Whether you’re scrolling through social media, reading a blog, watching a YouTube video, or browsing online forums, product links are a common sight. Often, those product links are affiliate marketing referral links. When they come from trusted creators, they can encourage customers to make a purchase.
In this article, you’ll learn how to partner with affiliates, set commission rates, create affiliate links, and more. Plus, you’ll see real-life examples of affiliate links.
What is an affiliate link?
An affiliate link is a URL with a unique ID that allows brands to attribute traffic and conversions for the purpose of paying commission to marketing partners.
When an affiliate partner—the creator, influencer, or publisher posting the link—signs up for a brand’s affiliate marketing program, they receive a unique link to the brand’s website or product pages. These links contain the affiliate partner’s unique ID to track conversions.
When a potential customer clicks on the link, their visit to your site is attributed to the affiliate. If someone buys a product using the affiliate link, the brand pays the affiliate marketer a commission on the sale. Sometimes, affiliate links offer the customer a discount, but not always. Regardless, the creator earns a commission.
Note that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires affiliate partners to disclose their connection to your product or service, which means your affiliates will need to note when they receive commission on links.
Affiliate link example
Brands and creators use affiliate links in many industries, from fitness to makeup. In this example, home and lifestyle creator @srslyynat partners with makeup brand Glossier.

In an Instagram carousel, @srslyynat encourages her followers to use her discount code “nataliegloss” to receive 10% off their Glossier purchase. When viewers navigate to her link in bio, they can find a link to Glossier’s website with the discount code already applied.

When viewers click on the Glossier link, they arrive at the Glossier website. The URL looks like this:
https://www.glossier.com/?dt_id=272106&utm_source=shopifycollabs&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=NATALIEGLOSS
In addition to the creator’s unique ID, the link includes a few Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) parameters. You can add multiple UTM parameters to track details like where customers clicked your links. Here’s a breakdown of the URL:
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dt_id=272106. This ID number attributes link clicks to @srslyynat (this is @srslyynat’s affiliate ID number).
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utm_source=shopifycollabs. Shows the affiliate partnership is run through Shopify Collabs.
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utm_medium=affiliate. Indicates the click came from affiliate marketing rather than another channel like email marketing.
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utm_campaign=NATALIEGLOSS. Shows the traffic came from this particular campaign.
What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a referral marketing technique in which affiliate partners earn a commission by promoting a product or service on behalf of a business—typically a retailer—through affiliate links.
The company rewards the affiliate partner with a payout for achieving specific results, like clicks and conversions (for example, when website visitors sign up for a newsletter or become paying customers). Affiliate marketing takes place on various channels, including TikTok video content, email marketing, blogs, and podcasts.
What is an example of affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing takes many forms but generally involves a partnership between a brand and a creator, tracked using unique affiliate links. Creators receive a commission when someone purchases the product through their link. Here’s an example from the fashion world:
Creator and affiliate marketer @camifromtheinternet posts fashion content like outfits of the day on Instagram. In this TikTok video, she shows a few of her favorite outfits from April. When viewers navigate to her profile homepage and click on her link in bio, they see a list of pages that include affiliate links.
In this product roundup on the affiliate marketing platform ShopMy, viewers can shop the individual products @camifromtheinternet highlights in her April outfit video, including a pair of Alohas sneakers and a pair of white Tecovas cowboy boots.

When you click on a product in the roundup, you’re redirected to the brand’s website. For example, clicking on the cowboy boots takes you to Tecovas website.

If you check the browser bar after clicking an affiliate link like this, you’ll see tracking information in the form of UTM parameters. In this case, these parameters indicate:
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The affiliate was sourced through a partnership with this particular creator (utm_campaign=Camila+Perez+Downey)
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The link was posted on ShopMy (utm_referrer=shopmy.us)
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The content that drove the traffic was the creator’s April Favorites roundup (utm_content=April+Faves+-+From+my+Closet)
6 benefits of using affiliate links
- Increased brand trust
- Projected growth of affiliate marketing
- Added accountability
- Opportunity for relationship-building
- Ease of use and efficiency
- SEO improvements
Brands use affiliate marketing to strategically and organically expand their customer base. Affiliate links can benefit your brand through:
1. Increased brand trust
Successful affiliate marketing accelerates the process of building brand trust, since a relationship already exists between the affiliate partner and the consumer. When customers see someone they trust promoting your brand, they may be more likely to make the leap to buy your products.
2. Projected growth of affiliate marketing
The affiliate marketing industry is growing: According to a report from Cognitive Market Research, the sector was valued at $18.5 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8% through 2031.
This growth is likely due to consumers’ high level of trust in influencer recommendations. A 2024 study from influencer marketing company Traackr found 63% of consumers felt influencer posts had some sway on their purchase decisions, and 48% of consumers said they look to influencers for product recommendations.
3. Added accountability
Affiliate programs can provide access to metrics that you might not be able to source through standard influencer marketing partnerships, in which you simply gift products to influencers or pay them upfront to promote your brand. With affiliate marketing, brands can capture sales analytics and traffic data from affiliate links. You can capture bigger-picture data, too.
For example, an affiliate marketing platform like Shopify Collabs shows you campaigns’ return on investment (ROI). This lets you track your affiliate sales against the commissions and gifts you’re offering, helping you ensure you’re setting the right commission rates.
Affiliate programs like Shopify Collabs also give you insight into the performance of individual affiliates. “It’s very important that you monitor your top creators,” says Lizzy Masotta, Shopify Collabs senior product lead. “If there is a creator who’s very high performing for you, it’s probably a good idea to retain that creator and make sure you can continue to give them the incentives that they deserve, so they keep promoting your brand accordingly.”
4. Opportunity for relationship-building
Using affiliate links can benefit affiliates and brands alike. The business gains from access to the creator’s audience, increasing traffic and conversions, while the affiliate marketer earns money through commissions.
This helps strengthen relationships between brand partners and can lead to long-term partnerships with top creator talent. It can also incentivize creators to continue posting about your products, as they earn a commission on each sale.
5. Ease of use and efficiency
Affiliate marketing has low upfront costs, making the potential ROI high. There’s no need to hire an advertising firm or purchase advertising space. Instead, you can rely on your affiliate partners to market your products or services for you—and you only pay your affiliate partners a percentage when they generate sales.
6. Potential for SEO improvements
Affiliate links don’t directly boost your search engine optimization (SEO), since search engines typically don’t treat them as regular backlinks (which can improve your ranking). However, affiliate marketing content might benefit your website’s SEO if affiliates run blogs with relevant, high-quality content—like product roundups or reviews—that include affiliate links.
Keep in mind that this only applies to blogs: Social media content is not the most effective way to boost your site’s ranking on search engines.

How to make affiliate links
Leveraging affiliate links can increase your business’s visibility and generate new revenue. Here’s how to make your own affiliate links in a few key steps:
1. Log in to your affiliate tool
Log in to your affiliate management app or tool. Here, you can set commission rates, generate links, and track your affiliates’ performance.
If you use Shopify Collabs, you can access all this information directly within your Shopify admin. Under Apps, select Collabs.
🌟 Just getting started? Learn how to set up a successful affiliate program for your brand, step by step.
2. Add affiliates
Add affiliates to your program. Affiliate management platforms like Shopify Collabs offer extensive affiliate networks, which you can browse to find new partners. Search by name and market niche to select affiliates who are suitable ambassadors for your products or services.
The affiliates you choose to work with have access to an affiliate dashboard to keep both parties aligned on your affiliate marketing strategy. With a platform like Shopify Collabs, you can also manage your payments from a single hub.
On Shopify Collabs, there are a few ways to add affiliates:
Open access program
This option lets vetted creators on Shopify Collabs start posting your affiliate links without you having to manually approve each one. You’ll set a standard commission rate, then eligible creators in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom can find your brand and automatically generate links for themselves.
While this helps you forge multiple partnerships, it offers less control.
Creator invites
If you have existing relationships with creators or already know which creators you want to work with, you can invite them to join Shopify Collabs and manage all your partnerships from one place.

Applications
If you want to approve each affiliate you work with but don’t have specific creators in mind, you can invite creators on Shopify Collabs to partner with you. Customize your application questions to help you find the right fit.

Recruitment
Shopify Collabs has a large talent pool of creators. Filter and sort creators by audience size, location, and channel.

3. Create affiliate links
Now that you know which creators you’re working with, it’s time to create your affiliate links. If you’re using the Open Access program, these links are generated for you.
If you’re selecting creators yourself, visit your Collabs dashboard to create unique affiliate links for each of your partners. You’ll need to decide whether you want affiliate links for individual products or for your entire store (which means deciding which products are commissionable).
4. Customize the URLs

Your links automatically include affiliate-specific information, but to capture additional analytics, you can add UTMs. For example, you could add “utm_source = campaign name" to track the success of a particular campaign.
Most auto-generated URLs for product pages look like random strings of letters and numbers, and UTM parameters can make them even longer. Shopify Collabs lets you customize and cloak your affiliate link URLs, making them more memorable for customers.
Your URLs should be branded, clean, and consistent—and personalized to each creator. This makes your links user-friendly and maintains consistent branding across partnerships. For example, the athletic wear company Gymshark could use the link “gymshark.com/john20” for a creator named John offering a 20% discount to customers who purchase through his link, and “gymshark.com/lindsay20” for a creator named Lindsay.
Your business needs an affiliate program
Affiliate programs are an effective way to drive ecommerce traffic, grow sales, support your marketing campaigns, and increase brand awareness. With little to no overhead costs for marketing, it’s relatively easy to start an affiliate program.
Key steps include identifying your niche market, researching affiliates that suit your brand (or working with an affiliate network), and creating affiliate links that drive revenue for your business and commissions for your affiliates.
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How to make affiliate links FAQ
Can anyone create affiliate links?
Anyone with an affiliate program can create a unique affiliate link. You can use an affiliate platform like Shopify Collabs to generate links, find affiliate partners, and track their performance.
How much do affiliate programs cost?
Marketing your program can be free, but initial costs for joining an affiliate network or subscribing to an affiliate management app typically range from $0 up to $2,000, depending on the network size. Networks often charge a transaction fee based on a monthly minimum number of transactions. Shopify Collabs is free for Shopify users.
How much do affiliate links pay publishers?
Affiliate marketing programs vary in the incentives they offer affiliates. Some pay a fixed dollar amount per sale, while others provide a percentage. For example, Amazon affiliates typically earn a commission ranging from 1% to 20%, depending on the product category. With a program like Shopify Collabs, you can set your own commission rates for individual partners.
Do affiliate links pay per click?
Affiliate links may use various payment models, including pay per click (PPC), pay per action (PPA, such as subscribing to a newsletter), and pay per lead (PPL), where payout is based on every lead generated through the affiliate’s platform. However, the most popular compensation structure is the commission-based pay per sale, in which a percentage payout or commission fee is paid for each sale generated through an affiliate link.
Why engage in affiliate marketing?
Consider affiliate marketing to increase your online sales and improve brand awareness.