Track your affiliate links, sales and commissions

Affiliate Programs tracks partnerships you already have with other companies. You join a program on that company's site, then record it here to count clicks on the links you share and keep a list of the sales the partner reports.

Before you start

• You've joined the partner's program and have your affiliate URL from them.
• You have a public handle, saved under Settings, so tracking links use your own ikpages.com address.
• Affiliate programs are Creator and up, and in the trial. On Starter you can't add or change programs, links or sales, or record a new payout; payouts already recorded can still be marked paid or cancelled, and links you already have keep redirecting and counting clicks. See plans and billing.

Add a program

1. 1Open Monetize → Affiliate Programs and click Add Program.
2. 2Enter Program Name and Company, plus Description and Category if you want them.
3. 3Set Commission Rate and Commission Type: Percentage (%) of each order, or Fixed Amount per sale.
4. 4Set Status: Active, Pending or Paused. This is a label for your own use, but only Active programs count in Monetization Reports.
5. 5Click Add Program.

Create a tracked link

1. 1Open the Affiliate Links tab and click Create Link.
2. 2Choose the Program and enter Product Name.
3. 3Paste your affiliate URL into Original URL. It must be a full web address starting with https:// or http://.
4. 4Click Create Link. A six-character short code is generated.
5. 5Click the copy button beside the short code to copy the full tracking URL. The eye button copies your original URL.
6. 6Put the tracking URL in your emails.

How clicks are counted

Every visit to a tracking URL is sent on to your original URL and logged with its IP address, browser and referrer. Only visits that look like a person count in Clicks:

Record a sale

Commission is worked out from the program's rate: a percentage of the order amount, rounded half up to the cent (19.99 at 10% is 2.00), or the fixed amount for each sale whatever the order. The link's and the program's Sales and Commission go up, and so does the program's conversion rate, which is sales divided by counted clicks.

1. 1Open the Sales tab and click Record a sale, or click the receipt button on a row of the Affiliate Links tab to record a sale for that link.
2. 2Choose the Program and, if the partner's report says which link it came through, the Link. Choose No link otherwise.
3. 3Enter the Order amount and Currency from the partner's report.
4. 4Set the Sale date. It starts on today, and can't be in the future.
5. 5Add a Note if you want, such as the partner's order number.
6. 6Check the Commission shown, then click Record sale.

Edit or delete a sale

• On the Sales tab, click the pencil to change the amount, currency, date or note. The program and link can't be changed: delete the sale and record it again.
• Saving an edit works out the commission again from the program's current rate, and changes the totals by the difference.
• Click the bin to delete a sale. Its commission comes off the link and program totals.
• Deleting a link keeps its sales on the program. Deleting a program deletes its sales.

What happens next

• Recorded commission on Active programs counts toward affiliate income in Monetization Reports. Don't also log the same sales with Log Revenue Entry, or they count twice.
• Total Commission adds every currency as entered, without converting. If you earn in more than one currency, use the partner's reports for exact totals.
• Your partner's own dashboard stays the record for what you're owed.

Payouts tab

Record Payout is a log for payments a partner has made or owes you. Enter Program, Amount, Currency and optional Notes. It starts as pending: Mark Paid changes it to paid, and Cancel to cancelled (a paid one can't be cancelled). Both work on every plan. No money moves.

What can go wrong