We’ve just put out a new release, which you can read about here.

Over the next month or two, we’ll be looking into the following items and adding in these new features as they are completed.  There are a few other things that are not on this list that are being considered, so we may reorder things a bit.

1) Making our installer work with secure FTP (sFTP)
We’ve got one client who can’t install because of this and there may be others, so we’re going to investigate it now that we’ve released this latest version.

2) Daily and weekly stats summary emails
We’ll tell you what’s up with your links. You’ll be able to opt-in or out to these summary emails.  This initial version will be expanded upon over time.

3) Complete automation of affiliate payments
Just a few things that need to be improved here so that they automatically go out instead of requiring manual intervention.

4) Keywords tab
GTT links show up in search engine results.  Soon you’ll be able to see what search terms  your links are coming up under.

5) Robots tab
Our stats strip out “false” clicks from search engine robots.  We’re going to put those into a separate tab so you can see the extra clicks and how often your redirect links are being crawled.

6) 404 tab
Since all your real 404 requests to non-existing pages go through GTT, we’re going to show you them, so you can quickly redirect those people to the pages they are probably looking for.

7) Geo tab
This will show you where the traffic is coming from.  It will be just like the other tab data for now, though we’ll eventually put in a map as well.

8) Reverse searching
Currently you can do searches like, “Show the most active links in the last 24 hours”, and it will show you a list of links.  If you click on a link, you can then see the referrers for that link.  With this coming update, you’ll be able to do the opposite,  You will be able to search like, “Show the most active referrers in the last 24 hours”, and it will show you a list of referrers.  Clicking on a referrer will show you all the links for that referrer.

Once those items are complete, we’re starting on a bunch of features that will require a domain code update.  I’ll talk about them once we get started on them.

Fixed © by Don Fulano

Cloaking links by framing them is often considered a selling feature, however, the harm is greater than the good and we’re phasing them out.

Why no more framed links?

1) Framed links break the Internet, cost sales, and harms your reputation

Once you go to a framed page, the address of wherever you go from there is hidden from you in the frame, which instead shows the address of the offending web site. If you bookmark any pages, the wrong page is bookmarked. If you try to buy anything, the https doesn’t show up, which can scare you off from buying. Framed links generally pisses off people, and that feeling is aimed at the site breaking things and named in the address bar. Don’t be that site.

2) There is confusion about what “cloaking” is

Everyone says you need to cloak your affiliate links, but there are many different definitions of the work “cloak”. Most people mean that you need to replace the obvious tracking link with a friendly looking redirect link, which you will always be able to do with GoTryTHIS. But, then people take the extra unnecessary step of also cloaking the address bar by framing the link, because it’s called the same thing and is confusing. We’re removing that confusion.

3) Framing links rarely solves the problem it’s supposed to

Framing is mostly used by affiliate marketers who have been sold a fear-based story about affiliate thieves stealing their commissions because some products continue to show your affiliate link after you’ve sent them there, even if you’re using a redirect link.

The truth is, at this point the cookie is placed, so you’ll get credited for the sale. The only people who are likely to try to replace your affiliate link with their own affiliate link are other affiliate marketers, while promotions to non-affiliate marketing niches won’t have this issue at all. And those affiliate marketers aren’t going to be slowed down much by a frame anyway. While there are a couple of valid reasons for using frames, the harm outweighs the good.

4) Framing affiliate links also breaks the terms and services of most affiliate programs, including Amazon, ClickBank, and Commission Junction. They all say not to use frames, and for good reason.

How and when are they being removed?

1) The next update, being released Monday, removes the “branding bar” options and any link that was using it will revert back to a framed link only.

2) Sometime shortly before we launch with new pricing in a few months we’ll turn off the ability to create new framed links.

3) Once we launch, if you have links already using frames, they will continue working as is.  If you remove the frame, you won’t be able to put them back on. (Also, if you have embedded links, they will continue working, even though they are no longer available for new links.)

What if I really, really need them?

The general path we’re taking for GoTryTHIS is to be the ultimate organization and tracking system for your marketing, not a black-hat tool to do sneaky stuff with, and not something that is going to promote bad practices, even if they sound good in theory. If there is any chance a feature can do your business harm, we don’t want to support it.

However, if you feel the need to add embedded links or framed links, there are plenty of very inexpensive tools that will do it. You can redirect your links through GoTryTHIS into one of those tools for the links that need a feature we don’t support, and still use GoTryTHIS to organize and track all your redirect links.

© by USACE Wilmington District

As of February 16th, we’ve shut down sales of GoTryTHIS until we’re ready to launch with some new features, new pricing, and new training!

To make sure you catch the early-bird specials, sign up for notices on our home page and follow “gotrythis” on Twitter.

Thanks, and see you in a few months!