EzSEO Newsletter # 169
July 1, 2007 by Andy
This week:
1. Using .htaccess for redirects
2. Wordtracker Automation
3. The next mini-series….
4. Clickbank Frustrations
5. Other News
Hi again.
Some news on that Wordtracker automation software, plus another poll to decide what the new mini-series will cover, and more. Let’s get on..
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1. Using .htaccess for redirects
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Back in newsletter #74 (April 2005), I wrote an article about using the .htaccess file for redirecting affiliate links. This topic is one I get asked about on a weekly basis, so to make my life a little easier (support-wise), I decided to reprint that article here.
Just to fill you in on why this is such a useful technique, think of this example. You sign up for an affiliate program, and get your affiliate link. You write a web review for the product, and also create an autoresponder course which pre-sells the product. On top of that, you create a fr.ee viral report which pre-sells the products, and distribute it far and wide.
Before long, your affiliate link is in documents all over the web, and you are making good sales. Then, one morning, you wake up to an email from the merchant, saying that they are changing their affiliate program to a new system, and can you use this new affiliate link in future. Tracking of the old affiliate link stops next week.
This scenario is not that far fetched – in fact, read my Clickbank frustrations article later, as I will be doing this to my affiliates ;o)
The big problem is that you can re-create your autoresponders, and viral report, and even update the link on your review, but what about all of those links you cannot change? What about all those copies of the viral report sitting on peoples hard disks? Those affiliate links will simply stop working, and all of your hard work until that point goes up in smoke, literally overnight.
Sounds bad right? Well, those of you who took my advice back in newsletter issue #74 would not be bothered in the slightest. They could simply update a single file on their server, and all of those affiliate links will be updated to the new link (yes, even in the already downloaded viral reports). That is the power of using redirects in your .htaccess file.
Want to learn how to do this?
Here is the article from issue #74:
“WARNING & DISCLAIMER
If you make changes to your own .htaccess file, you do so at your own risk. You should always keep a backup of any file you change and if you are unsure what you are doing, contact technical services of your hosting provider.
In the root directory on your server, there should be a file called
.htaccess
If it is not there, you can probably just create it (but do ask your service provider first).
This file is a text file that can be edited in any text editor (just make sure you save it with the correct name “.htaccess”.
The purpose of the .htaccess file is to supply your server with additional information whenever someone calls up a web page on your site.
We are going to look at just one function of this file. If you want to read more about this file, do a Google search.
Let?s take an imaginary domain – http://mydomain.com – to use as an example.
What happens when you type in a URL for that domain that does not exist?
e.g. http://mydomain.com/page-does-not-exist.html
Well, depending on your server setup, you may be automatically redirected to a custom “page not found” page, or even redirected to your homepage.
Some hosts handle this for you. However, you can use the .htaccess file to specify where the user is redirected to when they type in a URL.
The “redirect” command is used to manually specify where a user should be sent if they type in a certain non-existent URL.
The way you can use this to your advantage, is to set up redirects for your affiliate programs. Here is an example using a Clickbank Hoplink:
Here is the affiliate link (no, it is not a real affiliate product):
http://hop.clickbank.net/?myid/bluewidget
In my .htaccess file I add a line to the end of this file:
redirect /widget http://hop.clickbank.net/?myid/bluewidget
Save it and upload to my server.
The syntax of this function is:
redirect from to
where “from” is the page you want people redirected from when it is visited, and “to” is the URL you want them redirected to.
Now, on any page of mydomain.com, I can place a link to that affiliate program by linking to this URL:
http://mydomain.com/widget
This URL does not exist, so when someone clicks the link, my server searches through the .htaccess file to see if there is any redirect specified for that URL. My server sees that when someone calls this URL, they should be redirected to:
http://hop.clickbank.net/?myid/bluewidget
That is what happens. My merchants page loads.
Now, imagine that on mydomain.com I want 50 pages to link to this affiliate URl (e.g. in a menu bar). I can simply use this URL as my link:
http://mydomain.com/widget
Now, two weeks later I get an email from the “blue widget guy” saying that he has changed his affiliate system, and I now need to use a different affiliate link:
http://hop.clickbank.net/?myid/widget4U
I don’t have to go and edit 50 pages of my site, I simply go to my .htaccess file and change the redirect to:
redirect /widget http://hop.clickbank.net/?myid/widget4U
Save and Upload, and my site is automatically updated for all links pointing to this merchants site.
Centralizing affiliate links in this way, allows you to make sweeping changes to the links on your entire site, by just editing one file.
Imagine if Mr. Widget contacted you saying he was discontinuing his affiliate program, or dropping commissions from 50% to 10%. You find another affiliate program with better commission:
http://hop.clickbank.net/?myid/bestwidgets
It is simply a matter of editing the .htaccess file from:
redirect /widget http://hop.clickbank.net/?myid/widget4U
TO
redirect /widget http://hop.clickbank.net/?myid/bestwidgets
Save and upload.
Now the links on all 50 of your pages point to the new affiliate link.
Using the .htaccess file in this manner can also mask your affiliate link – great to make commission theft just that little bit harder”.
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2. Wordtracker Automation
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Last week, I asked you about some software that would automate Wordtracker competition. The results of the poll showed that the software is needed, and it is ready. Ian, the guy who created it has not finished his sales page, or set up the payment processor yet, but I can give you some details.
While the poll suggested a number of people would be happy to pay $47 for this tool, I have “persuaded” the author to sell it for $27. However, this price is a special offer, and it will go up. This isn’t a marketing ploy, its a fact. The guy wants to sell it for at least $37. He is still working out the details, but the last conversation I had with him suggested that he would sell it at $27 to my list for a couple of days, before raising the price.
Now, he may release it this week, and I don’t want you to miss it if you want it, so I have setup a special mailing list for my readers.
If you want to know the minute this tool is released, sign up. I’ll email you the moment he tells me everything is in place. I will also record a video, showing you the tool in action, and email it to you while you are waiting.
This is a very cool tool. Not only does it do all the competition for you, but it emails you the results when you are finished. At $27, this tool is a steal. I use to spend hours doing competition search, 100 at a time. Now I can get on with other stuff, while the software works in the background.
Sign up for notification here.
This list is double opt-in, so once you subscribe, you will have to verify your subscription by clicking a link in an email that my autoresponder sends you.
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3. The next mini-series….
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OK, I have had some suggestions on what the next miniseries should be. I even had one person suggest that a miniseries on CSS would be a good idea. I had to set them straight on that one, and direct them to:
For those of you new to this newsletter, this eBook was written during a “mini-series” in this newsletter that lasted a number of months.
OK, I have created a poll to see what you want. The poll was made up of the most common requests since I asked for ideas last week. If your idea doesn’t appear in the poll, sorry, it just was not something I was comfortable with, or, you were the only one to request it.
Here is the poll, please vote:
Note, that last week, one of the polls showed that over 25% of the people reading this newsletter do not have a website that makes m0ney.
I would love to hear from you, especially what it is that is stopping you, or maybe you just read this newsletter for some other reason? Please let me know via the support desk.
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4. Clickbank Frustrations
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Clickbank has always had its faults, and the one that really drives me crazy is the way you cannot exclude people from your affiliate program.
e.g. if Michael Campbell promoted my Site Builder to his list, there is nothing stopping those referrals from signing up for my program, and buying through their own link.
Clickbank makes it easy. I see this as theft, not only is Michael Campbell having his commission stolen, but the customer is buying the software at 50% discount. When I price my software, I price it at what I think the product is competitively worth. If I think the product is worth $97, then that is what I want to be paid for it (though I am happy to split this with my affiliates who send me traffic).
I don’t advertise my affiliate program on my sales pages. I also tell people who ask about the affiliate program that it is only open to customers. I do all I can to stop this from going on, but go on it does.
This week I had two people buy my software through MY link, only to then buy it again through their own (obviously they saw the link to my affiliate program once they logged in to download the software). I then get an email directly from Clickbank saying that the customer asked for a refund on the first purchase.
Clickbank make a mockery of affiliate programs. They are destroying the trust between merchant and affiliate, especially in Internet marketing niches. Merchants like it because it is hands-free, and most people price their product accordingly so that commission theft doesn’t worry them. These merchants don’t give a hoot about their affiliates. They see them as sources of fr.ee traffic, not business partners.
Because of this, I have made a decision. I am moving my affiliate programs to an in-house system. I have the scripts in place, and will test it when I re-release my Fat Content Course. Some of the features of the program include:
* affiliate tracking on multiple levels, not just cookies.
* option of a two tier program for selected affiliates.
* People who refer a customer WILL get the commission.
* Anyone who pulls the stunt that those two did this week, will simply find that the purchase through their affiliate link is the one that is refunded, guaranteeing the sale to the correct affiliate.
This is all going to take more work on my side, but I think the benefits to my sanity, and the pockets of my affiliates will make these changes well worth the effort.
If you have any thoughts or concerns about the changes I am going to make, please feel free to log a support ticket on my support desk (details at the end of this newsletter).
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5. Other News
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The June Niche Blueprint was released this week. There are still some copies if you are interested. Here is the low down on the niche:
Total Phrases: 2935
768 of these phrases have 5 or more daily searches, with less than 1000 competing pages in Google, representing 7400+ searches a day at Google.
346 of these phrases have 5 or more daily searches, with less than 100 competing pages in Google, representing 2800+ searches a day at Google.
276 of these phrases have 5 or more daily searches, with less than 10 competing pages in Google, representing 2100+ searches a day at Google.
117 of these phrases have 5 or more daily searches, with less than 0 competing pages in Google, representing 790+ searches a day at Google.
This niche is ideally suited to Adsense or Affiliate programs.
Google highlights 240+ phrases in this niche that have and estimated CPC of over $1.
There are also a lot of affiliate programs that service this niche.
If you are interested, just visit:
.. and click the link top right to the June Blueprint.
Well, that’s it for this issue. If you want to read the recent issues of this newsletter, you can read them online at my blog:
http://ezseonews.com/blog/index.php
For older newsletters, you will need to visit the old archives at:
http://ezseonews.com/archives
Have a great week!
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The contents of this newsletter is copyright 2007 Andrew Williams. If you want to republish any of the articles, you must get permission from the author.
This newsletter disclaims all responsibility for the advertising copy or the product advertised. You cannot rely on the fact that the newsletter has examined the product or recommends or endorses the product, unless it clearly says that it has, when you make your decision whether or not to purchase the product or interact with the advertiser. You are advised to do your own investigation before buying. Additionally, this newsletter may accept articles that we do not write or investigate the accuracy of and for which we may receive direct or indirect benefit or compensation. We specifically disclaim any responsibility for the content of such copy.
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