Best Way to Track Affiliates

Should I use PayPal and Unique URLs or 1shoppingcart?

[CLTaylor]

I have a new website that sells a $10 national criminal search and 2 people want to be affiliates.

What is the best way to track their traffic?

Should I create a URL that is uniquely their own and every time someone orders from their page it gets tracked through 1Shoppingcart? They are concerned about people buying once from them and then going straight to my URL homepage and they wouldn't get credit for subsequent orders.

So how do I handle this? And is there a way to do this and still use PayPal which is what I use on my existing system?

Thanks for helping,
Cathy

[unilytics]

Using "visitor history" within WebTrends will allow you to store the information on which affiliate originally sent the customer to your site. It uses first party cookies so it will be the best option versus third party cookies, IP addresses, or just looking at the referring URL.

However, if you are planning for only 2 people, are you sure you want to make such an investment in your analytics? You might want to try a CPA network for starters. Following that, white-labeling is really the best way that your affiliates will be able to get credit for 100% of their driven sales.

[webboy1]

For just 2 affiliates, you might be just as well helping them list the product on their site and selling themselves. Each time they make a sale, they simply pass you an order form (fax / email) and you process. You then invoice them a cost.

That way the affiliate can sell as their own, you have transparency on every order and affiliates generates cash. Importantly, it removes the worry the affiliates have about subsequent sales.

This would make them more of a reseller than an affiliate, but it might be an easier way to go for just 2 people.