Leaks Galore
leaky boatPro affiliates and merchants have already learned their lessons about leaky affiliate programs. However I’m amazed at the number of merchants that just don’t get it, so wanted to do a little piece to educate newer affiliates about leaks and hopefully educate some clueless merchants in the process.

Affiliate marketing is a business, not a hobby. Affiliates don’t do it for the fun of it (although it can be fun) they do it to earn income. So any traffic affiliates send to a merchant site needs to have a chance of earning income. Merchants that have links out to other affiliate programs on their site earn the merchant income, but won’t earn a dime for the affiliates that send traffic. Adsense on the merchant site syphons off traffic that won’t earn the referring affiliate a penny. Big 800 numbers also are a leak, if phone orders aren’t tracked back to the affiliate. So affiliates before you join a program, check for leaks and ask about phone tracking for affiliates. Look for affiliate-friendly programs that offer the best chance of conversions without leaks.

Merchants check for leaks on your site. If your site is leaky your affiliate channel could dry up! Here’s a blog from Miles Baker on the subject.

Is Your Website Leaking? “Basically, leakage is any link on your sales page that leads your visitors somewhere where the affiliate will not get paid. The most common form of leakage I see on sales pages is Adsense. Now ask yourself, why would an affiliate want to promote your site if the visitors they send your way are going to click on links that profit you but not them? The answer is they wouldn’t want to and they won’t! Top affiliates simply don’t promote web pages with leakage.”