Hi, I just wrote my first promotional article for a clickbank product and have a few basic sort of questions. First: I wrote the article in goarticles.com. I copied the link they told me to post for the product, but I could have sworn they said that it would appear differently than what it is there on the site, and that the tracking id would also be hidden. 1. is there any way to make it into a more catchy looking link? 2. Would I have to edit the actual html to do that and can I do that on Go articles? 3. Can I put some kind of picture and have that be the link? that's about all I can think of now I may think of a few more soon. Thanks a lot, Will MacBride
1) Yes - the best way is to register your own domain name (somethingsomething.com) and then re-direct the domain name to your Clickbank link. That way, people see the nice URL and not the Clickbank hop link. 2) If you use my method above, you just link to your domain name with the basic <a> </a> codes. 3) On GoArticles.com, I don't think you can. However, image links are possible at ArticlesBase.com
I'm guessing you must have direct linked to the CB sales page..... Another option instead of buying a domain is to create a landing page using a FREE hosted blog like at blogger.com and use that url for your articles instead of direct linking to the salespage.
Thanks for the replies. When you say: redirect, what do you mean? You mean the go articles article will just have a link to my blog (I already have blogger set up and can throw together a blog quick) and then on THAT page I'll have the HTML coded link that looks better? Is that what you're referring to? If so, I was considering this, but doesn't that mean they'll have to kind of make 2 stops instead of one, possibly affecting the conversion rate? But let me know if that's what you mean. I'll look up "redirect" too. I'm kinda new to this in case you haven't guessed. thanks Will
2 stops vs. 1 stop - sometimes conversions will be lower, sometimes they will be higher. It depends on how well your blog is written, you'll need to test it out to know for sure. Redirects are pretty simple, you can use a "Meta Refresh" tag or a "PHP redirect" or an "htaccess redirect" (Google those terms and it will be explained to you) For a meta refresh redirect, you would register a domain name (do it, they cost less than $10), say examplexxyy.com Then you create an index.html file that has the following code: <meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;url=http://yourclickbankurl.net"> Code (markup): ...and so when someone visits examplexxyy.com (from an article, email, whatever) they immediately get redirected to the Clickbank sales page.
Great stuff thanks for the reply. When you register a domain name don't you also need to sign up with a web host? Oh yeah there are free ones aren't there? So you're saying buy a domain name and put it on a free web host? and then where do you put this html tag, on the domain name/website you set up or... i.e. yeah I guess that would be what you're saying. It makes the website redirect to clickbank. But still I have the lingering question - why did they say my tracking ID would not be visible and isn't there supposed to be more to a "hop link" than just a clumsy url there? thanks a lot, Will MacBride p.s. why would anyone get some web host with a yearly fee if they could just buy a domain name for 10 bucks and get it hosted free? I mean I'm seriosuly asking that, not just rhetorically. Is there some big advantage to a paid host?
There are many reasons actually. A free web host leaves an ugly link or an ad banner on your site. A free host will probably not allow more than one domain name. It has its own bandwidth limitations. Free web hosts may not allow you to set up email accounts. There may be many other limitations. Free hosts offer no technical support. Paid hosts are too cheap and good. Just dump the free host. Choose a blogspot with custom domain instead.
Pretty much. A domain costs $10 a year. Hosting costs $5 per month or less (you can try HostGator.com - they are reliable and cheap). You are now set up for your internet business for $70 per year. If you can't make that much in 12 months...you're probably in the wrong business. The day I registered my own domain and bought proper hosting was the day I went from being an amateur to a professional.
Is ther any problem (or will affect my affiliate sales) If I mask CB affiliate product links? For example http://mask.hgq.us/59dd9d41o (this link will redirect to this thread by masking the link) Thank you