Thank you for trusting us with your business. We feel as if we have made some significant strides forward for our clients in 2007.
Looking back, we implemented a number of exciting programs for our clients in order to help them maximize their revenue potential. These include:
- Recurring billing
- Expanded reporting and tracking including customer hop analytics and campaign tracking
- New and improved order form
- System status page
- Increased communications including a company newsletter and press releases
- Expanded customer service hours
- Additional advertising space
- Supplemental hoplink tracking
Additionally, in 2007 we held our first ever client advisory board meetings and conducted a client survey. The advisory board and survey, as well as the newsletter, were designed to further open the lines of communication between ClickBank and our clients.
We were encouraged by the results from our survey. We discovered that 93 percent of our affiliates and 97 percent of our product publishers would recommend us to others. First, let me say that we are flattered. Certainly one of the strong indicators of a company's performance is if its current clients would recommend them to others and any company would be proud of the results we achieved. However, our goal is total client satisfaction and we will continue to strive to improve our already high marks.
Looking forward in 2008 we have a lot of exciting enhancements scheduled. Be sure to check the newsletter and the news section of the ClickBank site for up-to-date announcements and news.
Additionally, if you have ideas, comments, or suggestions I encourage you to use the feedback email below to make certain your voice gets heard. Know that we are listening.
Best wishes in the New Year,
Bob King
Expert Article
This is a new addition to the newsletter where we feature tips from successful ClickBank publishers and affiliates for the benefit of all our subscribers. Thanks to reader Jack Zavada for suggesting this feature via the Feedback Loop.
How to Stop ClickBank Link Theft
Link theft is an important issue for both ClickBank affiliates and publishers. Affiliates obviously want to make certain they receive the commission they are due. It's also important, however, for publishers to take this issue seriously. By taking steps to minimize link theft publishers are likely to gain more affiliates who are eager to promote their product.
The primary cause of link theft is customers purchasing under their own affiliate nickname and depriving affiliates of their commission.
There are two main ways that this can occur: (1) Customers who are already ClickBank affiliates use their own affiliate nickname (or ID) to purchase a product and (2) Potential customers find out about the affiliate program during the purchasing process, sign up to become an affiliate with ClickBank, and then use their new affiliate nickname to purchase the product (and to effectively get a discount).
The technical manner in which the above scenarios occur is by affiliate link substitution. An affiliate URL (or hoplink) has the format: http://AFFILIATE.PUBLISHER.hop.clickbank.net.
Once the publisher nickname is known it is simple for those who wish to subvert the process to then substitute the original affiliate nickname with their own nickname and thus deprive the affiliate of their commission.
Below I've outlined preventative steps that both publishers and affiliates need to take in order to reduce the likelihood of these two scenarios.
Affiliate Steps
Step 1: Cloak Your Hoplinks
In order for others to replace your affiliate nickname with their own they must know the publisher nickname. The main way they can determine this is by hovering over one of your affiliate hoplinks in their browser. It is possible to see the target URL revealed in the status bar and/or in the page source unless you have cloaked your hoplinks.
For more information about how to cloak your hoplinks, refer to the ClickBank Affiliate Program Tools page.
Step 2: Choose Publishers Wisely
When determining which publishers to promote look for publishers who follow the guidelines listed below. If there is a publisher site which you, as an affiliate, particularly want to promote, urge the publisher to take note of these tips.
Publisher Steps
Step 1: Cloak Your Paylinks
To make certain legitimate affiliates get the commission they deserve cloak your paylinks on your pitch page. Unless you have cloaked your paylinks, it is possible to determine the target URL and potential commission stealers could then substitute the original affiliate nickname with their own.
For more information on how to cloak your paylinks, refer to the ClickBank Publisher Tools page.
Step 2: Do Not Encourage Affiliate Signup at the Point of Sale
If the affiliate program is heavily publicized at the point of sale then a potential customer can simply sign up to the affiliate program and use link substitution to purchase the product using his own affiliate nickname. As a publisher, it is desirable to take steps to help minimize this behavior by reducing affiliate program link visibility.
Many publishers have an overt link to an affiliate signup page worded 'Earn money' or 'Become an affiliate.' Make this link less conspicuous. Put it on an About page, FAQ page, or a separate page where search engine indexing is barred. Someone who is really keen to become an affiliate will hunt around for this information.
Also, you can mention that customers are entitled to become affiliates, this is actually a good plus point for your sales copy.
Step 3: Do Not Accept Other Payment Processors
On sites that you utilize ClickBank affiliates to drive traffic you should not accept other payment processors. If a ClickBank affiliate directs a customer to your site and the customer chooses another payment processor to check-out you have just denied the ClickBank affiliate the commission they are due for promoting the sale.
In summary, by implementing these simple tips both ClickBank affiliates and publishers can ensure that affiliates receive their commissions and publishers receive the traffic they desire.
Harvey Segal, The Complete Guide to ClickBank, is the owner of the ClickBank Success Forum.
Tech Corner
Upgrade to System Status Page
In late January we plan to upgrade our System Status page to include a light to reflect the status of the Admin System.
This new indicator will be in addition to the status lights already present that display the current state of both the Hoplink System and the Order System.
The new light will provide you with even more up to the minute details about the state of major ClickBank systems. Specifically, the new Admin System light will reflect the status of the web site, account login, sign-up, the Marketplace, sales notifications, and receipts.
The ClickBank System Status page is available at the following URL: http://www.clickbank.com.xohost.com/status.php.
Be sure to bookmark the page so you can easily return.
Tools & Tips
This month's tip is for publishers. Check future issues for tips aimed at affiliates.
Securing Your Thank You Page
Protecting your Thank You Page and download URL is a concern publishers often raise. Below are two simple methods to prevent consumers from finding your Thank You Page without first purchasing your product.
1. Place the following HTML code inside the element on your Thank You Page to prevent a robot from indexing that page or following links on that page:
META name="robots" content="noindex, no follow"
2. Give your Thank You Page URL an obscure file name. It does not have to be thankyou.html. In fact, we suggest you use something less easy to guess.
For those of you with programming ability you can use the ClickBank Link Security Script to verify a customer's successful completion of the purchase process before allowing him or her access to the Thank You Page.
Feedback Loop
What do you think about the ClickBank Newsletter? What would you like to see covered in future issues?
Email general feedback or story ideas to: commfeedback [AT] clickbank [DOT] com
About Clickbank
ClickBank is the Internet's largest digital marketplace, where thousands of the web's most popular products are sold every day. Whether you're looking to buy, sell, or promote digital products, ClickBank is for you.
