I discovered a very small error with a set of affiliate links and it may have cost me thousands of dollars! A very small error that can easily be done by many affiliate marketers or simply anybody that copies and paste a link code.
First, I copied an affiliate link code but I didn’t notice the amp; in the link set. The amp; is often included in HTML code and not for a direct link. This can easily be done by marketers that grab a link inside of a snippet of code to extract the link.
If you are like me, I test almost all my links to make sure they "work" but that doesn’t mean you can easily check to make sure they are working on your affiliates end and tracking clicks and sales for you. This was the problem for me. The link appeared to work from my end as it resolved to the proper page but it created a tracking error due to the bum link being incorrect as the link included amp; in it.
Another copy and paste link issue can come when some characters in a link can "mean" something and it changes your link to something else.
Example:
he|af
can turn into this
he%7C
The %7c likely is the "special characters" for the | symbol. Doing a copy and paste with | symbol in it can "change" depending on what program you may be pasting into or how you copied it.
Either way, a broken link like this can equal money lost, traffic to be wrongly tracked and something that you may not even notice.
When you copy and past a link, be sure to double check it and make sure it didn’t change any of the characters to something else or your link may look like it works but you may not be getting credit for sales taking place, that you should be getting credit for. I see this mainly when you get a link via email and copy and paste it. I also see this change happen when you right click and "copy link location" and paste into something like Notepad++ or a similar program.
Keep an eye on these copy and past situations as it could be a costly mistake if some parts of the link change, as it can be easy to miss.
TeenDomainer
Thanks for the tip, I normally try and test mine first to make sure they work.
Jamie Zoch
@Teen,
I would always test them as well.. but really no way to tell if the affiliate is tracking properly. That was where I ran into my problem. Thankfully I contacted my reg and he noticed the error. He is going to go back and try to discover any orders that are not showing up as sales because of the link error.
Domainer
Actually using the amp for coding is correct the link should resolve correctly and track? it will not track if you don’t use it?
Jamie Zoch
@Domainer,
Yes, it is used in the code.. but not directly IN a link, not in code. I used it with a php redirect and included the amp; in that link… LOL, confusing as it is part of the “code” but not really.