What Is Affiliate Marketing? A Plain-English Guide

Disclosure: some links on ClickAffiliate may be affiliate links. Rankings are computed from program terms and are never paid.

Affiliate marketing is a simple deal: a company pays you a commission when someone you refer buys its product. You share a tracked link; the company's software records the visit, and if a sale happens within the cookie window, the sale is credited to you.

The four terms that decide what you earn

• Commission — a percentage of the sale (for example 30%) or a flat amount (for example $100 per signup).
• Recurring vs one-time — recurring programs keep paying every month the customer stays subscribed, sometimes for life. For software, recurring is usually worth far more.
• Cookie window — how long after the click you still get credit. 30 days is common; 90+ days is generous.
• Payout terms — how often you are paid, the minimum balance, and the methods (PayPal, bank, Stripe).

How to choose a program

Start with what your audience already needs, then compare programs in that niche on the four terms above. That is exactly what our daily rankings do for you.

Rules to respect

Most programs forbid bidding on their brand name in ads, self-referrals and coupon-site promotion. Always disclose affiliate links to your readers — it is required by law in many countries.

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