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Bit.ly filtering ClickBank links

by andreas3
13 replies
Using Bit.ly as a quick and handy click tracker? Time to find a different one, at least for ClickBank links. Bit.ly has started producing great big "The link you requested has been identified by bitly as being potentially problematic" warning pages for at least some CB affiliate links.
#bitly #clickbank #filtering #links
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by andreas3 View Post

    Time to find a different one
    You can say that again: The .ly domain space to be considered unsafe | :Ben Metcalfe Blog

    But in any case, it makes no sense at all to depend entirely unnecessarily on the continuance, goodwill, availability and reliability of a third-party service which you neither own nor control.

    Don't imagine that using "tinyurl" or even "goo.gl" is any more sensible in principle (and a few thousand users of Tinyurl found out why, in 2010!).

    These things are a real traffic-loser, anyway: plenty of people (fairly understandably) won't click on them.
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    • Profile picture of the author andreas3
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      You can say that again: The .ly domain space to be considered unsafe | :Ben Metcalfe Blog

      But in any case, it makes no sense at all to depend entirely unnecessarily on the continuance, goodwill, availability and reliability of a third-party service which you neither own nor control.
      Excellent point in general. But for "small stuff" traffic tests -- or tracking the success of WF signature copy, not that I would use a CB aff link for that! -- these things are indispensable.

      These things are a real traffic-loser, anyway: plenty of people (fairly understandably) won't click on them.
      Are you willing to share what kind of conversion/click % loss you've seen in tests?
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      • Profile picture of the author DanielBlue
        After all this tools making to many problems I only use WordPress › Pretty Link Lite « WordPress Plugins
        This plugin is sitting on the domain, so you are in control of everything.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by andreas3 View Post

        Are you willing to share what kind of conversion/click % loss you've seen in tests?
        It's hardly something I'm likely to "test"! Given that it's a totally unnecessary, benefit-free, highly risky and pretty silly thing to do in the first place, which has perfectly good and trouble-free/risk-free alternatives so readily available, the conversion-loss isn't relevant to the decision-process at all, so why test it?

        I tend not to test things which would make my business unnecessarily dependent on third parties!

        (I don't click on "bit.ly" links myself, even here, in people's sig-files ... and I've certainly seen plenty of other Warriors saying the same, so the "traffic-loss" is pretty-much factual, if that's what was concerning you).
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        • Profile picture of the author andreas3
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          It's hardly something I'm likely to "test"! Given that it's a totally unnecessary, benefit-free, highly risky and pretty silly thing to do in the first place, which has perfectly good and trouble-free/risk-free alternatives so readily available, the conversion-loss isn't relevant to the decision-process at all, so why test it?
          ...because sometimes you want to toss up a link and see how many clicks it gets, without adding an intermediary page?

          Conversion-loss testing would be useful in figuring out, "if I put in a real website here, how many more leads/sales would I get than the stats I've collected so far indicate?"

          Or, in my case, "how much more successful is this headline/anchor text than the stats lead me to believe?"


          (I don't click on "bit.ly" links myself, even here, in people's sig-files ... and I've certainly seen plenty of other Warriors saying the same, so the "traffic-loss" is pretty-much factual, if that's what was concerning you).
          Well, that doesn't necessarily mean the use of shortened URLs has a measurable effect on click rates. It could be that the 1% who don't click are simply particularly vocal about it.

          As for the rest, yes, I'm aware the "proper" solution is a self-hosted link cloaker.
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  • Profile picture of the author Silentkiller1
    Try tinyurl instead
    Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
    Just create your own Bit.ly with this free script.

    YOURLS: Your Own URL Shortener
    Signature

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  • Profile picture of the author baokhau
    Originally Posted by andreas3 View Post

    Using Bit.ly as a quick and handy click tracker? Time to find a different one, at least for ClickBank links. Bit.ly has started producing great big "The link you requested has been identified by bitly as being potentially problematic" warning pages for at least some CB affiliate links.
    The bitly service does NOT work for cloaking the affiliate link.

    You can try goo.gl or tiny.cc. These 2 tools help you to create the customized urls and keep track of the clicks amount.
    Signature
    Forget Solo Ads! Want To Get EXCLUSIVE And Quality Biz Opp Leads? Click Here For Detail!
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    • Profile picture of the author andreas3
      Originally Posted by baokhau View Post

      The bitly service does NOT work for cloaking the affiliate link.

      You can try goo.gl or tiny.cc. These 2 tools help you to created the customized urls and keep track of the clicks amount.
      The goal isn't to cloak it. The goal is to track clicks, which bit.ly does do. I've switched to tinyurl.ms for the moment, but I'll keep those in mind.
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  • Profile picture of the author Igor Fridrihs
    Hey,

    I cloaking my affiliate links using PHP code.

    I create a new directory, and rename it. When the directory has been renamed you will have something like:

    http://YOURWEBSITE.COM/directoryname

    Then I open the directory and make a new index file that only has the following code:

    <?php
    header('Location: http://AFFILIATEID.COM');
    ?>

    Once that's done, any link with http://YOURWEBSITE.COM/directoryname will automatically redirect people to your affiliate link but always displayed as the normal link.
    Signature
    50-100 Clicks HQ Solo Ads

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    • Profile picture of the author andreas3
      Originally Posted by Igor Fridrihs View Post

      Hey,

      I cloaking my affiliate links using PHP code.

      I create a new directory, and rename it. When the directory has been renamed you will have something like:

      http://YOURWEBSITE.COM/directoryname

      Then I open the directory and make a new index file that only has the following code:

      <?php
      header('Location: http://AFFILIATEID.COM');
      ?>

      Once that's done, any link with http://YOURWEBSITE.COM/directoryname will automatically redirect people to your affiliate link but always displayed as the normal link.
      That's a really neat idea. Simple and effective!
      Do you then just track clicks using server logs?
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  • Profile picture of the author AJMontoya
    WP Plugins like Link Cloaking and Pretty Link allow you to cloak AND track your clicks. Might be worth a try if that's what you're looking for.
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