Is Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) killing your affiliate sales?
Have you noticed a drop in affiliate sales since Microsoft's
Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) was released? I have and I
didn't really know why until my wife, kids, and friends started
asking me why their computer wasn't working right.
While using Internet Explorer my son said, "Dad, nothing happens
when I click on this link." I scratched my head for a minute and
thought, "he isn't doing anything different, the only thing I
recently installed was XP SP2"; then the light went off ... one
of SP2's features is the incorporation of a pop-up blocker.
After installing SP2, links that normally opened in a new window
now don't open at all. The immediate way around it is to hold
down the control key (Ctrl) then click the link or right click
the link and select "Open in New Window". To permanently turn
off IE's pop-up blocker, click Tools > Pop-up Blocker > Turn Off
Pop-up Blocker.
So how does all this relate to lost affiliate sales?
If you have your affiliate links set to open in a new browser
window, they are considered "pop-ups" by the post-SP2 Internet
Explorer and many other pop-up stopping programs. The average
Internet surfer with pop-up blocking software or SP2 installed
will simply go to another site because they think the link does
not work. If they do not see your affiliate product/page, they
will obviously not buy what you are selling. Since the pop-up
blocking feature is more-or-less automatic with SP2, you
potentially lose a customer when they upgrade their copy of
Internet Explorer.
Why would anyone set their affiliate links to open in a new
window?
I have heard both positive and negative reasons to open links in
new windows. The main reason to do it is to avoid losing
customers by sending them away from your page with no way to get
back. That is what I used to do until today.
How can I tell which links open in a new window (generate a
pop-up)?
A lesson in Html is beyond the scope of this article but, in
general, if you do not have any tags after the URL in the HREF
tag, you are not generating pop-ups. If you have a
target="_blank" after the URL, it will open in a new window and
is considered a pop-up.
What is an easy way to fix my links?
If you only have a few pages to fix, just edit them by hand.
Pages with many pop-up links can be easily edited in Notepad or
other software with a search and replace option. Simply replace
target="_blank" with target="_top" (or target="_self",
target="_parent" if you are using frames). If you have a lot of
files to change, try ReplaceEm (http://www.orbit.org/replace/ ),
a freeware program that replaces text strings in multiple files
and directories.
The bottom line:
It may just be a coincidence but this morning I changed the
majority of my links so they do not open in a new window and saw
my affiliate commissions as well as overall site traffic jump
within hours!
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