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nicklela
Joined: 29 Apr 2007
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 10:24 pm Post subject: Promote affiliate link or own domain best,or does it matter? |
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Hi all,I have just joined a herbal affiliate program and I am a bit confused whether it is best to promote my affiliate website link for example- (domainname /?aid=123456) or to have a branded store with my own domain. Concerned that I cannot promote the website link properly to search engines as it is not a proper domain name, hope someone can help.
Danielle |
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Jim Hutchinson
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Joined: 17 Jan 2006
Posts: 571
Location: Iowa, USA
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 1:25 pm Post subject: |
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Hello Danielle
Although search engines will pick up on links such as domain.name/?aid=123456 those links will not be given as much preference as direct links to the site and pages without the /?aid=
If you can set up redirects on your site using the .htaccess rules, such as those used in WordPress that convert the /?aid= to search engine friendly links, then you can get cleaner links.
If you are using a shopping cart such as osCommerce, there is also an SEO plug-in for that to convert the links.
what I like to do is set up a .htaccess file that looks for the /username and converts it to the ?aid link. That way the home page will get more weight when being indexed. It also allows for cleaner links when advertising, such as domain.name/username
If you use sessions or cookies, links on the home page do not require ?aid= because each page will look for the session variables or cookie to see who the referrer is. If someone goes directly to an internal page, then they should have the ?aid= in the link, or it will default to the site owner.
There are other methods for the internal pages too, such as domain.name/page.html/aid and although those are a little trickier to set up, they can be beneficial in cleaner links.
Bottom line is that no matter what method you use for linking, avoid ?aid links if possible
Hope that helps.
Jim Hutchinson |
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nicklela
Joined: 29 Apr 2007
Posts: 2
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| Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 2:28 pm Post subject: re post affiliate link or domain best |
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Hi Jim,
thanks very much for your help. Some of your reply I dont actually understand, but I think the bottom line is, I will get my own domain name rather than promote an affiliate link. |
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BradleyD.Haslam
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Joined: 25 Apr 2006
Posts: 310
Location: Ogden Utah... The great vacuum of the west!
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| Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 1:50 am Post subject: |
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I think I have a headache 
The bottom line is the "?".
Search engines don't read anything after the ?.
| Quote: | | Although search engines will pick up on links such as domain.name/?aid=123456 those links will not be given as much preference as direct links to the site and pages |
True.
But it's not that the se's "don't like" those links,
they just don't bear any merit.
Search engines are looking for relevance to the searchers query.
So the point is, how relevant to "dog training" is
http: //www .THIERdogsite. com/?aid=123456
compared to
http: //www .YOURdogsite. com/special-area-about-dogs/specific-dog-product-recommend.html
See how the url almost describes the page?
Also, you are sending visitors
AND pr to the affiliate site.
And not using them/it yourself.
You want your own site,
so you can connect with your visitors first.
The relationship you build is vital.
And really IS the difference between
"super affiliates" and the people just getting by.
Sites that just have a bunch of links and
don't offer a "user experience" just
end up looking like a flee market.
And don't interest people OR search engines.
If search engine marketing is your plan,
think about the content and the visitors.
The search engines will find favor if
you have a site that is "useful" to people.
Other details DO apply to se marketing.
But always start with the user in mind.
Hope it helps!
Brad. |
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markov
Joined: 20 Nov 2006
Posts: 48
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| Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 7:03 am Post subject: |
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| I think the best option would be to buy a domain name and redirect it to the affiliate link. |
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Jim Hutchinson
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Joined: 17 Jan 2006
Posts: 571
Location: Iowa, USA
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| Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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| markov wrote: | | I think the best option would be to buy a domain name and redirect it to the affiliate link. |
That is not necessarily the "best" option. You still want to do an overview of the product and an option to capture the visitor information in an email list before sending them to the vendor.
Then you will have a way to send that visitor updates on the product they inquired about and also related products. It translates into repeat visitors and potentially repeat sales.
Jim |
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catherinel
Joined: 13 May 2007
Posts: 62
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 12:19 am Post subject: |
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| I too definitely believe that you need your own site. You can then pre-sell customers and more importantly, sign them up to your mailing list and sell to some of them many times over. |
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