsuitable, explicit, or harmful content.
Avoid referring to prices (with some exceptions) since prices frequently change.
Do not use Amazon affiliate links in offline promotions, eBooks, or email.
Do not use link shorteners on affiliate links.
Do not use unapproved Amazon trademarked materials that may misrepresent your relationship with Amazon.

Bare in mind that they can change the rules and even the compensation when they like. This has caught many people out and made the selling much less profitable. The vast majority refuse you to use their brand or the products brand/ name within any PPC.

So check above- no link shorteners. You can't even mention price.

You also have to ask yourself, is it worth it? In some ways yes. There are people making money from affiliate selling- but the range of profit is very wide. Some people are earning less than $5k/ yr and others $100k- with the latter being in the minority.

But remember what we have learned here in our what is an affiliate link page:

there are plenty of ways to offer your links- being text, picture or ad
you have to tell people that you are offering an affiliate link
you need to be careful of rules
you need to figure out a way to capture your audience and reduce your spend- usually through subscriptions of channels, sites or newsletters
need to abide by the law
the link is pointless without context. If your page is dedicated to Youtube video making cameras then don't sell Youtube marketing ebooks. It is very tempting, but make the links camera. And with those jump the links about. Which ones get clicked on most? Best of year. Best for budget. Best for pro. Best for travel/ movement. What XY and Z use. Just because you are selling a camera you will find that people are not looking for a camera. They are looking for a Youtube camera. They are then looking for a Youtube camera that is going to be the best for their budget and for either a newbie or a pro. Then they are looking for something with super easy set up.

Check out online case studies here. Some more affiliate selling articles here. Our blog for updates here.