> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.referly.so/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Tracking methods > Choose how Referly attributes referrals to affiliates — unique affiliate links, coupon codes at checkout, or both. Includes when to use each method and the integration needed for automated coupon tracking. Before Referly can pay anyone, it has to know who sent the customer. There are two ways to establish that, and this page is where you choose which ones your program uses: affiliates share a **link**, or customers use a **coupon code** at checkout. To get there, go to **Settings**, open **Program details**, and select **Tracking methods**. The page opens with a single instruction — "Choose the tracking options you want to use to track referrals". ## The two methods Select a card to switch that method on, and select it again to switch it off. They aren't mutually exclusive, and most programs are better off with both. ### Links **Links** is described as "Every affiliate gets a unique link to share with their audience". It's on by default and it's the backbone of nearly every program. Each affiliate gets their own link pointing at your landing page. When someone follows it, Referly remembers the referral so that a purchase later on is credited to the right affiliate — even if the customer doesn't buy on that first visit. This is the method to keep on if you only keep one. Links work anywhere an affiliate can post a URL: a newsletter, a YouTube description, a blog post, a social bio. ### Coupon Codes **Coupon Codes** is described as "Enable tracking through promotional codes (to be set up in dashboard -> coupons)". Instead of following a link, the customer types a code at checkout and that code identifies the affiliate. Turn this on when links alone won't reach your customers. A podcast host reads out a code because listeners can't click anything. A creator on a platform that strips links still gets credited. And the discount attached to the code gives the customer a reason to use it, which is why coupon codes often convert better than a bare link. Switching this on here enables the method; you still create and assign the actual codes on your **Coupons** page. ## Use both Turning both on is the usual setup, and it costs you nothing. An affiliate can share a link for the audience that clicks and a code for the audience that doesn't, and you don't have to guess in advance which one a given partner will lean on. You can't turn both off. Removing your last method shows **At least one tracking method is required** — with neither, nothing could ever be attributed to an affiliate. ## Connect a store for automatic coupon tracking If you turn on **Coupon Codes** without a connected store or payment provider, a button appears reading **Connect Integration to use Automated Coupon tracking**. Referly needs that connection to see which code was used on an order. Connect Shopify, Stripe, WooCommerce, or Polar and coupon-based referrals are recorded on their own, the same way link referrals are. Selecting the button opens the connection flow. ## Save Changes wait until you select **Save Changes** at the bottom right — the button stays greyed out until you've actually changed something. You'll see **Tracking methods saved successfully** when it goes through. ## What to check next Choosing your methods is the first half of tracking. The other half is making sure each one records everything it should: * **If your funnel spans more than one domain** — for example a marketing site and a checkout on a separate domain — link referrals can get lost when the visitor crosses over. [Cross-domain tracking](/docs/help-center/settings/program/cross-domain-tracking) keeps them attached. * **If you want affiliates to have tidier links to share**, [automated short links](/docs/help-center/settings/program/automated-short-links) give everyone a branded short link automatically. * **Where links actually point** is set by the landing pages in [General program settings](/docs/help-center/settings/program/general), along with the tracking parameter Referly adds to them. ## Related Keep attribution when visitors move between your domains. Give every affiliate a short, branded link automatically. Set landing pages and the tracking parameter in your links. Catch affiliates referring themselves through their own links.