Welcome to the Ultimate Affiliate Marketing Glossary — a practical, easy-to-use reference guide designed to help you understand the language of affiliate marketing without feeling overwhelmed or confused.
Affiliate marketing has its own terminology, and for beginners especially, that alone can feel like a barrier to getting started. This glossary exists to remove that barrier. It gives you clear, simple explanations of the most important terms you’ll encounter when learning, building, and growing in affiliate marketing.
This glossary helps you understand what things mean without confusion, whether you’re:
- considering affiliate marketing for the first time
- reading guides or training materials
- building your first online income stream
- or refining your strategy
Why This Glossary Exists
Understanding the language of affiliate marketing makes everything easier:
- communication with platforms and programs
- choosing tools and resources
- understanding training materials
- evaluating opportunities
- building trust with your audience
How to Use This Glossary
This glossary is organized alphabetically for quick reference. Each term includes a clear, beginner-friendly definition.
Use it as a reference guide and support tool in addition to your training and education.
Who This Is For
This glossary is for:
- beginners starting in affiliate marketing
- content creators and bloggers
- digital entrepreneurs
- online business builders
- anyone learning to monetize online platforms
The Affiliate Glossary
A
Advertiser: A company or individual that creates ads and pays affiliates to drive traffic or sales to their website.
Affiliate: An individual or company that promotes an advertiser’s products or services in exchange for a commission on sales or leads generated.
Affiliate Agreement: The contract between an affiliate and an advertiser outlining the terms and conditions of the affiliate partnership.
Affiliate Link: A unique URL provided to an affiliate that tracks the traffic and sales generated by their promotional efforts.
Affiliate Network: The platform connecting advertisers with affiliates, providing tracking, reporting, and payment services.
Affiliate Program: A marketing program in which a company compensates affiliates for generating sales or leads through marketing efforts.
B
Banner Ad: A graphical advertisement that affiliates use to promote an advertiser’s products or services.
Bounty: Fixed payment made to an affiliate for a specific action, such as a lead or sale.
Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs are a type of secondary navigation that displays the user’s current location within a website’s hierarchy.
C
Commission: The payment an affiliate receives for generating a sale or lead for an advertiser.
Conversion: When a visitor completes the desired action on an advertiser’s website, such as a purchase or filling out a form.
Cookie: A small piece of data stored on a user’s browser that tracks their activity and helps attribute sales or leads to the correct affiliate.
Cookie Duration: The length of time a cookie remains active on a user’s browser, allowing the affiliate to receive credit for any resulting sales or leads within that period.
D
Deep Linking: Creating affiliate links that direct users to specific pages on an advertiser’s website, rather than the homepage.
Disclosure: A statement by the affiliate informing users of their affiliate relationship with the advertiser, often required by law or regulation.
E
Earnings Per Click (EPC): A metric that shows earnings an affiliate makes per click on their affiliate links.
I
Impression: The number of times an ad or affiliate link is displayed to users.
L
Landing Page: The webpage where a user lands after clicking an affiliate link, designed to convert visitors into leads or customers.
N
Niche: A specific market segment that an affiliate focuses on to promote relevant products or services.
P
Pay-Per-Click (PPC): The average amount of money an affiliate makes each time their affiliate links are clicked is displayed as earnings per click or EPC.
Pay-Per-Lead (PPL): A payment model where advertisers pay affiliates based on the number of leads generated.
Pay-Per-Sale (PPS): A payment model where advertisers pay affiliates based on the number of sales generated.
Publisher: An affiliate who markets goods or services to their audience.
R
Revenue Share: A payment model where affiliates earn a percentage of the revenue generated from the sales they drive.
S
Super Affiliate: A highly successful affiliate who generates a significant portion of an advertiser’s sales or leads.
T
Tracking Code: A piece of code included in an affiliate link that tracks the traffic and sales generated by the affiliate.
Traffic: The amount of users who click on affiliate links to reach an advertiser’s website.
V
Vertical: A specific industry or market that an affiliate specializes in promoting, such as health, finance, or technology.
Recommended Next Steps
Understanding affiliate marketing terminology is an important foundation but applying that knowledge is where progress happens.
If you’re building a website for affiliate marketing or an online business, having a fast, reliable, and flexible website matters. A clean setup improves ease of use, trust, and long-term growth.
GeneratePress is a lightweight WordPress theme designed for speed, simplicity, and scalability. It’s beginner-friendly, highly customizable, and well-suited for content-focused websites.
If you’re looking for a structured, beginner-focused path into affiliate marketing, my book provides step-by-step guidance that builds on the concepts explained in this glossary. It’s designed to help you move from confusion to clarity, without hype or unrealistic promises.
👉 From Pain Points to Success: New Affiliate Marketers’ Guide
👉 GeneratePress