Direct linking / domain forwarding with clickbank and PPC

Hi guys, I have a quick question. I'm working on setting up my first affiliate campaign. I understand that if you direct link google will only show 1 ad that has the same destination url as yours. So to avoid that I purchased a domain. I do know there are some rules with google so is it ok to have the domain forward to my clickbank affiliate link, or will google punish me for this?

Also if google will punish me for this, is it some thing I could just try for like a week to test the market and then set up a landing page or do they have an automated system that checks for this?

Thanks, Matt

 

You won't be able to do it, you'll have to construct a landing page which contains your affiliate link.

 

Thanks for your answer but could you tell me why I cannot do it?

 

Google wants to see relevant content on the domain or page you are sending clicks to, but it's more simple than that really...their terms of service say you can't redirect from the url you display in your ad to another domain.

You will eventually learn that you can't do it because Google says so, end of story.

 

Why would you want to direct link anyway? You'll convert much better using your own landing page. Lazy marketers wonder why they don't make any money...

 

The reason I want to direct link is to test a market. This would actually be my first campaign trying to promote affiliate offers. I have only done adsense in the past and I read that direct linking is a good way to test a market for a couple of days.

 

I would have thought the reason why was obvious - they don't 'double serve' - show more than one ad going to the same destination because it's not a good experience for searchers if all the ads they see go to the same place - if you're just doing an automatic redirect, then you're still double serving - sending searchers to the same place as other ads.

 

I think all the above explains your question directed towards me.

 

unfortunately no you cannot simply redirect a purchased domain to the affiliate offer. Google now automatically checks the final destination url after all redirects to ensure the domain url matches the ad url.

If you redirect right the traffic right away google will dissapprove your ad for an incorrect display url.

The best thing to do is set up a simple landing page which contains the basics such as about us, privacy, terms, sitemap and etc... then test the traffic.

If you lack the landing page skills then you will have to direct link using the appropriate display url and take a hit on cpc bids and playing the bidding war game to outbid the current advertiser.

Lastly, you can always do a direct link campaign using the content network and avoid the bidding war, because the content network does not work the same as the search network. You will get an equal share and appropriate bid in the content network vs the search network for your test.

 

Thank you everyone for your input. I'll get working on my landing page asap.

 

Most landing pages are similar, as if they just cut'n'pasted the HTML of someone else's landing page and changed a few words...

It's not rocket science.

 

You are correct. For testing purposes, the best thing to do is copy the source code of your competitor's landings,change it around a little and test.

 

Dont try to forward domains if you are promoting CB products. Google is now well aware of this practice and will disapprove your ads or ban you if you do this. Just look around the competitors landing pages to see what they look like, and you can quickly create a similar one like mentioned before.

 

You know what they say: " Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"