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Entering the world of affiliate marketing can be confusing to software publishers, as well as to webmasters interested in marketing via affiliate programs. Understanding the terminology used by affiliate programs and affiliate marketers will help you understand the world of affiliate marketing.

What Are EPCs?

EPC stands for "Earnings Per Click", and this measures which vendors are the most profitable for other affiliates. The EPC is an average of what other vendors earn by linking to a specific affiliate campaign.

Why Does Certification Matter?

Affiliate Certification is a program offered by vendors, which guarantees that their affiliates will receive credit for any sales they drive to vendors. This is accomplished by ensuring that a vendor's site or products do not contain leakage. Leakage consists of anything that prevents an affiliate from receiving credit for a sale that originated from the affiliate.

RegNow has a certification program that ensures that affiliates are compensated for any referrals they generate from certified software developers. See https://www.regnow.com/html/help/certification.html for details.

What Are Tiered Commissions?

A "tiered" commission generally means that the better you perform, the higher the commission rate you will receive. For example, all affiliates might initially be given a base commission rate on referrals. But if an affiliate generates a vendor-specified level of sales, they are bumped up to the next affiliate level, which has a higher commission rate on all affiliate sales generated. So not only is the affiliate making more in commissions simply because of their higher sales volume, but they also receive a higher commission rate on those sales as well. The percentage of compensation paid is directly tied to the volume of sales generated.

What Are Affiliate Incentives?

Vendors will often conduct contests to inspire affiliates to sell more. The contest might compensate active affiliates who perform at a certain level, or the contest might give a bonus to the affiliate who performs the best.

What Is CPM?

CPM stands for "Cost Per Thousand". CPM is usually measured as the cost of displaying 1,000 ad impressions.

What Is CTR?

CTR stands for "Click-Through Rate". That represents the percentage of visitors who see an advertisement (text link or banner ad) and then click-through via the hyperlink associated with the ad. A banner that boasts a high click-through rate means it attracts the attention of visitors. Be careful though, because click-through does not always translate into sales.

Deciphering the terminology used by affiliates and affiliate programs will help you make important decisions about which affiliates produce, and what ad copy is most effective.

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