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/x...rlredirect.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...er&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