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Skimlinks affiliate network overview

2021-05-07
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You must have heard of Skimlinks, the world’s biggest content monetization platform, which partners with over 48,500 merchants in various verticals (including travel) and connects over 60,000 publishers around the world. In the travel niche, Skimlinks offers over 1,370 affiliate offers from international brands and small local companies. In this review of the Skimlinks affiliate network, you’ll find out about the network’s features and advantages and learn how to set up an account and start earning.

What is Skimlinks and how does it work?

Below, you’ll learn more about Skimlinks and get a detailed overview of the network’s features, payouts structure, niches, and tools. We also tried to gather the most relevant reviews that affiliates have shared on the Internet, so that you can see the full picture.

About Skimlinks

Skimlinks claims to be the world’s largest commerce content monetization platform with over ten years of experience in the industry. It partners with 50 affiliate networks and provides publishers with an incredibly large selection of 48,500 advertisers around the globe, including such well-known brands as Nordstrom, Sephora, Alibaba, Expedia, and Asos.

Over 60,000 affiliates have already taken advantage of exclusive commission rates from Skimlinks’ merchants with some of them sharing up to 49% revenue. Among these clients are top content publishers, such as Conde Nast, Hearst, Yahoo!, Huffington Post, Trinity Mirror, and MailOnline.

Skimlinks maintains the highest level of security with 100% credible privacy frameworks, which are certified by EDAA and IAB and are GDPR-compliant.

Payouts

Payment date

Payouts are sent on the 5th of every month. Note that you’ll receive only those commissions that merchants have already paid to Skimlinks. It usually takes around three months from the sale date to receive your reward. Check your payment status report to see more details.

Minimum payouts

The payment threshold is $65/€55/£50.

Payment methods

Affiliates with UK or US bank accounts can request a direct deposit or payment to their PayPal account. For other affiliates, it is only possible to request payment via PayPal.

Features

Skimlinks features one of the widest selections of affiliate offers, with over 48,500 merchants that you can get access to through the network. Skimlinks also partners with 50 affiliate networks, which you can earn with.

Affiliates can take advantage of a generous revenue sharing model, in which they receive 75% of the commission generated and the remaining 25% goes to Skimlinks. In the Publisher Hub, you’ll see the amount earned, as the Skimlinks commission is deducted beforehand.

Skimlinks offers promotion tools, such as price comparison apps and shopping galleries, to speed up your campaign and increase your revenue by up to 300%.

The Publisher Hub allows affiliates to check their performance across all campaigns and generate reports on the highest-converting merchants, best-performing blog posts, and more. The Data Pipeline helps integrate this data directly into your internal business intelligence tools. With the Editor Toolbar extension for Google Chrome, you can get merchant’s information as soon as you visit their page and create affiliate links immediately.

Niches

Below, you’ll find an overview of the niches available at Skimlinks.

  • Automotive
    • Car Accessories
    • Cars
    • Motorbike Accessories
    • Motorbikes
  • Business
    • Cloud Computing
    • Marketing / Advertising Services
    • Office Supplies Stationery
    • Shipping and Delivery
    • Stock Photography
  • Coupons/Deals
  • Drugstore & Pharmacy
    • Cosmetics
    • Fragrances
    • Hair Care
    • Medicines & Prescriptions
    • Nails and Nailcare
    • Other Beauty Products
    • Skincare
  • Entertainment
    • Audiobooks
    • Books eBooks
    • Magazines
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Other Entertainment
    • TV
  • Fashion & Accessories
    • Bags/Belts/Wallets and Hats
    • Children Shoes
    • Children’s Fashion
    • Contact Lenses
    • Glasses Sunglasses
    • Jewellery
    • Lingerie Sleepwear
    • Luxury
    • Maternity
    • Men’s Fashion
    • Men’s Shoes
    • Men’s Wedding Clothing
    • Mixed Women’s and Children’s Fashion
    • Mixed Women’s and Men’s Fashion
    • Outdoor Clothing
    • Plus Size Apparel
    • Sportswear
    • Swimwear
    • Uniforms and Work Apparel
    • Watches
    • Women’s Fashion
    • Women’s Shoes
    • Women’s Wedding Clothing
  • Food & Drink
    • Candy and Confectionery
    • Gourmet Food
    • Grocery
    • Health Foods Vitamins
    • Restaurants and Booking Services
    • Specialist Food
    • Wine, Beer, Spirits
  • Gambling
    • Casino Bingo
    • General Gambling
    • Sports Betting
  • Gender – Female
  • Gender – Male
  • Gifts
    • Chocolate
    • Flowers
    • Greeting Cards
    • Other Gifts
    • Personalized Gifts
    • Personalized Stationery and Invitations
    • Wedding Gifts
  • Home
    • Appliances
    • Baby Toddler Equipment
    • Bathroom Fittings Fixtures
    • Board Games and Puzzles
    • Children’s Toys
    • DIY Home Improvement
    • Flatshares and Room Rentals
    • Furniture
    • Garden Furniture
    • Garden Plants
    • Gardening Equipment
    • Kitchenware Cooking Equipment
    • Lighting
    • Outdoor Cooking
    • Party Supplies
    • Pet Supplies
    • Real Estate Property
    • Soft Furnishings
    • Utilities
  • Interests
    • 3D Printing
    • Arts and Posters
    • Arts & Crafts
    • Business Finance
    • Camping
    • Collecting (Stamps, Coins, etc.)
    • Cycling Equipment
    • Electronic Smoking Vapour
    • Equestrian
    • Fancy Dress Costumes
    • Fishing
    • Fitness Equipment
    • Fitness Products and Services
    • Golf Apparel and Equipment
    • Gyms
    • Hunting
    • Musical Instruments
    • Organic and Ethically Sourced
    • Pop Culture
    • Skateboarding
    • Snow Sports Equipment and Clothing
    • Water and Beach Sports
    • Yoga Equipment and Apparel
  • Medical Equipment
  • Multi-Category Retailers
    • Department Stores
    • Internet-only Department Stores
    • Subscription Shopping
  • Paid Social Networks
  • Personal Finance
    • Insurance
  • Services
    • Blogging Services
    • Cable TV
    • Charities
    • Dating Relationships
    • Domestic Staff
    • Education Careers
    • Fast Food and Food Delivery
    • Genealogy Family Trees
    • Internet Subscription Services
    • Mature/Adult
    • New Subscriptions
    • Paid Recycling
    • Photo Printing
    • Satelite TV
    • Spas and Massages
    • Waste Disposal
  • Technology
    • Anti-Virus Software
    • Broadband ISP
    • Cameras
    • Computer and Laptop Accessories
    • Computers Console/Computer Gaming
    • Consumer Electronics/Gadgets
    • Mobile Phone Accessories
    • Mobile Phone Connections/Subscriptions
    • Mobile Phones (Devices)
    • Printers
    • Software
    • VPN Providers
    • Web Hosting
  • Tickets
    • Cinema Tickets
    • Concert Tickets
    • Festival Tickets
    • Other Tickets Events
    • Theatre Tickets
    • Theme Park Zoo Tickets
  • Tobacco
  • Travel
    • Adventure Holidays
    • Car Parking
    • Car Rental
    • Coach
    • Cruises
    • Ferry
    • Flights
    • Hotels
    • Package Holidays
    • Rented Holiday Accommodation
    • Taxis
    • Trains
    • Travel Accessories/Luggage
    • Travel Insurance

Tools

So, what are the tools that you can take advantage of as an affiliate?

  • Javascript: You’ll find this tool in the Publisher Hub. It can be added to your website template before the </body> tag. Thus, all links to merchants become affiliate links.
  • AMP: This tool allows you to monetize your commerce links on AMP (Accelerated Mobile Page) articles.
  • Link Wrapper: With this tool, you can monetize links in different kinds of mobile applications.
  • API: With API, you can collect statistics about a particular merchant’s performance: such as their commission rate, conversion rate, and domains.
  • Editor Toolbar: This Google Chrome extension shows information about the merchant when you visit their page. It also generates affiliate links.
  • Link Generator: This tool creates affiliate links for your website, mobile application, email newsletter, or social networks, and shortens these links to make them look more appealing.

Reviews

Now let’s discuss the advantages and disadvantages that other affiliates have mentioned about the program.

Pros

  1. Fast sign up
    The signup process is fast and easy. Just enter your email address, username, domain, and company name.
  2. Enormous selection of merchants
    Take advantage of access to the 48,500 merchants available in the network.
  3. All links are affiliate
    By installing Skimlinks’ Javascript on your website, you’ll make all links affiliate links. No need to apply for each program separately.
  4. Exclusive commission rates
    Skimlinks prides itself in negotiating the highest commission rates for affiliates, which aren’t available anywhere else.

Cons

  1. Hard to get approved
    New websites without an established flow of traffic are highly unlikely to be approved.
  2. Skimlinks takes a cut
    Skimlinks takes 25% of your earnings. For instance, if a merchant pays you a $100 commission, you’ll only receive $75.
  3. No live support
    To get support, you can submit a request on the website, but there is no live chat option. Thus, it might take some time before your question is answered.
  4. No real-time reporting
    Please note that the sales you make today will appear in your affiliate account tomorrow.

Travel programs

There are over 1,370 Skimlinks affiliate offers in the travel niche, such as AirBnB or Hayat Hotels. The full list is available in this spreadsheet.

A beginner’s guide to joining Skimlinks

Are you ready to become a Skimlinks affiliate? We’ll now share a complete guide on how to sign up on the network and start earning your first profits. We’ll also walk you through the Skimlinks affiliate dashboard and explain which features are available and how you can get support as a marketer.

How to sign up on Skimlinks

  1. Signing up on the Skimlinks network is simple. First, go to the signup page by clicking the “Signup” button on the homepage.
  2. Enter your name, email address, and password.
  3. Type in your site domain and company name.
  4. You’ll be sent an activation link.
  5. Go to your mailbox and verify your email address.
  6. By clicking on the confirmation link, you’ll be redirected to your affiliate account at Skimlinks. Pay attention that the account has limited functionality pending approval. You’ll only be able to access the homepage and offers page. The review process can take up to two working days to complete.
  7. You’ll be asked to install Skimlinks’ Javascript to start earning.

Affiliate dashboard walkthrough

Now, let’s take a look at Skimlinks’ affiliate dashboard.

On the dashboard front page, you’ll see your total earnings and some other short statistics:

The detailed statistic is available in the Performance section:

The main part for every affiliate is the Merchants section. Here you will find all available affiliate programs. Advanced filters are available for a more convenient search:

When you click on a particular affiliate program, you will see a detailed description, including the commission rates:

In the Toolbox section, you will find all available tools:

How to earn your first money with Skimlinks

Now that you know all about Skimlinks, it’s time to make your first profits.

Here is a step-by-step guide for aspiring affiliates:

  1. Set up your account
    Sign up on the network and confirm your email address by clicking the link in the verification letter. It normally takes about two business days to get one’s account approved, but, in the meantime, you can change your account settings, indicate payment details, and add team members or other websites.
  2. Install the script and generate affiliate links
    The fastest way to begin is by installing Skimlinks Javascript on your website. The code will automatically make all the links you create affiliate links. This doesn’t affect the page load speed or user experience. You can use the Google Tag Manager or manually add the script into your site template. There is also the AMP code to monetize accelerated mobile pages. If your website has an AMP version, be sure to use this tool as well.
  3. Install the Editor Toolbar
    This is a Google Chrome Extension that allows you to get information about an affiliate offer when you visit a merchant’s page. You can also create links right on the spot.
  4. Maximize your monetization potential
    Leverage other marketing channels with Skimlinks. Create links with the Editor Toolbar or the Link Generator tools and share those links through social media, email newsletters, etc.
  5. Find the best offers
    To navigate through the 48,500 merchants available through the network, you can use the Editor Toolbar, Merchant Search (you’ll be able to filter merchants by category, country, and commission rates), or go directly to the Merchant Profile and check the Skimlinks affiliate program review.
  6. Write content
    First, make sure that your existing content is well optimized and has commerce links in place. Then, move on to creating new content:

    1. Study your audience and try to make your blog posts engaging for them.
    2. Produce both timely and timeless content. Timely content serves to present a particular deal or promote an upcoming event, while timeless content constantly attracts an audience and can be updated.
    3. Try to leverage different types of content, such as product reviews, listicles, deals, image galleries, guides, and more.
    4. Take advantage of tips for publishers in the Skimlinks blog.
  7. Track performance
    Track your performance and adjust your campaigns along the way in the Publisher Hub.
  8. Get paid
    Finally, receive payments for generated sales and withdraw money to your offline accounts.

Affiliate support

You can ask for affiliate support by submitting a request in the Skimlinks Support section. The customer care team will process your request within one business day.

Skimlinks: Our overview of the affiliate network

Skimlinks is one of the world’s leading affiliate networks, encompassing offers from over 48,500 merchants in many different niches. The network is a great choice for publishers who have recently gotten into affiliate marketing. There is no need to apply for each program manually, as all your links to merchants automatically become affiliate links.

Skimlinks takes a fourth of the commissions you earn, so you might earn less than if you contacted the advertiser directly. However, the network also features exclusive rates. All in all, it is definitely worth a try!

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