As an affiliate marketer, one of the most frustrating experiences was missing out on commissions that you have earned. You’ve promoted a product, drove traffic to a website, and hopefully, sealed the deal. But then, when it’s time to get paid, you find that the commission never shows up. What went wrong?
There are a few common reasons why affiliate commissions can be lost.
1. Mistakes with Affiliate Links: The Silent Killer of Commission
Affiliate links are the bread and butter of your affiliate marketing efforts. If they aren’t set up or tracked properly, there’s a good chance that commissions will slip through the cracks. Below, we’ll highlight three common ways you generate affiliate links in the Geekbuy Affiliate Program.
a) Affiliate Product Page
Recently, we have developed a new product page within the affiliate dashboard to enhance the user experience. This feature allows affiliates to quickly generate and share product links with their unique affiliate tracking code embedded. By simply clicking the “Copy Link” button, affiliates can effortlessly copy the URL, ensuring that their referrals are accurately tracked. This improvement aims to streamline the process of promoting products, making it faster and more convenient for affiliates to share their links and increase their potential for earning commissions. You can also select multiple items and download a CSV file for the list of products.
b) Affiliate Bulk Links Creator
Affiliate Bulk Links Creator tool to easily generate URLs for event pages or special promotions on Geekbuying.com. This tool allows you to quickly create multiple affiliate links in bulk, tailored to specific pages or events, helping you efficiently promote a wide range of products or time-sensitive offers. Whether you’re targeting a special sale or a limited-time event, the Affiliate Bulk Links Creator ensures you can generate accurate affiliate links for all relevant pages, maximizing your tracking capabilities and potential commissions with minimal effort.
You can access it with the Custom Tracking Links>Bulk Links Creator
Then put each URL in one line and click generate.
c) Affiliate Deep Link Generator
Following Deep Link format you can quickly generate a list of URLs quickly.
https://affiliate.geekbuying.com/deeplink.php?affid={geekbuying affiliate id}&url={geekbuying url}
Glossary of Terms
affid = Your Affiliate ID of Geekbuying In-house
url = Geekbuying landing page that you decide to promote
Example:
https://affiliate.geekbuying.com/deeplink.php?affid=102&url=https://www.geekbuying.com/item/FOSSiBOT-F1200-1024Wh-1200W-Portable-Power-Station-524608.html
Deep links also support encoded URLs:
https://affiliate.geekbuying.com/deeplink.php?affid=102&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekbuying.com%2Fitem%2FFOSSiBOT-F1200-1024Wh-1200W-Portable-Power-Station-524608.html
DEEP LINK for Sub affiliate networks
https://affiliate.geekbuying.com/deeplink.php?affid={geekbuying affiliate id}&tid1={clickid}&sub_id={sub_affiliate_id}&url={geekbuying url}
Glossary of Terms
tid1= your click id
sub_id= your affiliate id
Data Type Rules
- clickid & sub affiliate id don’t work over 75 characters in length.
- clickid & sub affiliate id limited to letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens.
- No space was permitted in the clickid & sub affiliate id.
- The variables tid1&sub_id must be lowercase.
Example:
https://affiliate.geekbuying.com/deeplink.php?affid=102&tid1=A123456&sub_id=654875&url=https://www.geekbuying.com/item/FOSSiBOT-F1200-1024Wh-1200W-Portable-Power-Station-524608.html
2. Third-Party Plugin: How They Can Impact Your Commission
In recent years, third-party shopping plugins and browser extensions like AdBlock, Cashback, and coupon extensions were wieldy used when customers were shopping. While this third-party plugin might harm your commission.
a) Overriding Your Affiliate Link
One of the biggest issues with third-party plugins is that they may override your affiliate link. For example, when a customer installs a plugin, these apps often automatically add their own affiliate codes or erase all cookies during the checkout process. This means that, even though the customer came through your affiliate link, tracking was tempered and will not show in your sales record.
Tip: Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do to prevent this behavior. However, you can try educating your audience about these third-party apps and encourage them to disable the extension while shopping through your links.
b) Cashback Sites Competing for Sales
Cashback sites offer users rebates or cashback on their purchases, which often come with an affiliate code of its own. If a customer clicks through your link but has already signed up for cashback services, you might miss out on the commission because the cashback service takes precedence.
3. Using Third-Party URL Shorteners or Redirects: The Hidden Risk
In an effort to make affiliate links more user-friendly or appealing, many marketers turn to URL shorteners or redirects. While this can make links look cleaner and more trustworthy, it can also lead to commission losses. Here’s how:
Link Redirection Problems
Some URL shortening services, like Bitly, TinyURL, or others, can sometimes break the tracking mechanism embedded in your affiliate link. When a shortened URL redirects to the destination, it may strip out or interfere with your affiliate tracking code, preventing the sale from being attributed to you. With a chain of redirects, affiliate information will very likely be missed during redirection.
Tip: If you’re using a URL shortener, make sure it’s properly configured to preserve your affiliate tracking parameters. Some URL shorteners offer options to add UTM parameters, which can help maintain your tracking info.
4. Other reasons.
- When customers use a private browser or incognito mode, it auto-clears and removes cookies.
- Your affiliate click expires when the customer places the purchase.
- Customers use different browsers or change devices during shopping.
- When the browser auto or manually clears history and cookies.
5. How to Protect Yourself From Missing Commissions:
- Regularly Monitor Your Links It’s a simple step, but frequently reviewing your links, affiliate programs, and commissions can help you identify any problems early.
- Educate Your Audience If you’re dealing with third-party plug-ins, consider educating your audience on how they might impact your affiliate commissions. Being transparent can encourage them to disable those extensions when shopping through your links.
- If you are using short links or redirects, make sure to check if the landing URL is the correct affiliate URL Sometimes, URL shorteners or redirects may accidentally alter the final destination or strip out affiliate tracking information.
- Re-activate your link before the purchase Make sure to let your audience re-click the affiliate link before they make the purchase.
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