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This is a discussion on 'Our Other Sites' Links - Would it Be Better if They Were Removed? within the Freebiejeebies forums, part of the eXceem supported sites category; Hi all I'm new to FJ and am hoping to send quite a lot of people to my sign up ...
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05-05-10, 10:31 PM
| #1 |
| iPod Shuffle Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 21
 | 'Our Other Sites' Links - Would it Be Better if They Were Removed?Hi all I'm new to FJ and am hoping to send quite a lot of people to my sign up pages shortly. I am just wondering though how many sign-ups could potentially be lost by referrals clicking on the 'Our Other Sites' links on the sign up pages etc Personally, I am not keen on the way that this link is positioned so prominently above the 'Sign up Now' link. Knowing what I am like, I am curious about things and if someone sent me to the apple site for example and I saw the 'Our Other Sites' link as I was about to sign up I would be very tempted to click on it. I'm sure other people must have this temptation also. As soon as this happens there is a strong possibility that your referral would then sign up through one of the other sites and you lose the referral. I have spent a lot of time reading around on this forum and am aware that people hold FJ in very high regards and would not ever deliberately hold back referrals, but I think this is bad for FJ's affiliates. Please don't think that I am being disruptive or trying to cause issues, but if I sign up to apple.fj and build a site dedicated to getting a free iPhone why would I want my visitors to then have the option to click on the 'Our other sites' link and get dragged off to one of the other sites. I will be spending time and money getting people to the apple sign-up page for example and then my targeted traffic can potentially be lost because of the prominent position of the link and people's curiosity, which is natural and to be expected. I obviously don't know if people lose many referrals due to this link being where it is, but it is in everyone's interests to secure as high a conversion rate as possible for affiliates, including FJ's as this will ensure affiliates have more to re-invest and keep building their business (or hobby, however you look at things). This in turn is also good for the FJ team and their advertisers  It'd be interesting to hear other people's views on this, including the FJ team - again, please don't think I'm accusing FJ of anything underhand to 'steal' commissions from affiliates or anything like that, but I do think that maybe this is an oversight that would be better if amended. Phil |
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05-05-10, 10:47 PM
| #2 |
| Super Moderator  Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Bristol
Posts: 3,691
  | fancy linking to your site so we can see what your talking about?
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05-05-10, 10:57 PM
| #3 | |
| BANNED Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 90
| Quote:
That's how they make their money. You get few people browsing before signing up and end up not signing up with your ref link. End of the day it's their site you either use it or you dont it WILL NOT BE COMING OFF. | |
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05-05-10, 11:04 PM
| #4 |
| iPod Shuffle Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 21
| Hi It's not my site I'm referring to - I mean the signup pages on all the FJ sites. For example, on the apple.freebiejeebies.co.uk sign up page you will see the 'Our Other Sites' link, as in the image below:  It is in a VERY prominent position. If you sent me to the apple signup page and I click on the 'Our Other Sites' link I then have plenty more options that I can sign up from. There's a good chance I wouldn't even know where I originally arrived once I have been and had a look at sports, gadgets and a couple of others. Once I click away from the original apple page that you sent me to your referral is lost. The only way you still get credited for that referral is if I return to the apple page to complete my registration (assuming you allow cookies to be saved on your computer also) As I say, I don't think this is a deliberate 'ploy' by FJ to take away 'greens' but I do think it means there is a big possibility that this could happen. Hope this makes more sense Phil |
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05-05-10, 11:12 PM
| #5 |
| iPod Shuffle Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 21
| Susan - no need to SHOUT AT ME That is not what their business model is about is it??? That is not how they intended to make their cut of the money surely? If I pay £1 a click on Adwords to get a targeted visitor to my site to then send to the sign-up page I see it as a big risk that my £1 can be wasted. I fully agree that it is their site and as I said I am not looking to cause problems/trouble but FJ surely want their affiliates to make as much money as possible from their efforts? Ultimately, the more you and I make from the traffic we send to FJ the more we re-invest. As far as I understand it, FJ's business model is that they reward us for sending people to their site and they 'scrape' a fair portion of the affiliate commissions paid by their advertisers off the top. They make a smaller portion of the profit but from a bigger 'pool' of affiliates. It is a very good business model Please correct me if I'm wrong Susan, but it's just something I thought was worth discussing - after all that's what this forum is here for. Phil |
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05-05-10, 11:24 PM
| #6 |
| Romper Stomper  Join Date: May 2009 Location: Behind the fridge...
Posts: 4,263
| To be honest, i'd never have thought of this and yes it is a very valid point. The positioning of it is, what's the correct word ... dunno ... maybe 'unfortunate'. Looking at it I now believe that a decent chunk of signups could be lost because of this very reason. It may be completely unfounded of course but it's entirely possible and i'd like to see if conversions improved if that section was made available only once someone had completed the signup procedure for whatever site they landed on. After all, they landed at that site for a specific reason and it wouldn't hurt to give people the chance to view/sign up to other subdomains of FJ later in the programme. Just my thought of course... **Edit** Conversions is probably the wrong word also ... I'd like to see if the volume of signups improved against the volume of site visits...
__________________ Last edited by Cruelworld; 05-05-10 at 11:27 PM.. |
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05-05-10, 11:39 PM
| #7 |
| iPod Shuffle Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 21
| It would be interesting to know FJ's stats for the volume of traffic the individual sign up pages get from the links in the lightbox - each visitor through those links could maybe mean lost conversions for affiliates Like I said, I don't think it is intentional by FJ to 'steal' any referrals but I do think it is a big oversight. At the end of the day it is in everyone's interests for affiliates to do as well as possible |
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05-05-10, 11:41 PM
| #8 | |
| Mini Mac  Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: South Yorkshire
Posts: 4,906
| Quote:
This isn't something i've thought of tbh, but after having a quite read in here it's made me think about how many referrals each user could be losing because their potential sign up has spotted the button and clicked off onto a different FJ site.
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06-05-10, 06:41 AM
| #9 |
| Mr Baldy Chicken  Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 14,482
 | It has been suggested in the past that if you have accounts with all of the sites (as I have) that those other sites links contain your ref links... I cant remember the outcome but I do not think it changed (obviously)
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06-05-10, 07:58 AM
| #10 |
| iPod 30gb Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Widnes
Posts: 1,090
| Look at the end of the day it's unfortunate if you do lose signups that way, but hey at least your getting the traffic some people arn't even getting that. The other sites are there to show users just that, the other sites. I reckon that the suggestion of putting your reflinks there would be a good idea to put your ref links there and I don't think it would be that hard to do, but hey it's not up to us.
__________________ Totally Free iPad | McFlurry Ice Cream Van Everything I say reflects my own opinions and not that of any company. |
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06-05-10, 08:59 AM
| #11 |
| iPod Shuffle Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 21
| Depending on how you look at it, you might think it's unfortunate but if you pay for you traffic (whether it be from time spent, money spent or both) you obviously want to maximise your earnings. If I spend £1 to get each visitor to my site and then get them to click through to FJ from the info on my site and I lose signups I wouldn't see that as unfortunate. All affiliates are dedicating resources to get traffic, whether it be time or money and surely it is in the affiliates interests and FJ's interests for earnings to be maximised, so that more time and more money is spent in getting more signups! Ultimately, this way everyone wins, including the advertisers whose offers are being completed. The suggestion re: the links staying there but them being customised with each users own links sounds good. Then people can see all available sites but there is no potential 'leakage'. Then we would all have to choose whether to sign up to all sites or not, but it would encourage everyone that signs up to complete more offers if they begin to actively promote the sites! To be honest, I'm not really too sure why it is all done through different sites - why is this? You can customise display settings etc so why are there so many sites anyway? I apologise if I am asking the wrong questions and am not intending to cause issues, but to me it doesn't seem right and the guys/girls (???) at FJ are obviously good at what they do so I'd hope they see my point of view re: this. Phil |
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06-05-10, 09:31 AM
| #12 |
| Looking for a new job!!  Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: St Helens
Posts: 4,272
| The site customisations are features that have been added after the sites were created to give a better experience for the customers. Also some people find it easier to get sign ups for a Free PS3 if they are referring to the dedicated PS3 site so the other sites are need. If FJ simply had the Gadgets site which is customisable then this would limit the amount of money/profit they could make as each person can only sign up to the site once and therefore only ever complete one offer. Having the other sites allows users to sign up to multiple sites and take out multiple offers therefore generating extra revenue for the users, Fj and the advertisers. I for one would like to see the loss of any 'leakage' to the other sites but this can also happen if somebody were to click through to the site from your links then have a look around the internet to check if it seems legit and then going directly back to the site without your ref link. 'Leakage' as you put it is going to be around no matter how many different processes are put in place to attempt to avoid it and it is something I believe we just have to put up with. Moving the other sites link to internal pages only might be a good move but then this again would detract from FJ's business model and up to now it has been successful for both the users and FJ themselves.
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06-05-10, 10:09 AM
| #13 |
| iPod Shuffle Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 21
| Some good points - like I say I am just trying to understand it all as fully as possible so your input is appreciated If someone clicks around a bit to see if it is all legit and they still end up back at the original signup page there is a chance that your cookie may still be in place to keep the referral. It might only be a small chance I suppose though! It would be great if the admin panel of each site could be updated so that the links in the lightbox to other sites could be customised to be our affiliate links. The we'd have the choice to sign up for however many sites we choose to and accept the risk of lost referrals if we did not sign up to every site. This would lead to more sign ups I guess (from people who want to actively promote FJ). It wouldn't be particularly difficult to code that up I wouldn't think, and it would make it even better for everyone. It'd be interesting to get a view on this from someone on the FJ team. |
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06-05-10, 10:25 AM
| #14 |
| iPod 60gb  Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Colchester, Essex
Posts: 1,898
| No cookies are used though, if I am correct. Very good point though. I am all in favour of being able to have your own ref links in the "Other Sites" box.
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06-05-10, 12:05 PM
| #15 |
| iPod 30gb Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,009
| I agree with ndev2k's comment about fj being successful for both themselves and the users but I am interested to know the view of Rich or Alex with regards the need for the other sites sign to be on the referrals landing page. I'd not thought about it before but I see how users could easily click on it and sign up direct. Funny now that i'm aware of it - Its the most prominent part of the site  |
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06-05-10, 12:23 PM
| #16 |
| ..is a Muppet!  Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Swindon
Posts: 10,243
| This is something that ForFree4u implemented but I didn't see many, if any, cross referrals coming from it. Certainly not enough to make it worthwhile. We all view things differently but the first thing I see when I hit a FJ page is the massive "sign-up now", not the "other sites" above it. Beyond that, part of the incentive model is unreffered sign-ups and people who never go on to complete the requirements of receiveing their gift. FJ have stripped that back to the bare bones from what I can see, they could easily increase the minimum custom order level but choose not to. All in the all, I'd rather see the odd unreferred sign-up than see FJ go out of business.
__________________ Last edited by FurbtasticM; 06-05-10 at 12:26 PM.. |
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06-05-10, 08:53 PM
| #17 |
| Mini Mac  Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Plymouth!
Posts: 5,669
| I for one have thought over this (in my head at least) about how many referrals may be lost. Like you said, I too would be tempted to 'click around'. However, in all honesty, there is no point in asking FJ to add a feature to link to your referral links. The reason being they would probably loose a big chunk of their earnings! If I owned a business like that, I certainly wouldn't Sure it's a thing we might of thought about vaguely and wondered if referrals would increase, but at the end of the day, ...Meh, it's not going to happen
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06-05-10, 09:25 PM
| #18 |
| iPod Shuffle Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 21
| Thanks for the replies! It's been interesting reading the opinions, I get the feeling my views on FJ's business model is a little different to other peoples though - I figured that they make their profits by utilising a gift based incentive system which has mass appeal, and taking a small portion of everyones commissions in return for providing the 'trading' platform. I still feel that it is in everyones interests that any risk of affiliates losing sales should be removed, and enabling the links to be customised would be the perfect solution. One comment said about FJ going out of business if they lost the unreferred signups - did they really go into business with unreferred signups as part of their profit calculations?? I would hope not as the crux of this system is all about referring your friends to earn gifts or cash! It's nice to see that everyone is so supportive of FJ, which obviously shows that they are doing plenty of things right It would still be interesting to hear an 'official' view on this, but either way I look forward to getting stuck in ad earning myself some free gifts, and learning from the forum along the way! Thanks again everyone! |
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06-05-10, 10:21 PM
| #19 | |
| ..is a Muppet! Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Swindon
Posts: 10,243
| Quote:
Perhaps the alternative is to reduce the ref rate to, say, £15 for cash. We can't have it all ways. That's my understanding of it anyway.
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06-05-10, 10:25 PM
| #20 |
| iPod Shuffle Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 21
| Don't get me wrong, I'm not meaning to try and be negative about it As I say, I'm new to it and the payouts etc are very generous looking and I can't wait to get stuck in and start earning some freebies |
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