Hello, I am new to Commission Junction. I'm currently trying to create a landing page for my first product and I'm encountering some problems. My sites are hosted with Homestead and built with Sitebuilder, and I'm having some problems when I insert the HTML code for the affiliate links. I can insert the first one with no problem, but the second one I try to insert causes distortion on my page. Can't seem to find an answer for it. I am able to easily create text links with Sitebuilder, but in order to do that, I need to have the affiliate link as a URL. However, I can't seem to find where they provide a URL, just the HTML with an image. I extracted what looks like the affiliate link URL out of the HTML code they provided, and the links works okay, but I'm not sure if this would somehow cause me to not get credit for sales. (It says not to make alterations to the links) I guess my first question is, on the "get links" page in C.J., is there a place that I can just retrieve the URL with my affiliate link as opposed to HTML? If not, do you think there's a problem with extracting the URL that's in the HTML and making my own text links with it?
I've used Intuit/Homestead for over 5 years now and have never had a problem like you described. Are you trying to put more than 1 code into a single box? If you are, it won't work. Each ad requires it's own HTML box. Click or clone an HTML box, insert your code, resize the HTML box into the size of the ad (468x60/120x90/etc.) you've chosen and place it in the location you want. As far as text links go, just highlight the words you want to link from, click the link tab then put 100% of the HTML code into the URL box. Your ad won't register an impression unless the link is clicked so don't panic if your numbers seem low. I don't know if this works with the JavaScript option. When it comes to the text links described above, I know some advertisers don't have a problem while others may. Contact the advertiser yourself to double check the rules. If I didn't read your question correctly, blame the empty coffee pot.
Thanks for the reply. When I'm inserting the html, the first time I click the "insert html" and past in the code, I don't have any problem. It's when I'm trying to put in the second link that the problem begins. On the second link, I'm creating an entirely new box by clicking again on the "insert html" link and pasting the new code into the box. Is that how I should be doing it or should I be cloning the one that's there and just pasting the new code in -- or will it make a difference if I do it that way? I tried using the javascript and it works okay with it, but I'm seeing some people advise against using the javascript links -- not sure exactly why. Just want to get started off on the right foot. Thanks for your help.
Are you closing your link with </a> at the end? I don't know homestead and sitebuilder but I bet you can put more than one link in a box separating them with <br> or if you want them side by side using &nsbp;.
If your creating a new HTML box for the second link you should not have any problems. We've used this exact method for years and have never had any problems on Homestead's end. Using a cloned box for new code is also OK. To be perfectly honest about it, I'm stuck with no answer and no ideas. Could you post a screenshot of the distorted page? About javascript links. I prefer them because I've never had any problems. Several years ago when we were using the straight HTML links we ended up being associated with an advertiser (email leads) through one of those "This is a spam site and they are related to" review websites. Plus when a Google search was done for one of our domain names their website would show up fairly high in the search results. I can't say for sure that the HTML link caused this association but when replaced with javascript code, everything went back to normal and the review site disappeared from the results. It was a slow process but they did go away. Just remembered something about SiteBuilder. If your default browser on your computer is not IE and you've turned off IE Image Toolbar (advanced) you could have some distortion. SiteBuilder prefers IE as their standard preview browser.
I just decided to go with the javascript. I called Homestead and asked them about the problem and even the tech I talked to was stumped about what was happening with the HTML. I took your advice and sent an e-mail to the advertiser to see if I could use the URL in some text links. Haven't heard back yet. Thanks for your help.
Glad I could help. I think you'll be happy with the javascript links. Just remember that like basic HTML links, text links require 100% of the ads code. Trying to cherry pick just the URL could/can/will cause problems with CJ or the advertiser. Good luck!