Newbe trying to set up a PPC campaign

17 Mar 09 4:16 am

Denis,

You don't do forwarding or masking in Hostgator, you do it at Go Daddy. Just select the domain you want to forward or mask and click on "Forward" at the top of the page. That will take you to a page where the process is pretty self-explanatory. You just enter the url that you want your domain to forward to and hit the button. It takes an hour or so to take effect.

17 Mar 09 4:54 am

What you need to do at GoDaddy is point your domain's nameservers to Hostgator. If you haven't done that, nothing will work. If you have done it, be aware that it can take up to 72 hours to take effect. Once your domain has propagated across the Internet, in other words, once it has "taken effect," you can forward your domain. I assume you want to forward it to your ClickBank hoplink. That makes it a direct link from your AdWords ad to the merchant's sales page. If you want to use a landing page, then do not forward your domain. Instead, build a landing page with your domain name as the url, hosted at Hostgator. And on your landing page include the ClickBank hoplink. That way, anyone who clicks on your AdWords ad will be taken to your landing page, where they can click on your hoplink to be taken to the merchant's sales page. Make sense?

Tish

17 Mar 09 5:37 am

Denis,

Unless GoDaddy has changed things, the Hostgator nameservers would not automatically be in those two boxes you saw -- you have to enter them. They would look something like this:

ns1439.hostgator.com
ns1440.hostgator.com

You should have received that information in the welcome letter you got from Hostgator. In any case, you might go to GoDaddy and double check to make sure you've got the right info in the nameserver boxes.

Tish

17 Mar 09 4:23 pm

No problem. Best of luck!

25 Mar 09 3:56 pm

Hey Fanatic,

Just got back from a trip to Scottsdale visiting relatives. No time to work on my campaign. Found out that I got the Google Slap. I want to do a direct link but still not sure how to do it.

I got a domain name and put that as my "display" URL and also the "destination" URL. I then went into GoDaddy and did a forward and mask. I put my hoplink in the for the forward. Is this right????
Google disapproved my ad because of the display URL.
What did I do wrong? Do I have to have a landing page?

So many questions and so little time.

Thanks, Denis

10 Apr 09 9:02 pm

Denis,

If you have done the domain forwarding and masking through godaddy correctly, you should have no problem with your ads in google. This is the method I do when I test campaigns when I feel the product is going to do well. I just go buy a domain from godaddy for less than $10 for a .com and less than $13 for a .net. I figured it's worth testing the product with that initial spend. The main reason why I do this method instead of direct linking is to avoid the double serving rule which basically hurts your campaign during the test period because you are not getting the most impressions that you should. If you are only doing 1 adgroup for all your keys then it's easy to see the keys if their corresponding ads are showing or not. However, if you do it like I do having 1 keyword per adgroup for all 3 match times (most of the time I avoid "Broad"), then you will have a heck of a time checking each adgroup for the keywords' ads if they are showing on search or not. It is always best to start and complete a test accurately because it will determine how you will approach the campaign. If you launched a direct linking campaign and you have a competing affiliate who is also direct linking then you may run into the double serving rule. And if you are not getting all the impressions that you should then your just wasting time and money conducting an inaccurate test.

Whenever I get a problem when google says my ads were disapproved because of inaccurate display url, I just call their customer service. They check it out and I get my ads approved.



Hope this helps,
Renato

11 Apr 09 9:19 pm

Hey Denis,

It's ok to PM me, no problem. Don't be shy if you are asking questions that you think may seem simple. The reason why you're asking is because you want to know. And that is why a forum is always good.

You are correct. The domain name should be the display URL and the destination URL. The hoplink is the one you put in your domain forwarding information so that anyone visiting your domain will be forwarded to your clickbank hoplink. Since it is masked the visitor will see your domain instead of the merchant domain name. Try calling Google's customer service and ask them kindly. Most people there are trained well and provides good customer service. Here is their number: 1-866-246-6453.

Hope this helps. PM me anytime you have any questions. I will do my best to answer your questions.



Renato

14 Apr 09 5:36 am

Hi Denis,
Just thought I would mention, I tried to setup some direct adwords campaigns myself, and failed, got the google slap as well.

Would love to hear how your adventure works out as I would like to have another crack at it.

Cheers
Mike

17 Apr 09 3:11 am

Hi Dennis1,
I learnt just a few weeks ago, that you can create conversion tracking codes, then ask the sales providers to add that code to their confirmation/thank you page.
Then google adwords will show you which campaign/adgroup the buyer went through

I create a different tracking code for each different product I promote.