Tiny URLs

[Emily Berg]

Hi All-

I'm looking for some advice regarding Tiny URLs.

I've read a bit about tiny URLs and how you can use them to mask your affiliate code or hoplink so other promoters cannot change your affiliate id to theirs. Can this actually be done? Can I hide my affiliate id with a tiny URL, but still keep it intact so I can get credit for any sales?

All feedback is appreciated :)

Thanks!
Emily

[Keith Ireland]

I would advise against using tiny urls everyone seems to know about them now, clickaudit are a slightly better bet for hiding your links because you can track how many times your links are getting clicks.

The best thing to do though is to build a html redirect page I think craig shows you how to do this in SAC.
Another good piece of advice is when creating a folder for your links do not use recommends as a folder.

For example everyone uses yourdomain.com/recommends/product name

This is now every seems to do it, and people are wising up to this fast.

Be creative and think of something else that doesn't shout out I'M AN AFFILIATE.


Good Luck Keith Ireland

[Richard Legg]

I have to agree with Keith that you should try and create a redirect link of some
kind from your own site.

Here's a quick video I found on HostGators hosting tutorials:

http://www.hostgator.com/tutorials/xskincpanel/cpanel_xskin2_urlredirect.htm

The problem with tiny urls (particularly in the IM field) is that people know the
only reason you use them is to mask an affiliate link - so the person clicking
on it already knows that you're looking to make an affiliate commission.

A redirect doesn't necessarily scream "affiliate link".

If you wanted to go a step further, you could even register a standalone
domain name and forward that to your affiliate URL.

Richard

[Emily Berg]

I have to agree with Keith that you should try and create a redirect link of some
kind from your own site.


Thanks, Keith and Richard.

I've created a landing page as a redirect from my blogsites. Then the links within this site will direct the person to the product page. Is this the correct way of setting it up?

Also, won't the person know that they are visiting an affiliate page when my content asks them to purchase the product through me and they will receive a special bonus?

Thanks :)
Emily

[Tom Brownsword]

Another reason for using short / tiny URLs is so that you can change the target at some point in the future.

Let's say that you've put out hundreds of links pointing to affiliate product A. For some reason, you no longer want to promote affiliate product A; instead, you want to promote affiliate product B.

Without using redirects that you control, you suddenly either have hundreds of links that point to nowhere (if the product is no longer available) or hundreds of links that send traffic to a site you don't want to promote.

If you use somebody else's service (let's pick on TinyURL for a moment!), you're still out of luck because you can't change the destination (not to mention that people can use their "reveal URL" function to see where you're sending them).

But if you control the redirects, all you have to do is change the URL in your redirect -- and you're done.

In fact, I'll be doing this for a product that I was promoting because the site owner put up some terms of service that basically take away all rights from their customers, hence I'll no longer promote it.

Of course, that's not the only reason for hosting your own redirects:

* You can send traffic to a different website from articles you distribute.

* You can even turn a redirect page into a landing page, content page, or anything else you want.

There are lots of other reasons for doing it.

I recommend that you ALWAYS host redirects on your own domain.

And yes, Secret Affiliate Code does contain instructions on how to do it.

HTH,
Tom

[Ron Berg]

Hi Tom:

This is a great response to the TinyURL question, and does explain clearly the value of the Redirect Page.

I think that Emily is not quite sure that the Redirect Page is separate from the Landing Page (hence the confusion).

I haven't yet seen the results of a Redirect Page (what the user sees) as per the code in SAC (or at least I was not aware of having been redirected). I am working on implementing the SAC redirect code on my web page this weekend.

BTW, Craig had indicated that the TinyURL for ClickBank would NOT interfere with proper crediting.

On another topic, I am looking for a good fully automatic Article Submission software. I am currently considering Article Post Robot and Instant Article Submitter.

Does anyone have experience with either product, or could recommend an automatic Submitter program?

Thanks in advance,
Ron :)

[Kevin Hastie]

Hey Richard,

Great tip on using a standalone domain name for the redirect. I smacked myself in the forehead when I read that one :)

Thanks,
Kevin

[usdcserv]

I'm looking for some advice regarding Tiny URLs.

I've read a bit about tiny URLs and how you can use them to mask your affiliate code or hoplink so other promoters cannot change your affiliate id to theirs. Can this actually be done? Can I hide my affiliate id with a tiny URL, but still keep it intact so I can get credit for any sales?

Personally I use the Link Tracking in my DirectResponders.com account which creates smaller URL's and masks my links and I also use the Free service at http://atcntl.com which turns URL's like this:

http://www.instanthoverads.com/index.php?e=mfv&action=order&dc=discount

into this http://atcntl.com/1109 and also masks my code.

I also use redirection pages, but they can be a hassle at times so I tend to stay away from them.

Regards,

Scott

[charleskirkland]

In the past I have used Power Link Generater for my links.

But there seems to be a upward trend of people just doing a redirect on a subdomain off the main domain. This can be done in cpanel and it is very easy to track and control you traffic.


Thanks
Charles Kirkland

[Ron Berg]

Hi Charles:

Doesn't using cPanel involve setting up your own Web Hosting server (a separate computer)?

I use a service to host my website, so this might not be applicable.

Thanks,
Ron

[charleskirkland]

Hi Ron

Yes to use Cpanel you will need your own hosting account. Or there are a number of hosting platforms that will work that are jsut a few dollers per month. The issue is you need to have a SQL database setup for this to work.

Thanks
Charles

[tonyg]

As charles has said I use my domain/subdomain name to draw traffic and along with that I use clickaudit.com to "mask" my link. Or i'll use clickaudit and mask my hoplink and redirect them to my site. Hope this helps. Btw does anyone have any experience with clickaudit?

[Ron Berg]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Much appreciated.

Ron

[Steven G. Johnson]

Hi,

I sometimes use tiny URL's to mask my hoplinks or
affiliate links when I send mailings to my lists
and it works well at times...

However, I highly recommend that you use subdomains
instead of tiny URL's because the click through will be
way higher.

Hope this helps,

Steven

[Chris Derenberger]

I agree. I actually used TinyURL as a test and my clickthroughs went way down. Since then, I use a simple html redirect script.. clickthroughs went back up and so did sales.. :)

Chris

[KingUmar]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all advice that you all post in this tread about Tinyurl. It very helpful for me :)

Regards,
Kingumar

[bearded]

Just create a something.php file and do this:



$url = "http://youraffiliatelink.com";

header("Location: $url");
exit();



and stick the file on your domain.

What I do is create an index.php and stick it in a new directory, that way the url doesn't have to end in .php, ie:
http://mydomain.com/recommends/thisproduct/

All you need is that index.php in the "thisproduct" folder.

Hope that made sense.

Joe

[Todd Lamb]

I am a fan of the redirect...so simple to set up and much cleaner on the page. A 1 minute php or html on your domain.

Some guys that have been testing the results in the fitness niche have noticed a drastic drop in ct's as reported in their newsletters.

My .02 cents

Todd

[Chris Derenberger]

I don't use tinyurl much, mostly when I need it just to shorten links for posting on Tweeter and such.

Another solution might be to use pinurl.com. I favor them over tinyurl since you can keep track of all your click stats and they have more options with your urls.

Chris

[Philip Greenwood]

This is an interesting discussion! There are loads of hidden questions:

Are we all putting links in the same place? Does it make a difference?

Do customers really care (or know) about the 'aff_id=NN' code in a URL, or are they more interested in reason they'd click the link? (i.e. There's something they do or don't want at the other end).

Is it different in the (more tech savvy) Internet Marketing 'niche'?

Were you masquerading as the author of the content at the other end, or presenting as a partner/advocate at the other end of the link?

And for those that suggest they've got some test results...were they statistically valid? What confidence level do you have in them? Do the results suggest a general priniciple, is the result so context-ladened that it's a mere story - a one off?

There are loads of wierd practises around marketing on the web:

Long, long headlines - are these really better? (Our tests suggest NOT) Or are they just something that's grown out of a wierd evolutionary process.

Long form landing pages - is it better to have one long page, or to get customers to click through to multiple medium length pages? (I've seen stats that suggest the latter is better, but again, perhaps it's a context thing).

Johnson boxes - is a yellow box really the best way to present a testimonial?

Order boxes - are dashed lines really more effective?

Hiding the price at the bottom of the page - or requiring a click through to the order page...

So many more!

But of course you can 'boil the ocean' with tests, and never reach your main objective: Selling stuff.

We've had a motto this year at my company: 'Momentum over Optimization' - and it seems to be powering our way to much better things. Reserve optimisation approaches to areas where you have enough scale for confidence in the results and that yield enough value to justify your investment in the test.

The other approach is to 'phone a friend' - or ask a question on a bulletin board, or forum, or similar. But you've got to get really smart about how you frame the question, and how you interpret the responses for it to be any better than guessing yourself!

[david lechner]

Yes, TinyURLs are very iffy. Personally I never click a tinyurl. Only because I have no idea where it is going.

I would be more willing to click a link on your website that redirects to a related affiliate site.