Watch
Out For Traffic Leaks
Watch Out For Traffic Leaks
When promoting any affiliate program one thing that you, as an
affiliate, has to watch out for is what is called traffic leaks.
What is a traffic leak? A traffic leak is something on the merchants
site that will cause the visitor, that you referred to their site,
to get distracted and leave the merchant site, leaving you with
no possibility of receiving any kind of commission.
Having traffic leaks does not mean the affiliate program is a scam
or trying to cheat you. It is most likely that the merchant just
doesn't realize what they are doing. If you are promoting an affiliate
program that is not getting any sales for you, you may want to check
for traffic leaks. If you find some then contact the merchant (in
a professional manner) and ask if they would consider removing the
traffic leaks from their site to increase conversion.
Here are a few examples of a traffic leak:
Advertisement Banners & Links
This is usually the most common traffic link. The merchant will
put up a banner ad or two and some text links to "offset"
their expenses. You do not want to promote an affiliate program
that has this on their site. When you send a visitor to the site
and they click the banner or text ad and go to the other site the
merchant gets paid while you get zippo. Not to fair is it?
Order Phone Number
Another traffic leak is the toll free (or regular) phone number
they put on their site to let customers call in their orders. But
when customers do call in their orders you get stiffed on the commission.
It is very easy to set up phone commission tracking. You should
ask the merchant if they have any plans on setting up phone sale
tracking. If they don't know how you can send them to me to show
them how to do it.
Basically, you do not want anything on the merchants site that
will drive your referred customer away to another site that you
will not get a commission from.
About the Author Chet Brzezinski has
been in the affiliate marketing and affiliate management industry
since 1997. He owns two affiliate marketing related sites. One that
offers affiliate program management & consulting services and
the other affiliate program reviews, tips and resources.
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