Affiliate Chronicle
1. Register the correct site address
An important part of the Tradedoubler system is that you, the affiliate, register the correct URL to your account. If the traffic comes from a different site than the one registered at Tradedoubler, the clicks will not count.
It is also important that you enter the complete address. If your web page has the address www.myhomepage.co.uk/anna you will have to register the address http://www.myhomepage.co.uk/anna at Tradedoubler. If it is possible to visit the address with the URL myhomepage.co.uk/anna you should also register the address http://myhomepage.co.uk/anna.
You should enter your correct URL(s) under the option ?Edit site info?, in the field ?Site address (incl http://)?.
There are services on the web that give you an easier address to your web page. An example of such a service is surf.to/mypage or come.to/mypage, that directs the visitor to your web page. When registering your URL on Tradedoubler you should however use the real address, for example: http://members.tripod.com/mypage at Tripod.
To find the domain of the URL for your web site, go to the site and click the right mouse button, using Internet Explorer. Choose ?Properties? and you will see the domain your site is in. If using Netscape, choose ?View page info? to see the address.
It is possible to send out affiliate links in newsletters, but you will have to contact Tradedoubler Support first, to get a permission and information about what steps to take. If you do not get permission, any traffic from a newsletter will not be registered.
As a conclusion, you should always check that you have registered the right URL and you will avoid losing money!
2. Use the correct link
It sounds obvious but if you use an incorrect link, the traffic from your site will not be accepted. A common mistake is that the link has been shortened, especially when it regards text links.
To be sure that the link is correct you should do the following:
1. Go to the Tradedoubler site, choose the program you want to link to and click on ?Grahical elements?
2. Click on ?Show code? for the graphical element that you want to use
3. Copy the code string in the pop up box that is shown
4. Paste the code on your web page
In order for a text link to work it should look like this:
http://tracker.tradedoubler.com/pan/TrackerServlet?p=programID&a=siteID&g=0
It is not as difficult as it looks, since the parameters are displayed on every program page:
p=programID --> Each program has a unique ID number which can be found on the program page.
a=siteID --> If you register more than one site you will have more than one siteID, again these can be found on every program page after applying to the program.
g=0 --> This informs the system that it is a text link.
A link that looks like this will not work:
http://tracker.tradedoubler.com/pan/TrackerServlet?p=programID&a=siteID
To conclude, do not take away parts of a link because that will lead to a damaged link that will not track correctly!
3. The affiliate program is closed
Sometimes the companies decide to end their cooperation with Tradedoubler and close down their affiliate program. If you still have links on your web page, linking to these companies, you will not get paid for the traffic.
Due to this, it is important that you keep yourself informed about the status of the programs you are linking to. Information about closed affiliate programs as well as other program changes is found on the Tradedoubler site under ?Program news?
The rule is simple ? regularly visit the Tradedoubler website to keep yourself updated of affiliate program news to make sure that your links are still active.
4. Old links pre-upgrade
During the summer of 2001 Tradedoubler updated the system to a new platform with among other things new functions, new layout, better capacity and an improved tracking. This change included to a new structure of the affiliate links.
Although the old-style links still track as normal, we recommend you to change your old links to the new ones (the old links look like: http://tracker.tradedoubler.com/tracker.asp?code=000000).
By changing to the new links you will get access to new statistics and functions in the Tradedoubler system. For example you will be able to see how many times one of the graphical elements has been shown (an impression) and the result of each graphical element in terms of click, sales and leads.
To conclude...
These are the most common issues that we come across in the system. We actively contact the affiliates that have a high amount of errors. To increase your earnings and to avoid problems and errors we however recommend you to continuously check your links and make sure that they work.
Henrik Torstensson
Affiliate Manager
Tradedoubler Sweden
If you have any comments about our columns please send us a mail to publisher@tradedoubler.com
Chronicle archive
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Avoid the most common problems ? earn more money In the first of a new monthly column by Affiliate Managers at Tradedoubler, Henrik Torstensson from the Swedish office tells you that by avoiding the most common problems you will substantially increase your chances to earn money. |
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An important part of the Tradedoubler system is that you, the affiliate, register the correct URL to your account. If the traffic comes from a different site than the one registered at Tradedoubler, the clicks will not count.
It is also important that you enter the complete address. If your web page has the address www.myhomepage.co.uk/anna you will have to register the address http://www.myhomepage.co.uk/anna at Tradedoubler. If it is possible to visit the address with the URL myhomepage.co.uk/anna you should also register the address http://myhomepage.co.uk/anna.
You should enter your correct URL(s) under the option ?Edit site info?, in the field ?Site address (incl http://)?.
There are services on the web that give you an easier address to your web page. An example of such a service is surf.to/mypage or come.to/mypage, that directs the visitor to your web page. When registering your URL on Tradedoubler you should however use the real address, for example: http://members.tripod.com/mypage at Tripod.
To find the domain of the URL for your web site, go to the site and click the right mouse button, using Internet Explorer. Choose ?Properties? and you will see the domain your site is in. If using Netscape, choose ?View page info? to see the address.
It is possible to send out affiliate links in newsletters, but you will have to contact Tradedoubler Support first, to get a permission and information about what steps to take. If you do not get permission, any traffic from a newsletter will not be registered.
As a conclusion, you should always check that you have registered the right URL and you will avoid losing money!
2. Use the correct link
It sounds obvious but if you use an incorrect link, the traffic from your site will not be accepted. A common mistake is that the link has been shortened, especially when it regards text links.
To be sure that the link is correct you should do the following:
1. Go to the Tradedoubler site, choose the program you want to link to and click on ?Grahical elements?
2. Click on ?Show code? for the graphical element that you want to use
3. Copy the code string in the pop up box that is shown
4. Paste the code on your web page
In order for a text link to work it should look like this:
http://tracker.tradedoubler.com/pan/TrackerServlet?p=programID&a=siteID&g=0
It is not as difficult as it looks, since the parameters are displayed on every program page:
p=programID --> Each program has a unique ID number which can be found on the program page.
a=siteID --> If you register more than one site you will have more than one siteID, again these can be found on every program page after applying to the program.
g=0 --> This informs the system that it is a text link.
A link that looks like this will not work:
http://tracker.tradedoubler.com/pan/TrackerServlet?p=programID&a=siteID
To conclude, do not take away parts of a link because that will lead to a damaged link that will not track correctly!
3. The affiliate program is closed
Sometimes the companies decide to end their cooperation with Tradedoubler and close down their affiliate program. If you still have links on your web page, linking to these companies, you will not get paid for the traffic.
Due to this, it is important that you keep yourself informed about the status of the programs you are linking to. Information about closed affiliate programs as well as other program changes is found on the Tradedoubler site under ?Program news?
The rule is simple ? regularly visit the Tradedoubler website to keep yourself updated of affiliate program news to make sure that your links are still active.
4. Old links pre-upgrade
During the summer of 2001 Tradedoubler updated the system to a new platform with among other things new functions, new layout, better capacity and an improved tracking. This change included to a new structure of the affiliate links.
Although the old-style links still track as normal, we recommend you to change your old links to the new ones (the old links look like: http://tracker.tradedoubler.com/tracker.asp?code=000000).
By changing to the new links you will get access to new statistics and functions in the Tradedoubler system. For example you will be able to see how many times one of the graphical elements has been shown (an impression) and the result of each graphical element in terms of click, sales and leads.
To conclude...
These are the most common issues that we come across in the system. We actively contact the affiliates that have a high amount of errors. To increase your earnings and to avoid problems and errors we however recommend you to continuously check your links and make sure that they work.
Henrik Torstensson
Affiliate Manager
Tradedoubler Sweden
If you have any comments about our columns please send us a mail to publisher@tradedoubler.com
Chronicle archive
Back
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