Hello, community! Have you ever noticed during an ad campaign (AC) that the traffic volume reaching your landing page doesn’t match the expenditure? Or perhaps you’ve seen other scenarios where affiliates observe their traffic mysteriously disappearing. Why does this happen, and how can you avoid such situations? Let’s dive in. 

Before we begin, let us remind you that the key tool to help you identify traffic loss in time is tracking, which we covered in detail in our comprehensive review. Highly recommend checking it out! 

Key Reasons for Lost Traffic 

In general, every affiliate marketer can encounter a situation where traffic doesn’t reach the landing page. The crucial part is to detect this promptly and respond to minimize the potential damage. 

It’s also important to determine exactly when and where traffic is lost. Is it not reaching the landing page at all? Are clicks not being registered from the pre-landing to the landing page? Or is the tracker failing to record any clicks, while the ad network is still charging you?  

In summary, the main reasons for traffic loss include the following: 

  1. Bots that simulate real clicks. Trackers might ignore such clicks due to the absence of any activity apart from the click itself. However, for the ad network, this is enough to charge affiliates; 
  2. Bounces. If a real user quickly closes the page, the tracker may not register the click; 
  3. Technical Issues. This can include server delays if the traffic is routed to a site hosted far from its location. Weak internet connections can also result in data loss before reaching the server, which is a common issue in Tier-3 countries; 
  4. Shaving. If you’re working with an unverified partner network, your traffic might be deliberately siphoned to scam you. Similarly, dubious ad networks could involve fraud, leading to lost traffic; 
  5. Human Factors. Users might start a targeted action but abandon it shortly after, resulting in unregistered traffic. This can also stem from suboptimal ad campaigns or poorly optimized landing pages. 

If a small portion of traffic is lost and you have no clue how to address it, start by assessing the scale of the problem. In affiliate marketing, losing up to 10% of traffic in high-volume campaigns is considered normal due to technical factors. However, if this number doubles and you’re losing 1/5 of your traffic, it’s time to analyze your AC: check link performance, tracker settings, and the optimization of creatives and the AC itself. 

Clicks may also be lost due to redirect issues. This doesn’t always cause campaign losses, but it can complicate statistics, as one click in the tracker may count as two: before and after the redirect. During these “journeys,” traffic can disappear, so it’s better to take preventive measures in advance. 

Redirect Issues  

Redirects are something every user goes through when navigating to a page. The further the client is from the server, the more complex the route prescribed by the provider. Slower speeds can lead to bounce rates as users may lose patience waiting for the landing page to load. 

This is why experienced affiliates often host their landing pages on dedicated servers rather than using default ones provided by advertisers. For instance, if your target GEO is Africa, hosting the landing page on African servers can significantly boost your profits. 

Additionally, your tracker should support global server distribution, especially for campaigns with frequent migrations.  

Can You Reduce Lost Clicks? 

Absolutely. By optimizing your ad campaign, you can mitigate traffic loss. We recommend the following steps: 

  1. Pay more attention to your sources: identify which ones are effective and which deliver trash traffic. If one source shows significantly more traffic loss than others, consider dropping it; 
  2. Optimize the landing page, especially its loading speed. While this might require extensive work, it will not only minimize traffic loss but also increase conversions; 
  3. Use anti-bot filters (TDS) and anti-fraud systems. This reduces non-human traffic to the landing page, positively affecting your ROI; 
  4. Ensure proper ad positioning. If your ad promotes a product unrelated to the landing page, high bounce rates are inevitable.  

Following these recommendations is beneficial even if you’re not losing traffic. These measures help you spend your ad budget more efficiently, ensuring your investment drives profits rather than waste. 

Conclusion 

Completely avoiding traffic loss is impossible. However, you can minimize it by following the tips outlined above. 

How often do you encounter traffic losses that don’t reach the landing page? Share your experiences in our Telegram community, where we discuss important affiliate marketing topics! 

Best regards, Your Geek! 

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