What are Skimlinks and VigLink?
Both services offer a simple solution for web publishers, bloggers, and forum owners to easily monetize their websites using Affiliate Marketing.
Both services provide a simple line of code, that adds a silent and automated system to earn you commission from all links on your website. It doesn’t change the behavior or appearance of the link, so “http://www.amazon.com” for example will earn you commission when a user clicks on it, and purchases a product through Amazon’s website. In short, it provides an easy way to monetize your content instantly without any major negatives.
Skimlinks launched in 2008 and has quickly grown into one of the leading content monetization companies in the world. The other main competitor is VigLink.
These services differ from ‘normal’ affiliate systems as they are fully automated. You don’t need to change links to redirect through an ad tracking system as you would normally – it does it all for you. The negative part of using either Skimlinks or VigLink is that both take a percentage of your earnings, instead of asking for money to use their service.
By installing Skimlinks or VigLink on your website, all outgoing links from your website to eligible merchants will be automatically tracked for commission. Simply put, if a visitor to your website follows a link to an affiliated merchant and makes a purchase, you get paid a commission!
How does it work?
It’s completely seamless and virtually invisible to your users, it’s a great way to increase revenue without the need for more ad space.
Adding VigLink or Skimlinks to your website is as easy as installing a plug-in or copying and pasting a short javascript code into your website template. The average installation time is about 45 seconds!
Once you’re done, all outgoing links will be automatically tracked for potential commission. There’s no need to generate special URLs or manually edit any of your outgoing links, just set it and forget it!
Which link affiliate program is right for you?
VigLink and Skimlinks both offer a similar solution to monetize your website’s outgoing links, but which service is best?
Well, the answer depends on you!
We’ve done the hard work to research and compare the differences between both services so you can choose the right solution for your business and website. The chart below is a comparative overview of each service’s offerings.
 |  | |
| Approval Time | Instant | 1-2 business days |
| No. Active Merchants [1] | 32,159 | 17,628 |
| All Merchants Active From Start? | No | Yes |
| Install Time | ~10 seconds | ~10 seconds |
| Install Options | JavaScript snippet REST APIs | JavaScript snippet REST APIs Flash integration |
Payment Info | ||
| Payout Frequency | Monthly | Monthly |
| Min. Payout Threshold | $0.01 | $10.00 |
| Revenue Share (them : you) | 25 : 75 | 25 : 75 |
| Payout Methods | PayPal US Check (by request) US Wire Transfer (by request) | PayPal US Check UK Check US Wire Transfer UK Bank Transfer |
| Payout Delay | 60 days | 90 days |
| Payout Fee | None | None |
Plugins / Tools | ||
| Contextual Link Widget | Yes (Linkweaver) | Yes (SkimWords) |
| Link Override | Optional link override for Amazon & eBay | Optional link override for Amazon |
| Tools Available | Link Generator Merchant Coverage Checker | Link Generator Merchant Coverage Checker Custom Domain Redirect Showcases Search Boxes Price Comparison InvisibleHand (TBC) SkimRSS |
| Preferred Partners (?) | No | Yes |
| Plugins Available | WordPress Plugin vBulletin Plugin CloudFlare Integration Blogger Plugin Tumblr Plugin phpBB Plugin | WordPress Plugin vBulletin Plugin Ning Integration |
Support | ||
| Support Methods | Phone | Phone Ticketing System Helpdesk |
| Support Response Time | Within 24 hours | Within 24 hours |
| Office Location(s) [2] | San Francisco | San Francisco London Tokyo |
| Sub-Accounts Allowed | No | Yes |
Statistics & Data | ||
| Statistics Delay | None | +24 hours |
| Commission Calculation | ~1-2 Days | ~1-2 Days |
| Affiliated Pages Stats | Yes | Yes |
| Non-Affiliated Pages Stats | No | Yes |
| Affiliated Links Stats | Yes | Yes |
| Detailed Sale Stats | Yes | No |
| Statistics View Style | Calendar Style | Calendar Style Graphic Style |
| Statistics Filtering | No | Yes |
| Statistics Range | Daily, weekly and monthly available only. | Any custom range. |
| Statistics Format (Exporting) | CSV | CSV |
| Uptime (Avg. 2013-) [4] | 99.21% | 99.94% |
What kind of websites are good for Skimlinks and Viglink?
Link affiliation is an easy way to generate revenue on a myriad of different types of websites, that’s the beauty of it!
Any website that contains links to online merchant websites can potentially earn commission from those referrals. It’s great for blogs and websites that offer product reviews and recommendations, as well as user generated discussions on enthusiast forums where products or services are discussed.
If your website visitors are clicking links to purchase anything at all, you could be earning a commission!
Which will you choose? Skimlinks or VigLink?
Our experiences with both companies have been nothing but stellar. They are both eager to help publishers better monetize their content in an unobtrusive way, and will happily assist with setup and installation.
Viglink offers the convenience of a quick sign up and faster payouts, so you can start earning instantly from your website’s outbound traffic, and their page-by-page analytics can help offer insight on what content performs best.
Skimlinks may be more ideal for publishers outside of the US, they appear to have a better presence with European merchants, and they offer an array of tools to generate affiliate revenue outside of simple links.
 |  |
If you are able and eligible to use both services, it’s a great idea to sign up for them both to see which one will suit your website’s content best.
While they both cover large retailers and merchants like Amazon and eBay, more niche merchants may only be available on one service. Give each network a trial run and review which service performs best for you and your content, you have nothing to loose but unclaimed income! Stop leaving money on the table, sign up today!
Patrick Mahinge is a prolific digital marketer and "serial webpreneur". He runs multiple profitable niche websites and blogs monetized through affiliate marketing and advertising. Patrick generously shares his expertise in affiliate marketing, blogging, and online business through his Facebook group of over 5,000 aspiring entrepreneurs.
We can easily register in Amazon affiliate
A/c so why we need to go viglink and give a cut of our commission to them I just asked because am nood plz anyone reply ……!!! It’s ok in some sites we can’t find their affiliate program so these vigi link and cuelinks helps us is vigilink alternative for commission junction? Plz anyone rply