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Whats everyones thoughts on having links to certain casino / poker rooms versus direct software downloads on their affiliate sites?
Im finding the direct download links get clicks but dont get alot of downloads anyway…
My thought on it is… Whats more convincing to get the player to sign up.. your website, or the casinos website. But thats just my thought on it, that the casinos I promote have better pages to hook the player so I send them there first. but I also have a casino review site, that I post a link to the page and a direct download link as well, just in case my review was convincing enough
I offer both text links and download links and sometimes a flash link.
Then I have a pop up window on some pages that briefly explains the download process that visitors can click.
The reason is the installer is not named after the casino in many cases and this may scare some visitors.
I’ve tested many download links and they’ll register a d/l even if it is not a complete download, that is if the visitor just clicks the link and doesn’t actually download the installer file. RTG inparticular.
It was my understanding that Casino Coins also shows unique downloads which are completed downloads.
However almost all my conversions come via text links.
My thinking is, don’t you want to test drive a car before you buy?
I just think people might not download the software without looking over the casino first.I use both, I have more downloads with the download link but I have a better conversion rate with the link to the site.
I don’t use direct download links except where I give a well marked choice – people need to know they are starting a download.
I think the bad conversions from direct downloads come from the fact that players are often startled by them and figure their browser has been hijacked and bail out asap.
Hello,
It will be beneficial that you ask your affiliate manager if download stats are counted as complete downloads first. If they don’t, it is better no to use it as your primary link. Otherwise your conversion will not be accurate.
Cheers,
Connie
I also use the rel=”nofollow” on all download links
As a player, I am wary of direct downloads, because as Dominique says, it seems to pop-up the download right away and sometimes you want to abort the download because your not 100% sure you want to download.
As an affiliate manager, I am wary of direct downloads because you often do not get the same, or as accurate reporting with a direct link as when players go through the process of visit the site, and clicking the download button. There are more players who abort mid-download, less impression-views, etc. Plus, letting the player see the certifications on the actual casino site are important to further strengthen their chances to deposit and play for real money.
I fully agree with Tanya and Dominic for the reasons given. Personally I am wary of downloading sofware when I’m not sure where it’s from. With spyware being so present on the web, blindly installing software just isn’t the most convincing way.
Can it work? Sure, just like spam, tell sell, etc has been working for decades.
If you want the best results I would advise you to give people the option. Give them the choice between a direct download and a text link to the casino/ sports book/ etc. That way a potential player as least has the choice to first check out the site of the casino.
I gotta admit, I avoid downloading files unless I know its coming direclty from the casinos website. I hate being hit with Trojans and the like. I’d relate it to entering your Credit card details on a server which doesnt have https or a secure server.
I think most visitors want to see the site before downloading, and anyway most sites push the visitor to download pretty soon. Clicking a download link on the actual site seems more reliable and trustworthy to visitors, downloading software from a link on an affiliate site seems more risky even though the source is the same…
Regarding stats, there are plenty of stupid bots (not just search engines, also private bots run by businesses and other webmasters) and the bots are often downloading everything they find, including .exe files, so stats may be inflated and the actual number of downloads by real visitors may be much lower than it seems. I am hosting an .exe file on one of my sites and the number of bots downloading it is amazing!
