Creating affiliate links

Use this guide to turn ordinary product URLs into revenue-generating affiliate links.

1. Start with Clean, Direct URLs

Import products without any affiliate parameters. External Importer will handle the tracking bits later.

Tip: You don’t have to join affiliate programs up front. Your site will work fine with direct links; you can add monetization once you’re approved by an advertiser or network.

2. Add New Domains

  1. Automatic – Every time you import a product from a new domain, that domain is added to External Importer → Settings → Deeplinks.

  2. Manual – To add merchant domains manually, go to the same page and enter them yourself.

3. Choose a Link-Building Method

Affiliate programs fall into two broad categories. Configure each domain accordingly:

Method
Used by
How It Works
What You Configure

A. Deeplink (redirect)

Most affiliate networks (Admitad, AWIN, Impact, etc.)

Visitor hits the network’s tracking URL → network records the click → visitor is redirected to the product

A single Deeplink template

B. Affiliate-ID parameter

Direct programs (Amazon Associates, eBay Partner Network, etc.)

Your unique ID is appended to the product URL; no extra redirect

The parameter name (e.g., tag=) and your affiliate ID

4. Set Up Deeplinks (Redirect Method)

  1. Generate a valid affiliate link for any non-homepage product in your network panel.

    Example:

    https://ad.admitad.com/g/383ee6455773fd57830a7d95a12660/?ulp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lightinthebox.com%2Fen%2Fp%2Fkids-girls-rainbow-dress-purple_p7923807.html

  2. Replace the encoded product part with the template token:

    https://ad.admitad.com/g/383ee6455773fd57830a7d95a12660/?ulp={{url_encoded}}

  3. Paste this template into Deeplink for the corresponding domain.

Template tokens you can use

Token
Replaced with

{{url_encoded}}

Percent-encoded product URL

{{url}}

Plain (unencoded) product URL

{{post_id}}, {{author_id}}, {{author_login}}

Useful sub-IDs for tracking clicks

Verify: Refresh a product page on your site, click its button, and confirm the redirect lands on the correct product page.

5. Set Up Affiliate-ID Parameters (Direct Method)

Some affiliate programs—like Amazon Associates—don’t use redirects. Instead, they rely on a tracking parameter directly in the product URL.

Correct Setup (Example: Amazon)

Affiliate link example:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XKF5RM3/?tag=yourtag-20

Breakdown:

  • Parameter name: tag=

  • Affiliate ID: yourtag-20

In Deeplinks settings for Amazon (or any similar domain):

Enter the full parameter:

tag=yourtag-20

This includes both:

  • The parameter name (tag=)

  • Your unique ID (yourtag-20)

External Importer will automatically insert it into the correct place in all product URLs from that domain.

Common Mistakes (Don't Do This)

The following inputs are incorrect or discouraged:

Incorrect Input
Why it’s wrong

yourtag-20

❌ Missing parameter name

?tag=yourtag-20

❌ Do not include ? — it will be added automatically if needed

&tag=yourtag-20

❌ Do not include & — External Importer handles it

Even though External Importer may try to correct these, always use the clean param=value format for best results.

6. Edit Anytime, Track Instantly

External Importer rewrites links on the fly. Change your Deeplink or ID settings whenever you:

  • Switch affiliate networks

  • Update to a new tracking ID

After each change, check your network’s reporting panel to ensure clicks are being registered.

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