EzineArticles.com Does Allow Affiliate Links

[larrybrown]

I decided to try to fool ezinearticles by registering a domain name that was very similar to the product website I was promoting and then forwarding the domain through my affiliate link. Worked, no problem. I thought I had figured out some sort of back door but then I read this gem in ezinearticles's TOS:

You declare that you will not send in any articles with direct affiliate links in them. We reject articles with direct affiliate links. It is ok, however, forward/redirect to an affiliate link from the top-level of a domain name you own. For example, it is permissible to forward to an affiliate link from:

your-company-name.com

Don't know about you guys but thats a revelation for me. Now if I want to link directly to an affiliate website all I have to do is register a domain name and forward it. Pretty cool.

Larry

[LilBlackDress]

Yes you can.

However, in discussions on the forums here, it appears that conversions tend to be lower for many going directly to the sales site instead of going to your authority site where you can capture the email and potentially make the sale.

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by larrybrown

if I want to link directly to an affiliate website all I have to do is register a domain name and forward it. Pretty cool.

Indeed, that has always been the case at EZA. You can buy a dot-info domain for $0.89 and forward it. Whether you'll make any sales that way, without forwarding the traffic first to your pre-selling blog/site/page, is a different matter altogether, though. (Not to mention whether you'll build a list).

[larrybrown]

Hi, thanks for your comments. I use these forwarding domains for driving traffic to affiliate CPA offers. Works like a charm for "set and forget" income streams. I'm also able to get "type in traffic" by registering a name that is close to the original site.

Larry

[Steven Wagenheim]

I can't speak for everybody else, but for me...that tactic doesn't do squat.

Want to make sales?

Send them to a review of the product on your blog.

Better yet, send them to a video review and let them see you.

Give them a free report based around the product in return for their email
address.

Follow up with more content.

Build some credibility and trust.

Again...just my opinion.

[Thomas]

Originally Posted by larrybrown

Don't know about you guys but thats a revelation for me.

I did know that but, given that EZA doesn't let authors link to certain type of pages, it's surprising that they allow it (since you could simply re-direct the domain to anything after the article has been accepted).

Tommy.

[locpic63]

Originally Posted by Thomas

it's surprising that they allow it (since you could simply re-direct the domain to anything after the article has been accepted).

Tommy.

If you do it they will catch you and take your article down. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.

Here's to your continuing success
Locpic63

[Sonja]

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

You can buy a dot-info domain for $0.89 and forward it.

Hey Alexa, okay you got me on this one. Where can I get .info for $0.89

[Amfire]

Where do we get Info domains for $0.89?

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

Indeed, You can buy a dot-info domain for $0.89 and forward it.

[Sonja]

Originally Posted by josephmorris90

Order your .info names with Godaddy, they are only $0.89
(Total comes to $1.07 because of the 18 cent ICANN fee)

Oh okay. I have been buying from namecheap for $2.98 because it comes with free privacy for a year. Then after that you can buy 5 privacy protections for about $8.

Thanks for the info...ha ha...info

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by josephmorris90

(Total comes to $1.07 because of the 18 cent ICANN fee)

I'd forgotten that - yes, true enough. Still, pretty useful for "forwarding from a top-level domain-name".

[steveniam]

The morale of the story - read the TOS.

Anyway I don't send them directly to the vendors site but through my landing page. It will convert better

Originally Posted by larrybrown

I decided to try to fool ezinearticles by registering a domain name that was very similar to the product website I was promoting and then forwarding the domain through my affiliate link. Worked, no problem. I thought I had figured out some sort of back door but then I read this gem in ezinearticles's TOS:

You declare that you will not send in any articles with direct affiliate links in them. We reject articles with direct affiliate links. It is ok, however, forward/redirect to an affiliate link from the top-level of a domain name you own. For example, it is permissible to forward to an affiliate link from:

your-company-name.com

Don't know about you guys but thats a revelation for me. Now if I want to link directly to an affiliate website all I have to do is register a domain name and forward it. Pretty cool.

Larry

[GavinStephenson]

You have to warm people up to a sell.

You should check out Google Sniper. it will help out alot

[larrybrown]

Wags, you're absolutely right. It is better to create a review site. BUT, I'm L-A-Z-Y I like to set up these forwarding domains first then if I see some action I may set up a full blow site.

Larry

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

I can't speak for everybody else, but for me...that tactic doesn't do squat.

Want to make sales?

Send them to a review of the product on your blog.

Better yet, send them to a video review and let them see you.

Give them a free report based around the product in return for their email
address.

Follow up with more content.

Build some credibility and trust.

Again...just my opinion.

[firedragon]

I like the forwarding idea, but I also see the point of a landing page and I will go with that

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by larrybrown

Wags, you're absolutely right. It is better to create a review site. BUT, I'm L-A-Z-Y I like to set up these forwarding domains first then if I see some action I may set up a full blow site.

I'm lazy, too. But I don't think this is about laziness.

I think your logic's faulty, here.

You're assuming that something that gets a little bit of action as a direct link will be worth doing a review site for. I question this conclusion. I think possibly even the exact opposite might be more valid: it might be the ones that get absolutely no action at all as a direct link that will produce most from a pre-sell review site, and the ones that get a bit of action without it might not even do very much better at all with it.

[larrybrown]

I'm not following your logic. If I set up a simple forwarding domain and link an article to it and track that that domain is getting traffic (from say ezinearticles) would that not be an indication that the market is worth presuing? VS say another forwarded domain with an article link that gets little or no traffic?

Anyway, care to elaborate on your logic?

Larry

Originally Posted by Alexa Smith

I'm lazy, too. But I don't think this is about laziness.

I think your logic's faulty, here.

You're assuming that that something that gets a little bit of action as a direct link will be worth doing a review site for. I question this conclusion. I think possibly even the exact opposite might be more valid: it might be the ones that get absolutely no action at all as a direct link that will produce most from a pre-sell review site, and the ones that get a bit of action without it might not even do very much better at all with it.

[davidomni]

Larry, Have you used this yourself to make $ with CPA & affiliate offers?

Thanks!

[larrybrown]

Yes I'm making money with EZA and forwarded domains. I also use forwarded domains quite a bit outside of EZA. I use them for domain squatting, typo squatting and other things.

Basically, I'm a mud slinger -- I throw a bunch of mud against the wall and look for what sticks. So far, I have enough sticking to earn a full time living on the internet.

Lar

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by larrybrown

If I set up a simple forwarding domain and link an article to it and track that that domain is getting traffic (from say ezinearticles) would that not be an indication that the market is worth presuing?

Not necessarily, Larry. You're actually making some real assumptions, there. Here's what you're assuming:-

1. That something that gets the odd EZA sale even without a pre-sell page is going to do significantly better with a pre-sell page

2. (More importantly) that something that doesn't get any EZA sales without a pre-sell page isn't worth doing a pre-sell page for because it won't get any sales with one either.

I actually disagree with both of these assumptions, especially the second one, which I think is the more significant.

It doesn't actually matter which of us is "right". What matters is that at the moment you're assuming rather than testing and learning.

For the record, my own assumptions (which I admit could be wrong, but to me they seem very logical and they also bear out my own testing, which may or may not be relevant to your position, of course) are:-

1. EZA articles that get clicks-through but no sales without a pre-sell page are exactly the ones for which it IS worth building a pre-sell page, because the traffic is there and all that's missing is turning it into sales

2. EZA articles that get clicks-through and even the occasional sale without a pre-sell page are, if anything, the ones that are the lowest priority to get a pre-sell page up for, because they're doing ok on their own and there's absolutely no evidence that they'll do better with a pre-sell page. (These may be the ones with vendors' sales page less inappropriate to the EZA readers, so there's less need to "adjust" anything).

As you see, my assumptions (tested for myself only, not for you, so not "assumptions" to me, though obviously they are to you, I accept) are more less the opposite to yours. But this doesn't matter very much: what matters is that yours are assumptions, not evidence.

[badfun]

I use the redirect method to test sales pages. it is the poor man's adwords. Yes all the rest about building up an authority site, giving something away etc. is valid, but it takes time.

I find a potentially lucrative niche, find a product, setup a redirect, submit a few articles. It's a bit more work than adwords but it's cheaper. Then you find out pretty quickly whether the sales page will convert or not. Check your Clickbank analytics (if that is what you are using) to see how many of the redirected visitors actually clicked into the order page. If they didn't make an order, that is okay. It shows that they were interested enough to check out the price at least.

The converse is that you find the niche, setup a site with reviews etc. write a bunch of articles, send traffic, and then discover that the sales page doesn't convert. That happens a lot too. The redirect method can be a time-saver.
brent

[Alexa Smith]

Originally Posted by badfun

Then you find out pretty quickly whether the sales page will convert or not.

You find out whether it will convert as a re-direct for EZA traffic, yes. But you don't learn anything about whether it will convert in other ways, and that's what you actually need to know. I suspect that, like Larry above, to some extent you're making assumptions about that. To be honest, I used to do that, too, but when I started testing them I found out they were all wrong.

[larrybrown]

Lisa, two quick things:

1) I'm not looking for sales. I'm looking for clickthroughs and some action on my CPA offer (which is usually a lead form sign up -- much easier to get then a sale)

2) I AM testing. That's the whole point of using Ezine articles and a forwarding domain.

Lar