It can be incredibly frustrating as an affiliate to pour hours into developing a website, discover a niche that’s of interest, and subscribe to a merchant’s program only to have your application flatly declined. In case you received a blanket email outlining said rejection and wanted to know more, here are some of the top reasons for declined applications:
Invalid or Misleading URLs
Your domain is arguably the most crucial component in evaluating your affiliate application. Mistakenly including an extra http://, forgetting to add the domain extension (.com, .org), or even manipulating an existing website URL (www.te.st.com) is surprisingly common. Listing a misspelled or already inexistent or outdated website that re-directs to an error page is never the first thing you want an affiliate manager to see and, in some cases, may be cause for immediate decline, especially where their requests for clarification go unanswered.
The Case of the Disappearing Affiliate
This brings up another frequent cause for decline: lack of affiliate response. Often, when an affiliate manager reaches out for more information and receives no response or clarification within at least 72 hours from said affiliate, it leads to decline. Forgetting to include a valid point of contact or an evident lack of transparency in the form of mismatched or privately listed who.is.domain information are also considered community faux pas.
Poor Site Design
Websites that feature nothing but banners and text links, fire numerous pop-ups or warning messages when a visitor attempts to close the browser tab, or that provide no or limited value to their users may call an affiliate’s credibility into question. Likewise, content heavily focused on promoting ‘get rich quick schemes’ or which features questionable or unprofessional material are also a top reason for decline.
Copied Content
Speaking of content, large chunks of information that abruptly shift focus from one topic to the next or that blatantly stands out in either style or placement are also cause for concern. Often, an affiliate manager will lift a paragraph or two from an affiliate’s site and run a quick Google search to assess whether any questionable content has been scraped off another website. Any signs of copied content usually leads to an automatic decline.
Other Mistakes to Avoid:
- Irrelevant niche or website category that misaligns with the program you intend to promote.
- Submitting several applications with duplicate contact information (or slight modifications) for a single website.
- Disregard for a merchant’s terms and conditions to promote, or the absence of a visible privacy policy or affiliate disclosure on site.