Affiliate Cookie Duration

Cookies are not the things that you need when it comes to computers. Their small snippets of information that track, which affiliate link, you have come through so that if you click through an affiliate link and then go somewhere else.

Even if the visitor comes back to the vendor’s site later, you will still be credited with the sale.

Cookie length refers to how long the cookie remains active in the visitor's system. This can range from 24 hours to 90 days or more depending on what the vendor has set.

Ideally you will want to pick a program where the cookies don't expire for while, so that your chances of making the commission off of the original referral goes up.
Short Cookie Duration

Places like eBay are not very good on cookies, because they only last as long as the session lasts.

What this means is that when you close your browser, the session is over. That means if your referral gets called away or if their computer dies after they click through your link, even if they buy something on eBay, you won't be credited.


eBay has a natural advantage in the fact that everyone uses it. And there are thousands of products on the site to choose from.

Other places have much longer cookie expiration dates, so it's very important to figure out which affiliate program has a good cookie expiration length that fits your website.

High Traffic Ratio

Gauging the traffic will show you how much money you can make with a specific affiliate program.

What you'll need to do is look at the hit per sale ratio, and it will tell you the number of times the promo gets hit, before someone actually decides to buy the product or service.

Good Promotional Materials

Choosing a good affiliate program is like choosing a good pair of shoes. You want the shoes to fit, to be comfortable and last a long time.

The same can be said of a good affiliate program, and you should expect the vendor to provide you with sales pages, ad slicks, text and banner ads, and anything else that will allow you to easily promote their products.


After you've chosen a good program you want to start marketing it. It's a good idea to try and think outside of the box and be as creative as possible when you set out to promote a product.

The reason for this is that you don't want to promote it like everybody else; you want to bring your own slant to marketing the product.

This is not to say that you should not use the materials and creatives that you get; however, when you can, think creatively.

In other words, you'll want to do some traditional marketing, but also a little pushing the envelope as well.