How to make sure your affiliates will be credited for the sales they
produce
Very Crucial Note: In any case you must include the
javascript codes as described below to all the pages that participate to your
affiliate program.
The philosophy first
One of the unique features of JVM is that you can create a Package, include
ANY Product you want in that Package NO MATTER if that Product resides on the
same server where JVM is installed or to another one. As you can also see, you
can include a description for a specific Product and thus include a URL that can
direct people to the homepage of that Product - for getting more information
before selecting and ordering it.
This way, you can have JVM installed in 1 server and manage everything from
there.
So far so good, but if you want to include any of those Products in your
affiliate program, you must make JVM to remember cliens so it can credit the
correct affiliate. This is why cookies are required.
In general:
JVM's cookies last for 10 years.
The newest cookies replaces the last one; so if A suggests the product
to C, C does not order and B suggests the same product to C and C orders, B
will get the commission.
What to include to your pages
1) If the pages that participate to the affiliate program are located on the
same server with where JVM is installed, you can include this code:
2) If the pages that participate to the affiliate program are NOT located on
the same server with where JVM is installed, you can include this code:
Again: You must include the above code to ALL pages that participate to the
affiliate program running by JVM, no matter if the page is on Server A, on
Server B or on the same Server with JVM.
Example:
The main affiliate program we use is located at
www.use-sell.com. Product offered through
the affiliate program are on different servers, like
www.turbocd.com,
www.jvmanager.com, etc. For making the
affiliate program to work we must include to all pages this code: <script
language=javascript src="http://www.use-sell.com/jvm-supl-tk/jvm_aff.js"></script>
How to "chain" pages that are located to different servers
Technically speaking, a cookie corresponds to a specific server. So the
challenge for JVM was to be able its cookies to be recognizable by the affiliate
program even if the pages that participate to the affiliate program are located
to different servers.
Example:
Suppose that JVM is installed to Server S and you have created a Package with
2 Products:
Product A on Server A, and
Product B on Server B.
What you must do is first to include the js code as described above to all
homepages of both products A and B. So since both products are not located to
the same server with the one JVM is installed you'd include this code in A's
index page and also in B's index page: <script language=javascript src="http://www.JVMserverHERE.com/jvm-supl-tk/jvm_aff.js"></script>
Since both products A and B are part of the same Package, they have a common
"order" link: the Package's URL (the URL you get for each Package, when clicking
"Packages.")
However, since the customer is directed to Server A or B we must create a
connection between JVM's cookies that are activated by the js code, as described
above AND the ORDER LINK that will say to JVM to connect the cookies created to
any of the Servers A or B with the cookies on JVM's server - and thus reach the
desirable result: to credit an affiliate if one exists for these sales.
For this reason, YOUR ORDER LINK must have this format:
Let's see an example with the order link for the TurboCDs' Package. Here is
the link:
Cookies will be activated by this code: <script language=javascript src="http://www.use-sell.com/jvm-supl-tk/jvm_aff.js"></script>
and thus JVM will be waiting to receive an order.
The same format of the "order js code" would be used if we want to direct
people from one server to another one.
For example, say that we first want to direct visitors to Page P on Sever S,
then to Page R to Server T and then to Page Q to Server Y where the order link
will be included.
In all pages: P, S and Q we must include this js code:
As said the order page is on Page Q at Server Y, so in that page the order
link will have this format:
<script>jvmPrintHref('http://www.JVMserverHERE.com/cgi-bin/lyre.cgi/jvm/purchase/go.html?pack_id=PACKAGE_id_HERE','Click
Here To Order');</script>
For connecting Page P with Page S we need this code on page P:
<script>jvmPrintHref('http://www.ServerT_here.com/page.html','Description of
link to Page S here');</script>
For connecting Page S with Page Q we need this code on page S:
<script>jvmPrintHref('http://www.ServerQ_here.com/anotherpage.html','Description
of link to Page Q here');</script>
As you can see cookies jump this way from server to server, and carry the
values from one server to another, until we finally reach the order page and
interpret the order link correctly thus giving the right ID of the affiliate to
the order link -if an affiliate exists.
Complicated or not there is no other way to make JVM work on multiple levels
on different servers.
