Keeping records of Affiliate Links
Keeping track of Affiliate Links
Since I started my website(s), I have always made a note on a spreadsheet, of the Affiliate Links that I have used on each page.
For example, I have the Amazon short code, so I paste that link on my website, and again into column one of my spreadsheet. Next column is the date it was added to the website. 3rd column has the actual product link that the short code points to. And then 4th column maybe a description tag or meta tag if it was used for the link. Finally 5th column would be the title text.
And sometimes I add the keyword or phrase that I was targetting, into another column.
Does anyone else do this?
Part of me wanted to keep track in case something changed with a link, or if the advertizer/merchant changed something and I was required to find out where I had specifically used the link.
Another reason was to be able to analyse how many times I had used common phrases like "Click Here", or "Click now" etc.
But it's wearing me out trying to keep track and constantly copying and pasting links - and often forgetting. And it makes me think I'm probably being a little OCD about it all.
Two Questions
1. Does anyone else do this and if Yes,
2. Do you have a better method of keeping track than mine?
I'm inclined to stop doing this but I thought I would check if anyone else did anything similar, just in case the sky falls in or something ;-)
Thanks for reading
Michael
Recent Comments
21
No. I do not use time to do that. If an affiliate partner do any changes I go over my posts to see if my links are still valid. On Social media posts I just remove invalid links or posts if necessary.
I use OneNote on my computer for keeping track of links Michael. It updates my laptop too to keep them all up to date.
I use OneNote a lot for odd notes for things I want to remember. I often put different links and notes on different pages so I can see where they are at a glance. That way if the links change I just change them on the page removing the others.
Hope this helps.
I think it's a great idea but I also think it sounds like a bit of a task to maintain.
So I'll follow along to see if anyone else has a better method.
Thanks for the post and question.
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I haven't been doing it, but I will be now! I've been thinking about something like this and I like your ideas. I wasn't going to be including keywords. I think that's a great idea as well. I might also include a column for each of the keywords indicating where those pages rank in Google.
From some of the answers here, I think I will probably stick with the system but try to simplify it. As @drjec mentioned, it saves having to login to the affiliate site every time to download the same link.
So William, I recommend trying to keep it simple.