A basic step that you can take to ensure higher click throughs for your affiliate offers is to not promote affiliate links directly. Affiliate links are easy to spot, allow for commissions to be ’stolen’, brand somebody else’s website (not yours) and put them in control. Instead use domains, subdomains, HTML or Javascript redirects or a cloaking software.
-
Categories
- Best Of
- Blogging
- Branding
- Content
- Copywriting
- CRO
- Customer Service
- DMA News
- email marketing
- iMOS
- Internet Marketing Metrics
- Internet Marketing Tips
- Marketing Technology
- Messaging
- Networking
- outsourcing
- PLR
- podcast
- PR
- product creation
- Product Management
- Product Reviews
- Productivity
- Promotion
- Research
- Sales Process
- Strategy
- Success
- Testing & Tracking
- Traffic Generation
- Uncategorized
- Usability
- World View
Archives
-
Recent Readers
4 Comments
So you are saying its dangerous to use Affiliates without using “domains, subdomains, HTML or Javascript redirects or a cloaking software”. I can’t see any alternative to, as you put it: “promote affiliate links directly”. Sorry, but your post is so vague I can’t really make any use of it.
I think what Rob is saying is that instead of using a link like this:
http://www.ProductDomain.com/affid=1234567
Use a domain (like www.VinLikesThis.com) and redirect the whole domain to http://www.ProductDomain.com/affid=1234567
Or use a subdomain (like www.VinsMainSite.com/VinLikesThis/) and have that redirect to http://www.ProductDomain.com/affid=1234567
Or use HTML or Javascript redirects, or a link cloaking software or even something like www.TinyURL.com.
All are simply ways to make a more professional impression and not over-emphasize that you are using an affiliate link.
Rob could probably explain it better.
Hi Vin,
Seems the terminology is somewhat new to you.
By “domains, subdomains, HTML or Javascript redirects or a cloaking software”, I’m referring to the various techniques of “hiding” or “cloaking” your affiliate link.
And yes, you certainly should cloak all of your affiliate links for the various reasons stated in the tip …
If the affiliate link starts with a redirect (ie: a domain that you own, a subdomain that you own, an HTML redirect, a Javascript redirect or a redirect link from your own hosted cloaking software), then YOU’RE in control of that link, it’s more professionally, harder to spot and brands YOU.
Take a few minutes and look into how affiliate marketers cloak their links … you’ll find the common ways are the ones I listed in the tip. Unfortunately (and thankfully at the same time), due to the 400 character limit of the tip, I had to assume that readers would be comfortable with how “redirects” work.
But now that you know, be sure to put it in use.
Rob Toth
http://www.DearEmployee.com
ofcourse