Revenue Attribution

Click tracking tells you what people clicked. Revenue attribution tells you what actually made money. AffRank closes the loop between a conversion in your affiliate network and the specific keyword and page that drove it.

How it works

1. A visitor clicks an affiliate link on your site — AffRank records the click with a unique sessionId
2. The visitor converts on the affiliate network (purchase, signup, etc.)
3. The network fires a postback URL to AffRank with the sessionId and commission amount
4. AffRank matches the postback to the original click
5. Your Revenue Mapping Dashboard shows: which keyword → which page → how much earned → EPC

Setting up postback tracking

Step 1 — Get your postback URL

In your AffRank dashboard, go to Revenue Mapping. Your postback URL is shown there:

https://api.affrank.ai/api/v1/postbacks/YOUR_USER_ID?sessionId={SESSION_ID}&amount={COMMISSION}

Replace YOUR_USER_ID with your actual user ID (shown in the dashboard). The {SESSION_ID} and {COMMISSION} placeholders get filled in by your affiliate network automatically.

Step 2 — Paste it into your affiliate network

In your network’s dashboard, find the Postback URL or Server-to-Server (S2S) tracking setting. Every major network has this — it’s also called “conversion pixel”, “callback URL”, or “server postback”.

Network-specific locations:

Network	Where to find it
ShareASale	Account → Merchant Terms → Postback URL
CJ Affiliate	Account → Web Services → Tracking Tag
Impact	Settings → Tracking → Postback URLs
Rakuten	Dashboard → Links → Postback Settings
ClickBank	Account Settings → My Site → Advanced Tools

Step 3 — Map the session ID parameter

AffRank uses sessionId to match clicks to conversions. You need to pass AffRank’s sessionId through your affiliate link so it comes back in the postback.

AffRank automatically appends ?affrank_sid=SESSION_ID to your affiliate links when a visitor clicks. Configure your network to return this value in the {SESSION_ID} placeholder of your postback URL.

Network support

Postback tracking requires your affiliate network to support server-to-server (S2S) postbacks. Most major networks do. Networks that only support pixel/cookie tracking cannot send postbacks.

What you see in the dashboard

Once postbacks are flowing, the Revenue Mapping Dashboard shows:

• Total revenue tracked via postbacks
• EPC (Earnings Per Click) broken down by keyword
• Revenue by page — which articles drive the most commissions
• Conversion rate per keyword (clicks → conversions)
• Top earning keywords ranked by total revenue

Troubleshooting postbacks

Postbacks arriving but not matching clicks

• Verify the sessionId is being passed through your affiliate link correctly
• Check that your network is returning the same sessionId value in the postback

No postbacks showing

• Test your postback URL directly: paste it in a browser with a real sessionId and amount value
• Check your network’s postback logs for delivery errors
• Ensure you used the correct User ID in the URL

Revenue showing but EPC seems wrong

• EPC = total revenue ÷ total clicks for that keyword. Low EPC usually means high click volume with few conversions, not a tracking error.

Supported networks

AffRank works with any affiliate network that supports server-to-server postback URLs. This includes ShareASale, CJ Affiliate, Impact, Rakuten, ClickBank, Awin, FlexOffers, and any in-house affiliate program with postback support.

Networks that use browser-based pixels only (some older programs) cannot send postbacks server-to-server. Check your network’s documentation for “server postback” or “S2S tracking” to confirm support.