Has anyone used it or another shortener? Or do you think it's better to just stick with the real iTunes url?
Thanks.
I'd say just use bit.ly, it works well for us. We use custom bit.ly links so we know where clicks are coming from.
Even better than just using bit.ly, get set up with linkshare and the other affiliate companies and sign up for an account with georiot.com. GeoRiot is great because it makes your affiliate links work from anywhere in the world, and allows you to use multiple affiliate programs for the same link (for example you can use the affiliate program for the US- linkshare and the affiliate program fro Europe- TradeDoubler).
It will take some time, but you can generate trackable links that work worldwide AND you will make money from it. The cool thing about the affiliate links is that if the user buys ANYTHING on the store in the next 3 days you get 5%.
I'll be that is what appsto.re is doing, affiliating the links people use with it to make money. Great idea for them, but why not make the money yourself?
I'd say just use bit.ly, it works well for us. We use custom bit.ly links so we know where clicks are coming from.
Even better than just using bit.ly, get set up with linkshare and the other affiliate companies and sign up for an account with georiot.com. GeoRiot is great because it makes your affiliate links work from anywhere in the world, and allows you to use multiple affiliate programs for the same link (for example you can use the affiliate program for the US- linkshare and the affiliate program fro Europe- TradeDoubler).
It will take some time, but you can generate trackable links that work worldwide AND you will make money from it. The cool thing about the affiliate links is that if the user buys ANYTHING on the store in the next 3 days you get 5%.
I'll be that is what appsto.re is doing, affiliating the links people use with it to make money. Great idea for them, but why not make the money yourself?
Does apple frown upon developers profiting an extra few cents being their own affiliates? If not, why dosen't everyone do it...or do they
Does apple frown upon developers profiting an extra few cents being their own affiliates? If not, why dosen't everyone do it...or do they
A lot of people do it. Some don't because they don't know or don't want to do the extra work. We promote our apps from our website and cross promote our apps inside the apps. The whole reason for an affiliate program is to send people to the app store, so any program will want you to send as many people as possible to the store as often as possible. It is a win-win.
I would definitely suggest to check out GeoRiot.com, then sign up for the affiliate programs for the US and Europe, and after that, try the other programs though they are harder to get accepted to.
There is another thread going on right now talking about using affiliate programs to track conversions. http://www.iphonedevsdk.com/forum/pr...-your-app.html We know that 5% of clicks on our links result in a sale (not necessarily of our apps every time but a sale nonetheless )
That is good to know, and you couldn't get that kind of information doing anything else, so in addition to some extra $ you get some added insight into what really goes on with the people clicking on your links.
I put affiliate links everywhere, forums, website, emails, apps, even the links in my signature are affiliate links.
Does apple frown upon developers profiting an extra few cents being their own affiliates? If not, why dosen't everyone do it...or do they
Apple is totally fine with that! This is why they do have an affiliate program for third party to bring people to the various iTunes store/Apple eco-system.
So generating your own links using LinkShare or other affiliates programs in the other countries is 100% endorsed by Apple!
Has anyone used it or another shortener? Or do you think it's better to just stick with the real iTunes url?
Thanks.
Appsto.com doesn't really work anymore, I've got an email from the owner of that site were he says that the service is closing down. The statistics part doesn't work anymore, so it's only a fancy URL shortner now.
I use goo.gl, they have nice statistics and seems to be the fastes shortner.
Apple is totally fine with that! This is why they do have an affiliate program for third party to bring people to the various iTunes store/Apple eco-system.
So generating your own links using LinkShare or other affiliates programs in the other countries is 100% endorsed by Apple!
I don't really get the idea of these affiliate programs. Does LinkShare pay you when someone goes to your app via a redirect? How does LinkShare make money of you then? I know of traditional affiliate programs for websites, but how does this work? Maybe I need some coffee
I don't really get the idea of these affiliate programs. Does LinkShare pay you when someone goes to your app via a redirect? How does LinkShare make money of you then? I know of traditional affiliate programs for websites, but how does this work? Maybe I need some coffee
This works the same exact way as an affiliate program on a website. An affiliate makes money when the user buys something on the store within a certain amount of time of clicking on the affiliate link. Its not that difficult.
There are ways to code the links so that there is no difference to the user (no visible redirects). Instructions to do so directly from Apple:
The use of the affiliate program inside apps is perfectly acceptable and in fact encouraged behavior for app developers.
Which tells you that Apple is happy with affiliate links from within apps, and they are 100% behind the affiliate programs. You only make money when they make money, and the more traffic the App Stores, iTunes etc get the better for Apple.
Read this too if you want to improve the experience for international users and maximize your affiliate revenue:
This works the same exact way as an affiliate program on a website. An affiliate makes money when the user buys something on the store within a certain amount of time of clicking on the affiliate link. Its not that difficult.
There are ways to code the links so that there is no difference to the user (no visible redirects). Instructions to do so directly from Apple:
Which tells you that Apple is happy with affiliate links from within apps, and they are 100% behind the affiliate programs. You only make money when they make money, and the more traffic the App Stores, iTunes etc get the better for Apple.
Read this too if you want to improve the experience for international users and maximize your affiliate revenue:
Hope this clears up the "bad feelings" about affiliate links for everyone. Do it if you want to make some more $. Don't if you hate $.
Thanks, really appreciate the explanation and links. I realize now that it is indeed the same. Don't know how I got this wrong in my head, I feel stupid now .
I know you cannot not make much money with it, but can you maybe share your average click vs revenue ratio for these programs? Let's say I have 100 people a day who click on my Linkshare app link, what kind of revenue could I expect?
Thanks, really appreciate the explanation and links. I realize now that it is indeed the same. Don't know how I got this wrong in my head, I feel stupid now .
I know you cannot not make much money with it, but can you maybe share your average click vs revenue ratio for these programs? Let's say I have 100 people a day who click on my Linkshare app link, what kind of revenue could I expect?
For us average purchase rate from a click is around 5%, and average purchase is around $5 and the commission for LinkShare is 5% so for a hundred clicks it is really easy. 100 clicks- 5 purchases- $25 in purchases- Commission of $1.25. Nothing to write home about but in a month that is $37.50 which is $37.50 more than what you were making before.
Make sure you set up your links through GeoRiot.com (and no I'm not affiliated with them, I just use their service and think its great since our apps are downloaded A LOT outside of the USA). Even if you are just using LinkShare at first, and you add Europe later, it is a PAIN to go in and change all the links once you do set up your GeoRiot account. Since GeoRiot doesn't skim from your home network, if you set up the links from their linkbuilder using the LinkShare network, your income from LinkShare will be the exact same.
I just wanted to jump in back up what Learn2Make is saying.
- I too am totally confused as to why not ALL app developer would use the affiliate program. If you are going to link to the App Store why WOULDN'T you use the affiliate program? You earn commissions, it's one more way to do tracking for your marketing, and it's seamless for the user.
Apple seems to be a big supporter of their affiliate program and from what we hear is actively pushing developers to sign up for it.
The conversion rates that Learn2Make are also in line with what we see at GeoRiot.
Just to add- we added Europe a few weeks ago through the TradeDoubler program. We DID NOT have to update any links in our apps because we used geoRiot links. We just put the TradeDoubler information into our GeoRiot settings and any links from Europe are now routed through our TradeDoubler account. We increased our affiliate income by 50% by adding Europe (for every $1 we are making in USA we are making about 50 cents in Europe)
Other nice thing is in other countries, even those without affiliate programs, we know that the links work and go to the appropriate local App Store. Before we had problems with links not working correctly around the world even if they worked right in USA.
Jesse is great, if you have problems or questions he always responds quickly sometimes even in the middle of the night. He helped us make some custom links for our apps, like a link to a list of all of our apps in the app store.
App Store URL shortener?
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