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Affiliate Links and Keywords

Affiliate Links allows you to monetize certain links by replacing them with affiliate tracking links that you earn commission on.

To navigate to Affiliate Links, go to ACP > Monetize > Affiliate links and keywords > Manage affiliate links.

To add an affiliate link, under Manage affiliate links click Add affiliate link.

General Options:​

Title - Name the affiliate link to help you identify it.

Reference link prefix - This will be added at the beginning of the original link if the conditions are met to convert the original link into an affiliate tracking link.

Reference link suffix - This will be added at the end of the original link if the conditions set are met to convert the original link into an affiliate tracking link.

Reference link find and replace - This option allows for any part of the original link to be replaced. Enter the string you wish to find in the first input box and the string you wish to replace it with in the second input box.

Reference link component replace - This option allows for specific parts of the original link to be replaced. Select the component you wish to replace from the dropdown menu and the string you wish to replace it with in the input box. The component parts that can be replaced are:

  • Scheme (e.g. http)
  • Host (e.g. www.themehouse.com)
  • Port (e.g. 80)
  • Username
  • Password
  • Path (e.g. /help/documentation/monetize/faqs)
  • Query (after the question mark ?)
  • Fragment (after the hashmark #)

Active - Check this box for the affiliate link to be enabled. Each affiliate link can be individually enabled or disabled.

URL cloaking - When checked, this hides the reference links and they are processed through a gateway. Please note that your Google rankings can be severely penalized by cloaking.

URL encoding - When checked, this encodes the reference links for meeting affiliate link provider requirements.

Affiliate links can be matched based on the following criteria:

  • Domain matches/does not match This can include any full part of the domain which must/must not appear (e.g. themehouse).
  • Domain extension matches/does not match This is the very last full part of the domain which must/must not appear (e.g. com, uk).
  • Reference link matches/does not match This is any part of the reference link, including the domain which must/must not appear (e.g. house.com/help).

Other criteria:​

You can use the User criteria, User field criteria, and Remote platform criteria to set additional criteria for your affiliate link. The Remote platform criteria comes from the platforms you have set up using XLink. If you don’t have XLink or any platforms set up, this will not be an option.

Keywords​

Keywords allows you to monetize certain keywords and replace them with links where users can be directed to purchase related products or services.

To navigate to Keywords, go to ACP > Monetize > Affiliate links and keywords > Manage keywords.

There are a few global options you can set for Keywords:

  • Keyword replace limit per page This sets the per page maximum number of total keyword replacements to make for all active keyword replacements. Set it to 0 for unlimited keyword replacements.
  • Keyword replace limit per word/phrase This sets the per word maximum number of keyword replacements to make per page. Set it to 0 for unlimited keyword replacements. If there is a limit set on a specific keyword, this value is ignored.

Note: Keyword replace limit per page and Keyword replace limit per word/phrase can also be set under Options by navigating to ACP > Monetize > Options > Affiliate links and keywords.

Once a keyword has been replaced, it will not be able to be replaced again. For example, if you have a replacement that replaces McDonalds with Burger King and another replacement that replaces King with Queen, the second replacement will not be applied here.

Adding a keyword​

To add a keyword, under Manage keywords click Add keyword.

General Options:​

Title - Enter a name for the keyword to help you identify it.

Word or phrase - Enter the word or phrase you want to replace.

Replace with link to URL - Enter the link you want to replace the word or phrase with.

Replace with text - Enter the text you want to replace the word or phrase with. You can use HTML here.

Limit - This sets the maximum number of keyword replacements to make for this word/phrase per page. If this limit would cause either of the limits in the global options to be breached, then the global options will take precedence.

Active - Check this box for the keyword to be enabled. Each keyword can be individually enabled or disabled.

Other Criteria:​

You can use the User criteria, User field criteria, and Remote platform criteria to set additional criteria for your keyword. The Remote platform criteria comes from the platforms you have set up using XLink. If you don’t have XLink or any platforms set up, this will not be an option.