Glossary of Affiliate Marketing Terms

Demystifying Common Abbreviations

It's become almost a different language it seems sometimes with all the jargon, acronyms, and abbreviations that float around today within the affiliate marketing industry. Whether you're an oldie or a newbie, I’m sure you’ve heard one or two new ones in the recent months that have made you think, “huh?” One could almost have an entire conversation using these terms and never speak a full word or phrase. Here are some commonly used acronyms and their meanings:

CPC- Cost Per Click

The amount you pay each time someone clicks on your ad or the amount you earn each time someone clicks on your ad. Most frequently you’ll hear this term used as CPC advertising, cost per click advertising when referring to running campaigns through search engines.

CPA- Cost Per Action /or Cost Per Acquisition

You’ll find this term most commonly used within affiliate programs. This refers the amount paid for each action which is most cases is a lead.

CPL-Cost Per Lead

You’ll also hear some affiliate managers use this term when they refer to how much they pay per lead.

ECPM-Earnings per 1000 Impressions

The M is the Roman numeral for 1000

EPC- Earnings Per Click

This is the amount of money you’ll earn for every 100 clicks. To calculate your epc, simply divide your earnings by the number of clicks and then multiply that amount by 100. (Earnings/Clicks) x 100= Earnings per Click

MLM- Multi Level Marketing

This is any marketing structure that has 3+ levels. This type of marketing generally has strict regulations and should be entered into carefully.

ROI- Return on Investment

For anyone involved in marketing, this is probably one of the most important terms. This is a measure of your profits of a campaign after all associated costs have been deducted. The higher the ROI, the higher the success level of the campaign.

SEM- Search Engine Marketing

This is similar to SEO and also includes pay per click marketing, paid inclusion, and anything that drives traffic to sites by use of search engines.

SEO- Search Engine Optimization

This is a method used by site designers and content writers to create their site in such a way that it is very search engine friendly. It is most commonly used to gain top rankings within the search engines.

Commonly Used Terms

Affiliate

An affiliate is someone who advertises for another company, commonly known as a merchant. The affiliate is then paid on a per performance basis.

Merchant

A merchant is the company who pays affiliates to generate sales and traffic for them on a per performance basis.

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