If your affiliates are driving traffic and link conversions for your brand, then that’s great! You may want to learn where exactly that traffic is coming from though. Here’s how you can find that information.
Please note: Finding referring traffic sources can only be done with link conversions. Traffic source reporting is not available for conversions of other types of promotion methods (coupon code, customer email, or SKU).
From the Conversions tab:
One of the columns on the Conversions page is ‘Conversion Referrer’. For link conversions, this will show the referring URL (the page or domain the customer was on when they clicked the affiliate’s link) of the sale. You may need to scroll sideways to the right to see the column, but you can also use the gear icon on the right to remove columns to get a more compact view:
If the referring URL is very long and does not fully show in the column, then you can hover over it with your mouse to see the full URL:
In a Report
Follow the above instructions if you just want a general overview/quick look at your affiliates’ link traffic. If you want this data provided to you in a report, which can be scheduled for recurring send, then please go to our report request form.
From there you can select the Conversions report type and select the Conversion traffic Sources report. There will be a preview of the column headers included, and you can set the report to be sent every day, week, month or quarter:
Why do some link conversions not have a referring URL?
Our reporting will provide the referring URL of a link conversion when available, although sometimes link conversions will not have a referring URL. Direct traffic (clicks with no referring site) are most often the result of a user entering a URL into their browser’s navigation bar (by copying and pasting a link instead of clicking it) or using a bookmark to directly access the site.
There are also cases where users can reach your site in other ways that would result in no reported referring URL. Common instances include:
Clicking an untagged link from an email (depending on email provider/program)
Clicking a link from a mobile social media app like Facebook or Instagram. Mobile apps may not pass referrer information.
Accessing the site from a shortened URL (depending on the URL shortener)
Clicking a link from a Microsoft Office or PDF document.
In some situations, accessing a site from organic search may end up being reported as Direct due to browser settings/issues.
What’s Next?
While you’re reviewing your reporting options, you can also check out our best practice guide on how to use reports to help with setting goals and concrete benchmarks for your affiliate program.