Learn Internet Marketing Strategies For Your Business

To grow your business online, you need to have people click links on various websites in order to find your products, services, and ideas.

Are your links getting clicked?

Today’s lesson is all about increasing the likelihood of people clicking on your links, and resulting in more revenue for you.

I’ve split this lesson into 3 parts:

• The Anatomy Of An Effective Link
• Tracking Your Clicks
• Avoid The Link Graveyard

The Anatomy Of An Effective Link

All links were not created equal. Whether you are a product owner or an affiliate marketer, the way your link looks to the average person matters.

Make sure you create links that are readable, and logical. The person should expect what they get when they click your link.

If you have your own product, that means having a good domain name. Stay away from strange spelling or nonsensical words. If you will be promoting a link on a teleseminar, avoid using hyphens between the words, or numbers instead of words as it’s disruptive to have to explain this on a call.

If you are promoting a product as an affiliate, NEVER use TinyURL or any of the other link shorteners if you actually want your links clicked by the most people. Sure, they’re free and handy, but unless you’re on Twitter, a lot of people will be scared of clicking on something with 3×634saj on the end.

Instead you need to either buy a domain name and redirect it (I have an inexpensive domain registration service at Shylar.com), or create a redirect from within your website.

If you choose to redirect from within a website you own, it’s better to create a folder with an index.php redirect instead of a filename.php or filename.html redirect. This is because you’ll have a link that looks like YoudLove.com/phantomlinkcloaker, which is much easier to say and remember than YoudLove.com/phantomlinkcloaker.php. And even though your file will be youdlove.com/phantomlinkcloaker/index.php, you don’t have to actually type the index.php (or say it) for it to work.

You can create redirects like this pretty easily within your cPanel file manager or even faster with the cPanel redirect function (see the videos at DiscovercPanel.com for help). And to make it even easier with some added benefits I’ll share in a minute, use Phantom Link Cloaker from Chris Morris.

Finally, when you type a link, use mixed case letters. This makes it easier to read, and more likely to be clicked on. For example, when promoting one of my courses, I write it out as TeleseminarFormula.com instead of teleseminarformula.com. Not doing this may result in strange “misunderstandings” because your domain could actually contain other words inside that confuses your reader.

Tracking Your Clicks

Most people get the idea of making good looking links, but they never really know if they get clicked on. Without keeping score, you can’t really tell if your links are helping or hurting you. so keep track.

You can do this in a couple of ways. First, if you are using a service like Aweber to send emails, you can use their included link tracking option. Just check the box at the bottom of your messages to turn on link tracking. Just realize that the link itself will change to clicks.aweber.com/someweirdcodesandsymbols unless you set up their email analytics feature.

Second, you can use a link tracking system in general, which is what I’d recommend. Many of the aforementioned URL shorteners do track clicks, but you don’t want funky links. Instead use software to do the tracking for you.

The most common link trackers are Power Link Generator, Covert Affiliate Links and Phantom Link Cloaker. They are all about the same price, but the one I’m recommending the most right now is Phantom. That’s because Chris Morris built in some anti-theft devices inside the cloaking system so it’s virtually impossible for anyone to steal your commissions (which unfortunately happens more often than you think).

Avoid The Link Graveyard

What do I mean by the link graveyard? This is when you link to pages, and for whatever reasons the destination page dies, or worse yet changes to something completely unrelated. If you don’t follow these tips, your links could be lost forever.

For example, let’s say you chose not to use a link to redirect to an affiliate program. Instead, you just used the affiliate link as it was given to you from the product owner. And like a good affiliate, you posted your link in a ton of places with quality reviews and recommendations.

What happens if the product owner decides to change their affiliate script? Or the site is hijacked and turned into a porn site? Now all the links you’ve promoted are going to places that will not help your readers and could actually damage your reputation. Most importantly, your readers are not getting the solution you’ve provided.

When you use your own links, you can quickly change the destination and avoid lost profits and potential embarrassment.

It may seem trivial at first, but linking is a fundamental skill you must master to grow your online business.

Bob Jenkins

p.s. By the way, Chris has told me he continues to bring new features to Phantom Link Cloaker. But existing customers get free upgrades for life, so to keep track of your links and avoid the link graveyard, I recommend picking up his software while he is still under charging for it. It’s easy to install, and Chris shows you how.