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Creator Desk
For creators
Written for the person choosing which programme to join and what to post. Rates and terms come from the networks’ own published figures, dated, with the awkward parts left in.
156 guides, newest first · page 5 of 7
EPC, AOV and reversals: how to read an affiliate dashboard
Four numbers do all the work and three of them are outside your control. Plus category order values measured across 8,000 live listings this morning.
7 min read · Read the guide →QR codes solve a printing problem, not an attribution problem
A QR code solves a print problem, not an attribution one. What your URL length does to the printed square, measured across 7,656 real product links.
8 min read · Read the guide →Link cloaking buys you three things and costs you three others
We run a cloaking layer ourselves, so here is the honest ledger: a 127-character median URL down to 39, portability gained, and the link preview lost to get it.
9 min read · Read the guide →Internal links are necessary and nowhere near sufficient
Internal links get a page found; they do not get it indexed. What Google's own documentation says, and how to check your own site for orphan pages.
9 min read · Read the guide →How to invoice a brand as a creator
Ten things an invoice needs, the six terms to agree before it, and what a commission-instead-of-a-fee offer is actually worth in your category.
8 min read · Read the guide →How do you audit 500 affiliate links in an afternoon?
We checked 80 live product URLs on 3 September 2026. Seventeen returned 200. The other 63 were not broken, and that is the whole lesson of link auditing.
9 min read · Read the guide →How long does Google take to index a new creator page?
Google says crawling takes a few days to a few weeks and guarantees nothing. How to read the three Search Console states on your own pages, and what each needs.
8 min read · Read the guide →Does a product URL change when a size sells out?
Google asks retailers to give every size or colour its own URL. What that address shows when the size sells out, and why to link the product instead.
11 min read · Read the guide →Can you post affiliate links on Reddit and in Facebook groups?
Neither platform bans them outright. Both ban the behaviour, and the rule that actually catches you is written by a volunteer moderator, not a lawyer.
8 min read · Read the guide →BookTok's linking problem, and four routes around it
Books are small orders, and the catalogue we queried favoured resale sellers. What Amazon, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble and TikTok Shop publish, and what to do.
12 min read · Read the guide →Alt text for shoppable posts, and why the product title will not do
390 live listings share the exact title 'Coffee Mug'. Why the retailer's title fails as alt text, and the one sentence you should write instead.
7 min read · Read the guide →Best affiliate programs for outdoor creators
What outdoor affiliate programmes publish, read 12 October 2026: rates, cookie windows and social-posting rules for REI, Black Diamond, Rab, SCHEELS and Amazon.
13 min read · Read the guide →What can a LinkedIn creator actually link to?
Six office and professional keywords, 1,800 live listings, 19 retailers. Beauty returned 57. The LinkedIn bottleneck is the catalogue, not the platform.
9 min read · Read the guide →Where do affiliate links belong in a YouTube description?
YouTube's paid-promotion policy does not mention affiliate links at all. What the policy does require, what fills the gap, and where the links go.
11 min read · Read the guide →What should you look for in a creator storefront?
Nine questions to ask a creator storefront platform, in order of what they cost when the answer is wrong. Written so it works against us too.
10 min read · Read the guide →What do you do when a product you linked sells out?
Three kinds of 'out of stock' need three responses. Plus measured rates: 55.6% of catalogued Corelle listings were unavailable against 11.5% for Tupperware.
8 min read · Read the guide →What happens when a shopper uses someone else's link?
Two creators, one buyer, one commission. How attribution decides which of you gets paid, what quietly overwrites your click, and the parts we cannot verify.
7 min read · Read the guide →Should creators link marketplaces or brand sites?
We measured 1,604 US sneaker listings on 2 September 2026. Resale asked more than retail in five of six models, and one marketplace held 1,998 of 2,000 rows.
8 min read · Read the guide →Should you link the set or the single item?
Sets carried 1.7 to 2.2 times the order value of single items in three home categories, and half of it in two gifting ones. Measured 2 Sept 2026.
7 min read · Read the guide →Should you write seasonal or evergreen product content?
They run on different clocks and do different jobs. Which inventory types actually discount, why a November page in November is late, and lead times as dates.
8 min read · Read the guide →How do you recommend a product without sounding like an ad?
The tell is language that would fit any product in the category. Four things every honest recommendation contains, the swap test, and what it costs you.
7 min read · Read the guide →The product description you are about to paste is already on 47 other pages
61% of live retailer listings share their description with another, and one text appears on 48 products at once. Measured on 4,134 listings.
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