Many businesses earn much of their money by affiliate link tracking. Some companies even count on commissions to keep their heads above water. But it calls to reason not all link tracking processes are of equal standards. There are some which are definitely better than others. .

What are the methods used for affiliate link tracking? Let’s go back to the early days of Internet Marketing and work our way through a few different methods.

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

Not so long ago, cookies were a popular thing. They permitted prospects to do things they couldn’t do before, like leave a website, only to come back and purchasing at a later date. They were helpful to affiliates, allowing them to get paid for referrals that they rightfully worked for. This was possibly due to being hosted on Internet browsers and activity tracked for longer than one session.

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

There were several disadvantages with the previous affiliate link tracking customs, so now programs to help bring affiliate link tracking up to where it should be have been created. These programs work in conjunction with a database which independent from the activity of affiliates‘ and prospects‘ activity. There methods are a combination of unique URLs, cookies, referral IDs, and IP addresses, and even more to ensure all referrals get counted when they need to be. In addition to this, substantial data documents the relationship between referrer and prospect. Anyone would be hard-pressed to deny a business had sent a prospect to a specific affiliate link when the correlating cookies where in his browser, he 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.