When you review affiliate applications there can be questions as to how to do this effectively and to ensure only the right affiliates are joining your program.
Below we have outlined some of the indicators that you can choose to question for further clarification or decline the affiliate:
- Does the traffic source resolve correctly?
- Does the website content match or compliment your vertical or industry?
- Has the affiliate categorised their website correctly?
- Do they have traffic, or a social media following?
- Are they promoting by a permitted marketing method according to your terms and conditions?
If the answer is no to any of the above, feel free to decline the application or contact the affiliate for more detail.
We recommend screening your affiliate applications twice per week or once at a minimum and please reject as well as accept, so the affiliates are not waiting to get a response. The quicker an affiliate is approved to promote the sooner you can start to see traffic and (hopefully) conversions.
Additional red flags to be aware of which are not as common:
- Trademark or Brands in the URL
If an affiliate has websites that contain trademarked terms or brands that are not theirs then is a good indicator of an affiliate that may not be the best fit for you.
- Nonsensical Website Descriptions
If an affiliate has used descriptions that make no sense then this can indicate a poorer performing affiliate.
- Inappropriate Content
If the program promotes content that doesn’t align to your brand image/equity/values etc. then this is a good indicator to not partner with the affiliate. - Malware Warning
Whilst we have put in a place the inability for a site to be added to our network if it contains malware we cannot guarantee this 100% as the malware may have been placed on the site after our initial verification. Malware may not always be intentional and could be due to a hacker or exploiter having gained access to an affiliate's website. Make the affiliate aware that your browser notified you it may not be a safe site to browse to by sending them a message. If no response or this warning hasn't changed after a few days then opt to not allow this website.