All About HopLinks
As a ClickBank affiliate, one of the first things you need to know is how to use HopLinks to promote ClickBank products. This article will teach you everything you need to know about what a HopLink is, how to use one, and how to make sure your HopLinks are working properly.
What is a HopLink?
A HopLink, at its most basic, is just a website address, like www.yahoo.com or www.google.com. However, HopLinks are special, because they include customized information that directs people who click on the HopLink to a ClickBank vendor’s website, where they’ll hopefully make a purchase. The HopLink also includes information about who was responsible for that visit— namely you, the affiliate. This ensures that if a customer clicks on a HopLink you’ve posted and ends up buying the product within 60 days, you get credit for the sale and receive a commission. Basically, HopLinks let ClickBank know who to reward for promoting a sale.
Creating HopLinks
There are two main ways to create personalized HopLinks that you can use to promote ClickBank products.
The most common way is by automatically creating HopLinks using the ClickBank Marketplace. You can search the Marketplace to find products to promote, and then click the Promote button to the right of the product listing to easily generate a HopLink that’s unique to you. This HopLink will be automatically encrypted using HopLink Shield for added security. Once you’ve generated the HopLink, you can copy the HopLink address and paste it anywhere you want to promote the product.
Before you start promoting, we recommend that you paste the HopLink into a text file on your computer using Notepad (or TextEdit on a Mac) or Microsoft Word, and save the file so you can keep track of all the different HopLinks you’ve created and have easy access to them whenever you find a new place to promote products.
The alternate way of creating HopLinks requires you to know your ClickBank account nickname, as well as the nickname of the ClickBank vendor you want to promote. If you know both of these nicknames, you can create your own HopLink by sending people to a website address in the following format:
http://AFFILIATE.VENDOR.hop.clickbank.net
To make the HopLink work, you just replace AFFILIATE with your ClickBank nickname and VENDOR with the vendor’s ClickBank nickname. Some ClickBank vendors will have their nickname listed on their product website if they have a page for affiliates.
If you’d like to add the additional encryption of the HopLink Shield to HopLinks created in this way, you can do so by clicking here. Then you’ll just enter your affiliate nickname and the vendor’s nickname, and the encrypted HopLink will be automatically created for you. Just copy the resulting HopLink and use it to promote products, just like any other HopLink.
How to Use Your HopLink
Once you’ve created a HopLink in the Marketplace or using the manual method above, using a HopLink is simple.
Once you create a HopLink using the Marketplace, you’ll see the following:
HopLink Box
As you can see, there are two formats of your HopLink. The top format is the direct URL, which you can use when you just want to paste a link directly with no HTML formatting. For example, this link format is often used in paid advertising or sharing a link over email, Twitter, or instant messenger with a friend.
The second format is what the HopLink looks like in HTML code. You’d use this type of format if you have your own website and want to post your HopLink, like if you write a product review and want to link to the Pitch Page using your HopLink. You can replace the text that says “Click Here!” with any promotional text you want. You might also use the HTML format when posting a link in a forum or other message boards.
Testing Your HopLink
After you’ve created your first HopLink, it’s important to test it to make sure you’ll receive commissions for sales you promote.
To test your HopLink to make sure it’s working correctly, you can either enter your HopLink directly into your browser’s address bar and hit Enter, or click on your HopLink directly if you’ve already posted it somewhere online. Once you’re on the vendor’s website, click their Buy Now button so you’re taken to the ClickBank order form. If you scroll to the bottom of the order form, you should see [affiliate=yournickname] (see screenshot below).
nickname1
If your nickname does not show up on the order form, take a look at Troubleshooting Your HopLinks.
Adding Tracking IDs to Your HopLinks
ClickBank will automatically track and report results from any HopLinks you use. However, you may wish to perform some additional tracking of your own, so you know which of your promotional efforts are working best for you.
For example, let’s say you’re promoting the same product on a blog, in a forum post, and on Twitter. Since you’ll be posting the same HopLink in all of these places, ClickBank’s reporting will just show you how many clicks your HopLink received, along with any sales you created. However, you won’t be able to tell exactly which source accounted for these sales. This is where Tracking IDs (also called TIDs) come in.
Tracking IDs are short descriptions you create that are added to the end of your HopLinks. The Tracking IDs can be up to 24 characters long, and must consist only of numbers and/or letters (no punctuation or other symbols). When a sale is made using one of your HopLinks, the Tracking ID is passed into ClickBank’s reporting, so you’ll be able to see exactly which of your promotional efforts led to the sale. Your Tracking IDs are visible only to you, so the vendor you send customers to won’t be able to view your Tracking IDs.
For example, if you had a HopLink and wanted to track that it’s coming from your a blog post you created on June 9, 2009, you could use the Tracking ID blogjune92009. When attached to the end of your HopLink, it would look like http://example.hop.clickbank.net/?tid=blogjune92009. Then, if a sale was made, in the sales reporting you would see that Tracking ID listed in the TID column, indicating which of your promotional efforts led to the sale.
You can easily add Tracking IDs to the end of your HopLink when creating HopLinks via the Marketplace. However, if you want to manually create a HopLink for any reason, as shown above, you just need to add ?tid= followed by your desired Tracking ID to the end of the HopLink. Please note that ?tid= needs to be in lower case only.
For more information on using Tracking IDs, see Tracking Your Promotions.
Invalid HopLinks
To ensure proper tracking of your HopLink referrals, your HopLink needs to open into the top level of a new or existing window. For most affiliates, this is not a problem. However, some affiliates attempt to hide their HopLinks by having them open into other types of sub-window objects, such as frames, iframes, layers, applets, or images. These types of HopLinks are considered invalid, and can result in lost affiliate referral credit, incorrect display of your website, or, in the case of abuse of the HopLink system, could result in account termination without notice.
If you’re a beginner affiliate and don’t understand the terminology above, don’t worry. The default methods of creating HopLinks listed above will always generate valid HopLinks.
Passing Parameters
Advanced Users: If you’d like to pass additional parameters through your HopLink that will arrive at the HopLink Target URL, you can do so. We will pass up to 128 bytes of QUERY_STRING data through to the HopLink Target URL.
For example:
http://alan.veronica.hop.clickbank.net/?ZZ=1&YY=123abc would redirect to http://veronicas-site.com/script.php?hop=alan&ZZ=1&YY=123abc.
Please note that passing data is entirely optional.
Troubleshooting Your HopLinks
If you’ve tested your HopLink and it doesn’t seem to be working properly (for example, you get to the vendor’s order form and your affiliate nickname doesn’t appear), check the following things:
1. Make sure that both your nickname and the vendor’s nickname are spelled correctly in your HopLink. If you used the Marketplace to create your HopLink, ClickBank automatically enters the vendor’s nickname, so you’ll only need to check your nickname to make sure it’s spelled correctly. If you have an encrypted HopLink, you can check to make sure both parties’ nicknames are spelled correctly by using the HopShield Decoder.
2. Make sure you are using a properly formatted HopLink, which should look like http://SAMPLETEXT.hop.clickbank.net. Do not use the vendor’s Pitch Page URL with your nickname at the end (e.g., www.samplesite.com/?hop=nickname) as your HopLink, as ClickBank cannot track your sales using this link.
3. Our HopLink tracking system includes cookies. Make sure that you have cookies enabled in your browser, and that you’re not using any third-party anti-spyware/ad-blocker software that could be blocking cookies.
4. If clicking through the HopLink results in a 404 error page, it means that either the vendor’s website is down or the vendor doesn’t have a HopLink Target URL listed in their account. Please inform us if this happens by submitting an inquiry to our Report Problems Form.
5. Use our Vendor/Affiliate Customer Service Form to submit an inquiry if you’ve checked all of the above and are still having problems.
FAQ
Q: I have HopLinks in an older format. Will they still work?
A: Yes, any old HopLinks you have will continue to work. However, we recommend that you use current HopLink formats for improved conversion rates, since they are less likely to be hijacked by spyware or other hostile programs that look for old formats of HopLinks.
Q: What happens if a customer clicks on my HopLink but ends up purchasing the vendor’s product through a non-ClickBank method, like placing a phone order?
A: In this case, you would not receive credit for the sale. We can only track and award commissions when products are purchased through the ClickBank order form. We strongly recommend that ClickBank vendors only accept payment via the ClickBank order form, to ensure our affiliates receive credit for their efforts. When evaluating products to promote as an affiliate, we recommend selecting vendors who only accept ClickBank for payment so ClickBank can track your promotional efforts and credit you properly.
Q: Will I get referral credit if I make HopLinks that open into pop-up or pop-under windows?
A: Yes. Pop-up, pop-under, and “exit” windows are not a problem and can be tracked.
Q: Can ClickBank vendors tell which affiliate sent traffic to their site?
A: Yes, we pass the affiliate’s nickname to the vendor in a parameter called “hop,” which is added to the end of the vendor’s website URL.
Q: With HopLinks, does the first or last affiliate get the commission?
A: When a purchase is made, the commission is awarded to the last affiliate who referred the customer to that particular vendor.
Q: Why does my Marketplace-generated HopLink not show the affiliate and vendor nicknames?
A: The HopLinks that are automatically created by the Create HopLink function in the ClickBank Marketplace are now encrypted. Previously, ClickBank HopLinks created in the Marketplace appeared in the following basic format:
http://affiliate.vendor.hop.clickbank.net
The new HopLinks are simply an encrypted version of the older format. This process makes it easy for our affiliates to receive an encrypted link that is in the proper format and will track accurately.
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Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Choose a Product and Create a HopLink
Choose a Product and Create a HopLink
To learn more about the products in your search, you can click on the Marketplace listing title (in red) to be taken to the vendor’s website. This can help you learn more about the product and get ideas on how to promote it, such as what keywords people might search to find it, benefits you can highlight in your promotions, and more.
In addition, you can click the Vendor Spotlight link on the right side of the listing to learn more about the vendor, including a recent history of their product’s gravity, and any announcements they’ve created for affiliates that may help you promote their product or learn about other interesting products they have coming up. You can also see other accounts they recommend promoting or investigating.
Once you’ve decided on a product to promote, click the Promote button to the right of the listing. This will generate a customized HopLink for you that you can then use to promote the product and get a commission on the sale if someone buys the product after clicking your HopLink. For more information about HopLinks and how they work, as well as how to promote them, see All About HopLinks and Common Ways to Promote Products.
FAQ
Q: How many products can I promote at one time, through the same account?
A: As many as you want! There is no limit to the number of ClickBank products you can promote through your account.
Q: Instead of choosing a specific product to promote, can I earn commissions by referring customers to the ClickBank Marketplace?
A: Yes. When you refer a potential customer to the ClickBank Marketplace, you’ll earn a commission when a customer follows a Marketplace link and buys the product.
Q: If I refer a customer to a vendor’s website and they end up buying several products from the same vendor, will I get a commission on each sale?
A: Yes.
Q: If I refer a customer to a vendor’s website using my HopLink, but they end up buying products from a different vendor, will I receive a commission on the sale?
A: No.
Q: Will promoting products in a language other than English affect my commission?
A: No, you’ll receive your commission in the same way as for English-language products.
To learn more about the products in your search, you can click on the Marketplace listing title (in red) to be taken to the vendor’s website. This can help you learn more about the product and get ideas on how to promote it, such as what keywords people might search to find it, benefits you can highlight in your promotions, and more.
In addition, you can click the Vendor Spotlight link on the right side of the listing to learn more about the vendor, including a recent history of their product’s gravity, and any announcements they’ve created for affiliates that may help you promote their product or learn about other interesting products they have coming up. You can also see other accounts they recommend promoting or investigating.
Once you’ve decided on a product to promote, click the Promote button to the right of the listing. This will generate a customized HopLink for you that you can then use to promote the product and get a commission on the sale if someone buys the product after clicking your HopLink. For more information about HopLinks and how they work, as well as how to promote them, see All About HopLinks and Common Ways to Promote Products.
FAQ
Q: How many products can I promote at one time, through the same account?
A: As many as you want! There is no limit to the number of ClickBank products you can promote through your account.
Q: Instead of choosing a specific product to promote, can I earn commissions by referring customers to the ClickBank Marketplace?
A: Yes. When you refer a potential customer to the ClickBank Marketplace, you’ll earn a commission when a customer follows a Marketplace link and buys the product.
Q: If I refer a customer to a vendor’s website and they end up buying several products from the same vendor, will I get a commission on each sale?
A: Yes.
Q: If I refer a customer to a vendor’s website using my HopLink, but they end up buying products from a different vendor, will I receive a commission on the sale?
A: No.
Q: Will promoting products in a language other than English affect my commission?
A: No, you’ll receive your commission in the same way as for English-language products.
Finding Products To Promote In The Marketplace
Finding Products to Promote in the Marketplace
Searching the Marketplace
To find a product to promote, you should start in the ClickBank Marketplace. You’ll see a search box that looks like this:
Find Products Box
There are two main ways you can look for products: you can search on particular keywords or sales statistics, or browse through product categories and sub-categories in a number of different ways. We have 23 categories of products, with quite a few sub-categories under each. If you’re not sure exactly what types of products to promote, choosing a general category can be a good place to start.
Once you’ve narrowed down your search, you can further sort your results by using the Sort Results By dropdown, narrowing your results based on product attributes, or by performing an Advanced Search.
* Sort by: This menu allows you to order the results of your search based on the sales performance of the products. For example, you can order the results in terms of number of sales, products with the highest average commission rates, amount earned per sale, or more. For a useful guide to how these sales statistics can help you decide which products to promote, see our blog post Sort Your Way to Success. In addition, if you perform a keyword search, products will automatically be ordered based on how relevant they are to your search term(s).
* Narrowing results: You can filter search or browsing results based on a few different criteria, such as product attributes like Shippable Media, in what language(s) the vendor offers the products, and whether the product is a one-time purchase or is a recurring billing product.
* Advanced Search: Our Advanced Search menu lets you perform sophisticated searches to meet certain product criteria. For example, you can look for listings in a particular category that fall within a certain gravity range, or recurring billing billing products above a particular commission rate. Advanced Search lets you get extremely targeted search results, to make sure Marketplace listings meet your rigorous criteria for promotion.
Improving Your Search Results
Sometimes keyword searches occasionally turn up results that don’t fit with your niche. For example, if you search using the term “dog training,” further down the list of results, or depending on how your sort the results, you may end up with other listings that use the term “training” in the description that don’t have anything to do with dogs. If you find that you’re getting too many irrelevant results, you may want to make your search more specific or eliminate keywords that don’t fit your niche. You can do so by adding certain criteria to your search, such as:
* If you enter your keywords in quotes, such as “golf swing,” we will only return listings that use the phrase exactly as entered.
* If you enter your keywords with AND in between, such as golf AND swing, we will only return listings that use both terms.
* If you enter your keywords with OR in between, such as golf OR swing, we will return listings that have either term.
* If you enter your keywords with NOT between, such as golf NOT swing, we will exclude any listings that include the second term.
* If you enter + before a keyword, such as golf +swing, we will only return listings that include the + keyword.
* If you enter – before a keyword, such as golf -swing, we will exclude any listings that include the -keyword.
* If you use parentheses with your keywords, you can do more complicated searches. For example, if you type (golf OR swing) AND help, you will get results that include either golf or swing combined with the word help, such as golf help or swing help.
In addition to those searches, you can also include “wildcards” that can help broaden your results:
* Using the character ? will return listings that use keywords where the ? is replaced with a single letter. For example, if you type gol?, you would get results that include golf or gold.
* Using the character * will return listings that use keywords where the * is replaced with multiple characters. For example, if you type gol*, you would get results that include golf, golfing, golfer, gold, golden, etc. This can be very useful for returning listings with related keywords, like the golf/golfer/golfing example.
* Using the character ~ after a keyword will return listings that include keywords that are spelled similarly to the keyword. For example, if you type roam~, it would return listings with keywords such as roams, foam, etc.
By using these special search techniques, you can make sure your searches are as targeted and relevant to your niche as possible.
What Marketplace Stats Mean
Once you’ve run your search in the Marketplace, you’ll see a list of ClickBank products. At the bottom of each listing, you’ll see sales statistics that look like this:
Sales Stats
Since these statistics are unique to ClickBank, it’s important to know what they mean and how they can help you decide which products to promote. If you forgot what these mean, you can click Stats under any listing to return here.
* Initial $/sale: This is the average amount that an affiliate earns for each sale of this product. One-time upsell purchases are also considered initial sales. This number takes into account refunds, chargebacks, and sales tax. Since vendors may offer products with different prices and commissions, the amount you earn on any given sale may not match this number exactly.
* Avg Rebill Total: This number is only shown if the vendor offers recurring billing products (e.g., products like memberships and subscriptions that regularly bill customers over time). This number shows the average amount an affiliate makes on all of the rebilled sales. Note that this number doesn’t include the initial sale amount.
* Avg $/sale: For one-time purchases, this number is the same as Initial $/sale. If the vendor offers recurring billing products, it equals the average total of the initial sale plus all rebills, divided by the number of initial sales. To put it simply, for every new purchase of this product, this amount is the average you’d make in total over the life of a new customer. However, this is just an average; this amount is not guaranteed.
* Avg %/sale: This number shows the average commission rate earned for all sales of a vendor’s products, including one-time purchases, rebills, and upsell purchases. Since vendors can offer different commission rates for different types of products, this number may not exactly match the commission rate you earn on any given sale.
* Avg %/rebill: This number is only shown if the vendor offers recurring billing products, and shows the average commission rate earned only on rebills.
* Grav: Short for Gravity, this number represents a unique calculation by ClickBank that takes into account the number of different affiliates who earned a commission by promoting this product over the past 12 weeks. Since more recent transactions are given a higher value, this number can give you an idea of what products are “hot” at the moment, in terms of being promoted by many affiliates and making a good number of sales. However, high gravity can also indicate that there will be a lot of competition in promoting this product.
* Cat: The Marketplace category and sub-category of the site.
For more ideas about how to take these different sales numbers into account when deciding what to promote, take a look at our blog post entitled Sort Your Way to Success.
You’ll also see a number of different icons below each listing. Here are the meanings of these icons:
* english Product(s) in English
* french Product(s) in French
* german Product(s) in German
* spanish Product(s) in Spanish
* standard Standard (single-sale) product(s)
* recurring Recurring billing product(s)
* shippable Shippable product(s)
* upsell Upsell product(s)
* afftools Vendor Spotlight listing includes an Affiliate Tools page
Searching the Marketplace
To find a product to promote, you should start in the ClickBank Marketplace. You’ll see a search box that looks like this:
Find Products Box
There are two main ways you can look for products: you can search on particular keywords or sales statistics, or browse through product categories and sub-categories in a number of different ways. We have 23 categories of products, with quite a few sub-categories under each. If you’re not sure exactly what types of products to promote, choosing a general category can be a good place to start.
Once you’ve narrowed down your search, you can further sort your results by using the Sort Results By dropdown, narrowing your results based on product attributes, or by performing an Advanced Search.
* Sort by: This menu allows you to order the results of your search based on the sales performance of the products. For example, you can order the results in terms of number of sales, products with the highest average commission rates, amount earned per sale, or more. For a useful guide to how these sales statistics can help you decide which products to promote, see our blog post Sort Your Way to Success. In addition, if you perform a keyword search, products will automatically be ordered based on how relevant they are to your search term(s).
* Narrowing results: You can filter search or browsing results based on a few different criteria, such as product attributes like Shippable Media, in what language(s) the vendor offers the products, and whether the product is a one-time purchase or is a recurring billing product.
* Advanced Search: Our Advanced Search menu lets you perform sophisticated searches to meet certain product criteria. For example, you can look for listings in a particular category that fall within a certain gravity range, or recurring billing billing products above a particular commission rate. Advanced Search lets you get extremely targeted search results, to make sure Marketplace listings meet your rigorous criteria for promotion.
Improving Your Search Results
Sometimes keyword searches occasionally turn up results that don’t fit with your niche. For example, if you search using the term “dog training,” further down the list of results, or depending on how your sort the results, you may end up with other listings that use the term “training” in the description that don’t have anything to do with dogs. If you find that you’re getting too many irrelevant results, you may want to make your search more specific or eliminate keywords that don’t fit your niche. You can do so by adding certain criteria to your search, such as:
* If you enter your keywords in quotes, such as “golf swing,” we will only return listings that use the phrase exactly as entered.
* If you enter your keywords with AND in between, such as golf AND swing, we will only return listings that use both terms.
* If you enter your keywords with OR in between, such as golf OR swing, we will return listings that have either term.
* If you enter your keywords with NOT between, such as golf NOT swing, we will exclude any listings that include the second term.
* If you enter + before a keyword, such as golf +swing, we will only return listings that include the + keyword.
* If you enter – before a keyword, such as golf -swing, we will exclude any listings that include the -keyword.
* If you use parentheses with your keywords, you can do more complicated searches. For example, if you type (golf OR swing) AND help, you will get results that include either golf or swing combined with the word help, such as golf help or swing help.
In addition to those searches, you can also include “wildcards” that can help broaden your results:
* Using the character ? will return listings that use keywords where the ? is replaced with a single letter. For example, if you type gol?, you would get results that include golf or gold.
* Using the character * will return listings that use keywords where the * is replaced with multiple characters. For example, if you type gol*, you would get results that include golf, golfing, golfer, gold, golden, etc. This can be very useful for returning listings with related keywords, like the golf/golfer/golfing example.
* Using the character ~ after a keyword will return listings that include keywords that are spelled similarly to the keyword. For example, if you type roam~, it would return listings with keywords such as roams, foam, etc.
By using these special search techniques, you can make sure your searches are as targeted and relevant to your niche as possible.
What Marketplace Stats Mean
Once you’ve run your search in the Marketplace, you’ll see a list of ClickBank products. At the bottom of each listing, you’ll see sales statistics that look like this:
Sales Stats
Since these statistics are unique to ClickBank, it’s important to know what they mean and how they can help you decide which products to promote. If you forgot what these mean, you can click Stats under any listing to return here.
* Initial $/sale: This is the average amount that an affiliate earns for each sale of this product. One-time upsell purchases are also considered initial sales. This number takes into account refunds, chargebacks, and sales tax. Since vendors may offer products with different prices and commissions, the amount you earn on any given sale may not match this number exactly.
* Avg Rebill Total: This number is only shown if the vendor offers recurring billing products (e.g., products like memberships and subscriptions that regularly bill customers over time). This number shows the average amount an affiliate makes on all of the rebilled sales. Note that this number doesn’t include the initial sale amount.
* Avg $/sale: For one-time purchases, this number is the same as Initial $/sale. If the vendor offers recurring billing products, it equals the average total of the initial sale plus all rebills, divided by the number of initial sales. To put it simply, for every new purchase of this product, this amount is the average you’d make in total over the life of a new customer. However, this is just an average; this amount is not guaranteed.
* Avg %/sale: This number shows the average commission rate earned for all sales of a vendor’s products, including one-time purchases, rebills, and upsell purchases. Since vendors can offer different commission rates for different types of products, this number may not exactly match the commission rate you earn on any given sale.
* Avg %/rebill: This number is only shown if the vendor offers recurring billing products, and shows the average commission rate earned only on rebills.
* Grav: Short for Gravity, this number represents a unique calculation by ClickBank that takes into account the number of different affiliates who earned a commission by promoting this product over the past 12 weeks. Since more recent transactions are given a higher value, this number can give you an idea of what products are “hot” at the moment, in terms of being promoted by many affiliates and making a good number of sales. However, high gravity can also indicate that there will be a lot of competition in promoting this product.
* Cat: The Marketplace category and sub-category of the site.
For more ideas about how to take these different sales numbers into account when deciding what to promote, take a look at our blog post entitled Sort Your Way to Success.
You’ll also see a number of different icons below each listing. Here are the meanings of these icons:
* english Product(s) in English
* french Product(s) in French
* german Product(s) in German
* spanish Product(s) in Spanish
* standard Standard (single-sale) product(s)
* recurring Recurring billing product(s)
* shippable Shippable product(s)
* upsell Upsell product(s)
* afftools Vendor Spotlight listing includes an Affiliate Tools page
Earning Commissions And Getting Paid
Earning Commissions and Getting Paid
If you’re new to affiliate marketing, the idea of earning commissions for promoting other people’s products can be both exciting and confusing. How do you know how much you’ll earn? How is the sale tracked and reported? When will you get paid for the sales you’ve driven?
Understanding Commissions
Here’s a simple overview of how ClickBank commissions work:
1. You find a product to promote and create a customized HopLink.
2. You promote the product online.
3. A customer clicks on your HopLink, goes to the vendor’s website, and ends up purchasing the product.
4. ClickBank processes the sale and gives you credit for promoting the sale.
5. Your commission is calculated based on the net sale price (see below) and credited to your account within two minutes of the sale.
How Commissions Are Calculated and Reported
Every ClickBank product has a commission rate that is set by the vendor, ranging from 1% to 75%. When you drive a sale to that product, ClickBank processes the sale, applies its charges, then calculates the commission rate based on the remaining net sale amount. Here’s an example of how much you’ll earn on a one-time purchase product with a 55% commission rate:
Retail Price: $29.95
Subtract 7.5% + $1: -$3.25
Net Sale Amount: $26.70
55% of Remainder: $14.69
Therefore, as the referring affiliate for this sale, you would earn $14.69.
Commissions for recurring billing products are slightly different. See Promoting Recurring Billing Products for details.
The maximum commission you can earn on a single sale is $150.
Getting Paid
Obviously, the goal of being an affiliate is to get paid for your efforts. To receive your first commission payment, there are two requirements:
1. You must reach your payment threshold, which you set in your Account Settings.
2. You must meet the Customer Distribution Requirement.
For more details about these requirements, please see our Accounting Policy.
Once you’ve met these two requirements, you can start receiving payments. For more details about ClickBank’s payment schedule see Paychecks.
If you’re located in an eligible country, once you’ve received two paper checks from ClickBank within a 12-week time period, you can start receiving payment via direct deposit. Once you become eligible for direct deposit, you can specify this as your payment method in Account Settings->Payment Information. If you are not within a country supported by direct deposit you may be eligible to receive wire payments.
Refunds and Chargebacks
One question you may have is whether you will still receive your affiliate commission if the product is returned or if the customer requests a chargeback on the purchase. Unfortunately, the answer is no. All money is returned to the customer, so the vendor and affiliate must return their portions of the sale as well.
Because of the 60-day return period for all ClickBank products, we utilize a return allowance to cover the possibility of returns.
FAQ
Q: I misspelled my ClickBank nickname in my HopLink and I know I’ve made sales! Can I get that money?
A: Possibly. If the misspelled nickname you used belongs to another ClickBank user, we cannot transfer that money to your account. However, if the misspelled nickname does not belong to anyone else, you can contact customer service for access to that account. All sales made using that nickname will be listed in the account’s sales reporting, even though the account did not exist when the sales were made. However, we cannot transfer money from that account to your main account.
Q: Can vendors cheat affiliates by “undoing” the commission on a sale, or by pretending that a sale was returned?
A: No. Unlike some other affiliate networks, ClickBank handles all sales processing and commission tracking, so vendors cannot attempt to avoid paying commission on a sale. If a vendor approves a refund on a sale, they lose their portion of the sale as well, so there is no incentive for them to pretend that a sale has been refunded.
If you’re new to affiliate marketing, the idea of earning commissions for promoting other people’s products can be both exciting and confusing. How do you know how much you’ll earn? How is the sale tracked and reported? When will you get paid for the sales you’ve driven?
Understanding Commissions
Here’s a simple overview of how ClickBank commissions work:
1. You find a product to promote and create a customized HopLink.
2. You promote the product online.
3. A customer clicks on your HopLink, goes to the vendor’s website, and ends up purchasing the product.
4. ClickBank processes the sale and gives you credit for promoting the sale.
5. Your commission is calculated based on the net sale price (see below) and credited to your account within two minutes of the sale.
How Commissions Are Calculated and Reported
Every ClickBank product has a commission rate that is set by the vendor, ranging from 1% to 75%. When you drive a sale to that product, ClickBank processes the sale, applies its charges, then calculates the commission rate based on the remaining net sale amount. Here’s an example of how much you’ll earn on a one-time purchase product with a 55% commission rate:
Retail Price: $29.95
Subtract 7.5% + $1: -$3.25
Net Sale Amount: $26.70
55% of Remainder: $14.69
Therefore, as the referring affiliate for this sale, you would earn $14.69.
Commissions for recurring billing products are slightly different. See Promoting Recurring Billing Products for details.
The maximum commission you can earn on a single sale is $150.
Getting Paid
Obviously, the goal of being an affiliate is to get paid for your efforts. To receive your first commission payment, there are two requirements:
1. You must reach your payment threshold, which you set in your Account Settings.
2. You must meet the Customer Distribution Requirement.
For more details about these requirements, please see our Accounting Policy.
Once you’ve met these two requirements, you can start receiving payments. For more details about ClickBank’s payment schedule see Paychecks.
If you’re located in an eligible country, once you’ve received two paper checks from ClickBank within a 12-week time period, you can start receiving payment via direct deposit. Once you become eligible for direct deposit, you can specify this as your payment method in Account Settings->Payment Information. If you are not within a country supported by direct deposit you may be eligible to receive wire payments.
Refunds and Chargebacks
One question you may have is whether you will still receive your affiliate commission if the product is returned or if the customer requests a chargeback on the purchase. Unfortunately, the answer is no. All money is returned to the customer, so the vendor and affiliate must return their portions of the sale as well.
Because of the 60-day return period for all ClickBank products, we utilize a return allowance to cover the possibility of returns.
FAQ
Q: I misspelled my ClickBank nickname in my HopLink and I know I’ve made sales! Can I get that money?
A: Possibly. If the misspelled nickname you used belongs to another ClickBank user, we cannot transfer that money to your account. However, if the misspelled nickname does not belong to anyone else, you can contact customer service for access to that account. All sales made using that nickname will be listed in the account’s sales reporting, even though the account did not exist when the sales were made. However, we cannot transfer money from that account to your main account.
Q: Can vendors cheat affiliates by “undoing” the commission on a sale, or by pretending that a sale was returned?
A: No. Unlike some other affiliate networks, ClickBank handles all sales processing and commission tracking, so vendors cannot attempt to avoid paying commission on a sale. If a vendor approves a refund on a sale, they lose their portion of the sale as well, so there is no incentive for them to pretend that a sale has been refunded.
Get Started As An Affiliate
Get Started as an Affiliate
Becoming a ClickBank affiliate is a quick and easy process. By following the three simple steps below, you’ll be on your way to becoming a successful affiliate in no time! If you’re looking to get started creating and selling your own products as a vendor, click here.
1. Create an Account Here
To get started as a ClickBank affiliate, first you’ll need to create a free account. Fill out the ClickBank signup form, which takes just a couple of minutes. Be sure to enter all of your contact information accurately, in case we need to contact you regarding your account and so we can send you your earnings. You’ll receive an email with an 8-digit confirmation code you’ll need to enter to complete the signup process. This email will contain your account nickname (which you chose) and password (which is the same as the confirmation code you received).
Now that your account is created, click the Log In link on the confirmation page or at the top of the ClickBank website. Once you log in, you’ll be taken to the Account Home page. This is the page where you’ll eventually be able to see your earnings, as well as important ClickBank news, updates, and more.
If you click the next tab, called Account Settings, you will see all of the information you entered on the signup form. If you have listed a U.S. address, you will see a field called Tax ID flashing in red in the Account Information section. If you have a U.S. address and earn over $600 by the end of the calendar year, you’ll need to enter an Employer Identification Number (for businesses) or a Social Security Number (for individuals) in the Tax ID field. For more information, see our Accounting Policy.
Next, you’ll see the Contact Information section. Since you’re an affiliate, you do not need to fill out any of the email addresses or phone numbers in the Contact Information box except for your basic Account Email address and phone.
By clicking Edit on the Payment Information box, you can change your payment threshold, which is the minimum amount you need to earn before we send you a check. Please note that there is a $2.50 processing charge per payment we issue, regardless of the amount of the check or direct deposit. When you first start out, you can only choose to be paid by check. However, once you’ve received two (2) checks, and if you’re in our list of supported countries, you can choose to be paid by direct deposit to your bank account.
Important: Affiliates should not fill out the My Site, My Products, or My Images pages. These are for ClickBank vendors only. Affiliates should not submit product approval requests and do not need to pay an activation charge for their account!
2. Find a Product to Promote
Now that your account is created and you have a ClickBank nickname, you’re ready to find a product to promote. Unless you already have a product in mind that you want to promote, the best place to start is the ClickBank Marketplace. You can find products you’re interested in promoting by searching on particular keywords or browsing by categories and sub-categories. Once you hit Go, you’ll be presented with a list of products matching your criteria.
For more information about deciding which product(s) to promote, see our article Finding Products to Promote.
Once you’ve selected a product, click the Promote button to the right of the product listing. This will pop open a new window, where you’ll enter your ClickBank nickname, an optional Tracking ID, and click Create. This will create a HopLink that’s specifically tied to your nickname and the particular product you choose. It is automatically encrypted for your protection.
You’ll see two versions of the same HopLink. The top version, in black text, is in plain text. You’d use this option if you want to share your HopLink via email, Twitter, Facebook, or any other method where you don’t need to create HTML code yourself. The second version, in blue, is formatted in HTML code in case you want to insert the link directly into your own website or another source that requires HTML formatting. On the second option, you can change the part that says “Click Here!” to say anything you want, such as “Check out this great product I found!”
We recommend that you copy and paste your new HopLink into a text document or save it in some other way on your computer, as ClickBank does not store HopLinks for you. If you don’t save it yourself, you’ll need to return to the Marketplace each time you want to generate the HopLink, which can be time-consuming.
To learn more about HopLinks, see “All About HopLinks,” but for now you’re ready to start promoting your HopLink!
3. Start Promoting Your HopLink
OK, you’ve signed up for your free ClickBank account and have created your first HopLink. But where should you actually start promoting your HopLink? Trying to decide where to spend your time and effort can be a bit overwhelming at first, but we’ll give you some ideas to get started. Once you’ve mastered the basics, your imagination is the only limit to the ways you can promote ClickBank products.
If you have your own website, that is one great place to promote hoplinks. However – it is not necessary to have a website to be a ClickBank affiliate! We’ve created a guide called Common Ways to Promote Products that’s a great place to learn about other methods affiliates use to promote ClickBank products effectively.
An important rule of thumb to remember is that if you want to get a good return on your time, money, and efforts, you should promote products to audiences that might be interested in them. For example, if you post your HopLink to a course on Internet Marketing in a forum dedicated to politics or gardening, people won’t click on your HopLink and you may find yourself quickly banned from the forum.
However, if you link to the same Internet Marketing course in a forum or discussion group dedicated to making money online, along with reasons why you think this is a great product and how it can benefit other members, you’re likely to get many more clicks and purchases from your HopLink. Posting a useful and relevant HopLink and description will also make it more likely that members will trust your recommendations in the future.
The same principle goes for other common promotional techniques like article writing or tapping into your social network— the more relevant and useful the product is to your audience, the better your sales will be.
For more tips on best practices and what techniques to avoid, see our guide Affiliate Dos and Don’ts.
FAQ
Q: To promote different products as an affiliate, do I need multiple accounts?
A: No, you can promote any number of different products as an affiliate through a single account. There is no need to sign up for separate accounts.
Q: Do I need my own website to get started as an affiliate?
A: No, it is not necessary to have a website to be a ClickBank affiliate, though you may use one if you wish. Some other examples of how you might advertise affiliate HopLinks are through the use of online banner ads, e-mail newsletters, online magazines, ads in online classifieds, or advertising on search engines. For more ideas on common ways to promote products, please see our guide called “Common Ways to Promote Products.”
Q: Does ClickBank provide image banners to use in product promotions?
A: No, although many ClickBank vendors will provide banners directly to affiliates via an Affiliates page on their product website. Check Marketplace descriptions or look for an Affiliates link on a vendor’s Pitch Page to see if they offer banners for their product.
Becoming a ClickBank affiliate is a quick and easy process. By following the three simple steps below, you’ll be on your way to becoming a successful affiliate in no time! If you’re looking to get started creating and selling your own products as a vendor, click here.
1. Create an Account Here
To get started as a ClickBank affiliate, first you’ll need to create a free account. Fill out the ClickBank signup form, which takes just a couple of minutes. Be sure to enter all of your contact information accurately, in case we need to contact you regarding your account and so we can send you your earnings. You’ll receive an email with an 8-digit confirmation code you’ll need to enter to complete the signup process. This email will contain your account nickname (which you chose) and password (which is the same as the confirmation code you received).
Now that your account is created, click the Log In link on the confirmation page or at the top of the ClickBank website. Once you log in, you’ll be taken to the Account Home page. This is the page where you’ll eventually be able to see your earnings, as well as important ClickBank news, updates, and more.
If you click the next tab, called Account Settings, you will see all of the information you entered on the signup form. If you have listed a U.S. address, you will see a field called Tax ID flashing in red in the Account Information section. If you have a U.S. address and earn over $600 by the end of the calendar year, you’ll need to enter an Employer Identification Number (for businesses) or a Social Security Number (for individuals) in the Tax ID field. For more information, see our Accounting Policy.
Next, you’ll see the Contact Information section. Since you’re an affiliate, you do not need to fill out any of the email addresses or phone numbers in the Contact Information box except for your basic Account Email address and phone.
By clicking Edit on the Payment Information box, you can change your payment threshold, which is the minimum amount you need to earn before we send you a check. Please note that there is a $2.50 processing charge per payment we issue, regardless of the amount of the check or direct deposit. When you first start out, you can only choose to be paid by check. However, once you’ve received two (2) checks, and if you’re in our list of supported countries, you can choose to be paid by direct deposit to your bank account.
Important: Affiliates should not fill out the My Site, My Products, or My Images pages. These are for ClickBank vendors only. Affiliates should not submit product approval requests and do not need to pay an activation charge for their account!
2. Find a Product to Promote
Now that your account is created and you have a ClickBank nickname, you’re ready to find a product to promote. Unless you already have a product in mind that you want to promote, the best place to start is the ClickBank Marketplace. You can find products you’re interested in promoting by searching on particular keywords or browsing by categories and sub-categories. Once you hit Go, you’ll be presented with a list of products matching your criteria.
For more information about deciding which product(s) to promote, see our article Finding Products to Promote.
Once you’ve selected a product, click the Promote button to the right of the product listing. This will pop open a new window, where you’ll enter your ClickBank nickname, an optional Tracking ID, and click Create. This will create a HopLink that’s specifically tied to your nickname and the particular product you choose. It is automatically encrypted for your protection.
You’ll see two versions of the same HopLink. The top version, in black text, is in plain text. You’d use this option if you want to share your HopLink via email, Twitter, Facebook, or any other method where you don’t need to create HTML code yourself. The second version, in blue, is formatted in HTML code in case you want to insert the link directly into your own website or another source that requires HTML formatting. On the second option, you can change the part that says “Click Here!” to say anything you want, such as “Check out this great product I found!”
We recommend that you copy and paste your new HopLink into a text document or save it in some other way on your computer, as ClickBank does not store HopLinks for you. If you don’t save it yourself, you’ll need to return to the Marketplace each time you want to generate the HopLink, which can be time-consuming.
To learn more about HopLinks, see “All About HopLinks,” but for now you’re ready to start promoting your HopLink!
3. Start Promoting Your HopLink
OK, you’ve signed up for your free ClickBank account and have created your first HopLink. But where should you actually start promoting your HopLink? Trying to decide where to spend your time and effort can be a bit overwhelming at first, but we’ll give you some ideas to get started. Once you’ve mastered the basics, your imagination is the only limit to the ways you can promote ClickBank products.
If you have your own website, that is one great place to promote hoplinks. However – it is not necessary to have a website to be a ClickBank affiliate! We’ve created a guide called Common Ways to Promote Products that’s a great place to learn about other methods affiliates use to promote ClickBank products effectively.
An important rule of thumb to remember is that if you want to get a good return on your time, money, and efforts, you should promote products to audiences that might be interested in them. For example, if you post your HopLink to a course on Internet Marketing in a forum dedicated to politics or gardening, people won’t click on your HopLink and you may find yourself quickly banned from the forum.
However, if you link to the same Internet Marketing course in a forum or discussion group dedicated to making money online, along with reasons why you think this is a great product and how it can benefit other members, you’re likely to get many more clicks and purchases from your HopLink. Posting a useful and relevant HopLink and description will also make it more likely that members will trust your recommendations in the future.
The same principle goes for other common promotional techniques like article writing or tapping into your social network— the more relevant and useful the product is to your audience, the better your sales will be.
For more tips on best practices and what techniques to avoid, see our guide Affiliate Dos and Don’ts.
FAQ
Q: To promote different products as an affiliate, do I need multiple accounts?
A: No, you can promote any number of different products as an affiliate through a single account. There is no need to sign up for separate accounts.
Q: Do I need my own website to get started as an affiliate?
A: No, it is not necessary to have a website to be a ClickBank affiliate, though you may use one if you wish. Some other examples of how you might advertise affiliate HopLinks are through the use of online banner ads, e-mail newsletters, online magazines, ads in online classifieds, or advertising on search engines. For more ideas on common ways to promote products, please see our guide called “Common Ways to Promote Products.”
Q: Does ClickBank provide image banners to use in product promotions?
A: No, although many ClickBank vendors will provide banners directly to affiliates via an Affiliates page on their product website. Check Marketplace descriptions or look for an Affiliates link on a vendor’s Pitch Page to see if they offer banners for their product.
What is an Affiliate?
An affiliate is someone who promotes a product or service to potential customers, in exchange for a commission on the sale when one occurs.
For example, let’s say Alan is an avid gardener. He buys a great ebook through ClickBank about growing bigger roses, and wants to recommend it to others. He signs up for a free account with ClickBank, then finds the ebook about roses in the ClickBank Marketplace and creates a customized HopLink. He posts this HopLink in places where he thinks people would be interested in the ebook, such as a gardening forum he’s a member of, his gardening blog, his Facebook profile, even in an email to some of his gardener friends. The possibilities really are limitless.
If someone clicks on his HopLink to learn more about the ebook and ends up purchasing it, Alan gets a generous commission on the sale— as much as 75%, depending on the product!
Being a ClickBank affiliate is completely free, and takes only minutes to sign up. The best part is that Alan can promote as many ClickBank products as he wants, with no limitations. He also finds and promotes an ebook about how to attract hummingbirds to your garden, and eventually starts promoting products for other topics he’s interested in. ClickBank handles all of the payment processing and commission tracking, so Alan can spend his time finding and promoting great products (as well as gardening, of course).
FAQ
Q: Who can be an affiliate?
A: We accept affiliates from over 150 countries. To see a full list of accepted countries, visit our signup page and click the Country dropdown. You don’t need to own your own website to promote products, though you’ll need a valid email address and phone number where we can contact you.
Q: Does it cost anything to be an affiliate?
A: No, ClickBank does not charge any fees to sign up as an affiliate. You may decide to spend money on your promotional efforts, such as paid advertising, but this is entirely up to you. Please note that there is a one-time $49.95 activation charge for vendors that want to sell their product through ClickBank, but there is no similar charge for affiliates to activate the account.
Q: How much can I earn?
A: The sky’s the limit! We don’t put any cap on how much you can earn with ClickBank, and we have many affiliates who’ve earned thousands or even millions of dollars. Commissions range from 1% to 75% and are determined by the product vendor. The minimum commission for a single sale is $0.25, and the maximum is $150. If you promote recurring billing products, you can even earn recurring commissions from the time of purchase until the subscription is completed or canceled.
Q: How many products can I promote?
A: There’s no limit to the number of products you can promote. ClickBank has tens of thousands of products in our Marketplace, and you can promote any of them immediately, with no contracts or waiting.
For example, let’s say Alan is an avid gardener. He buys a great ebook through ClickBank about growing bigger roses, and wants to recommend it to others. He signs up for a free account with ClickBank, then finds the ebook about roses in the ClickBank Marketplace and creates a customized HopLink. He posts this HopLink in places where he thinks people would be interested in the ebook, such as a gardening forum he’s a member of, his gardening blog, his Facebook profile, even in an email to some of his gardener friends. The possibilities really are limitless.
If someone clicks on his HopLink to learn more about the ebook and ends up purchasing it, Alan gets a generous commission on the sale— as much as 75%, depending on the product!
Being a ClickBank affiliate is completely free, and takes only minutes to sign up. The best part is that Alan can promote as many ClickBank products as he wants, with no limitations. He also finds and promotes an ebook about how to attract hummingbirds to your garden, and eventually starts promoting products for other topics he’s interested in. ClickBank handles all of the payment processing and commission tracking, so Alan can spend his time finding and promoting great products (as well as gardening, of course).
FAQ
Q: Who can be an affiliate?
A: We accept affiliates from over 150 countries. To see a full list of accepted countries, visit our signup page and click the Country dropdown. You don’t need to own your own website to promote products, though you’ll need a valid email address and phone number where we can contact you.
Q: Does it cost anything to be an affiliate?
A: No, ClickBank does not charge any fees to sign up as an affiliate. You may decide to spend money on your promotional efforts, such as paid advertising, but this is entirely up to you. Please note that there is a one-time $49.95 activation charge for vendors that want to sell their product through ClickBank, but there is no similar charge for affiliates to activate the account.
Q: How much can I earn?
A: The sky’s the limit! We don’t put any cap on how much you can earn with ClickBank, and we have many affiliates who’ve earned thousands or even millions of dollars. Commissions range from 1% to 75% and are determined by the product vendor. The minimum commission for a single sale is $0.25, and the maximum is $150. If you promote recurring billing products, you can even earn recurring commissions from the time of purchase until the subscription is completed or canceled.
Q: How many products can I promote?
A: There’s no limit to the number of products you can promote. ClickBank has tens of thousands of products in our Marketplace, and you can promote any of them immediately, with no contracts or waiting.
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