I hate fhgs like this (rant no pics)

[SBJ]

ok in this day and age of 2009 why are there still ccbill programs that code fhgs like this? In 2004 when I made my first fhg I learned the right way to do this.

PHP Code:

http://refer.ccbill.com/cgi-bin/clicks.cgi?CA=000000-0000&PA=XXXXXX&HTML=http://www.domain.com/fhg-title.html 


instead of the better way to do fhgs below

PHP Code:

http://www.domain.com/fhg1/?ccbill=xxxxxx 


It's not rocket science to make a simple php fhg with linking codes inside the gallery. I hate using these types of fhgs cause it throws ratios way off with every hit to a gallery is counted as a hit to the paysite.

For a one week offer for $20 paypal I'll set up a simple fhg for you to use and show you how it works.. You can find this help for free if you search for it but I'm not feeling that giving tonight haha

I was just about to sign up to a program I wanted to promote and saw this and decided I won't do it.. I've done it with other programs this year but not today

[TheHatchet]

thought id help out.

PHP Code:

domain.com/galleries/0001/?ccbill=9999999 


Call this in your file by writing

PHP Code:

<?php print $_GET['ccbill']; ?>

So you can pass it to your tour like this:

PHP Code:

<a href="http://refer.ccbill.com/cgi-bin/clicks.cgi?CA=000000-0000&PA=<?php print $_GET['ccbill']; ?>&HTML=blahblah">Click here to see more</a>

[SBJ]

Originally Posted by BarryTheHatchet

thought id help out.

PHP Code:

domain.com/galleries/0001/?ccbill=9999999 


Call this in your file by writing

PHP Code:

<?php print $_GET['ccbill']; ?>

So you can pass it to your tour like this:

PHP Code:

<a href="http://refer.ccbill.com/cgi-bin/clicks.cgi?CA=000000-0000&PA=<?php print $_GET['ccbill']; ?>&HTML=blahblah">Click here to see more</a>

well thank you.. Now let's see if these sponsors use this info cause they are people that post here..

also if you use this advice be sure to test it out cause some servers aren't set up by default to read the ?ccbill= right and you might need to ask your host to turn on globals if it doesn't work first try

[rowan]

I've passed on several sponsors because they use that inconvenient and outdated method of tracking clicks. (ccbill's many different ways of measuring clicks without being able to directly compare two different types is another matter, but we won't go into that )

pic-on-html FHGs (without the normal direct linked pic as an option) are also usually a deal breaker, since my thumbing system does not support them.

[Jay-Rock]

Please tell me if my program links http://jayrockcash.com are ok.


Thanks

[DWB]

Originally Posted by Jay-Rock

Please tell me if my program links http://jayrockcash.com are ok.


Thanks

You use CCBtools or something custom?

[Ditosta]

We are set up this old school way! having someone look into this now! thanks for the heads up!

[Shaze]

the coded php way makes the URL's look better/cleaner and like you said the ratios will be more accurate but there is a downside to it. you don't get the cookie set right away as soon as the surfer hits the gallery. so if the surfer looks at the gallery but doesn't click to the paysite but remembers the paysite name/url and later types it in directly on the browser or searches it in google or gets there some other way you don't get credited with the sale.

using the long URL your automatically credited with the surfer as soon as he hits the gallery so if he decides to not actually go to the site, but then goes back to the site later to buy you get credit.

it's better to offer both solutions to your affiliates if you own a program because some affilaites want long url's and others want the php style urls.

just a thought.

[CarlosTheGaucho]

Well I'm actually just solving this.. first obvious solution was the one that's protested about.

But it's correct that you'll not get your true conversion ratios that way.

I wonder if there's not some form of tracking in the ccbill settings that could be applied to cope with this.

I'll have to check.

[DWB]

Originally Posted by Shaze

the coded php way makes the URL's look better/cleaner and like you said the ratios will be more accurate but there is a downside to it. you don't get the cookie set right away as soon as the surfer hits the gallery. so if the surfer looks at the gallery but doesn't click to the paysite but remembers the paysite name/url and later types it in directly on the browser or searches it in google or gets there some other way you don't get credited with the sale.

using the long URL your automatically credited with the surfer as soon as he hits the gallery so if he decides to not actually go to the site, but then goes back to the site later to buy you get credit.

I didn't know this.

[rayadp05]

With my paysites fhg's, I have them coded as is displayed in the first example and my affiliates are dong phenominal regarding turning over sales. My TOP affiliates are bringing in nearly 20 to 30 sales per day....and that's PER AFFILIATE. Believe me, my fhg's are converting very well.

What does it really matter how the fhgs are linked? As long as they are linked correctly with your affiliate code embedded into the url, you are still going to get credit for your sales.

However, if it will make me bring in additional sales by linking the way that you say, I would be interested in speaking with you about this. I have been aware that that I could link the galleries differently but I just never thought much about it before since my affilates are doing so well and have never complained about how the fhg's are.

Or a better way, for programs anyway is to put this at the top of the source for the gallery:

PHP Code:

<php
$ccbill = (empty($_GET['ccbill'])) ? 'YOUR-CCBILL-ID-NOT-AFFILIATE' : $_GET['ccbill'];
?> 


Then on all links just put <?php echo $ccbill; ?> in place of the areas, and when a user hits the site via page.php?ccbill=2353 then 2353 gets credit, if the ccbill isn't set, it defaults to your sponsor id.

Originally Posted by Shaze

the coded php way makes the URL's look better/cleaner and like you said the ratios will be more accurate but there is a downside to it. you don't get the cookie set right away as soon as the surfer hits the gallery. so if the surfer looks at the gallery but doesn't click to the paysite but remembers the paysite name/url and later types it in directly on the browser or searches it in google or gets there some other way you don't get credited with the sale.

using the long URL your automatically credited with the surfer as soon as he hits the gallery so if he decides to not actually go to the site, but then goes back to the site later to buy you get credit.

it's better to offer both solutions to your affiliates if you own a program because some affilaites want long url's and others want the php style urls.

just a thought.

You can get around that, In the FHG you can put a 1x1 pixel image on it, and make the source be the long url, but instead of linking to the actual fhg, you link to a 1x1 pixel gif that shows blank, so that way, the urls are clean and easy to use, and the cookie is set once they hit the page.

[tranza]

Bump here

[SBJ]

Originally Posted by Shaze

the coded php way makes the URL's look better/cleaner and like you said the ratios will be more accurate but there is a downside to it. you don't get the cookie set right away as soon as the surfer hits the gallery. so if the surfer looks at the gallery but doesn't click to the paysite but remembers the paysite name/url and later types it in directly on the browser or searches it in google or gets there some other way you don't get credited with the sale.

using the long URL your automatically credited with the surfer as soon as he hits the gallery so if he decides to not actually go to the site, but then goes back to the site later to buy you get credit.

it's better to offer both solutions to your affiliates if you own a program because some affilaites want long url's and others want the php style urls.

just a thought.

your sites is actually one of the sites i have linked to recently despite this linking way. Yes you might get credited to the hit to the paysite for gallery views but I'd rather get credit for paysite views only.

I send a TON of hits daily to FHGs and from that only a very little percentage go onto the paysite but i'd rather see ratios from tours to see how it converts not just ratios from every surfer that clicks the gallery

using the long URL your automatically credited with the surfer as soon as he hits the gallery so if he decides to not actually go to the site, but then goes back to the site later to buy you get credit.

if the surfer is at all interested in the site when they are viewing the gallery they will look at the site at that time and then later decide if they want to join based on the tour and other factors.. There is always going to be those that say not doing it this way will lose you sales via direct type ins but i think that number is very low from a fhg

another thing I think is if like you said the surfer goes to fhg of a site and closes it and later decides he likes that site or model i think the average surfer would look for that same fhg in his history to re look at her and click the link from there.. Surfers don't surf tgps all day and remember 10 paysite urls of girls they might like to join based of fhgs.

[rowan]

Originally Posted by rayadp05

With my paysites fhg's, I have them coded as is displayed in the first example and my affiliates are dong phenominal regarding turning over sales. My TOP affiliates are bringing in nearly 20 to 30 sales per day....and that's PER AFFILIATE. Believe me, my fhg's are converting very well.

What does it really matter how the fhgs are linked? As long as they are linked correctly with your affiliate code embedded into the url, you are still going to get credit for your sales.

However, if it will make me bring in additional sales by linking the way that you say, I would be interested in speaking with you about this. I have been aware that that I could link the galleries differently but I just never thought much about it before since my affilates are doing so well and have never complained about how the fhg's are.

You'll definitely get new affiliates if you offer the "clean" version of your FHGs. If I see a program that has the refer.ccbill style of linking then I'll chalk it down to 10 minutes of my life wasted (and an extra ccbill account tacked to my main), then close their site...

I'm starting to experiment with hosting my own galleries now so it's not an absolute and immediate deal killer, but it would still make me think twice.

[BV]

Sshhhh, these magic join links are supposed to be a secret!

[NinjaSteve]

Originally Posted by Killswitch

Or a better way, for programs anyway is to put this at the top of the source for the gallery:

PHP Code:

<php
$ccbill = (empty($_GET['ccbill'])) ? 'YOUR-CCBILL-ID-NOT-AFFILIATE' : $_GET['ccbill'];
?> 


Then on all links just put <?php echo $ccbill; ?> in place of the areas, and when a user hits the site via page.php?ccbill=2353 then 2353 gets credit, if the ccbill isn't set, it defaults to your sponsor id.

Why is this better than the first way?

[NinjaSteve]

Who's going to be the person to discuss setting a cookie in the webmaster area so you don't have to find and replace? :D

[BV]

Originally Posted by NinjaSteve

Who's going to be the person to discuss setting a cookie in the webmaster area so you don't have to find and replace? :D

shhhh, this is top secret stuff, not meant for the masses

[SBJ]

Originally Posted by NinjaSteve

Who's going to be the person to discuss setting a cookie in the webmaster area so you don't have to find and replace? :D

see that doesn't bother me as much as this fhg issue here.. I can put my own code in the url np

my cash program cms has this built in but I also know how to set just a basic cookie for things like just a page of fhg's

[RevTKS69]

Originally Posted by Ditosta

We are set up this old school way! having someone look into this now! thanks for the heads up!

2 points to you for admitting and addressing the issue!

That's the way things should work: Constructive criticism received and acted upon.

Originally Posted by NinjaSteve

Why is this better than the first way?

The first way if you don't define $ccbill via the url, like page.php?ccbill=xxxx then it's blank, and nobody will get the credit for it... sure, it will show up in stats for the site owner and say a sale from no where, but if you attach an actual id to it, you can keep track of where it came from, a fhg of sorts...

[SBJ]

Originally Posted by RevTKS69

2 points to you for admitting and addressing the issue!

That's the way things should work: Constructive criticism received and acted upon.

exactly. At the time I wrote this was a rant but I had no intentions of calling out people. I just hoped others felt like I did and that some of the sponsors that used this form of linking fhgs would see this and think about it. Thumbs up to those that are changing this

Originally Posted by Killswitch

The first way if you don't define $ccbill via the url, like page.php?ccbill=xxxx then it's blank, and nobody will get the credit for it... sure, it will show up in stats for the site owner and say a sale from no where, but if you attach an actual id to it, you can keep track of where it came from, a fhg of sorts...

ah see you are talking about inserting a tracker ID for fhgs that don't have a id.. I know how to do this too but don't use it in my fhgs. I've found this usefull for free hosted tgps where webmasters can link to the site to trade traffic and get credit for sales from that site also. Not all people place a id in the link trade so this allows me to insert a tracker id for those that don't..

I've made 2 such free hosted tgps and learned this method for the second..