Affiliate tracking software allows the affiliate merchant/owner to keep track of publishers and gives information regarding where the sales came from and who is to be compensated for the sale. Affiliate tracking softwares use complex algorithms and play the most important part in an online affiliate program.

Affiliate tracking software options
The major question before an affiliate merchant owning an affiliate program is to choose between the two available choices of affiliate tracking software. The two choices being checking out for an In-house affiliate tracking software and affiliate Network Company.

In-house affiliate tracking software
This option involves you to actually buy the affiliate tracking software and install it in your server permanently. Although this can be seen as a good option in terms of security, it can prove to be a costly affair as you have to do all the paper work, run affiliate sales report, recruit affiliates and also pay them. The place to look for affiliate tracking software is in directories. Yahoo and Google web directories have a host of listings.

Going for an affiliate network company
This option involves making use of a third party affiliate network company that will take care of every thing from procuring affiliates to tracking sales and paying them so the merchant company can stay easy. The only problem is lack of control and payment of commissions to network companies. Some websites that offer affiliate network solutions are Commission-Junction, BeFree, ClickTrade, CashPile, ValueClick.

Both these options have their own drawbacks and benefits and to decide one over the other takes lots of calculation and depends mostly on the type of affiliate program being run, number of affiliates needed, volume of business etc. All these calculations have to be done on the basis of long term results to the company.

Benefits of affiliate program software
Affiliate program software is a form of tracking software that tracks and records the number of sales generated, where the sales lead came from and which affiliate has to be compensated. Also know as affiliate tracking software or affiliate management software.

Affiliate software at the least tracks and provides information regarding sales leads, registrations and clicks from an affiliate link. They also help in figuring out which affiliate has to be compensated and the exact compensation fees. There are a variety of affiliate tracking softwares available in the market today with some having very minimum capabilities where as others having complex functions and capabilities.

Who needs an affiliate tracking software?
Affiliate tracking softwares are needed only by those organizations which run a 100% in-house affiliate program. Such an organization needs to buy, install and run the tracking software permanently in their server.

Any company using a third party software or an affiliate network does not need to buy tracking software separately.

Where to find affiliate software online?
There are hundreds of websites out there offering affiliate program softwares at varying rates depending on the software capabilities. Some basic ones are also available free of cost. So where to look for affiliate program software?

While looking for affiliate softwares, online directories are your best bet. Online directories give you access to a variety of affiliate tracking softwares and at the same time allow you to compare rates and features. You can get information regarding affiliate software on Google and dmoz online web directories.

The more the functions affiliate software has, the better. Good affiliate software can help you make accurate calculations and save lots of your time and energy. So be careful while buying them.