I have a website that I use Linkshare to advertise on. I would like to do conversion tracking for my PPC ads that send traffic to my website. Linkshare, however, does not support conversion tracking. So, how might I accomplish this? Are there any 3rd party software programs that can accomplish this?
Yep there is. I just recently did a consultation for this company and the technology and the way they track conversions is pretty slick. It works with LinkShare and most major networks. KeywordXRAY.com - http://keywordxray.com/ If I had time to play the affiliate game myself instead of consulting and teaching others how to do it, I'd sure be using something like this! DISCLAIMER: I have not tried it and am no endorsing it, just passing on info about a tool that seems cool.
Wow, that does look really cool. Today I've tried out Affiliate Radar and Keyword Radar--AR was definitely the leader so far except it had no built-in Linkshare support. And this is only $47/month rather than $87/month (I'm on a $1/week trial program right now, thankfully). By the way, it turns out LinkShare does have some kind of conversion tracking, only you have to apply to have it turned on and AR doesn't seem to support it. It's called LinkShare Signature.
Yeah, I hadn't realized before that Linkshare has a subid variable to support conversion tracking--they just don't call it subid or conversion tracking on their website, so it's impossible to find except through combing the site.
Most of the big networks have subid tracking. But you're still better off using a tool like xray or extreme conversions to partially automate the work.