CBTool Blog

I’ve created a plugin for WordPress that can cloak links in your blog posts and pages. Read more and download the plugin here.

Features

• Choose what to cloak - all links, only the links you specify or no links at all.
• Choose where to cloak - posts, pages or both.
• Configure the URL - you can set the “prefix” part of the URL (see examples below).
• Exception list - links pointing to domains in this list will not be cloaked. For example, this is useful if you have chosen to cloak all links but don’t want to cloak the links to your own domains.
• Compatible with all browsers - the link cloaker plugin doesn’t use JavaScript so it will work even for visitors that have disabled JS.
• “Smart” cloaking - relative, ambiguous or malformed URLs will not be cloaked. Better safe than sorry.

Get it here

White Shadow :: Jul.28.2007 :: Rants, Tips & Tricks :: 2 Comments »

I’ve seen people saying that adding a RSS module to your Squidoo lens is beneficial because it automatically delivers fresh content and helps with search engine rankings. I agree that a relevant RSS feed can be useful to visitors and can make it look like the page is regularly updated.

The RSS module is unfortunately useless for SEO purposes because search engines simply won’t “see” it. This Squidoo module displays the feed using JavaScript. As a rule, search engines don’t understand JavaScript and will not detect any contents in the RSS module.

I hope this helps clear some misconceptions about SEO-ing Squidoo lenses. Finding a relevant feed and placing a RSS module on your lens is still a good thing to do; just don’t expect it to help with your Google rankings.

White Shadow :: Jul.10.2007 :: Tips & Tricks :: No Comments »

Squidoo has modules for various merchants (e.g. Amazon) but it doesn’t have a module for ClickBank. I’m a programmer - kind-of - so I after looking at the Module Development Kit I wondered whether I should go ahead and try to create the module. After some thinking I realized it would take a lot of work and that there already was a somewhat usable workaround for getting dynamic CB ads on your lens.

It’s quite simple - just use RSS. You can place a RSS module on your lens and configure it to use a keyword-based RSS feed that you can create with one of the many ClickBank RSS tools. Some of them are even free to use. One advantage of this approach is that you’ll get to keep all the profits from affiliate commissions (This may vary with the RSS provider. Some might use their CB ID for a certain percentage or links). If it was a separate module you’d have to split the profits with Squidoo.

On the other hand using a RSS feed has it’s disadvantages (some specific to a certain RSS provider and some common) -

• Ugly titles and descriptions. If the RSS provider uses the marketplace title/description, you’ve got a problem. Those descriptions are often aimed at affiliates, not buyers. Someone visiting a lens on dog training won’t be impressed by an ad stating “This converts at 10%!!”.
• Weak keyword matching. Some sites will return more relevant results than others and more results overall (e.g. CBMall is better at keyword matching than CBTool. Yep, I’m criticizing my own site :P)
• No product images or screenshots. This problem can’t be reliably solved by a computer at all because vendors are not required to provide a snapshot of their product. Someone would need to manually specify an image to use for every single product.
• Unneeded complexity. You’d need to find a good RSS feed provider, create an account with them and figure out how to configure the feed instead of simply setting up a module.

Personally I think it would be much better if someone who has already solved most of the abovementioned problems wrote a module for Squidoo. This would give lensmasters more options to choose from as you could use RSS, the ClickBank module or neither. The guy who runs CBMall (Jeff Mulligan) would be a good candidate for creating the module - CBMall has a good search engine and usable product descriptions. There’s also a lot of contextual ad scripts designed to show ClickBank products. A script like that could be reworked to function as a module on Squidoo.

I’m surprised no one has done it yet. The module’s author would likely get a good deal of traffic and recognition.

As a final note, I think it would be great if CBMall offered a RSS feed for search results (with some randomization maybe?). It would probably work better than most existing CB RSS feeds for the purpose of getting visitors to click.

White Shadow :: Jul.05.2007 :: Clickbank Stuff, Rants :: No Comments »

By now I’ve seen hundreds of sales pages and many of them use some cliched tactics that tend to annoy me unendingly. Evil, e-e-e-e-v-i-l tactics (imagine a deep, scary voice). Well, do they at least work? Since everyone is using them I assume they probably do. Sales pages aimed at marketing professionals might (should) be an exception as the intended audience is probably well-aware of the techniques and won’t be impressed.

Here’s a list of some of these sales-page techniques -

1. Shock Tactics And Insults (The Rich Jerk)
   “If you don’t buy my e-book you’re going to feel so stupid, you miserable, poor dumbass! Observe my ridiculous earnings and despair, ye frail mortals!” Et cetera. If you play this right, it can be very effective in evoking an emotional response (emotion -> action -> sales…?). It doesn’t matter whether the reader buys the product because of excitement and anticipation or because of greed and shame. Right?
2. (Unlimited) Limited Time Offers
   There’s nothing wrong with limited time offers as such - it’s a valid marketing strategy. However, I have more than once encountered pitch sites that say “this incredibly low price only available for the next XX hours!”. Maybe they even have a live countdown there or something. If you don’t buy it and come back a few days later… suprise! - “…for the next XX hours!” is still there, counting down to some arbitrary time in near future.
3. Out of Stock Downloads
   “Only 2 copies left!” Sounds kind of strange when the product being sold is an e-book or downloadable software. Not enough bytes left to reprint your product, eh?
4. “They” Don’t Want You to Know This…
   Then there are the “dirty secrets” and “killer techniques” that “the Big Canines don’t want you to know”. I mean, all of the “Top Felines” use them and I had to “practically steal” these pages of priceless information from them so I could sell them to you. I’ll even let you in on some “guru” tricks and give you the opportunity to “spy” on … stuff.
5. Metaphors And “Style”
   If a product is 98% similar to other products in the same niche or simply a retelling of well-known truths it can be hard to sell it. Then it’s time to give the product a unique style or brand. Sometimes the author/copywriter goes a bit over-the-top. I’ve seen Ninjas (more than once) and Space Monkeys being injected with cash. Lets not forget the outdated blackhat stuff. I wonder if zombies and pirates are forthcoming?
6. Is Product X a Scam?! (And The U-Turn Tactic)
   Often used to attract visitors to a review of some product, the advertiser initially creates the impression he didn’t like the product and later turns around and endorses it wholeheartedly. While it is actually possible someone disliked a particular product and became a convert later do to recognising the product’s true value, this is usually not the case with most of the reviews.
7. From the Desk of Jon Smith…
   I know, I know - giving the visitor a name improves credibility. Still, it’s not a damn paper letter. It’s not a letter at all! Letters are delivered to the addressee and, on some level, they are personal. The sales page on the other hand is publicly available and compels the faceless visitor to approach it.
8. This Is A Complete Success Blueprint…
   Enough said.
9. Bonuses Worth $1437.95?…
   If a product costs $47 and I’m also offered ten times more “value” in free bonuses I have to wonder if the product is really worth the price, or is it really worth anything at all? Or maybe the bonuses are worthless? Hmm?
10. Straight Out False Advertising
    I’m not going to look up the definiton of “false advertising” for you. Anyway, some sales letters make claims that are simply untrue. The infamous “Get Google Ads Free” e-book is an example of what could be referred to as a borderline case… maybe… if you’re feeling unusually lenient.

Here’s an amazing site that makes fun of some sales page cliches - Buy My Stupid Book.
And another one - ClickHereYouIdiot.com (not so funny yet interesting anyway).

By the way, if you’re looking for information on how to write a sales page, check out these copywriting resources.

White Shadow :: Jul.02.2007 :: Rants, Tips & Tricks :: 16 Comments »