And then you have a hybrid network like VigLink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
VigLink is somewhere between CJ<\/a> and AdSense in that it converts existing outgoing links on your pages into affiliate links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You get paid per click by some advertisers (CPC) and per sale by others (CPA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Basically, you publish content and VigLink takes care of the monetization for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At face value, that obviously sounds like a pretty attractive offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in this VigLink review, we will dig deep and make them run laps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s see what it\u2019s really like using VigLink.<\/p>\n\n\n The first thing to mention here is that Sovrn<\/a> acquired VigLink in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\u2019s just a case of rebranding \u2013 their business model remains the exact same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So for the purpose of this review, we\u2019ll refer to this network as \u201cVigLink\u201d to prevent any confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They\u2019re also not some kind of overnight sensation just looking to make a quick buck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They\u2019ve actually been in business since 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As of right now they work with over 40,000 affiliate publishers and report revenues of US$1 billion per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s worth pointing out that VigLink partners with publishers of all sizes, from your average at-home affiliate to CNN, MSN, and CNET.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So you\u2019re not dealing with some third rate network shilling for pennies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But how does VigLink actually hold up to scrutiny?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s find out, shall we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having to step through the signup process of most affiliate networks is enough to screw with your stoicism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thankfully they keep things simple for the future VigLink affiliate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You simply click on \u2018Sign Up\u2019 from their homepage:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then choose from signing up using your Google account (the quickest option) or using an email address and password instead:<\/p>\n\n\n You\u2019ll then receive the typical confirmation email with a verification link, which then brings you to the VigLink login page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And once you click on that you\u2019re ready to take the next step, which is your name, business name, and business website URL:<\/p>\n\n\n And then finally the URL you want to add VigLink publisher links to:<\/p>\n\n\n Every VigLink affiliate has to go through their approval process, but that\u2019s exactly like any other affiliate marketing network,<\/p>\n\n\n\n But they do hit your email address straight away with a request to add their code snippet to your website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So they\u2019re obviously eager to do business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next up is a friendly and short tutorial covering the VigLink affiliate dashboard:<\/p>\n\n\n And that\u2019s pretty much it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can enter your tax and payment information at your leisure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, this is one of the least painful website registration processes I\u2019ve gone through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now to the next step in our VigLink review \u2013 the brand names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where things will get a little different than what you\u2019re used to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t actually select which advertisers you want to promote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of this is done for you in the background based on which of the 20+ categories your website falls under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n VigLink tries to figure out the best category to place your website in but doesn\u2019t quite get it right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It looks like they set my test website to a default of \u2018Arts and Entertainment\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which it definitely is not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So make sure you watch out for this with your own website(s).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyways, the advertisers you get to work with are all fairly typical of what you\u2019ll find on the larger traditional affiliate networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s just a handful of examples:<\/p>\n\n\n So there are lots of big names, affiliate links for which will be automatically added to relevant keywords in your content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But there is an element of being able to choose which companies you promote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll explain that a little later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once your website has been approved you\u2019ll notice that the VigLink affiliate interface looks somewhat different when you sign back in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Very different, to be honest.<\/p>\n\n\n The side menu is gone and you have a dropdown menu to work with instead:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The only other menu function you might need is in the top right-hand corner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that\u2019s it in terms of using the VigLink affiliate dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t feel cluttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are no ridiculous menu systems to navigate, and this layout actually feels really intuitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think it might be because it feels like the UX you\u2019d find on a standard application like MS Word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So it\u2019s not jarring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, with 70,000 advertisers to work with you might think it\u2019ll be tough to find what you\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly because you won\u2019t be eligible to work with some of these merchants because of your location, niche, or traffic type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So that whittles the list down a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\u2019s VigLink\u2019s search functionality which makes the entire process a piece of cake:<\/p>\n\n\n You can quickly filter through offers to find exactly what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Including whether or not you get paid per clic<\/a>k (CPC) or per sale (CPA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also tag \u2018Preferred Merchant\u2019 if you only want a list of merchants who pay higher-than-normal commission rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of you might also have noticed those red \u201cX\u201d marks beside many of the \u2018Preferred\u2019 programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That just means those merchants are out of bounds for you right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until you can demonstrate that you can drive a volume of traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But in the meantime it\u2019s time to make hay with the affiliate programs you\u2019re pre-approved for:<\/p>\n\n\n So now you have some programs to work with…how do you create affiliate links?<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is also kept very, very straightforward…because the network does the work for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why affiliates like to use VigLink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, they automatically turn existing links with commercial intent on your website into affiliate links to VigLink merchants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when it comes to affiliate links, VigLink requires pretty much zero effort on your part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if you do need to create an affiliate link manually, then just click on the name of the merchant you want to create affiliate links to:<\/p>\n\n\n Then on the next screen simply click \u2018Check affiliation\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then just copy and paste the code wherever you want to put it in a social channel or piece of content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So once you\u2019ve started raking in all those affiliate monies, how do you go about getting them from VigLink and into your bank account?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you need to get paid net-30 then VigLink might not be the in-content affiliate network for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s because they pay net-90.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Basically, you don\u2019t get paid for 3 months after you earn revenue from clicks or sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is understandable because VigLink needs to factor in refunds, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if you do need to get paid like today<\/em> then VigLink will buy your \u201cinvoices\u201d from you and pay you immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is their \u201cInstant Pay\u201d system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They obviously charge a fee for doing this, but it\u2019s one way of getting paid faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can choose to receive your VigLink affiliate income by check, wire, PayPal, or direct deposit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They cover all the fees involved in transfers, something which can save you a fortune when using PayPal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PayPal users only have to earn US$10 to start receiving affiliate marketing cash from VigLink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But you need to earn at least US$50 if you choose to receive payment by wire, check, or direct deposit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To their credit, VigLink lay on user support from the split second you sign up e.g. the mini-tutorial on the affiliate dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This keeps you occupied while they review your application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But how do they go about answering any other question you might have?<\/p>\n\n\n\n In that case, you head over to VigLink Support<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n Their guides are short and to the point, with many of them featuring screenshots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would be nice to see more use of mixed media here, but what they offer in terms of a knowledgebase is decent enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And they do also include a search function:<\/p>\n\n\n If you need to contact the VigLink support team directly you can reach out to them via their email contact form:<\/p>\n\n\n\n They do also publish contact telephone numbers for their US and UK offices right underneath the contact form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact that VigLink offers support by phone puts them way ahead of most of their competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s just a shame that their knowledgebase feels a little \u201cempty\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On review, that\u2019s probably just me nitpicking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Having an opinion on something is fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But if you really want to know what it\u2019s like to work with an affiliate network…well…it\u2019s best to ask people who actually use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s one publisher who got tired of hearing that VigLink is shit:<\/p>\n\n\n And then if we take a look at it from an advertiser\u2019s perspective we see this type of feedback:<\/p>\n\n\n Here\u2019s an example of one marketer using VigLink to successfully monetize multiple forums:<\/p>\n\n\n There are a lot of people pissing and moaning online about VigLink too though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because this is the Internet<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s one complaining about their application being rejected several times in a row:<\/p>\n\n\n And another complaint in relation to not being able to contact support.<\/p>\n\n\n What I did notice is that almost every negative review is one of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which is usually the sob story rolled out by scammers who got caught and don\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Obviously, negative feedback around not being able to get in touch with their support team has to be assumed is legitimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I did see several complaints saying VigLink took up to five days to respond to an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, there\u2019s usually no smoke without fire when it comes to this stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n URL: <\/strong>VigLink<\/a> <\/strong>(Sovrn Commerce)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Year established:<\/strong> 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n Number of merchants: <\/strong>70,000<\/p>\n\n\n\n Offer types: <\/strong>CPC, CPA<\/p>\n\n\n\n VigLink (Sovrn) is a different beast than a traditional affiliate marketing network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It can provide you with something very, very close to truly passive income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But is it worth the effort of signing up for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n And there you have our in-depth VigLink review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biggest question most affiliates have about networks like VigLink is \u201cWhy use them instead of the actual affiliate program?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because they provide you with a backdoor to affiliate programs<\/a> you\u2019ve already been declined for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And they also do most of the heavy lifting for you in terms of adding affiliate links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s the inherent beauty of using VigLink and similar networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They make your quest for passive online income far less time-intensive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because that\u2019s the end goal for you \u2013 figuring out how to make money online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To ditch the rat-race, once and for all, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, we have a treat for you \u2013 a free web tutorial<\/a> on how to set up an affiliate website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll learn the basics of niche and keyword research and much more besides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it won\u2019t cost you a cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sound good?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hit us up with the best email address<\/a> to send your invite to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"Sovrn](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//sovrn-homepage-screenshot-1024x381.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nSigning Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-signup-1024x151.png/")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Create](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//create-account-on-viglink-1024x385.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-signup-info-1024x382.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-submit-url-1024x393.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"\"](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-dashboard-1024x310.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nWhat brands can you promote?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Brands](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//brands-to-promote-on-viglink.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nEase of Use<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-interface-1024x370.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-menu-1024x218.png/")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
Finding affiliate programs on VigLink<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-affiliate-programs-search-1024x363.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-merchants-list-1024x249.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nCreating affiliate links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Create](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//create-affiliate-links-on-viglink-1024x182.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nGetting Paid<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Payment timeframe<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Payment methods<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Payment threshold<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Publisher Help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-support-1024x360.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-support-guides-and-docs-1024x168.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-support-email-contact-1024x356.png/")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nVigLink Reviews<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-reviews1-1024x244.png/")
![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-reviews2-1024x326.png/")
![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-reviews3-1024x307.png/")
![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-reviews4-1024x360.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n![\"Viglink](https://www.authorityhacker.com/"https:////www.authorityhacker.com//wp-content//uploads//2022//01//viglink-reviews5-1024x306.png/")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
VigLink (Sovrn Commerce) Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Weighing it up<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Pros<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Cons<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n
VigLink Review Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n