 Why does it take so long for affiliates to add my site?
I often get calls and emails from merchants eager to be advertised on our pages. They've set up their program, it's gone live, they've approved BCL as an affiliate, then day after day they check and there are still no links. What's the hold up, they wonder...
The list of merchants waiting to go onto BCL and our other sites is long, and it gets longer in the lead-up to Christmas when many online shops start looking for new ways to promote themselves. But it's no good thinking about setting up a program in November or December if you want us to promote you for Christmas.
This is the process we go through with new merchants, and problems at any stage will hold up, and sometimes completely stop, progress on your promotion.
1. We assess your suitability to our audience. If you are providing products or services that suit our audience, you're through the first step.
2. We look for something unique. If you've got something that nobody else is offering, you're through quickly. If you're offering much the same as shops already listed, you may be put aside for the time being.
3. We check your shopping cart and tracking. Taking credit cards on a site that's not secure, you're out. Encouraging sales through non-tracking methods like telephone and fax, you get delayed for further assessment. External payment systems, we worry that the customer may not return to your site and the sale won't track. Got a smooth secure payment process, you're through.
4. We look at your affiliate program. If it's with an affiliate network we already use, you're through. If it's a private program or a network we don't already deal with, we have to decide whether it's worth our time getting to know a new platform and the additional accounting involved.
5. We check whether there is anything odd about your tracking. If you're on multiple affiliate programs and/or if you're using internal tracking to override network tracking, you get delayed for further assessment. Got a single network, straight forward program, you're through.
6. We look at your site, categories, and products and decide the most appropriate places to promote you on our sites. Some links go live and we monitor your program for a while for tracking, conversion rates, customer satisfaction, etc
7. When all is well, we increase your promotion and even look at creating additional ways to promote you.
How long does this take? That depends. The ideal new merchant - one with unique and attractive products or services that appeal to our readers, a functional website with good shopping cart and payment system - could be up and running within a week and if there are no tracking issues can have extended promotion within a month.
Sites that get put aside for further assessment for any of the reasons above take much longer.
Posted by Gayle at November 4, 2007 10:17 PM
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