Do you run a AFFILIATE/DEEP LINK site on commision??

[Burden]

Do anyone of you run one of these?

Ive managed to get one for a company that do alot of vetting and only allow a tiny number in the UK and they dont associate a huge amount with the pages

One problem ive got though is... i make my site then it forwards to their page... if i personally noticed the change of sites id look elsewhere.

I also dont want to rip the Company main site off either.

Id appreciate anyones links (not amazon) if you run one and ANY advice at all on this and your suggestions!!

Thank yooooooou! :D

[Burden]

anyone at all?

[debbidoo]

Yep :)

I'm currently using Commission Junction, Affiliate Window, and Affiliate Future. On Keep Christmas Cheap I only really have AF and Google AdSense at the moment. But I'm currently working on another Keep Cheap site and that uses all of the above.

I use banners, home page links and deep links, in combination. You'll see examples in the Christmas Gifts sections at Keep Christmas Cheap (hover your mouse over links to products - if it comes up as a URL you can understand, it's not an affiliate ad. If the URL is full of gobbledegook, it is).

Hope this helps

Debs

[Burden]

The main thing i was worried about is mines will all be one website it would use so it might look a bit "crap" or "dodgy" if when they go to buy they end up on another site..

not sure how to layout my site to make it work for forwarding to the owners site for payment etc.

[debbidoo]

I'm not quite sure I understand what you're saying.

How exactly are you using affiliate ads on your site? Could you talk me through it?

[FireFleur]

I think the trick with affiliate is to add something to the experience and get them over to the shop(s) you are affiliated with little hassle.

So, a fresh look on the product or if the product goes with something else, and you combine that idea.

If you do it well and you have a few people you are affiliating with, target _blank is useful to keep your site in a tab, whilst they purchase from one site. You want to make it obvious that you are an affiliate and that they will go to another site for purchase. You want some good product shots or promo from the shops, it is quite good to have different ones as well from other affiliates.

[debbidoo]

Here's a couple of examples of how I did it on Keep Christmas Cheap.

In this page (http://keepchristmascheap.co.uk/christmas-gifts/gifts-under-five-pounds/bottle-top-ashtray.html), the product I've listed is sold by an affiliate advertiser, whose programme I joined at one of the agencies. The "sold by" link goes to the advertiser's home page, opening in a new window/tab. The "view this product on the advertiser's website" link is a deep link to the exact page on the advertiser's website - again, it's a target="_blank" link.

However, on this page (http://keepchristmascheap.co.uk/christmas-food-and-drink/christmas-dinner/perfect-roast-potatoes.html) I've done something a little different. As I'm not advertising a product (it's a recipe for perfect roast potatoes :D), I needed a way to include affiliate links without it looking spammy. So I added three links at the bottom of the page - all affiliate links, again through agencies - which are related to the article (all to do with food) and which, again, are target="_blank" links.

Also, on both pages, in the bottom left of the page under the AdSense ad blocks, I've added some banner ads. Again, all opening in new windows/tabs.

Pesonally I'm happier being open about the fact that links are ads. It hasn't stopped visitors clicking, and it hasn't stopped them buying either (so I did make some commission, which was nice!) - but that's just my personal way of doing it. I'm sure many people successfully use affiliate links without visitors knowing any different. What I do think, though, is the fact that the links were relevant, and useful, made a difference. If it was just a page with a load of random links on it, they would prbably get fewer clicks. The fact that there was unique copy either side of the links was probably a big help (my opinion - I could be wrong).

With the new site I'm doing things a little differently, including adding "(name) banner ad" to every alt tag - it's just a bit more transparency, which is something that matters to me. I'm also doing some other things slightly differently, which I'll talk about once the site is launched ;)

Hope this helps :)

[Burden]

Thanks Debbiedoo! & Firefleur,

Im going to be using only one websites affiliate program and be deep linking to only there products. The product is bought and recieved instantly by email.

My thing is.. I'd ideally to as you say Debbie "I'm sure many people successfully use affiliate links without visitors knowing any different." and hoped someone here might do that so i can see how they done it and when they switched the customer over and how there design was with the affiliates own website so the customer didnt really know... Just dont want to rip the affiliate owners site off as its only that product i will sell

Hmm.. confused now haha! If you do know any sites that affiliate like im thinking of so the customer doesnt really know too much then id love a link :)

[debbidoo]

Money Saving Expert does it. Not sneakily - they explain in their "how this site is financed (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/moneysavingexpert-finance)" page about how they use affiliate links - but if you've not read that page, you probably won't notice that you've clicked an affiliate link (but of course, you're aware that you've left one site and are entering another).

Here's a good example (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/cashback-credit-cards) - there's a good chance the credit card links are affiliate links. They've done this in a really good way - a topical article comparing credit cards. If you're looking at good content like that, then find out the links are affiliate links, it probably won't bother you.

[debbidoo]

Just re-read your post, and I think maybe I'm starting to understand now! So you want to create a site that makes the visitor believe they are actually on the affiliate's site, not yours?

No idea how you'd do that, to be honest. Wouldn't the affiliate be a bit peeved at you copying their site?

[Burden]

yea was thinking that. just not sure how to approach it as the affiliate are the only company that offer these products due to various licences etc and they are the sole licence holder.

and i dont want people just to go.. may aswell just go straight to them..