A tracking link is a unique URL used to track affiliate performance and traffic that came from their platform. It also contains the affiliate’s ID or username.
Sample Tracking Link: https://go.urtrackinglink.com/aff_c?offer_id=123&aff_id=XXXX
In affiliate programs, advertisers use affiliate links to record the traffic that is sent to their website.
Here’s how tracking link works:
- By clicking on the tracking link, users open a certain landing page of a product or service.
- Once a user clicks an affiliate link it will save a *cookie onto the web browser and computer they are using. The said cookie that was saved to their computer also lets the site they visited know who they are the next time they visit the site.
- A transaction will only be recorded as the affiliate’s conversion provided that the purchase is still within the *cookie period allowed by the advertiser and set on our system. (For example, a user clicked on a tracking link or an affiliate link from the publisher’s site and went to the advertiser’s site but did not make a purchase. Later the same customer came directly to the advertiser’s site and bought something. As long as the transaction occurs during the cookie period, that publisher will receive a commission for the sale. )*cookie – are small files which are stored on a user’s computer. They are designed to hold a modest amount of data specific to a particular client and website and can be accessed either by the web server or the client computer. This allows the server to deliver a page tailored to a particular user, or the page itself can contain some script which is aware of the data in the cookie and so is able to carry information from one visit to the website (or related site) to the next.
*cookie period – this refers to the number of days that the advertiser allows users who clicked on one of their tracking links, and came to their website, to complete the transaction or conduct multiple transactions for which the publisher will receive a commission.
To know how you can get your affiliate tracking link, check: How to Get Tracking Links?