THE Group for Authors! discussion

Does anyone know how to overcome the problem of selecting a different link than your Facebook page as the preferred link for a Facebook ad.

I read that from a marketing point of view there is more value in clicking to a link where a visitor can buy the book.

But when I review my ad after spending time setting it up, the url I ask for it to link to (my book's url on my publisher's page) - it ends up being a broken link.

I would email Facebook your question, they are usually pretty timely about responding to advertisers. :)

Kevin,

You can put any url there that you want.
Paste the link, then wait. Give the system time to find the page that you've provided a link for. After it finds the page, it will create a a preview. Once it has done that, you know it's done.

Note that it will auto-generate some text and an image. This can be modified as you continue through the process. It's alarming at first because the choices it makes will most likely not be those you want in your ad.

I hope this helps.

Edward M. wrote: "Kevin,

You can put any url there that you want.
Paste the link, then wait. Give the system time to find the page that you've provided a link for. After it finds the page, it will create a a previe..."

Thanks Edward. It did create the preview and all seemed to be fine until I got to the Review Ad - the preview link kept being broken.

I'm about to try again.

Oh, sorry. I thought you were previewing in the beginning.

I'll take the test further and see if I can discover anything helpful.

Nope. No luck. It's the Review Advert stage that shows you the link didn't work - yet when you set it up you get every indication that it's all okay.

Here's what I found.

On the first page, before you review the ad, there is a preview on the right side of the page. If you click on the link in that preview (above the image), it will show a popup that includes a link inside of that, saying "preview link."

I found that the link there goes where I told it to.

On the next Review Ad page, the link does not work.
This maybe a coding error on FB. Look at the name of your ad. It shows the link that I designated followed by some space and a hyphen and the word "Ad."

So my assumption is that because the first preview link works, the final ad will work too and that they haven't bothered to fix this Review preview link error.

In the worst case, the ad would not work and it wouldn't cost you anything until it does.

(I'm assuming it's pay-per-click. Well, that allows for another worst case, actually. If the ad never works, then your funds are stuck there until it does work - like the money I used on GoodReads for an ad may never get spent. I'll have to check if there's any possibility of cancelling the ad. It's like having money in an account that you can't use. I should have spent much less to test it out.)

I hope this time I was more helpful. :)

Edward M. wrote: "Here's what I found.

On the first page, before you review the ad, there is a preview on the right side of the page. If you click on the link in that preview (above the image), it will show a popup..."

You're dead right! You don't know how many times I re-did this. Thanks heaps, Edward.

I set up a website: asongofafrica.org. It has a menu across the top of the page running from left to right - the third selection is buy book which links directly to the book page on Amazon.

Edward M. wrote: "Here's what I found.

On the first page, before you review the ad, there is a preview on the right side of the page. If you click on the link in that preview (above the image), it will show a popup..."

Very helpful, Kevin! Next time I do a Facebook ad, I will follow these instructions. Many thanks.

Ronald wrote: "I set up a website: asongofafrica.org. It has a menu across the top of the page running from left to right - the third selection is buy book which links directly to the book page on Amazon."

Really, Ronald?

I'm surprised to hear you say that.

Do you really think it will work for fixing the Facebook problem?