Affiliates And Their Rules

For those of you who own sites or know a lot about sites and their affiliations or link exchanges, maybe some of you can relate to this.

As many of us know most sites we visit have affiliates, also known as “affies” or they have link exchanges. When it comes to these there are usually a set of rules that come with it. For most sites this includes that you don’t steal content of any kind, have your own layout or web design, and you keep in contact with them (the site owner).

Now, have you ever had someone ask to affiliate with you but you haven’t read their rules. Often because you didn’t read the person’s site rules they’ll end up removing you as their affiliate. Of course, when that happens your upset and can’t understand why, so you go and ask.

No surprise, they tell you that you didn’t follow their rules. To many this comes as a shock and becomes a ‘what are you talking about’ kind of situation. Honestly though, this is how it works. When you accept to be affiliates with them or they accept to be affiliates with you make sure that you have both read each others rules. This is very important.

I know, in some, usually very rare cases the person doesn’t have rules. If you get removed as their affiliate because of that, sadly it’s their fault. As frustrating and annoying as it is, that’s how it works. Why? It’s because you didn’t know how to act or what to do.

Many of us may not realize it but affiliate or link exchange ‘rules’ often act as guidelines. They tell us how we should act when around that person and their site. In some cases it can tell us what not to do also. These guidelines can help to assist us come to good terms with the owner(s) of the site.

So for those sites that don’t have ‘rules’ we are left unsure of what to do. So we assume that they don’t mind what we do or don’t do. We don’t think that we need to keep in contact too much or even have our own layout design. This can often be wrong though. Just because someone doesn’t say it in such an obvious way doesn’t mean that they don’t want us to do these things.

All in all, the best bit of advice that I can give you is to remember to ask them if they gave any rules you need to follow. Is there anything that they want you to do or not. Do they want you to do this, or this, or are they one of the few who just doesn’t really care. Honestly though, you really should ask them what they think or how they feel before you accept or ask them to be affiliates with you.

Remember, many people want their affiliates to be friends with them. Naturally, this includes keeping in contact. So remember that a lot of people though they may not say it will want you to keep in contact with them to some point.

Finally, some of you may wonder why people want to be friends with their affiliates. Well, why do you want to be friends with your affiliates? This in all honesty, is something even I do not quite understand. So the most I can tell you is that people want to be friends with their affiliates because they think that’s what the word “Affiliate” means.

Affiliate – to be friends with

That’s most site owner’s definition of the word. Let me make this clear, that is not what the word means.

• Affiliate – a person or group in which one is in league with for a common cause or goal
• Affiliate – a person or group in which one shares a common cause or goal

Now, where does that say anything about being friends that I see. Still, people now have somehow found or put the word “friends” into that definition. So despite any dictionary you should remember that people now share the belief that the word ‘affiliate’ means friends. So when becoming an affiliate with someone either make your views known or just accept that you are before forced into a friendship with someone despite the meaning of the word.