SiteMighty Update: Getting Data to Fit and Starting Our API

We are currently in the process of importing data into SiteMighty from our first affiliate partner. We need to get data into it so that we have affiliate offers for our beta users to build their sites around and start marketing. We are starting with what we know, credit cards, because we have been in the business for years, and as the old adage goes: do what you know.

Naturally this isn’t easy, and we’re only at our first affiliate network partner. We hope to have hundreds, and we want to develop a very open format for SiteMighty to read and understand the data about the various affiliate offers that an affiliate network has. One of the most complicating part of it is developing the data structure for creating the affiliate link URL because this contains so much data. It has data about the offer, the affiliate marketer, the hit itself, the marketing campaign and the referring site…. phew, its making my head spin. But, we’ve got the structure, and thanks to Oleg and his team, we’ve devised what I think is a very elegant solution that will make it simple for us to build all sorts of different affiliate links incorporating whatever data we need to feed to the affiliate network.

So, before this gets too boring or I reveal all the secrets about the nuts and bolts of siteMighty, let’s get to the point:

Building an API enhances the value of your site because you can accept data feeds and people will find ways to mashup and extend your service, and the best part is, you provide the standards, other people build it.

But there are hard and fast rules of an API, and it is important to keep these in mind:

1. Never break your API — This means you’ve got to set standards upfront and build flexibility and paths for growth into it from the get go.

2. Keep it simple — skip the bells and whistles, just get the data you need in

3. Build it planning for updates — I mentioned this above, but the worst thing you can do is break it and force people to rewrite their apps.

• There are some great resources on blogs out there about API’s.

This is the first one we’ve built and it is a critical part of SiteMighty, but it is fun learning as we go. I’ll keep people updated as we keep things moving on this project. If anyone has any comments on building an API or helpful links, we’d love to know your thoughts.

PS: We’re going to be extending invitations to the SiteMighty closed beta test soon. If you are interested, please head here and sign up for an invite.