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Direct Linking vs Landing Pages (13)

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Everything I've read so far has stated that landing pages will drastically pull a higher ROI than direct linking.
I've been testing different landers for different offers as well as testing direct linking and direct linking ALWAYS converts better.
Granted I'm still new to creating highly optimized LP's and they aren't amazing yet, I'm so confused on whether to keep testing landers or go with direct linking. My LP's will usually have a CTR over 2% but the difference in conversions is drastic. I'll test the same offer with 2 different campaigns one utilizing a LP and one direct linking and while they receive the same amount of traffic, I may have 15 conversions in a day with the direct linking and 0-2 conversions with the LP campaign.

I've also read somewhere that direct linking may be okay or even better to use for simple 1-step offers that convert on pin/email submits, which is the type of offers I've been testing. Is there any truth to this or should I just keep trying to optimize landing pages (which I plan on still doing anyway) instead of cutting them out when I see direct linking is converting better?

I'm using mostly popunder traffic.

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I think it really depends what kind of vertical you are working with. Nutra for example I feel like it needs some foreplay (aka landing page). CPI gaming through fb doesn't really need a landing page, either you wanna play or not. jaja. If you don't mind sharing. What vertical?

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Mostly iphone/samsung sweeps/vouchers.
Yeah, I totally get the benefits of how a LP will help warm up the user to take action but I just can't get it working for me.
This is a great guide I've been following http://charlesngo.com/situations-whe...landing-pages/

He states : "When to Direct Link?

Remember that these are just general guidelines to help you learn. There are always exceptions so do your own testing.

– 1 Click Installs – Facebook app installs, toolbars, mobile apps

– Submits – Email submits, zip submits

– Short Lead Gens. This is very dependent on the niche. Gaming for instance doesn’t really need a landing page. Other niches such as dating or insurance would benefit from one. "

So I'm thinking, and my results have shown me that direct-linking may be the better option for sweeps/vouchers that are just pin/email submits.

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The core idea behind Landing Pages usage by affiliates is, that clever affiliate can come up with better sales copy than an advertiser and even more important, the clever affiliate can test, improve, compare, change ... While offer owners can be good at the final monetization of the leads, they might also be a bit lazy when it comes to tweaking their initial sales pages. The hard working affiliate knows his traffic sources better than the offer owner and the affiliate can build campaigns suited to a particular source etc ... I could go on and on, but the core idea is, the offer owner cannot control all traffic on the internet, so logically, they cannot make a sales page that will suit all the traffic, thats why its sometimes better for them to come up with a generic registration or sales page and let the affiliates do the pre-selling.

This does not mean that advertisers dont try to make their offer pages attractive and that all of them suck at creating proper sales pages. Many times, their offer landers look just like the most popular LPs used by affiliates, in such cases, direct link can work just fine. Its also true, some offers are easier to get profitable via a directlink than others. The easier the conversion process (1 click for example), the bigger probability that it will work directlinked. In cases like this, the use of a LP can actually decrease the performance as it requires some extra steps from the surfer. A good example here would be the really low paying PIN submit offers, those are true 1 click registrations and whatever extra step you ask the surfer to do, the lower the CVR will be.

You said you were running offers like this, so its possible you are facing exactly the situation I just described. Its also possible that your landing pages are poor, but thats hard to judge since I didnt see them

Andre above me mentioned NUTRA - this is a great example of a vertical that you pretty much cannot make profitable without a landing page, you need to warm up the surfer and make them want the product a lot.
Dating is another example where its almost imposible to profit without a landing page.

What I do in cases like this - even in verticals where I know LP is mandatory, I sometimes run a small test directlinked, just to confirm the theory still holds true When I work with verticals where I know both LPs and directlink can work, I always split test directlink VS a proven LP at the start.

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You made this post while I was typing my first one, so let me reply to this as well :

What you posted pretty much confirms what I just wrote above

- app installs - if its from google play, app store etc ... the actual page where you can download the app from is a nice landing page, people are used to it, they know what to expect there so its pointless to add another step. But when you are running pop traffic, this is not so true anymore, you got to grab the attention of the surfer first and a google play pages isnt really an eye grabber

- short submits, zip submits, PINs - this can work directlinked, in case the offer page itself gives the needed info and is catchy enough

- short lead gen - I wouldnt push this without a LP at all anymore

Its always good to test this, but yes you are pretty much right, for simple PINs directlink can work better, with email submits it will be on a case by case basis.

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Thanks for the thorough explanation matuloo. I am feeling that for these type of offers a LP may be decreasing performance a bit and wasting adspend.
I was just so stuck on the, "a LP will ALWAYS convert better" idea, which I'm assuming is usually the case, excluding the exception of these type of offers, as you and Charles Ngo stated. I will continue to do short split tests and optimize LP's so I can learn and understand how to make better LP's but won't feel so conflicted when deciding to cut landers all together on an offer where direct linking is performing better.

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There's no golden rule that says landers always outperform direct linking. Its all about A/B testing and you have done this very well. With the specific campaign you are testing direct linking is working better, so I would suggest to stick to that. Every new campaign is a different beast and requires to start all over with the testing & optimization phase. Remember: test before invest

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The first step is to think of yourselves as being in the data collection and monetization business. You are not affiliates.

Everyone here is already collecting and monetizing click data when they use any of the major trackers available.

If you are thinking long term (LTV) I'd bet that someone using a landing page (collecting data) who knows what to do with it will always out perform a direct linker.

Ok always is a bit extreme so I will say 99% of the time

The average affiliate is getting a tiny fraction of the value and profits they could be generating from their campaigns even when using a landing page.

There is no reason why you can't have a full funnel and backend system built out for your campaigns. Basically the same exact thing that the advertisers have.

Of course this all takes a lot of work. That's why I highly recommend being more strategic with your business.

Eg choosing a few 1-3 big profitable markets first, understanding the market and then finding offers and angles that would resonate with the market. It's way more efficient than randomly grabbing whatever hot offer pops up. That's how real competitive advantages and moats are built up.

Now all your campaigns are just feeding more data into your database and asset. Ready to be monetized in multiple ways.

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Do you get positive ROI from directlinking with pops?

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Definitely, whenever people ask me what I do, I just say I pretty much analyze data all day. That is the greatest con with direct linking, all the precious data you're missing out on from not having an LP. I definitely want to implement long term strategy but I'm still still in the noob phase of throwing shit on the wall and seeing what sticks. Hahah well I guess it's not that bad, I have been zeroing in on my most profitable geos and verticals and have been learning so much everyday and hope to know and understand them like the back of my hand. Thanks for the informative post and reminder to be more strategic instead of just hoping for the best. So much more to learn...

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Yes, I have yet to with landing pages. Nothing too high but hope to change that with better optimization skills and more cash flow to test better offers.

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Ok, that is awesome! I have to try that too. I read that we can test direct linking as a benchmark. It is believed that with a good LP we can beat that ROI big time.

I have not had a +ROI campaign too, so what I think might be totally wrong.

I read that post from CharlesNgo:
Is this what a lot of affiliates do, or just Charles?

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You can do this, if you have the budget for it. It CAN show you, which one of the GEOs shows the most potential. Its also possible it will not help you at all, $50 for example might not be enough to give you any meaningful data. One GEO can be flooded with bots more than the other one, this will also ruin your test. Some offers also perform very shitty without an LP. So combine bots with the absense of LPs and a bit of bad luck and you might end up with zero leads, even tho the GEO could have potential. This approach can work, but Im not sure about the $50 budget, I would say more is needed.

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