AFFILIATE MARKETING GLOSSARY

Affiliate marketing, explained.

Plain-English definitions for the numbers, rules, and relationships behind an affiliate program.

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Explore the glossary.

Browse alphabetically or open a term to see how it works in practice.

31 terms

A⁷

AffiliateA person or business that promotes another company’s product and earns a commission for eligible results.Affiliate linkA unique URL that identifies which affiliate referred a visitor.Affiliate networkA platform that connects companies with affiliates and helps manage offers, tracking, and payments.Affiliate programA company’s arrangement for rewarding partners who bring in eligible customers or leads.Affiliate trackingThe process of recording partner clicks and eligible customer actions so referrals can be credited.AttributionThe rule for deciding which partner gets credit for a customer action.Attribution windowThe period after a referral during which a conversion can still be credited to the partner.

B¹

BountyA fixed reward paid for a specific partner-driven result.

C⁷

CommissionThe amount a partner earns for an eligible referral or customer action.Commission rateThe percentage or fixed amount used to calculate a partner’s commission.ConversionA visitor action that a program counts as a result, such as a signup or purchase.Conversion rateThe share of visitors who complete a defined action.Cookie durationHow long a browser cookie used for referral tracking remains available.Customer acquisition cost (CAC)The average sales and marketing cost of gaining one new customer.Customer lifetime value (CLV)An estimate of the value a customer brings over their relationship with a business.

D¹

Deep linkingSending a visitor to a specific product page while keeping the partner referral attached.

E¹

Earnings per click (EPC)The average commission earned for each tracked click.

F¹

First-click attributionAn attribution rule that credits the first eligible partner referral in a customer journey.

H¹

Hybrid commissionA partner reward that combines two commission models.

L²

Last-click attributionAn attribution rule that credits the last eligible partner referral before a conversion.LeadA potential customer who has shown interest and can be followed up with.

O¹

One-time commissionA commission paid once for a qualifying customer action.

P³

Partner portalThe place where partners get links, view performance, and check commissions.PayoutThe transfer of approved partner earnings to a payment account.PublisherAn affiliate that promotes offers through content or an audience they reach.

R³

Recurring commissionA commission that repeats when a referred customer makes qualifying repeat payments.ReferralA visitor or customer sent to a business by a partner or existing customer.Revenue shareA commission model that pays a partner a percentage of eligible customer revenue.

T¹

Tracking linkA URL with identifiers that help measure where a visitor came from.

U¹

UTM parametersTags added to a URL to describe the source, medium, and campaign of a visit.

W¹

WebhookAn automated message one system sends to another when an event occurs.