Affiliate
(Or associate, webmaster, member, salesperson) An independent person or organization that promotes a product or service in exchange for a commission. This person or organization basically sets up a business between the original manufacturer and the customer. The affiliate handles the advertising aspect by displaying banners or text ads, reviewing the product or service and various other ways. Commissions can be made from customer clicks, leads or sales. The manufacturer is responsible for getting the item to the customer.

Affiliate directory
A listing of affiliate programs by categories.

Affiliate forum
An online community where members may read and post topics related to affiliate programming.

Affiliate marketing
A partnership between a merchant and affiliate. The affiliate receives a commission after referring customers to the merchants website.

Affiliate Program
A program that enables the affiliate to receive money for referring customers to a merchants website.

Affiliate provider
A third party company that provides the software and other related services to run an affiliate program for the merchant. The provider acts as a link between the merchant and the affiliate. The affiliate can sign up for a number of programs through the provider and receive one commission check.

Affiliate software
Software that will keep track of all clicks, sales or leads from affiliate links.

Click through
The click refers to the action an user makes with the mouse. The through is the act of opening the new website by clicking ont the link. The visitor clicks the affiliate link and goes to the merchants website.

CTR or click-through rate or ratio
A percentage of the number of visitors who actually click on a link.

Conversion rate
A percentage of visitors who actually perform the requested action, such as entering an email address.

Cookie
A small computer file or code that a merchant places on a visitors hard drive to track their surfing habits, such as clicks or sales. Their purpose allows users to register just once instead of each time they visit. Cookies keep track of any leads or sales the visitor generates by clicking the affiliates link. This is extremely useful if lifetime commissions are tracked.

CPA or cost per action
When a specific action is taken, such as registration, then a pre-determined rate is paid to the affiliate.

CPA or cost per action
When the webmaster gets paid for advertising only if the vistitor purchases something from the advertiser.

CPC or cost per click
The amount paid for each click through to the site. Search engines sometimes charge referrring sites for the number of users who click through.

CPL or cost per lead
The amount paid to the affiliate who refers a visitor to the merchants website.

CPM or cost per thousand
The M stands for the roman numeral of 1000. The measurement of the cost of advertising by thousands of impressions.

EPC or earnings per click
Earnings based on the total number of clicks over a set period of time, then usually multiplied by 100. Some providers calculate the earnings per single click. This is important to know because it can tell you exactly how much you are earning for each visitor you send to the merchant.

Impression
When a user views a banner, link or page on a website.

Lead
A potential customer who either signs up for something, such as a newsletter, fills out the form, submits an email address or downloads something.

Lifetime commissions
Commissions that are paid every time a referred visitor makes a purchases from the merchant.

Link
A banner or text link on the affiliates website, email or newsletter that will take the visitor to the merchants website.

Merchant
(also advertiser, client, e-commerce site, online retailer, partner) A business that sells products or services and uses affiliates as advertisers. Merchants handle the payments and shipping aspect of the transaction. The affiliates are paid a commission based on their advertising efforts.

Niche marketing
Marketing based on choosing one particular area and promoting it exclusively.

Payment threshold
The minimum amount the affiliate must earn to receive a payment from the merchant.

PPC or pay per click
A commission paid to the affiliate for sending click throughs to the merchants website.

PPCSE or pay per click search engine
A search engine that ranks websites based on bid amount and then advertisers only pay when a user clicks on the search listing.

PPL or pay per lead
A commission paid to the affiliate for generating leads to the merchants website.

PPS or pay per sale
A commission paid to the affiliate when a visitor makes a sale on the merchants website.

Real-time
The time it takes to process information is immediate.

Referral program
(also multi-level, two-tier or tiered program) A program that allows the affiliate to refer new affiliates to the merchant. The affiliate earns a portion of the referrals actions.

Reseller program
Another form of affiliate programs. A person or organization buys products, such as software, and resells them to the customer. The reseller bypasses the original manufacturer and handles the entire transaction.

Return days
The number of days a visitor is tracked by the merchant. The visitor must perform an action, such as a lead or a sale, in this time frame in order for the affiliate to receive a commission.

Sale
The purchase of a product or service from a merchant.

Sub-affiliate
A person or organization who signs up as an affiliate through another affiliates link. The affiliate earns a commission from their sub-affiliate.

Super affiliate
An affiliate who is able to generate a substantial percentage of leads or sales.