Datafeeds for Affiliates
Enabling affiliates to create a product/brand storefront, a comparison shopping engine or a collection of products to complement a review or blog post, an optimized data feed provides the key product information that shoppers look for prior to making a purchase, including product images, descriptions, prices, availability etc. As an affiliate, by providing this information in an organized, condensed and automated format on your website, not only will you save time, you will begin generating more click-through’s, and most importantly, more conversions.
Indeed, merchant data feeds are a powerful tool for maximizing your affiliate revenue. And yet, they can also be very complicated to seamlessly integrate with a website. This is why Green Affiliate Programs recommends utilizing a feed importing service, such as Datafeedr, FMTC or Feeds4. With platforms like these, there’s no need to concern oneself with all of the programmatic, technical jargon needed to set up datafeeds for affiliates.
For WordPress sites, we highly recommend using Datafeedr. Click the video immediately below to visit Datafeedr and watch their brief, 5-minute presentation describing how this amazing platform works. For additional affiliate tools for WordPress sites, please see our WordPress Affiliate Tools page.
For non-Wordpress affiliate sites, the most common data feed importing solutions are: software platforms, server scripts, online services (see below), affiliate network solutions and private-label solutions offered by merchants. Of these, the least technical know-how is needed for online applications and network solutions. The aforementioned Rakuten-owned FMTC and Feeds4 are both online importing services that can be integrated by dropping in a single line of code on one’s website.
FMTC is the leader in product and deal content, offering the largest selection of feeds with accurately priced products, descriptions and deal content poised to convert into sales. FMTC work in the same fashion that content monetization tools like Sovrn and Skimlinks automatically embed affiliate links.
Feeds4 is another excellent affiliate datafeed aggregator, offering users the ability to quickly find highly targeted content and benefit from Feed4’s dynamic API endpoints to custom tailor the content you need.
The other, low-tech method for integrating datafeeds for affiliates is through affiliate network solutions. Shareasale’s “Make-A-Page” feature, for example, enables affiliates to search products by keyword and select desired products to go on a pre-coded web page that can be displayed by simply copying and pasting the HTML code.
As you can see, there are many ways to integrate a data feed. While in the early days of affiliate marketing, only the technically savvy were able to make use of this vital tool, nowadays there are many user-friendly data feed solutions for affiliates.
If you are a prospective or current Green Affiliate, and have questions or need additional recommendations regarding data feed solutions, please contact us.
