Getting Started

Introduction

If you are reading this then you've probably already built your first GeoRiot link and created an account. If not, then simply go Sign Up for an account to get the party started.

Either way, once you have a GeoRiot account, follow these three steps to start building links that work internationally and maximize your commissions.

While we’ve got the steps in order below it’s okay to jump around between them (and you likely will).

1. Add Your Affiliate Programs
2. Build Links
3. Add New Affiliate Programs

Just remember to get to them all eventually.

Add Existing Affiliate Programs

If you've already been accepted into an affiliate program (or more) then now is a good time to add those tracking parameters to the GeoRiot dashboard.

If you haven’t had a chance to get signed up for any affiliate programs (or need some help), don’t worry, just go ahead and jump to building links. You can always add affiliate-tracking parameters for your links at anytime.

Follow these steps to add affiliate-tracking parameters to your GeoRiot account

1. From the GeoRiot dashboard click "Affiliate" in the header.
2. Click on "Add a new Affiliate Program". From the options choose the "Advertiser", "Affiliate Network", and “Country” that match the program you’ve already been approved for.
3. Drop in an example link from that affiliate program so we can strip out and save the relevant tracking parameters. If you need help with generating an example affiliate link then check out our guides to LinkShare, TradeDoubler and DGM Performance.
4. Click “Save” -- you are now one step closer to being a millionaire.

Now clicks from the country you just assigned the affiliate tracking parameters to will start using those same parameters to earn you affiliate commissions.

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Build Links

Affiliate marketing works by using specialized links. Building these specialized links can get complicated quickly which is why we designed GeoRiot links to be as simple and easy to build as possible.

There are typically two ways to build links: one at a time (manually), or using code (programmatically). GeoRiot supports both ways with tools and plenty of handy documentation.

Find which tool or format works best for you and build as many (or few) links as you need, test them, and push them live to start leveraging our service.

Manually - These three tools can be used to build GeoRiot enabled links by hand. Click to learn more about each.

• Encoder – Our in-house tool for quickly converting raw iTunes links into GeoRiot links, with options to use the short link format, add tracking tags, or make them “direct” links.
• Link Maker Tool – We pass in GeoRiot tracking codes to Apple’s default link building tool so you can build GeoRiot links with a familiar tool.
• Widget Builder – By accessing Apple’s Widget Builder from our dashboard any widget you build leverages the GeoRiot service.

Programmatically – No SDK or APIs needed! We’ve designed a few easy-to-follow linking formats for you to quickly start building GeoRiot links.

Link Building Formats

• Quick Build – Our default linking format, the Quick Build is for converting raw itunes.apple.com links into GeoRiot links.
• Find / Replace – Designed to be used for converting existing iTunes / App Store affiliate links into GeoRiot links.
• Search Format – No existing link is necessary, simply pass us the meta data you have and we’ll take care of the rest.

Tools

• JavaScript Snippet – This snippet can quickly be added to your blog or website template to quickly convert itunes.apple.com or existing affiliate links to use the GeoRiot service.
• RSS Feed Generator – Access Apple’s RSS Feed Generator tool from our dashboard allows for your GeoRiot tracking parameters to be included.

Great, now that you’ve built a link, or ten thousand, there are a few additional things you can do before pushing them live.

• Testing – Whether you are verifying that your link translates into other countries correctly or the actual affiliation, testing your links is always a good idea.
• Adding Tracking Tags – If you want more granularity in your reporting the definitely check out how to use tracking tags.
• iOS Apps – If you are embedding your affiliate links directly into your app then you’ll want to check out QA 1629 to avoid the “stutter step.”
• Direct links – When resolution speed is the most important thing to you then learn how to make your GeoRiot links even faster.

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Add additional affiliate programs

Okay, now that you’ve got your links live (and all your international users are enjoying getting sent to the right item in their store) it’s time to concentrate on earning commissions internationally. This requires applying for and getting accepted into the many affiliate programs internationally then adding those affiliate tracking parameters into your GeoRiot dashboard.

Tackling all the affiliate programs and networks can be a daunting task and possibly not necessary. We’d recommend keeping an eye on your “Top Opportunities” list in the “Key Stats" tab of the dashboard to see where you should concentrate your efforts. Just remember that the clicks coming from the countries you don’t support are used first against your Click Share Rate (aka Passive Click Share) in our Pay With Clicks model.

Currently there are 45 iTunes / App Store Affiliate Programs worldwide, managed by four different affiliate networks. We’ve written extensive guides with walk-through videos available to help you run the gauntlet in getting set up.

You can find those guides here:

• Rakuten LinkShare – For the US, Canada, and Mexico affiliate programs.
• TradeDoubler – For 29 affiliate programs across Europe and 10 across Latin America.
• DGM Performance – For Australia and New Zealand.
• LinkShare Japan – For the Japan program, which requires a Japanese based bank account. If you meet this requirement contact us for help getting set up.

Once you’ve been approved for a new program and created an example link, then follow the directions in Add Existing Affiliate Programs to add the new tracking parameters to your GeoRiot account so you can start earning additional commissions.

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Recap and Additional Functionality

It’s likely that you’ll be constantly jumping between these three steps as you get accepted into more affiliate programs, see the rewards of your efforts and build more links, or Apple launches additional affiliate programs.

It’s also likely you’ll have questions. Please don’t hesitate to contact us, ever. We’re working towards the same goal so let us know how we can help you (within reason of course, we really aren’t that good at debugging Objective C).

In the meantime here are a few additional ways to get the most out of the GeoRiot service.

• Add sales & commission reporting tokens to start getting aggregated financial reports from the affiliate networks in your dashboard. Log in to the GeoRiot dashboard and go to Add Import Account.
• Manage your 2nd Tier preferences to take advantage of traffic coming from countries without an affiliate program. Log into the GeoRiot dashboard, go to your Traffic Sources and select "Preferences" under the "Actions" menu.
• Add additional traffic sources to better segment your traffic. Log into the GeoRiot dashboard, go to your Traffic Sources and select "Add a new Traffic Srource". You can copy the affiliate programs from another traffic source by selecting "Affiliate" in the main menu, and then choosing your new traffic source from the "Trafic Source" drop-down menu. Click on the link to import the affiliate program set, and on the next page select the traffic source you wish to import from.
• Explore other ways to use affiliate links.

No problem, eh? Now get to it!

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