How to Track Your Ads - No Log Analyzer or CGI Scripts Required

by Mark Joyner, CEO, Aesop Marketing Corporation

I'm embarrassed.

Months back I wrote an article that showed various tricks for tracking your ad campaigns online. The truth is, what I recommended then was a bit tedious - only complete marketing geeks like myself will really go through all that trouble to track their marketing.

Most people just don't have the time. They want a quick fix that will allow them to track their campaigns without any hassle.

Finally, I can present to you just such a tool. Keep in mind, this is not a "hit counter" or anything like that at all. This is something far more useful for the online marketer.

Here are some simple steps you can follow to start testing your marketing immediately:

1. Sign up for a free ROIbot account:

http://www.roibot.com/r.cgi?IM6502_EZA

2. Set up your first campaign.

Enter your target URL and campaign name. Click on save.

Note: Your target URL is the link you want to promote, or the place you want the web surfer to end up as a result of your advertising.

3. ROIbot will then give you a new URL to use in place of your target URL.

4. Promote using this new URL and let ROIbot track the results.

I'm embarrassed by how simple this is. What I recommended in my old "Tracking Tricks" article took about 3 pages to explain and actually did *less* than what ROIbot can do for you. Isn't that simple and cool?

Now, here are some added benefits and some cool ways you can use this new tool:

1. Do you participate in any affiliate programs? Chances are, the affiliate program does not provide you with adequate tools to keep track of your marketing campaigns. Further, if you are participating in a pay per click program, you can use ROIbot to double check the number of clicks and keep your affiliate program manager honest.

2. All ROIbot campaigns are also automatically rated in the "Web's Most Clicked" independent rating system. This is a cool new way to measure Internet trends and popularity levels. You'll get tons of free traffic when you're listed there:

http://www.roibot.com/wmc.cgi?IM6502_EZA

3. Have you ever wondered which browsers and operating systems people visiting your site were using? ROIbot will give you this information and break it down by campaign. Now, whenever someone says "x percentage of the net is using x browser or x OS", you can say, "that's funny, according to my ROIbot report, it's really...." This makes you B.S. proof.

4. Do you use opt-in email to advertise your site? Now you can know exactly how many clicks occurred as a result of each of your email campaigns. If you pay for any type of email advertising, this is a must.

Some advertising companies are very deceptive about the results of your ad campaigns. For example, I once consulted for a company that ran a top level ad in a newsletter that claimed the message went to 200,000+ recipients. We tracked the campaign and it brought in less than 20 clicks. Of course we never advertised with them again. If we hadn't tracked it, we never would have known! Campaigns like that can bleed your business to death. A tracking tool like this can be used to protect yourself. Now you can know definitively which campaigns work and boost your ROI.

5. The same can be said for banner ads. I would *never* trust the tracking software provided by the company that's selling me the ads. That is even if they provide tracking at all. Frankly, I don't care how many impressions were delivered. I want to know how many valid clicks came in for every dollar spent.

Apply this information to your marketing immediately. I promise that if you follow my advice your profits will increase and you will save hundreds of man hours. But you have to do it!

All the best,
Mark Joyner CEO
Aesop.com