How affiliate marketing works
- The business (the merchant) sets up an affiliate program with commission rates and rules.
- Affiliates join and get unique tracking links or codes.
- Affiliates promote the products to their audience, for example in reviews, comparisons or tutorials.
- When a visitor buys or signs up through the link, the sale is tracked and the affiliate earns a commission.
Affiliate networks and programs
Many programs run through networks that handle tracking and payments, such as Awin, CJ Affiliate, Rakuten Advertising and Impact. Amazon Associates is the best-known program run by a single merchant, and others run their own programs with software such as Partnerize or PartnerStack.
Rules and good practice
- Disclose it: affiliates must make clear that they earn a commission, under advertising and consumer protection rules.
- Mark the links: use
rel="sponsored"orrel="nofollow"on affiliate links, as Google requires for paid links. - Add real value: Google’s spam policies treat thin affiliate pages that only copy product descriptions as spam, so reviews and comparisons need original testing and insight.