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How to make more money with your affiliate code On your website: Where to put the code on your website How to make the banners load faster If you don't want people to leave your site through your Affiliate code If you don't want people to see the bulky Affiliate code on the status bar For best results, change the banners from time to time Additional tips to increase click-throughs for banners Try textlinks and recommendations instead of banners Other resources on the net you
can use to display your code: Classifieds
FFA pages and replicated directories Please remember - NO SPAM - never - ever.
On your website
The simplest and most obvious tip (in case you have a website) is to put your Affiliate code somewhere on your website. You can do this by going to the Affiliate page at astounding secrets and copying the HTML code of the banner of your choice and pasting it into the HTML code of your website.
You will definitely want to put your Affiliate code somewhere where it will get maximum exposure. The most obvious place would be the top of your index.html or front page. But . . . you might not want to start off your page with a banner to another page. Besides, it might already be taken by another banner. Perhaps another place to consider would be the bottom of your front page. You can also choose to show a smaller banner at the end of your site navigation menu to the left or right of your page, provided you have such a menu. And last but not least - you can put your Affiliate code, either as a banner or a text link into the "Useful Sites" or "Links" section of your site. But remember - the more prominent the place, the more likely you'll be reaping in those $10 and $5 commissions!
Ads next to the right scroll bar (in the lower right-hand corner of your opening page) generate about a 200% higher click-through rate than ads at the top of the page. This shows that people rarely notice a banner at the top of the page. Ads placed 1/3 down page, as opposed to the top generate about a 75% higher click-through rate. Once again - if a surfer sees something similar to a banner at the top of the page, he will automatically skip forward to get to the content of the site. Which is why banners below the top and to the right are a lot more effective. But make sure the ad is visible in a 800 x 600 resolution without the need to scroll down to it, otherwise the click-through rate will fall through the ground instead of shooting through the roof. Finally, you could use more than one banner in different places of your website to increase your commissions even more. How to make the banners load faster
You'd have to know the right width and height in pixels of each banner for that though. But instead of firing up a graphics program or a special image size calculating tool, here's a surprisingly simple shortcut to finding out the dimensions of an image. In Internet Explorer, right-click on the image and choose Properties - on the screen that opens the dimensions are where it reads... "Dimensions." In Netscape right-click on the image and choose View Image - on the page that opens the dimensions can be seen in the title of the page.
One of the drawbacks of putting up banners and links is that they are usually actually driving traffic AWAY from your site (unless of course the sites you link to also link back to you, which can even boost overall traffic). You've been through all that trouble of creating a webpage and attracting visitors to it, but now... everyone's leaving through all the links and banners on your page! What most other Affiliate programs don't tell you is that you can put up banners and links, have people go through them AND retain them on your site at the same time with a very simple trick. All you have to do is add this code [target="_blank"] to your page (or to the Affiliate link) . SEE THE EXAMPLE BELOW. Clicking on it will now launch a new window with the site you were linking to, while your own site still remains open beneath. And once the user is done checking out the new site and closes the window, your site will once again come out on top. Here's how to do it. Open one of your links or banners from the Affiliate page. This is an example of what your code might look like before you've modified it:
I really, really recommend that you do the following. Lots of people simply won't click on a link if they think you are going to get credit or make money from it. Do the following and they will never know. Many people navigate the web by looking at the status bar of their browser for an exact URL while hovering the mouse cursor over a link that interests them. If they like what they see on the status bar - they click. If they don't like what they see - they don't click. Here's the trick to make the status bar show a more civilized version of the URL. Once again, this is an example what your Affiliate code might look like before you've modified it:
And here's how to modify the code to have astoundingsecrets launch in a new window from your site:
After you've been displaying a banner for astoundingsecrets on your site for a while, you might notice when logging on and checking your hits on RevShare, that the number of visitors coming through your Affiliate code is dropping. What's going on? Not to fear, this is actually normal. Studies have shown that for ad banners seen for the first time, the average click-through rate is 3.6% (that is 3.6% of all people that see the banner on your page will actually click on it). The next two impressions (or displays of the banner) generate click-throughs of roughly 2% and fall to below 1% thereafter. According to one source, a banner "dies" (meaning it no longer gets clicked on) in about two weeks. According to another, the click-through rate of any banner is halved every 5 days. So what can you do to get that click-through rate up again? Easy - just swap the banner you're currently displaying for a different one from time to time. You can find different banners to choose from under the page that has your banners on it
And you don't even need to copy and paste the whole new Affiliate code - just look up the name of the banner you'd like to display instead and modify the existing code on your web site accordingly. It shouldn't be harder than just changing a few numbers or characters in your Affiliate code. Now watch those click-through numbers climb up again! To make it even easier for you to change banners from time to time, copy and paste all your Affiliate codes for different banners into Notepad (or your favorite text editor) and save the file. Whenever you want to change the banner you're currently displaying, just open up that file and copy/paste the necessary code into your HTML. Just don't forget to check back for new banners right here on AstoundingSecrets as well every now and then.
1: make sure you use the ALT="[text]" tag somewhere within your <IMG> tag. This will display a line of text in place of the banner in case the banner is still loading or the user has disabled graphics altogether, giving the user a chance to "see" the banner even before it has loaded. You can use the same text found on the banner or write something yourself ("Amazing Secrets and Forbidden Knowledge ? CLICK HERE to find out how!" etc.). 2: Use a text link right beneath the banner. This will immediately get the attention of all those who usually pay no attention to banners. In addition to that, you wouldn't believe how many people don't know they can actually click on a banner. But if they see a banner that intrigues them and then notice a text link right beneath it, they'll automatically know what to do next! 3: Use a blue border around the banner to indicate that it's clickable. By default, your Affiliate banner code shows banners without borders. And although they look prettier this way, you might want to increase their click-through rate by adding a "clickable" feel to them. This can be done by setting the border="[pixels]" parameter within the <IMG> tag of your Affiliate code to a width (in pixels) of your choice. Here's an example of what your Money Maker code might look like with the height="[pixels]", width="[pixels]", ALT="[text]" and border="[pixels]" tags and a separate text link beneath the banner applied: <p><img src="http://www.astoundingsecets.com/images/125X65aA.gif"
width="125" height="65" border="3"></p>
Try textlinks and (especially) recommendations instead of banners Banners are absolutely everywhere. They are an impersonal part of almost every other site out there. There are, in fact so many of them, users have long stopped paying any attention to them. Unless they REALLY catch the eye, they just plain don't get noticed. Of course, here at astoundingsecrets we also try to provide you with the best possible banners to help you with your Affiliate efforts, but if you really want to maximize your income from your Affiliate code, you might want to check this new trend - text links with recommendations. People hunt for information on the net. Rarely does anyone want to be bothered with advertising, but everyone is grateful for a tip or a recommendation. So here are a few examples you might want to use on your website to put your expertise and good will to best use. Just copy the code examples below and paste them somewhere on your site. You can customize the width, background color and text within the following cells easily. Don't forget to change the example Affiliate code to your correct Affiliate code. EXAMPLE From the webmaster... While you're here, be sure to check out this site. There's an amazing collection of SECRETS on how to AMAZE people and even make some quick money. Just click here to check it out.
A recommendation from the webmaster... I was completely skeptical about this site until I really checked it out. You'll be amazed at the variety and amount of really great information. Click here to find out for yourself..
The footer or signature of your e-mail The footer or signature of your e-mail is a brilliant place to put your Affiliate code - especially when you want to bring astoundingsecrets to the attention of people in a mailing list or newsgroup you participate in. Nobody likes outright spamming (sending a "Hey people come check out this page!!!" message to tens of newsgroups, usually completely unrelated to the ongoing discussions there), but if you indeed participate in a discussion list or newsgroup, then nobody will object to a small ad at the end of whatever relevant e-mail you contribute. Here's an in-your-face example of an e-mail sig using the short version of astoundingsecrets's Affiliate code:
Thanks, John
Amazing Secrets and Forbidden Knowledge If you create a custom sig for yourself with your astoundingsecrets Affiliate code in it, let us know, we award prizes (worth at least $50) quite often for creativity. BANNER EXCHANGE SERVICES There are lots of banner exchange services out there. Check them out first, use them if you want to. You can find hundreds on nearly any search engine. Some web-marketers claim classifieds advertising to be the biggest money-maker on the net today. But you have to keep in mind that the users of any system always claim their system to be the best. Then again, if a system is good enough for some to claim it be the best, it must at least be worth a try. Same goes for classifieds. In truth, we have gotten quite a few sign ups from classifieds, so they might be worth checking out, at least if you are the persistent type. Where to advertise? By advertising in your local classifieds site you can be sure that you'll be the only one offering such a product, while you can never be sure with the likes of Yahoo classifieds. And if your local classifieds site is only a mirror of your local classifieds paper, all the better - your online entered ad can reach a lot of people who otherwise would not be browsing online classifieds but might be interested in your offering nevertheless. If you don't have a favorite classifieds site, you might want to look up an online mirror of your local classifieds paper nevertheless. You have a chance of grabbing a whole market segment all to yourself - so why not do it before any competition arrives? Now you must be thinking - "Why only grab my own local market segment? Why not grab local market segments all over the world? If the classified sites are online, I can get to them, right?" Right, but at least currently, the biggest problem is in finding and reaching them. There's just so darn many, literally thousands of classifieds sites - all a bit different from each other, some mirrors of offline papers, others mere online startups, many of them navigable only in languages other than the english language, although serving ads also to a an english-capable audience etc. There are automatic ad submission sites and even software out there, unfortunately, we haven't tried any of them. Any feedback? Classified sites are usually very strict about how many words or characters you can enter in one ad. You really have to be able to draw attention and awaken interest with only a couple of sentences and instructions on where and how to get more information. Just for starters, here are a couple of ads you might want to use or modify for your classifieds marketing purposes.
Free articles
and content that you won't believe! This stuff is GOOD! If you write your own ad - let me know so I can get you a valuable thank you gift if it gets added to this list of examples. What categories to advertise in? astoundingsecrets is such a font and variety of information that it would be hard to limit it to one simple category. We have used every category from personals to money making opportunities and many more in between. Use your best judgment and try not to violate any of their rules. astoundingsecrets covers a vast scope of information and should be allowed in many categories. Another possibility would be to direct your advertising towards webmasters in the hopes of adding some of them to your downline. The majority of related classifieds can be found in categories with the following keywords - online, business, opportunities, proposals, webmasters, MLM etc. Then again - astoundingsecrets would be of interest to absolutely anyone interested in almost anything from money to the opposite sex, so you could draw just as big a crowd by advertising almost anywhere.
FFA or Free For All links pages are pages, where anyone can add his or her link with a one line descriptions (see here for an example FFA page). There are usually about five or six categories, the newest link gets added to the top of its respective category. It moves down as newer links are added, eventually falling off the list altogether. Which is the time to submit the link once again. Some consider the glory days of FFA pages to be over with the advent of automated FFA page creation and link submission systems. For example, FFANET houses one of the biggest collections of FFA pages on the net and is a prime example of this. Anyone can get a free FFA page with them and anyone can post their links for free to their collection of FFA pages with a click of a button. For some, this means that the efficiency of the medium is dead. However, what used to be a killer tactic just a short while ago, might nevertheless still be viable enough today. And you can always try something else if you're not satisfied with the results Replicated directories are somewhat similar to FFA pages - everyone can create his or her personal "directory" of links and everyone can submit his or her link to the thousands of nearly identical directories with one click. But instead of a constant battle and a need to resubmit your link, you only need to submit once and the link stays in the directory forever. The downside - your link will be added to the bottom of a list of links in any given category. One thing to keep in mind is to NEVER EVER supply any of those services with your primary e-mail address - you'll drown in spam if you do. You will however need a working address where you can check your mail, because you can't submit unless you supply a confirmation code sent to you in e-mail (so better get one of those freebie web-mail accounts such as at Yahoo, Hotmail or even Mail.com). On FFA pages you can use only about 80 characters to describe your link. And with a screenful of links stomping each other for attention, you need something that stands out. Here's are a few examples: - = A m a z I n g S e c r e t s a n d F o r b I d d e n K n o w l e d g e = - * * L e a r n t h e S E C R E T S T H E Y d o n ' t w a n t y o u t o k n o w * *
It is best to use newsgroups and mailing lists as an advertising ground only as outlined in the section dealing with using your e-mail signature to promote your Affiliate code. The exception to this rule are newsgroups and mailing lists SPECIFICALLY geared towards and welcoming announcements and advertising. Here's a sample list of related newsgroups to get you started, you can probably find more on your news server: alt.ad Obviously these are best suited for recruiting web-masters to your downline. But you never know - your ads are welcome so you might always generate direct sales as well! One of our best Affiliates simply writes comments and/or suggestions to various newsgroups she belongs to and adds her own sig featuring astounding secrets at the end. She does quite well and sends lots of hits each week to us. Again, I strongly encourage you NOT to use your primary e-mail account or expose your real e-mail address on newsgroups. Just get any freebie web-mail account to do the job, because whatever e-mail address you use on newsgrouops, it will get harvested by spammers no matter what. So better let that be a secondary address - if and when you get spammed, it won't interfere with your day-to-day internet activities through your main e-mail account. Even if you use a dummy account, set up
your sig file so that your return address is set up like this; if you
email address is joeblow@hotmail.com, set it up in your account to read
like this instead. joeblow(removeme)@hotmail.com |
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