Affiliate Program: Best Practices

This article is a resource for Chess.com affiliates and contains answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the Chess.com Affiliate Program, as well as tips on maximizing your benefits as an affiliate. Want to find out more about the Affiliate Program or apply to become a partner? Check out our guide on how to become an affiliate with Chess.com.

Table of Contents:

• Where do I find my affiliate link?
• I have my affiliate link. How do I get the best value from it?
• Affiliate link macro suggestions
• Limitations on receiving credit for upgrades
• Do I need to disclose my affiliate status? 

Where do I find my affiliate link?

In your profile settings under “Affiliate”, or by using this link.

If you are getting a missing page error using the link above, you’re not set up as an affiliate. If you’re a content creator and interested in becoming an affiliate, head on over to https://go.chess.com/affiliate to get started.

I have my affiliate link. How do I get the best value from it?

Make it as visible and easily accessible as possible! The best way to accomplish this is to position your affiliate link 'above the fold' so users don’t have to scroll down or expand a textbox to see it.

Remember that you can add your affiliate code to any Chess.com link, e.g.:
www.chess.com/home?ref_id=999999999
www.chess.com/membership?ref_id=999999999
www.chess.com/news/view/mvl-beats-sarin-2020-speed-chess?ref_id=999999999

Find our platform-specific recommendations below and grab our handy visual deck for your reference here:

Twitch/Kick

• Your chatbot is your most important tool for any livestream!
  • • Utilize commands that people can use to find your link, and have one of these commands on a timer. Keeping popular commands in your stream title will encourage people to use them.
• In your 'About me' section, you can feature your affiliate links alongside your other social links. We recommend pointing your community to the membership upgrade page or your club.
• Include your link in a panel below your stream. It’s a visual, permanent way for people to find your link. Free panel and button designs can be found here.

YouTube

• In the video description, it’s very important to have your affiliate links 'above the fold' (visible before the description box is expanded).
• If you are live-streaming, many of the Twitch recommendations hold true here as well, including:
  • • Utilizing a chatbot.
    • Adding your chatbot command on your livestream title.
    • Having your command(s) on a timer.
• Take advantage of YouTube’s pinned comment feature by putting your affiliate link in this highly visible space.
• In your 'About me' section, you can feature your affiliate links together with your other social links. We recommend pointing your community to the membership upgrade page or your club.
• We can provide an on-screen animation that regularly reminds your audience to upgrade using your affiliate code. Just reach out to us at affiliate@chess.com.

Social Media – X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat

• With limited space on social media, using a Linktree is very popular. This is a natural place to add a link to your Chess.com profile – with your affiliate code attached.
• To drive the most traffic to your affiliate link, we also recommend pasting your link directly in bios, on stories, or within posts on your favorite platforms.

Discord

• Creating a dedicated channel for your social links will make it easy for your community every time they want to visit one of your social pages. Similar to 'About me' sections on streaming platforms, you can feature your affiliate links and point to the membership upgrade page or your club.
• If you do not have a dedicated channel, you can link and then pin your comment in another relevant channel for easy access.

Affiliate link macro suggestions

Strong selling points are important when promoting your affiliate link, so we've made some templates you can use (and/or customize) to encourage people to upgrade with your link.

• Support the channel by upgrading your Chess.com membership using [AFFILIATE LINK]!
• Upgrade your Chess.com membership by using [AFFILIATE LINK]! Improve your chess through unlimited Game Review, Puzzles, Lessons, and more with a Diamond membership.
• Support the channel when you upgrade your Chess.com membership using [AFFILIATE LINK]. You get a 40% discount if you sign up for a year!

Feel free to make these your own and customize them to suit your style, audience, and personality. For some additional inspiration, here's one of GM Ben Finegold's macros:

"Ben plays everyone (not just premium Chess.com members), but why not sign up or gift a Chess.com premium membership to get access to their lessons, remove ads, improve your chess, AND help Ben at the same time? If you sign up via this link, some of the money goes to Ben. Otherwise it just goes to Danny Rensch's Faberge egg habit! https://go.chess.com/finegold"

Other features you can mention to encourage your community to upgrade their membership include:

• Insights
• Unlimited Bots
• Opening Explorer
• Endgame and Opening Trainers
• Custom Flairs

Limitations on receiving credit for upgrades

• If an existing user clicks on an affiliate link, they have 24 hours to make a purchase. If they are a new user and click on your link to make an account, the new user has 30 days to purchase for the affiliate to be credited. Members must verify their email address before affiliates receive credit; this typically happens before the membership purchase.
• You will receive additional credit for all auto-renewals the user performs for the life of the account. However, if they discontinue their membership and then upgrade again without revisiting your affiliate link, you will no longer receive credit.

Do I need to disclose my affiliate status? 

Yes. Anytime or anywhere you share an affiliate link, it's important that you disclose your status.

To comply with FTC regulations, your disclosure must be clear and conspicuous. If you're a streamer, this can be as simple as adding "#ad" or "(paid link)" when your link is posted in chat.

Social media posts and websites can follow the same guidance by adding this to your posts or as a statement alongside your banners/in-post descriptions.

Here’s an example: ”Disclaimer: When you purchase a Chess.com membership through my link, I may earn a small commission.”

Do you have a question that isn't answered by the above? Get in touch with the team at affiliate@chess.com!