i have heard everywhere that linking directly to the affiliate page is no good (for google). but, how come i still see a lot of people doing it? especially for bidz.com. thoughts?
It would be better to keep as many links as possible internal. The best method would be to have an out.php which redirects to the proper site in accordance with a query. I can send you such a script, if you want it.
i dont think you're understanding my question. is linking directly to an affiliate CPA page worse than making a landing page that links out to the CPA page?
Yes. With Landing pages you have far more control over your campaign....google frowns upon direct linking, though some ppl manage to make it work for them.
ok. that being said, lets say you dont care about control. does direct linking affect Quality score or bid prices?
direct linking can be profitable but you have no control over the landing page which can hurt your quality score You also have to fend off any other bidders on that domain since google allows only 1 domain per keyword ...
assuming the quality score of the landing page is good, how would you "fend off" other bidders on that domain? also, im sure but can you confirm that conversion rates are higher with direct linking?
**From experience myself and watching all my affiliates: 1) You will have a much better quality score and lower prices per click with your own lander, customized to match your keys really well. 2) Having said that - here is a popular tactic that direct linkers use: **Get 4-5 domain names, setup different adgroups for each - take over the top 4-5 spots if you can (this way you don't worry about the main domain - and don't do domain.com/product either - get a fresh domain). 3) Having 4-5 domains going to 4-5 landers all customized to 4-5 key clusters... - now you're talking. 4) Conversion quality - depends on each product/offer. Sometimes (most times) publishers aim to make credit card pulling carefully crafter conversion mastered pages (at least I do), where even without an aff pool - the in-house campaign converts like crazy going direct to the site... Even then though - most times having at least 'some' pre-sell is good, the only thing landers are supposed to do remember - is track your ID and get the user OFF the lander and onto the main site so stay away from loooong landers/presells/mini-sites, intermission pages with teases on them could/should be quick and painless with at least some SEO for your adwords and hopefully for some natural traffic downstream. Your best bet would be to split test both - per product - and eliminate one or the other on a minimum 7-14 day test during a normal week(s) (meaning no holidays or annual events/dates where sales become deregulated for x days). Cheers, NC.
is it possible to take over multiple ad positions with different domains even though they are all from the same account? is that against TOS?
I've done it with redirects/subdomains. Its easy and can be set up in a couple minutes. If it a no-hassle CPA offer it can make money.
It's better to direct the visitors to a landing page with an autoresponder form capturing their name and email address.
Not if you are in it to make a fast $2.40 per sign up. Sometimes aweber forms are not the best way to go. Depends though.
how do i test out if it works well linking directly to my affiliate link? and if i use my aff. link at the desitination URL, doesnt the display URL need to be the same?